Dogs Do The Silliest Things, by Dani Wheeler-Kaiba
Dedicated to whatever forces led me to first watch Yu-Gi-Oh, and this chapter to my dear friend Laura, who when I told her she couldn't read my story, created her own account so that she could.
Disclaimer: Much as I wish the world of Yu-Gi-Oh was mine, that will only ever be a wish. In other words, it's not mine. Unfortunately.
Summary: SetoxJou. That should say it all. What started as a usual day of hatred between Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jounouchi was completely turned around. Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing, or maybe it was something more. I don't know as much about Yu-Gi-Oh as I'd like to, so please forgive any little mistakes I make.
This chapter is annoying me, which probably means it's not a very good chapter…it's such a hard one to write. I don't do anger well, because I don't like it. Unfortunately I had to put it in. I apologise in advance, especially to those of you who, like me, like a happy Jou.
Ch. 7: Are you?
The mutt was here. Fantastic. Fan-bloody-tastic.
There was no doubt as to why he had come. Schoolwork? Even Mokuba would have seen through that sorry excuse. Jounouchi was going to either ask about or explain the kiss on Wednesday. Well Seto didn't want to hear it. He wanted the puppy gone.
And yet for some reason that he didn't understand, he had ignored what he wanted and invited Jou inside. The blonde followed at his heels, causing him to smirk. How the puppy lived up to his name.
He directed Jou to the lounge, where he sat all too willingly, gawking at his surroundings.
"You have a home theatre system?" he said in awe.
"Mokuba has a home theatre system," Seto corrected. "I have no use for such things."
A muscle in his face twitched as Jou grabbed the remote control and started flicking through channels. All two hundred and thirty of them. He looked wildly happy, as though he had never seen something so terrific; and truthfully, he probably hadn't.
"Did I give you permission to put your paws on anything?" Seto said coldly. Jou flushed, and dropped the remote sheepishly.
"Let's get one thing straight, mutt. This is my house and you are not permitted to touch things unless I say so, even though I let you inside."
Jou scowled. "Well it doesn't matter, cos I didn't come here to sightsee the Kaiba mansion."
"You wouldn't be granted a tour. Speaking of which, why are you here? I seem to recall something about maths?"
The blonde's flush deepened. "That was a lie."
"I noticed as much as soon as the words were out of your mouth."
"Then why'd ya let me in?"
Seto answered, but so quietly that Jou had to ask again. And again Kaiba mumbled his response.
"Speak louder, moneybags, I can't understand a word you're sayin'."
"I…don't know," Seto said finally. Jou blinked.
"Ya don't know? The great Seto Kaiba admits there's somethin' he doesn't know?"
Seto glared at him. "What I do or don't know is not important, mutt. Just say whatever it is you want to say and get the hell out of here!"
Jou looked surprised, and it was no wonder why. Seto had lost his composure, had allowed himself to get angry, just like he had when Jou made that comment about Mokuba being a paid servant, and it was not pleasant to be on the receiving end of his rage.
"Calm down, rich boy, I just had ta ask you a few questions."
"And what makes you think I will answer?"
"I ain't leaving till you do."
Jou folded his arms and stared at Seto defiantly. Seto was at a loss for words; his authority had never been questioned in his own house before. Who did the mutt think he was dealing with?
"I will not take orders from the likes of you."
"Wanna bet?"
"Gambling is a low sport."
Jou let out a frustrated cry. "Shut up, Kaiba, shut up for just one second! I didn't come here to argue, damn it! I don't know what your problem is, but you need to get over yourself and listen for gods' sake!"
Seto remained expressionless as Jou vented his anger. This conversation had so far been quite a heated one, but Seto didn't expect the mutt to have any real rage in him. Rage was a complex emotion, and no simpleton like Jou could contain it without reason. Seto was aware that Jou's parents were divorced, so maybe that had caused a childhood trauma which led to suppressed anger on his behalf; the same sort of thing that had happened with Seto and his stepfather Gozaburo. Events like that led to true rage.
But Seto didn't react well to others' tempers, and it was all he could do not to snap back at the other teen. But instead he waited in silence for Jou to calm down again.
His breathing still coarse, Jou finally said, "I – I had ta come here. I – we gotta talk."
"What do we need to talk about?"
The blonde laughed; a reckless, humourless laugh that would have made his friends shiver. "What do we need ta talk about? Like you don't know…the kiss, of course."
"Keep your voice down!" Seto's eyes flashed dangerously. But the mirthless laughter continued.
"Why? Who's listening? Mokuba's gone, there's no one else here, right?" He raised his voice to a yell. "Can anyone hear me? Anyone there? Well I, Katsuya Jounouchi, kissed Seto Kaiba! You hear that?"
"Shut up, mutt!" Seto hissed, grabbing him roughly by the shoulders. Jou complied startlingly quickly. He had a strange look in his brown eyes.
"Last time I was in this position, we ended up liplocked," he muttered, extraordinarily quietly considering how loud he had been only moments before. Seto let go off him as though he had been electrified.
"That was – this is – okay, mutt." He took a deep breath and sat down next to Jou. "You want to talk, then we shall talk."
Seto couldn't believe he was actually agreeing to this, but even though nobody else was in the house, he couldn't have the mutt screaming out that they kissed. There could be reporters in the vicinity. At least, that was the reason Seto told himself he had agreed. The real reason was that something in Jou's heartless laugh disturbed him, as had his anger. It wasn't right for laughter like that to come from Jou. Seto suspected that the last time he laughed, it had sounded just like that.
"Okay, we're talkin'," Jou said, as though Seto might change his mind. "And the thing I gotta ask you – er, well, there's a few things."
"Pick one."
"Uh, well – okay then. We kissed, right?"
"Is that the question?"
Jou scowled, so Seto quickly added, "But you are correct. Continue."
"Right. Did you – what did you, y'know, get from it?"
Seto raised his eyebrows. "What did I get from it?"
"Y'know, what did you feel?"
There was a long pause. Then Seto replied, "I find it doubtful that there is any point holding back the truth. I felt – shock. But less unpleasantness than one would expect while being liplocked, as you said, with an enemy." That sounded all right. And the puppy's face didn't fall. On the contrary, it brightened a bit.
"Right. And – about that. I mean, are we still enemies?"
"I would find it extremely difficult under the circumstances to go back exactly to the way things were. You, for example, are right now in my house. If we were enemies I would have hardly approved of this."
Jou nodded thoughtfully, a slight frown playing across his features. "So we should just – ignore what happened?"
"Denial will do no good. Although I think it would be preferable not to parade the fact that we kissed to those around us."
"Yeah," Jou said. "I can imagine Yugi and Honda's reactions…well actually I can't…"
"If you don't mind, I have a question of my own," said Seto.
"Yeah?"
"Yes. My question is, are you gay?"
Jou's eyes dropped suddenly to the floor, avoiding Seto's penetrating stare. But Seto wasn't going to give him the option of not replying.
"I dunno. I guess before last week I never really thought about it. Never thought I might be. But now, I dunno…"
He looked up again, and this time it was Seto's turn to gaze away as he knew what was coming.
"Are you?"
Just say no, just say no.
"My answer is similar to yours. I never questioned my orientation, believing that it would have no effect on my future either way."
Jou looked uncertain. "So you don't know?"
"Correct."
"Well if you don't know and I don't know…how do we know?"
Although Seto's lounge sofa was luxuriously large – like most of the furniture in the Kaiba household – the space between the teenagers was minimal. This only became evident at that moment, because Seto grabbed Jou's jacket and pulled him into their very second kiss. Although not as unexpected as the first, there was a lot more passion behind it, and neither boy could deny that they felt something.
After mere seconds, they parted, and Seto asked, "Now do we know?"
Jou swallowed slightly. "I – I think I might be."
Damn, can you tell when I'm running on very little inspiration? My chapters get longer, and my plot gets thinner! Their emotions were all over the place. Ah well, I hope you enjoyed it anyway…