This fic isn't really getting the feedback I had hoped for. I hope it improves as the story progresses. Thanks for all the fans though. I appreciate it!
Chapter Two: Help Wanted
Honda couldn't get to sleep that night. He tossed and turned and even cried a little as the sun came up. I've lost all hope to live normally. He concluded somewhere around eight in the morning and rolled out of bed. He took a shower and he realized it was already ten. How long did I shower for? He shrugged and grabbed his coat. Today was Sunday and every Sunday he and Jou would go out to the late brunch downtown. It was more for Jou's enjoyment than Honda's, but it was a tradition and the two haven't broken that tradition since Honda broke his wrist one summer when they were younger. He was easily forgiven.
The walk to Jou's was a bit more upbeat. It was almost as if the past twenty four hours hadn't even happened. Honda ran up the steps and knocked on the door like he always did. Once again, Shizuka opened the door. She blushed and smiled, "Hi Honda!"
The boy smiled, waving slightly, "Hey is your brother ready?"
Shizuka's smile fell, "Oh…He didn't come home last night."
Honda's world came crashing down. His smile quickly faded and his eyes were wide, "He spent the night at Kaiba's?"
"That's what I'm assuming." She replied casually, but her tone quickly changed when she saw her friend's surprise, "Are you alright?"
No. he thought, Jou wouldn't… he quickly took it back. Of course he would. Every last daydream, all of the sleepless nights where Honda imagined being as close to Kaiba as humanly possible vanished. Suddenly, Kaiba's eyes looked as cold as stone in Honda's eyes. Traitor! Honda screamed inwardly with his fist clenching in his pocket. How could you do it without me?
His brain sloshed around in his head, nodding too quickly, "I'm fine…honest." He bit his lip and looked up at the roof above him. He sighed and looked back at Shizuka, "…Tell him to give me a call when he gets in?"
The girl nodded, offering a smile, "Sure. Are you sure you'll be okay?"
"Yea. I'm just a little freaked out. Jou and I never miss out on brunch together." Honda explained, not necessarily lying at the girl; he was only half fibbing.
"Oh. I'm sorry." Shizuka frowned, opening the door wider, "Do you want to have brunch with me? I can cook… at least Jou says I can." She gave Honda her warm smile.
Honda knew that if he rejected, he'd feel guilty. The girl came to visit her brother and he was out, dancing around with boyfriend. Honda felt sorry for Shizuka. She wasn't used to her brother being so careless towards her.
He nodded, "Sure, I'd like that." He stepped into the home, kicking off his shoes and peeling off his jacket, "Will your dad mind?"
"Father went out to work somewhere around six this morning. It's just me today." Shizuka said, scuttling off to the kitchen, "Do you like omelettes?" she asked, opening the refrigerator.
Honda nodded, entering the kitchen. He rolled up his sleeves and walked over to the sink to wash his hands, "Yea. I can help you with them if you'd like."
"They aren't that hard to do." Shizuka politely declined, pulling out a carton of eggs.
"Well, what else should we have for breakfast?" he said, spotting the carton of orange juice and pulling it out of the ice box immediately. All the walking he had done to get there had made him thirsty.
Shizuka shrugged, "You know where most of the food is, I'm sure. Surprise me." She smiled, grabbing a green pepper from a bundle on the counter and chopping it up quickly.
Honda watched her knife work with concern, "Be careful." He warned, grabbing some left over meat from the refrigerator.
"I will thanks."
The two cooked for a little under a half hour, laughing and chit chatting about the most meaningless things. Even Honda would admit he had enjoyed her company. This wasn't the first time the two had spent time together, but without Jou in the picture, it was different. Honda liked the change.
They ate together at the table, swelling with pride at their large food display. They said they're prayers and began eating, a smile on their faces. They had only just started when the door opened to reveal a rather radiant Jou.
Shizuka spoke first, missing the look of pure depression on Honda's face, "Hi Big Bro!" she said, offering him an empty bowl, "Are you hungry? Honda and I made brunch for ourselves."
Whatever Jou had been glowing about when he walked through the door seemed the dim away. He glanced over at his friend with apologetic eyes, "Aw Honda! I'm so sorry! I forgot all about it!"
Honda shrugged, "It's cool, Man." He looked down at his food, staring hard at a random onion. The room had suddenly gotten very stuffy.
Shizuka cleared her throat, standing from her seat, "Come eat with us, Jou. We've made enough for the three of us." She walked over to the cabinet and got extra silverware.
Jou nodded, sitting between Honda and his sister. He looked over at his best friend once more, "You sure it's cool? I'll make it up to you, I swear."
Another shrug and another spoonful of rice went into Honda's mouth, "Whatever."
Honestly, it wasn't "whatever". Honda felt like he was going to jump onto the other teen at any second. He wanted to scream, "Why? Why must you take this one thing away from me!" but he couldn't. He wouldn't. Especially not with Shizuka calmly sitting across the table. He had to be in check of his emotions. He had to make sure he was perfectly normal. Otherwise, Chicken Little wouldn't be the only one screaming "the sky is falling!"
Shizuka cleared her throat again, taking a sip of milk, "So, how was Kaiba's, Jou?" she asked with such a naïve tone. Too bad she didn't know that was the one thing Honda did not want to converse about while they sat there.
Jou was shoveling egg in his mouth when he turned his attention to her. He beamed, "Only the best time ever!" Jou actually put down his fork for the discussion, "It was so much fun! Mokuba and I played Super Mega Monkey Roll IV until he passed out. Then, Seto took me out for a walk in the Kaiba estate yard. It's so pretty, Shizuka! He even had white Christmas lights decorating his garden. Then," Jou got a shine in his eyes, "he kissed me at the fountain and then we went back up to his room and…" he bit his lip, "it was so amazing."
Shizuka sat in awe, "Wow. How wonderful!"
"Oh it was!" Jou was so proud of his night of romance. He picked up his fork and continued to eat, "This morning, he had breakfast in bed for me and I had a pillow fight with Mokuba." He laughed along with his sister, "After that I just came home."
Honda remained silent, his lips pursed shut. He put down his chopsticks and stood from the table. Both siblings looked up at him in question. He put on a fake smile and said, "I'm just going to the bathroom, Guys. Geez!" he walked out of the kitchen and into the hallway.
"Tell me more about it, Jou!" Shizuka plead could be heard in the hallway.
Jou laughed, "Maybe when you're a little older, Sis."
Honda leaned against the hallway wall. He had to catch his breath. Why? Why couldn't Jou just shut up for five minutes? Why did he have to constantly ruin Honda's life over this one thing? Honda took another step, successfully getting into the bathroom. He closed the door behind him and turned the sink on, washing his face with cold water. It was his way of cleansing his desperate and miserable soul. He sighed and used the hand towel to wipe his face dry. Staring into the mirror, Honda let his thoughts wonder.
The smack he had given himself yesterday hadn't caused damage to his face. In fact, Honda looked the same. He looked normal. Nothing about him stood out. His hair and eyes were the dullest shade of brown and his skin was just an average Asian tone. If anything, his skin was a bit more olive than it should be. Nope, Hiroto Honda was nothing original. They could make figurines of him at a factory somewhere and it would only cost a quarter to make each one. Less.
That company would go bankrupt. Honda thought, laughing bitterly, nobody would buy a boring thing like me. He took a deep breath, walking back over to the door. Relax. Just be yourself. If worse comes to worse…use the 'I got chores' excuse.
Ah, the "chores" excuse. It was something Honda used much too often since his best friend had run off with the gorgeous Seto Kaiba. He'd even use it on Yugi or Ryou if he was invited to hang out after school. He just could not take being with other people when he could only think about Jou being with Kaiba. It was a curse. It was an annoying, pain-staking curse that Honda didn't know the remedy of.
Man... Honda though, walking back into the kitchen to find Jou balancing a spoon on his nose for Shizuka's amusement, nobody knows how much I just want to laugh along and grab a spoon too. He sat back at the table and locked eyes with Shizuka. The girl's carefree smile had disappeared and a look of deep concern warmed her eyes. Honda shook his head as a signal for "Don't worry." She bought it and continued to laugh at her brother's antics.
Honda sighed, continuing to eat his now cold breakfast. He took two bites before pushing it away. Suddenly, he didn't think he was going to have the will to eat for a long time.
x-x-x
Christmas was less than two months away. Honda felt that it was time to be looking around for a way to buy his friends all gifts. He figured a job would be his best bet. That way, he'd have extra money to spend and who knows? It might distract him from thinking about the unfairness in his life.
He looked at small places first. There were bakeries and cafes that needed assistance at registers and waiters. Unfortunately, at least half the population of Domino had thought of the same thing and was piling into shops looking for a way to make money.
His mother helped him look through the newspaper, supporting her son in his attempt to becoming a working man. Before they went their separate ways for the day, they'd shift through the newspaper and point out things Honda could look into after school.
It was the end of October when Honda had gotten the call from his mother. It was Saturday and Jou was off to lunch with his godly boyfriend. Honda sat on his couch, reaching over his shoulder for the phone on the table, "Hello?"
"Hiroto! I found the best job for you!" his mother said on the other line with excitement in her voice, "Kirara-san was talking about it. It's very well paid and it's not that much work. I'm sure you'll love it!"
Honda beamed, shutting off the television, "That's great, Mom!" Things were finally looking up for the teenager.
She gave him the address and told him to be polite and careful. He said his thanks and hung up, grabbing his jacket. Honda walked down the street, looking down at the address on the paper. I have to go to the business buildings uptown? Honda blinked. Did his mom expect him to work at a desk job?
With my luck, they probably just need someone to make coffee. Honda sighed, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. It was freezing outside. The news that morning had said it was supposed to snow sometimes later in the week. Honda wished it wouldn't. He hated snow.
It took Honda less than twenty minutes to get uptown. Soon, he was up to his elbows in businessmen and fancy foreign cars. He pulled the paper out of his pocket and read the address again, "Building number 246." Honda said to himself, looking at the buildings. He was standing in front of 238. At least I'm not lost. He laughed to himself.
He walked down the road, feeling uncomfortable by the fact he was the only one walking around in blue jeans. He looked at the numbers on the building, continuing his stride.
240…242…244…
Honda got to 246 and looked up at the tallest building on the street. He gasped, his eyes locked on the logo sitting high above next to the windows.
Of all the buildings… he couldn't even voice his disappointment and utter shock. People bumped into him and cursed at his lack of movement, but Honda wouldn't look away.
He was staring at the logo of KaibaCorp.
