Dogs Do The Silliest Things, by Dani Wheeler-Kaiba
Dedicated to the forces that first led me to watch Yu-Gi-Oh – and this chapter to everyone who wished me happy birthday in their reviews! Thank you so much!
Disclaimer: If the Yu-Gi-Oh world was mine, it would be on late at night and definitely not a show that you'd find appropriate for anyone who can't watch R-18+. Oooh, that'd be so cool though! I need a good lawyer that can help me find a way to own Yu-Gi-Oh…
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.
I'm SO sorry I haven't updated in ages – school just started again. And I have exams coming up. Stupid school. I feel terrible about leaving the story for so long.
Read, enjoy, and review!
Ch. 16: Monetary
The rest of Monday night. Tuesday morning. Tuesday afternoon. Tuesday night. It all passed as a blur, as all Jou could think about was his upcoming date.
He had no idea what he was supposed to do.
He didn't have money, so he couldn't take Seto somewhere expensive. But nor could they go back to his place, because, well, it wasn't the nicest place for a date in the world. He supposed they could just hang out at the park or something, but that wasn't much of a date…Seto would be expecting something really high standard, and Jou didn't want to let him down.
By Wednesday morning at school, he was so desperate for inspiration that he asked every one of his friends what they thought.
"Just go for a walk around the city at night," Ryou suggested, when Jou asked him in the corridor. "If he really loves you, he won't care about the expense."
The L-word. Pass.
"You could go to a movie, that's cheap," said Malik.
"Maybe…" said Jou, brightening up a little.
Marik smirked. "It's also the best place to give someone a handjob."
Ah. Maybe not.
Bakura recommended going shopping. "Get him a present."
"But I don't have any money," Jou reminded him.
The thief looked confused. "So?"
Oh, right. Thief.
And Jou couldn't ask Yugi, because the amethyst-eyed boy was mysteriously absent from school today, which was unusual considering he had a near-perfect attendance record. He must have been really sick to be away. At least Yami could look after him.
Jou glanced over at Seto, who was nearby, and then at the clock. Only a few hours left to figure something out.
Seto hadn't slept more than a few hours last night; the anticipation of the date was too immense. After so little rest he was normally in a terrible mood, which was why it came as such a shock when he told Mokuba to spend tonight at a friend's house. Just because. Naturally this had prompted an, "Are you feeling all right?" from the younger boy, to which Seto actually smiled.
"Very much so," he replied.
His good mood lasted throughout the whole morning. When he arrived at school, instead of going straight inside and working like he would have done not too long ago, he stayed outside with Jou and his friends and participated actively in conversation. It was remarkable how easily this came to him after so much time spent in isolation.
He had a few different classes to the rest of them today, so after the bell rung he didn't see Jou until lunch. Except for once, in the corridor, he spotted him talking to Ryou – he thought he overheard the word, 'expense', but he didn't particularly take notice. He did notice, however, that when he smiled at Jou, the blonde's eyes widened and he looked worried. That was a little odd.
Oh well, Seto thought. He's probably just nervous about tonight.
He looked at his watch. There were exactly four hours and fourteen minutes until the end of school, and he was actually looking forward to it.
Right after lunch was maths, and instead of taking his usual seat in front of Jou, Seto took the seat next to him. Jou looked pleased by the gesture, but reverted soon back to worry. While the teacher wasn't looking, Seto scribbled a note on some scrap paper and handed it to him.
Is everything all right?
Jou read it slowly before flashing Seto a grin – but Seto thought it looked very false. Jou wrote something back.
Yeah, course everything's all right! Excited for tonight?
I'm definitely looking forward to it. Are you?
Yeah! It'll be great!
Seto concealed the paper under his books as the teacher walked past them. He wondered why Jou wasn't telling him what the problem was; it was obvious there was something wrong. He tried to create a mental list of possible things it could have been, but there were too many. It could have been anything.
Last lesson for the day – Jou had English, Seto science, so they were at complete opposite ends of the school, and planned to meet afterwards at the school car park. Seto watched the clock tick past every second for fifteen minutes straight before the science teacher asked if he was feeling a bit distracted. Seto just shook his head.
"Good," the teacher said. "Because you can't afford to be distracted today. This is a very important chemistry experiment that is certain to be in your exams…"
As if it mattered how distracted Seto was. He always passed science with flying colours.
"…You'll need a lab partner for this, so I paired up your names before class."
That didn't mean anything either, except that whoever he was partnered with was guaranteed a good mark. The teacher began reading out names, and Seto hoped he wasn't partnered with any psychotic fan girl.
"Seto Kaiba, Ryuuji Otogi."
Otogi? Seto blinked. He knew that name…he groaned audibly as he saw the jade-eyed dice-lover walking over to sit next to him. Suddenly he would have almost preferred the fan girls.
"Nice to see you again, Seto," Otogi said sweetly.
Seto rolled his eyes. "I wish I could say the same for you."
"Oh, not feeling happy, are we? What's the matter?"
They began to set up the experiment, or rather, Seto began to set up the experiment, while Otogi questioned him.
"What's it to you?" Seto growled.
"Nothing at all, Seto…I just find it odd that someone would feel unhappy right before their big date. It starts in about twenty minutes, doesn't it?"
Seto was becoming irritated, both by the questions and by the fact that Otogi called him by his first name. Not just anyone was allowed to do that. "How did you know?" he said quietly.
Otogi gave a sly grin. "I hear everything."
"Is that so?" Seto asked nonchalantly, scribbling a few notes in his book about the classwork.
"Oh, yeah. And let me tell you, it's no wonder Jou's nervous!"
Seto stopped writing and glared at him. "What do you know?" Otogi's grin widened and he folded his arms in front of him.
"Well, Seto," he started, prompting the brunette to narrow his eyes at him. "I don't really think I want to tell you…you haven't been very friendly towards me now, have you?"
Seto growled. He's taunting me, he thought in annoyance. He knows I want to know what's wrong with Jou and he's using it to his advantage. Normally Seto would have called this a battle of minds, and refused to back down, but right now he just wanted to find out what Otogi knew as quickly as possible.
"What do you want?" he asked. Otogi considered for a moment.
"One favour," he said finally.
"Anything within reason, and in exchange for what you know, I'll make certain that it's done." Though Seto had his doubts about the other boy's definition of, 'within reason'.
"It's quite simple, really," Otogi said slowly. "Tomorrow at lunch, I'm going to sit at your table, with all your friends. And you are going to play nice and accept me, so that they will all do the same."
Seto raised his eyebrows at the odd request. He'd been working at Kaiba Corp for so long, that the requests he usually got were all about money and business partnerships – and, forgetting he was dealing with another teenager here, he had expected something similar in this case. But what Otogi was asking for was easily granted.
"Fine, I'll do it. Now tell me what you've heard."
Otogi's eyes brightened and his smile went from sly to genuine. "I'll hold you to your word, Seto."
"Feel free to. Tell me!" Seto didn't care that he sounded like an impatient child.
"Okay, okay…he's been asking everyone he knows what he should organise for you to do this evening."
"What?" Seto frowned. Otogi nodded.
"He's got no idea what to plan. After all, he's got no money – "
"He's got no money?"
"You never thought that he mightn't be as well off as you?"
Otogi made it sound so obvious. But truthfully, Jou's financial situation had never been top of Seto's list of things to think about, even now. Though he supposed he should have guessed from all the 'moneybags' comments. "Keep going, Otogi."
"Right. Like I said, he's got no money, so he can't take you out anywhere expensive. And his place is no great shakes either, so hanging around there is out. So now he's clueless."
They worked in silence for a minute, until Seto said abruptly, "He thinks I care how expensive it is?"
Otogi raised an eyebrow. "Seto, you're a billionaire. Of course he thinks you care about how expensive it is!"
"But…I…are you sure?"
"I already told you," he said, "I hear everything."
"You seem to be hearing quite a lot about Jou," Seto muttered, a hint of resentment in his voice that caused Otogi to laugh.
"Oh my god, you think I'm after your boyfriend!" he exclaimed, causing the pair at the next table to stare at him. "No thanks, Seto, but Katsuya Jounouchi is definitely not my type."
Seto scowled, only slightly assured by his words. "So what is your type?"
"Tall; brunette," the green-eyed boy replied instantly. He gave Seto a sideways glance, only to see him looking warily alarmed. "And don't jump to conclusions, you idiot! Did I say I meant you? You don't even know if I'm gay!"
Seto relaxed a little, but still felt worried. How could Otogi have said tall brunette without realising the implications that had? Though Seto, of all people, knew about saying things accidentally.
"What should I do about tonight?" he asked, changing the subject.
Otogi shrugged. "Just let him know you don't care about the money?"
"How?"
"Beats me. He's your boyfriend."
Seto scowled at him. Otogi was still annoying. Possibly helpful, but annoying.
When the bell finally rang, Jou was terrified. He still had nothing, and he was out of time.
Maybe he could pretend he knew what he was doing; think of something right on the spot. But he was already on the spot, wasn't he? And it wasn't doing him any good. Oh gods, he was doomed. Maybe it wasn't too late to cancel the date.
He was in the school car park, where he agreed he would meet Seto, and already he could see the brunette walking towards him amongst the packs of other students. Jou sighed; maybe it was too late. And besides, he couldn't do that to Seto.
"Ready?" the blue-eyed teen asked.
Crap. What was Jou supposed to say to that? 'No'?
"Uh…uh…" Great start. "I…Seto, I…"
Damn. He was completely backed into a corner. He couldn't very well say he was ready now, could he? All that was left now to do was tell the truth.
"Seto, you see – the thing is…well, I dunno how to say it…"
Seto raised an eyebrow. "Can I take an educated guess?" Jou nodded dumbly, not knowing what else to say. "You couldn't decide on what we should do, because I'd expect something expensive and you're not sure you can do that?"
Jou's eyes widened, and he blushed. Had it really been that obvious? Seto had known all along?
"S-sorry," he mumbled, looking at the ground. But Seto grabbed his chin and tilted his face upward.
"If I was going out with you for monetary purposes," the brunette said quietly, "then I wouldn't do this." And, despite being surrounded by heaps of other students, he pulled Jou in for a fiery kiss. Everyone around watched them, wide-eyed and jaws dropped.
Jou gave a soft sigh as they mutually broke the kiss; Seto definitely knew how to make him feel better, and who cared if it was in front of people?
"Come on," Seto said. "We're still going on this date. Whatever you want to do. And if that involves money, I'll pay for it. But I don't care about the money aspect of dating. The reason I accepted when you asked me out had nothing to do with you paying for anything." He smiled at Jou. "I accepted because it was you."
Aaaaw! Isn't Seto SWEET?
…woah. Sweet is one of those words where if you say it too many times it loses its meaning. 'Sweet'? What a weird word! Just look at it!
And again, I AM SO TERRIBLY SORRY for the lack of update! I blame school! I wish I didn't have to go. Damn laws. I haven't updated ANY of my stories in ages! It's so sad…but I'll try and do better next chapter.
And thanks again to everyone who wished me a happy birthday!