Jounouchi
My mother and I had a slightly better relationship after Shizuka's operation, but we weren't exactly close. Since the operation, she had contacted me six times: once to let me know she had bought a house in Domino, once to remind me of Shizuka's birthday, once because she couldn't find Shizuka, and three times for dinner. I didn't mind; occasional hellos and a couple of dinners were enough, and the conversation was always civil, sometimes even fun. Still, it was weird when she called me up, giddy as a schoolgirl, saying, "Katsuya, Katsuya, you need to come over for dinner tonight." My mother was a grown woman – she had no business sounding that excited about anything.
I kicked a can on the sidewalk; it scuttled into the road. Being at my mother's house made me uncomfortable. It was a nice place and everything, one story, tidier than my apartment, but it was just that she had a habit of hovering over me, and if there was something I had to be there for… Well, I had a feeling being around her was going to be harder than usual. I would have much rather have spent my night hanging out with Mokuba and playing video games, sneaking kisses between check-ups from the Gestapo that Kaiba had hired to keep an eye on us.
When I knocked on the door, my mother all but swung it open, and she enveloped me in a hug like she always did. "Shizuka, he's here!" she called out. Why the hell was she so excited? We started to turn the corner from the main doorway to the living room, and there was Shizuka on the couch. I opened my mouth to greet her, but we went a little further, and there was Kaiba next to her. My mouth snapped shut, and my stomach lurched.
They were sitting close.
Their hands were clasped…
My eyes widened, and I felt anger rise in my throat, along with every insult and accusation I had ever known –
…and resting on her knee!
– but anything I could possibly think to say died on my lips when I noticed that Shizuka didn't look at all put out by Kaiba's closeness.
"Katsuya?" my mother prodded me, a nervous lilt to her voice. "Stop gawking and sit down already!" Mindlessly I stumbled over to an armchair across from the couch. Shizuka was smiling at me apprehensively, and despite the pretty-boy smile Kaiba had on, I knew he was smirking on the inside.
That fucking…
"Isn't it wonderful?" my mother gushed, breaking the silence again. "Of all the boyfriends you and your sister played with – "
"Mama!" Shizuka scolded, looking down and flushing. Kaiba laughed. Laughed! I glared at him.
"I bet she's broken a lot of hearts," he said. He almost sounded affectionate, and if I didn't know him better, I might have even been stupid enough to swallow the bullshit he was spouting.
But my mother… she just nodded, still smiling. "I try not to count. Does anyone want anything? "
"Cyanide," I muttered darkly.
"What?"
I faked a smile at her. "Just water," I amended.
"Okay. Kaiba-san? Shizuka?"
My mother was calling him 'Kaiba-san' like he deserved some sort of respect! My mother! I gritted my teeth and resisted the urge to jump over the coffee table and throttle him as he shook his head and said, "No, thank you. And please, just call me Seto." My mother smiled stupidly and nodded, leaving for the kitchen.
"Kaiba," I said, fighting to keep my voice even, "can we have a word? Outside?"
There was that smirk! I knew it!
"Oniichan…" Shizuka bit her lip.
"Just normal brotherly stuff, Shizuka, I promise," I told her, winking at her as Kaiba stood. Looked like a 'yes' to me. We went out onto the front porch, and the second the door was closed, I shoved him into the wall. The thump of his body against brick made me feel a little better, but not better enough. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" I hissed, keeping my voice down. I didn't want to alert my family that I was about ten seconds from beating Kaiba's ass.
Kaiba retained his self-satisfied smirk. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Fuck you," I retorted. "I don't know what game you're playing at, but quit – my sister's feelings aren't a game, and they aren't for you!"
"Nor are Mokuba's," he shot back. "Let me be frank. The game is simple: for as long as you're toying with Mokuba – "
"I'm not toying with him!"
He held up a hand to silence me, and it only pissed me off more. "Let me finish. For as long as you're playing with my brother, I'll be doing the same with your sister. Anything that happens to Mokuba will happen to Shizuka, be it good or bad. And don't think I can't find out how things are going."
My mouth dropped. That… bastard! Absolute fucking bastard! "You can't play with people's emotions like that!"
"And how do you intend to stop me? Shizuka is enamored with me."
"What if she's in love with you?" My stomach lurched again. "If she loves you, and I were to break up with your brother…" It became crystal clear – that was his intention. He clarified it before I could ask – maybe my expression was enough to give away my questions.
"When you break up with Mokuba, I'll end it with Shizuka – exactly the same way." He smiled at me. "And, of course, this deal goes both ways. Should… circumstance take things farther with Shizuka than I – "
I had him by the collar, fully ready to punch him when the door opened. I lowered my fist, and he stopped speaking as my mother looked out at us.
"Katsuya, you're not being cruel, are you?"
My mother – the apparent master of the diplomatic understatement. I smiled. "No, not at all – just doing my brotherly duty and lookin' out for my baby sister. We'll be back in a minute, okay?"
She nodded and closed the door, but I knew better – she and Shizuka were on the other side of the door, listening in. Kaiba must've known it too, because his next words were so quiet, I almost didn't hear them.
"Face it, Jounouchi – you're trapped."
"Fine," I hissed in response. "Don't think I'm going to make this easy for you."
"Likewise." He turned and reentered the house – nearly colliding with my mother and Shizuka on the way in. My mother turned back into the house immediately, but Kaiba stopped Shizuka before should could follow.
It was my first real-life slow motion experience; right there, in the doorway, where anyone on the street could see, where I could see, Kaiba leaned in to kiss my sister – and he didn't just kiss her, but he kissed her.
And all I could do was fuckin' gape.
Kaiba
When it came to relationships, there were three kinds of men: the sort who kissed and told, the sort who kissed and said nothing, and the sort who kissed but didn't really give a damn.
I wasn't sure which category I fell into.
But more curious than that was that despite the façade of it all, there was a fluttering in my stomach from kissing Shizuka. What it suggested exactly, I couldn't be sure, but I wasn't exactly eager to find out. All I wanted to do was go home, take a shower, and go to bed without thinking about it. It seemed like a simple enough plan… except that I had forgotten one factor.
The teenager who started asking questions the second I walked in the door.
"So, where did you take her?" he asked. I could tell by looking at him that he had been waiting for me, sitting on the entryway stairs with a book and a sandwich. He set the book aside and looked at me. "Did you have fun?"
"I met her family," I responded as I took off my jacket, hanging it on the coat rack by the door. "And it wasn't all that bad; her mother was nice." I had to bite my tongue – literally – to hold back a comment about Jounouchi. I didn't want Mokuba to know – I was well aware that he wouldn't approve of what I was doing. On top of that, he was clever, and that was one attribute I didn't want turned against me.
"What about her dad? Was he really protective?"
I shrugged, stepping past him and starting up the stairs. "Didn't have one. You need to go to bed when you finish eating; you have school tomorrow – god forbid you should turn out like that bo – " I paused, making a face to myself.
I had almost said boyfriend.
"Like what?" he asked, and I turned to look at him.
"Like Jounouchi."
Mokuba laughed as though I wasn't serious. "Okay, okay, Niisama, I'm going. But I'm going to meet this girlfriend someday, right?"
Not if I could help it – not if Jounouchi crumbled like I expected him to. He usually did under too much pressure. "At some point," I lied. "I'm headed up to take a shower and do some work – I'll see you in the morning."
"Night!" he said cheerfully, finishing the last bite of his sandwich and jumping up, running past me, taking the steps two at a time. I shook my head, smiling a bit until a yawn snuck up on me – I hadn't even noticed I was tired.
It took a lot of energy to care without caring.
The shower went without a hitch, but as I was settling down at my desk to work, Mokuba ran in – the door slammed against the wall so hard that I could've sworn that it splintered the wall. I turned to look at him. He had a minor case of bed head, and he was wearing his pyjamas. Whatever had happened had been important enough to jump out of bed for – and it had been important enough to rush, guessing by the heaving of his chest.
"Did you run all the way here?"
He nodded, breathing heavily.
"Alright, what's that important?" I asked, crossing my ankles and looking him over.
It took him a second, but he finally managed out, "You had curry and rice for dinner."
"I hardly see how that – " I stopped and looked straight at him, digesting what he'd just told me. He knew what I had eaten for dinner. That meant that he probably knew where I had eaten.
"I called Jou before I went to bed," he admitted.
I resisted the urge to let my head fall onto the keyboard. Damn it.
Jounouchi really was a fucking moron.
-end ch. 3-
notes:
Ah, and the Jounouchi & curry thing comes up again – mostly because I just like curry. Sorry about the long wait on the update -- it's a variety of reasons. Foremost, my roommate and I just moved to a new place, and our internet was down for two weeks in the rearranging of it all. Second, my printer died, and I have issues fixing things at the computer. But I have a printer now, and I've been working since I was last online, and all should be well.
Even though something always goes wrong. Just don't tell me -- I'm an optimist. :)