Disclaimer: I don't own it…
Alrighty people…first of all I apologize for the long wait for this chapter. Hehe…I hope to not disappoint anyone with this xD.
Chapter 2: Private Heaven
A brown eyebrow, slim and perfect, twitched in annoyance. Jounouchi was late for his first day at Kaiba Corp. This is not acceptable, not at all. He had been generous enough to offer Jounouchi a job, and this is how he was being repaid.
"I don't even know why I bother even trying to help the mutt…" Kaiba muttered to himself.
No soon after he said this, a whirl of yellow, blue, and white came through the large mahogany doors. Jounouchi nearly tripped over himself making his way over to Kaiba's desk. Thank goodness Jounouchi, despite being so malnourished, was very athletic or he would have passed out halfway through his run to Kaiba Corp. Kaiba stared at Jounouchi with a mix of annoyance and amusement.
"You're late mutt…" He drawled. Jounouchi turned red at the dog comment, but kept his mouth shut. 'I'm already late as it is, can't deepen my chance at being fired…' The blonde thought as he tried his best to straighten out his clothes. Kaiba gave Jounouchi the once over, and sighed. Jounouchi's hair was messed up as usual, strands all over the place. Apparently he didn't have the time to change out of his uniform, which was now dusty, even more wrinkled than it all day, and had a hole in the knee. Yet, somehow Jounouchi seemed to live his life everyday like this. Feeling something akin to pity, Kaiba decided to let Jounouchi off the hook, just this once. 'The mutt better be thankful…' He mused and he stood up.
Noticing Kaiba's sudden movement, Jounouchi jumped a little bit in surprise. He sighed figuring Kaiba was going to throw him up, but was surprised when Kaiba started walking around him, looking at him closely.
"What size are you?" The CEO voiced at once. Jounouchi blinked at the bizarre question before answering. "Erm I'm not sure…I don't buy clothes often…and my uniform is too big for me…I usually take what's left." He whispered. Kaiba nodded to himself. It did make sense, if you can't afford too much, you're happy for whatever you can get. Though, it was hard for Kaiba to fully understand this, being the fact that he never has to go without.
"Well we're just going to have to know for sure. You can't work here wearing those…" Kaiba pointed at Jounouchi's uniform to emphasize. Jounouchi blushed in embarrassment. "But I can't afford business clothes" Kaiba sighed as he made his way back to his seat, sat down, and looked Jounouchi in the eye.
"I'm not dumb mutt, I know your situation. Maybe not all of it, but the financial part is no big secret. I wouldn't ask you to try to pay for something I know you can't. I am going to get you some appropriate clothes to wear for any business occasion." Jounouchi stared at Kaiba in shock. Kaiba is actually being nice to him, sort of.
"Of course, you may have to pay to have it dry cleaned if I see any dog hair on it" Kaiba smirked at him. Jounouchi glared. 'Well so much for that…' Though despite this, Jounouchi was grateful to have a chance to work at Kaiba Corp. With the amount of money he might make, eventually he could be able to move out of his dad's apartment. That in itself is a miracle. Jounouchi was so deep in thought, that he missed most of what Kaiba had said after that.
"Umm…come again?", was Jounouchi's weak response. Kaiba glared, not amused, and his lips formed a thin line. "Look mutt, if you are going to work here there are some things you need to understand. Number one, don't ever be late again. If there is anything I cannot tolerate…its lateness." Jounouchi nodded.
"Secondly, you listen when I'm talking to you. I don't care whether or not you actually care about what I have to say, you just listen." Jounouchi sighed wondering why Kaiba even offered him a job if he wasn't even going to be…humane. "And lastly, you will work in this office and this office only. You don't go anywhere unless I tell you too. Got it?" He looked at the blond sharply. Jounouchi nodded at him again. Kaiba's eye twitched in annoyance again.
"Last time I checked, you had a mouth and a voice to speak. At school you don't seem to mind using it, so I expect you to speak here. Understood?" Jounouchi cringed. He didn't want to act like he usually did at school; he would have to be able to use "loud Jounouchi's" voice in the work place without being too loud. "Yes…Mr. Kaiba" He stuttered, this being so awkward. Even Kaiba noticed how oddly that sounded and wondered how Jounouchi should address him.
"For the time being, just go back to calling me Kaiba." It sounded so strange for him to call him Mr. Kaiba, and for reason he didn't get a real enjoyment in hearing the blonde call him that. Not like he thought he would. "Right…Kaiba" Jounouchi responded. Kaiba got up again and signaled to Jounouchi to follow him. At the other side of the office was a small office area. It consisted of a desk with a laptop on it, and a few filling cabinets next to it. "This is where you work for now, until I believe you can work without my supervision. You don't have to do much today other than file these folders. I need to think of what exactly I want you to do." With that Kaiba walked back to his desk, and began typing and answering calls.
Jounouchi took a moment to look around the office. It was pleasant, not really exciting. 'Though I couldn't see Kaiba having an office other than this…' He thought as he got up and began filing folders. Later that night, Jounouchi plopped down at his desk. The clock read 9:45, and Kaiba was still going strong. 'Jesus how can he sit there, that long?' However, at a closer look Jounouchi could see bags under Kaiba's eyes. Feeling bad for the CEO he looked around for something to help. Jounouchi smiled when he spotted a coffee pot adjacent to his desk. Getting up silently, he made his way to the coffee pot. 'Kaiba should appreciate this, he looks dead tired.' Jounouchi mused, knowing the feeling of working into late hours, as he poured both Kaiba and himself a cup of fresh coffee. He grabbed some cream and sugar, and carefully walked over to Kaiba's desk.
Kaiba was absorbed in his work, and didn't notice Jounouchi until a cup of coffee blocked his vision. Blue eyes eyed the coffee, and than the person holding it inquisitively. Warm honey eyes smiled back at him gently. "I think you could use this…cream or sugar?" Kaiba nodded in thanks and took his coffee. "Neither, I like mine black." Jounouchi nodded while he pours a lot of both cream and sugar into his. "Hehe I like mine really sweet and creamy." The two of them sipped their coffee in silence until Kaiba had a thought.
"I figured you would be asleep by now." He whispered, not really knowing why except that it seemed appropriate. "Well I usually get off of work at about…10 or 10:30 it depends." Kaiba looked up at him surprised. "Sounds like a sweat shop to me." Jounouchi shook his head. "No I chose to work those long hours myself." Kaiba sipped his coffee, taking in this new information.
"So how long are you going to be staying here?" Jounouchi asked. Kaiba shrugged a bit, he usually went home when Mokuba called him, and begged for him to go home. "Whenever I feel like going, you can leave now if you wish." Jounouchi nodded. "Hey do you know if a bus usually comes around here? I mean at this time of night?" He looked back at Kaiba. Not really having much knowledge with public transportation, Kaiba had to think about whether he had even as much as seen a bus around Kaiba Corp.
"I don't believe so; I have never seen one around here. Why?" Jounouchi waved a hand in dismissal. "Don't worry about it, Ill just walk to a bus stop than." Kaiba looked out of his large window into the darkness. It was really dark outside, and could be dangerous for him to be walking by himself. Not that he cared or anything, it was just the principle of the matter, that's all. However, by the time he was done battling with himself, Jounouchi was already gone. Kaiba felt a little bit silly for being a bit worried. He knew Jounouchi probably didn't have a car, so the bus was most likely the only way of getting around. So he had to be used to walking late at night. 'But still…' Kaiba stared out of the window, almost hoping Jounouchi would make it home ok.
Jounouchi made it home, an hour after leaving Kaiba Corp. He felt unusually uplifted despite his ongoing situation. He looked around his house, seeing the beer bottles and debris everywhere and didn't feel like he usually did. There was no pity for himself, or any urge to cry his eyes out in frustration. He was too tired to clean up after his father, and decided to go straight to his room. Another hour was spent doing his homework, for Nasaki. He than stared down at his work from Domino. 'Kaiba is doing something decent for me, and I can't repay him by not doing my work like I promised…I need to do better, if I'm ever going to get away from this, away from him.' He thought referring to the drunken father outside of his room. With a bit of motivation, Jounouchi began to work on his homework from Domino, for real this time. Another hour went by, and Jounouchi was finished. After his shower, which was cold again, he sunk into his "bed" and went to sleep.
Kaiba Mansion
Kaiba stared at the ceiling of his room blankly. He had gone to visit Mokuba, who was back in a coma again. He sat there for a whole hour, hoping the young boy would wake up and smile at him like he always does. But he never did, so he decided that he should go home, only to find that he cannot get to sleep now that he was home and in bed. Kaiba leaned over, grabbed some sleeping pills, and took them. Closing tired blue eyes, Kaiba thought about his brother until he too was fast asleep.
The Next Day
Jounouchi beamed as he walked into the school, not only on time, but early. Now that he didn't have to work early in the morning, he could get up, and get ready for school without being in a hurry. 'So this is what being early feels like' He chuckled to himself. As he began sorting through his locker, looking for his books for first period, he thought about what he should do today. He did all of his work for school, and did it all correctly. Yet, he wasn't sure how everyone else would take this. They didn't know Jounouchi's secret yet. 'Should I act like I always do here? Or should I act like my true self?' He was almost afraid of what his friends might think if he tells them he has been lying to them all this time. 'Well I could blame it on Kaiba' He thought to himself, only meaning it as a joke.
Now that he was on the subject of Kaiba, he couldn't help but wonder how the other boy was doing. Hopefully, the CEO didn't stay at work too later. However, he knew Kaiba and he most likely did work too late. Seeing as he didn't have anything else to do, he began to search for the CEO, who was always at school early. After searching in vain, Jounouchi went back to his locker, hoping to bump into the other, but instead bumped into his best friend. Yugi turned around, and was shocked to see Jounouchi here so early.
"Jou? What are you doing here so early?" Yugi said with a joking smile. Honda and Anzu both stared at Jounouchi like he grew another head. Jounouchi put on a smile, and laughed it off. "I decided to get here early, erm…I needed to talk to someone about school." Honda put his arm around Jounouchi in a playful manner, laughing.
"School…you wanted to talk about school? Come on, we all know you don't care about school." Anzu said teasingly. Somehow, this made Jounouchi upset. Was is that hard to believe that he could do well in something, or be serious about school…even a little bit? Jounouchi shook his head, knowing this was his own fault. He should be an actor.
"Sorry to tell you this Anzu, but I do care about school. Things have just…been difficult, and I couldn't get myself together. But now I'm going to try harder" He said staring into her blue eyes. Anzu was slightly taken back by Jounouchi's seriousness, which was not a trait the boy usually possessed. "Jounouchi you're being unusually serious today, did you eat something funny last night?" Honda joked. Jounouchi couldn't take it anymore. These people were supposed to be his friends, and yet they didn't have high hopes for him. Jounouchi shrugged off Honda's arm, and began fixing up his locker angrily. No one noticed a pair of blue eyes watching from a distance.
"Is it really that hard…for you guys to believe that I might not be as dumb as you think?" He asked trying to contain the anger in his voice. "That I might be really smart, smarter than all of you?" He asked again, though it wasn't one he wanted them to answer. He slammed his locker shut, and stalked off angrily.
'That was close…I almost told them my secret'. The blond sat down in an empty classroom and stared out of the window not noticing Kaiba walking in. "That was quite a display back there Jounouchi…I didn't know you had it in you." Kaiba said, and he wasn't even making fun of the blond. Jounouchi smiled a little. "Neither did I". Kaiba nodded and began reading a book, and the two sat in silence until the bell rang for first period.
It was almost time for lunch, and Jounouchi would kill someone if another person stared at him openly. It all started with first period, which was math. He was taking Trigonometry with his "friends" and Kaiba. Kaiba only took this class, just to have something to do with his time. He had always liked math, though he never told anyone this but his brother. Their teacher, Mr. Motimiya, didn't like Jounouchi too much, because of his lack of motivation. He saw a lot of good qualities that resided in Jounouchi, and wanted to bring them out. However, Jounouchi always goofed off in class and didn't pay attention, nor did he ever do the homework. Thus, he was failing the class. Mr. Motimiya had a hunch that Jounouchi was brighter than he let on. He often caught the boy sitting on the room reading, or doing other homework.
He couldn't quite understand why Jounouchi would play dumb, but he knew there was a reason, and he felt it was his job to help the boy. His suspicions was confirmed when he began to pick up the homework from everyone, that was assigned yesterday. He made it to Jounouchi's desk ready to hear some excuse from this blond, but was instead met with a neatly done and completed paper. The class stared at them in silence. Jounouchi had never turned in his work, never. Everyone was shocked, and Mr. Motimiya smiled at him and gladly took his work and continued through the class. No one noticed the small smirk on Kaiba's face, as he read his book. The class was even more surprised when Jounouchi actually volunteered to do a problem on the board, and did it correctly in record time.
By the time first period was over, everyone had heard about what he had done in Trig. In second and third period, which was English, and Physics, both he was either failing or close to it; Jounouchi had turned in his work, and was doing very well in class. Jounouchi felt very proud of himself, though he could do without all the staring from the student body.
He continued to get this treatment the entire day, and was glad to make it out of there to Nasaki, where his behavior was normal. He felt so comfortable, and appreciated whenever he was there, unlike at Domino, and he couldn't help but wonder if he really even wanted to be there. Sadly, it would be stupid for him to leave Domino now. Kaiba would kill him, if he did. Hell, he would kill himself. Classes were over for him at Nasaki, and he had to get to Kaiba Corp without being late. He walked out of the door to Nasaki and blinked. There at the gate of the school stood Seto Kaiba. Seto looked up when Jounouchi made his way to him. He noticed automatically the difference. Jounouchi was wearing a similar uniform to the one at Domino, only in a green color. It wasn't wrinkled as much, and actually fitted the boy. If Kaiba didn't know better, he would have to say that Jounouchi looked really nice.
The other thing Kaiba noticed was that Jounouchi was wearing glasses. They were brown wired frames, which brought out the hazel of his eyes quite nicely. This was a Jounouchi Kaiba was never seen before, and didn't know what to say to him.
"Kaiba what are you doing here?" Jounouchi asked, not really minding that Kaiba was giving him the once over again, though this time in approval.
"I didn't want you to be late again, I need you for something. So I came to pick you up, now we need to get going." He said and the two climbed into the limo. "So, what's with the uniform and the glasses?" Kaiba asked after a while of silence. Jounouchi gently touched his glasses, forgetting that Kaiba had never seen him when he was at Nasaki.
"Well these are reading glasses really; my vision isn't bad or anything. I only use them to read, and I took a liking to them." Jounouchi answered.
"Than why not wear them at Domino, or do you think it will make you look smart?" Jounouchi nodded. "It sounds silly, but I thought it made me look less smart if I didn't wear them." He said in embarrassment. Kaiba chuckled quietly. "Well you don't have to act anymore, after you what you did today, everyone knows a little bit of what you can do now." He said amused at seeing so many people staring at the blonde like fish.
"Yeah…I know." Jounouchi sighed. He wasn't really sure he even wanted people to know how smart he was. He hated being stared at like some specimen. Kaiba eyed Jounouchi from his seat across from the Blond.
"You seem embarrassed and almost regretful of showing your intelligence…maybe what I say may change your mind. They only stare at you because they want to be you. They are envious of you now. Not only that but they feel dumb now, because they used to compare themselves to you, to make themselves feel better. Now, they don't have you to compare themselves to. They can't compete with you…if anything you should feel good about yourself right now. Not many people can say that they aren't really stupid, and it's just an act. Don't ever regret what you have Jounouchi; I know from experience that feeling pity for yourself never gets you anywhere. Don't be ashamed, if anything don't be ashamed."
Jounouchi stared at Kaiba in wonder. Kaiba had just shared something with Jounouchi that had to be true to the CEO. He felt deeply moved by the others words of wisdom and chuckled. Kaiba blinked at the other. "Its funny, I never thought you and I could be talking like this, without fighting." Jounouchi said with a smile. Kaiba looked out the window. Jounouchi was right, he hadn't teased Jounouchi all day like he normally. To be honest, Kaiba didn't find any enjoyment in making fun of Jounouchi like he used to. He did it because he hated people like Jounouchi who weren't about anything, and didn't mind. However, he knew better now, and he can't seem to find anything rude to say about Jounouchi now. Well, not anything other than a teasing joke now and than. What was the world coming to?
"Well I guess it's because I only make fun of those I can't respect, those who are immature and don't try to make anything of themselves. I can't say that you fit any of those categories, can you?" Jounouchi leaned back comfortable and basked in the sun that came in from the window, just enjoying life…with Kaiba no less. Maybe things can change. A smile crossed his face.
"No Kaiba, I can't say I Do…"
End Chapter 2
. Wow that was…long xD. I hope this is pleasing to all of you, and I hope that you would please REVIEW. Cya laters. . drops dead Xx
