Disclaimer: Just own the words, not the folks.
Silly People Run Around
A pounding in my head wakes me up. I'm still in the SUV. When did I fall asleep? And where are we? Groggily I rub my eyes as I sit up from the reclined passenger seat, a light blanket I hadn't noticed before slipping off of me. Peering out the front window, I see Kaiba pounding on someone's front door and I instantly know where we are, Jou and Mai's.
I scramble out of the SUV, nearly taking a header onto the concrete in my haste to stop him.
"Get back in the truck, Yami," he growls. "I'll take care of this."
"What? What do you mean? Kaiba!"
He goes back to pounding on the door. I'm a step away from him when the door swings open, revealing an enraged Jou.
"What the fuck do you want, Kaiba?" he spits. He catches me out of the corner of his eye and smirks evilly.
"So that's how it is, Yami," he sneers. "After all these years, you're still Kaiba's lap dog. I guess our friendship meant nothing."
I'm frozen to the spot. Unable to confirm or deny anything. Unable to look at either of them.
"Why, Yami?" I hear Mai question from behind Jou. I don't answer and keep my eyes on the ground where they fell after Jou's accusation.
"Why?" I hear Kaiba snarl. The tone in his voice worries me, forcing me to look up. "You should be telling him why after all these years as his friend you'd throw him out because of one fucking dinner!"
"She wasn't talkin' to you, Kaiba!" Jou yells stepping into Kaiba's personal space.
A dangerous smile forms on his lips. "Well, I'm answering," Kaiba glares down at him. "So what are you gonna do about it…Mutt?"
As fast as Jou swings, Kaiba sees it coming and counters with a block and then a solid punch to his chest. Jou stumbles a moment before launching himself onto Kaiba with a yell. They fall back through the bushes onto the sidewalk and really begin fighting. After a few minutes it becomes obvious that Jou is completely out-matched, not that such knowledge stops their brawl. Mai and I stand dumbfounded.
Out of the corners of my eyes, I catch a few of the neighbors stepping out to see what's happening. In this very quiet neighborhood, I'm sure the sound of two guys beating the crap out of each other and yelling obscenities in the middle of the night is quite the novelty.
And a complete shock.
I'm not surprised to hear sirens in the distance a few minutes later. Not that they'll be necessary to break things up, as Kaiba has effectively 'wiped the floor' with Jou. He's standing over Jou's unconscious form panting heavily, blood running from a busted lip and a head laceration when the authorities and an ambulance arrive. Mai kneels somberly with her husband, cradling his head in her lap.
The police don't hesitate to cuff Kaiba, obviously not recognizing the disheveled CEO. His hair is all over his head with blood, dirt and bruises on his face and hands, clothes and coat ripped and dirty, rage still in control of his shaking and panting form. No, there's nothing resembling the cool, arrogant, immaculate Seto Kaiba known to the world.
I can't imagine what this is going to do to his reputation.
"Gun!" I hear an officer call from the front seat of the SUV. Kaiba had a gun? Shit. This is going to be so much worse than I thought. Mokuba's going to lose it.
Mokuba! I completely forgot about him. Whipping out my phone, I dial him frantically. His cell rings five times before I'm dumped into his voicemail. Fantastic. What do I do now?
"You," one of the officers calls to me, "Can you tell me what happened here?"
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This is ridiculous. I've been riding around for almost an hour and can't find any trace of him. How could he have gotten away so fast?
My cell vibrates on my hip, but as I'm currently speeding down the road, I can't answer it. It's probably Yami. I'll call him in a few minutes from the house. Maybe Nii-sama changed his mind about whatever he was going to do and went back home.
After kicking off my shoes, hanging my coat and grabbing a much-needed cup of coffee, I dial Yami back.
"Mokuba!" He answers frantically.
"Yami? What's wrong? Where are you?"
A long pause.
"Yami?"
"Mokuba, are you sitting down?" he breathes. I panic, plopping my mug on the counter and dropping into one of the chairs around the kitchen table.
"W-What's happened?" I stutter. "Where are you?"
"I'm at the Fifth district police station. With Kaiba," he replies soberly.
Police station? With Nii-sama? What the…?
"What are you talking about, Yami? Why would Nii-sama be at the police station?"
"Because he just beat the crap out of Jou."
"WHAT! You can't be serious! Why would he be at Jou's house anyway?"
Another long pause.
"Yami!" I call loudly into the phone.
He whispers something too low for me to hear.
"What? I can't hear you."
"Because of me," he repeats louder. "He was there because of me."
It all makes sense now. That's where he was going, to find Yami, pack him up and bring him here. That would have been the honorable thing for him to do in his mind since his presence is what cost Yami his temporary home in the first place. But he was much too angry to have done that tonight. I'm sure the mere site of Jou and Mai set him off. Nii-sama you idiot. If I had come with you, none of this would have happened.
"Mokuba?" Yami calls through the phone.
"I'll be there in a little while, Yami. And I'll contact our lawyer."
"I'm sorry," he apologizes.
"It's not your fault. My brother is just too stubborn to realize when he should back off or ask for help. This will all be fixed so don't worry. I'll see you soon."
"Sure. Bye."
"Bye."
I call the lawyer and tell him where to meet us as I head back out, this time opting to take the Targa and stay warm.
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I hang up the phone and look back at Kaiba in the cell. He's sitting with one foot up on the bench, elbow on his knee, and chin in his clenched hand, eyes distant. His lip, hands and head have been cleaned and bandaged though his hair still sticks out all over. I haven't spoken to him since the moments before he and Jou started pounding each other. Actually, I have no idea what to say. Do I thank him for feeling so strongly or do I admonish him for being a hotheaded idiot? I haven't a clue. Silence is my best response at the moment.
At least Jou is okay. He regained consciousness in the ambulance while the paramedics were checking him out and refused to go to the hospital. After cleaning his wounds and bandaging him up, they helped him back into the house. I pulled one of the paramedics aside and he told me that Jou was just bruised, nothing broken. I'm glad of that. The way Kaiba laid into him, I expected at least some cracked ribs.
Any chance of salvaging that relationship went out the window with Kaiba's first punch, really with his arrival at their door in my stead.
I'm sure Yugi won't be far behind.
I scrub my eyes at that thought, fighting off tears. I can't lose him now. Not after all these years apart. There has to be a way to fix this.
My cell rings and I yelp in surprise.
At the sight of the name in the display, I hesitate to answer.
"H-Hello?" I stutter, catching Mai just before the phone dumps her into my voicemail.
"Your things will be out front until tomorrow afternoon. Then they will be in the dumpster," she hisses before hanging up.
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"…After all these years, you're still Kaiba's lap dog…"
That really pissed me off. Yami's no one's lap dog. He never has been.
But Yami must have felt that way too because he didn't say anything. He's not my lap dog. He's my friend. And I couldn't let them treat him that way.
Hn. My friend. He is still my friend. The letters confirmed it.
I glance over at him when he yelps at the sound of his cell phone. I frown when he closes it after less than a minute. Whoever that was and whatever they said has really shaken him up.
It was probably the Mutt or his wife. Assholes. I didn't plan on kicking Jou's ass, but after what he said…He needed to be taught a lesson in humility.
That they would dismiss Yami simply because he had dinner with me proves they were never his friends to begin with. You don't abandon someone simply because they disagree with you after years of friendship.
No, you do it because they hurt your feelings once, like I did.
I can't believe I was so stupid. Now Yami thinks I read the letters, but ignored him. Ignored his cries for help. How can I prove otherwise?
I look up into crimson orbs staring at me, his face unreadable. He looks away after a few moments. I open my mouth to say something to him when Mokuba walks in.
A/N:Kaiba owns a 2DR, V6, NSX-T 3.2 liter Acura Targa.