Chapter Eight: Holly and the Ivy
Honda let Seto drive him back to the party without a word exchanged between the two of them. The last thing Honda wanted was for him to blurt something out that would spoil not only Christmas, but the rest of his life. Though, the boy couldn't help but wonder, what the hell happened back there?
They stood on the front porch; Seto behind Honda. Honda didn't make a move to open the door. He just wanted to stand there for a minute to collect himself. He didn't want to walk in and break down. He took a couple deep breaths, not realizing that the only reason he was stressed out was right behind him.
"Are you going to be okay?" Seto's voice broke through Honda. The other boy spun around, finally remembering Seto's presence. He bit his lip and nodded; "I'm fine." he turned around, mentally cursing himself. Quickly, he opened the door.
The group of party-goers re-welcomed them as they strolled in. Honda removed his shoes and jacket, but left the scarf on simply because he forgot it was there. He sat down in his zone on the couch and sighed. Yugi, who was sitting beside him blinked, "Isn't that Kaiba's scarf, Honda?"
The other boy blinked as well, looking down, "Oh. I guess it is. Whoops." he took it off and folded it up into his lap. He didn't get up to put it with Seto's belongings; I don't want to let it go. He admitted to himself. He glanced over to see Jou was clinging to his love with a giant smile. Honda sneered but quickly turned his attention to Shizuka and Ryou.
Though, no matter how many times he changed the view, the voices still came in.
"What took you so long, Set-kun? I was worried you got in an accident or something. Was Mokuba okay?"
A couple moments of silence later, Seto answered, "Everything's fine. It wasn't a problem. Stop making such a fuss, Precious." Seto leaned down and planted a kiss on Jou's cheek. That quickly made the blonde become silent.
It was then that Yugi stepped forward with a smile, "Hey everyone! Since everybody's finally here, do you want to open presents?"
The group cheered and made their way over to the tree that seemed to be laying presents like a chicken does with eggs. Honda remained in seat, biting his lip hard. Presents...oh no.
He had bought presents. After all, that was the reason he had gotten a job. They were all piled up in the farthest corner of the tree display. Though, the most precious and the most special present was sitting inside the branches of the tree; too small to be put with the others.
I don't want him to open it in front of everyone! Honda cried out in panic within his mind. He watched everyone get their first present to open. Ryou, with a gentle smile, handed Honda the present he had gotten him. Honda, in exchange, pointed out the gift he had gotten for the other boy under the tree.
Several minutes later, the group was trying on new hats or playing with new toys. Yami no Yugi was sitting in a large armchair rebuilding his deck with some of the new cards he was given. Honda noticed when he could see through the crowd that Seto was standing by the fireplace fiddling with the only present Honda had never seen under the tree before.
Otogi sat in Honda's lap a moment later, planting a kiss on his lips, "Merry Christmas Sweetie." he winked and quickly got up before he was smacked. Honda laughed a little once he noticed the drunken sway in Otogi's steps. Honda glanced back over at Seto to see that Jou was standing in front of him, sporting a new pair of puppy ears.
"They suit you." Honda heard Seto say over the other guests' conversations.
Jou laughed a little, "Yea, I guess so." he noticed Seto was trying to put the small box he was holding before into his pocket. Jou blinked, "I didn't wrap that. Did someone give that to you, Set-kun?"
Honda had never seen such panic flash through Seto's eyes before. The tall billionaire took a couple minutes to reply, "Erm no. It was nothing." he placed a kiss on Jou's forehead, "Excuse me, Precious." he said and disappeared down the hallway. Jou's smile faded ever so slightly, but it soon reappeared when Malik appeared with a present wrapped in sand colored wrapping paper.
"Did all the presents get sent out?" Yugi asked a little while later. He asked his yami to look near the top of the tree for presents that might have been tucked away.
"There's one right there." Shizuka said, pointing at the blue box near the middle of the tree. Honda's fears had come to pay him a visit as Shizuka read the tag, "Oh. This is for Kaiba."
Everyone's eyes were on the boy who had just walked back in. He looked a little surprised at first, but his expression quickly subdued. He cleared his throat and took the box. "Thanks." he said quickly and unwrapped the little box with everyone's gaze still on him. Inside the box was another box only slightly smaller and square. Seto didn't utter a word and Honda didn't let himself breath.
The smaller box was opened gently by Seto's usually firm hands and inside was the present Honda had wished he never had the courage to buy. On a long chain was a silver dragon charm. The dragon itself coiled around a sphere of sapphire. The group was in awe as Seto let it dangle out of the box for everyone to see.
"Oh it's so pretty, Kaiba!" Ryou gasped, "Who is it from?"
Seto shrugged; putting the necklace on, "It didn't say." he looked down at the necklace before looking up, staring straight into Honda's eyes.
Honda looked back in shock, He's lying...I wrote my name on the tag. He nodded at Seto, but his face became emotionless. He had no idea how to react to such a thing.
What game is he playing?
x-x-x
"Shizuka and I are going to celebrate Christmas with my dad. I promised not to spend the day with Seto." Jou informed Honda as everyone was grabbing their jackets to leave.
Honda nodded, gripping tightly to Seto's scarf inside his jacket pocket, "Oh. That's cool, Man."
"Yea! You should totally come over. We haven't spent time together in foreva, Dude." Jou's carefree smile lit up Honda's heart ever so slightly. To be honest, he did miss the blonde very much. "It wouldn't hurt..." he started to say.
"Sweet!" Jou rose his hand up and high-fived his best friend.
"I'll make sure to pick up extra munchies." Shizuka said with a small sigh, "You guys together always pig out." she smiled at Honda was a twinkle in her eye, "Thank you very much for the notebook, Honda. It was very thoughtful."
Honda beamed, liking the pink journal he had given Shizuka as well, "I'm glad." he waved at the two siblings and turned to the door, "I'll see you two Christmas afternoon." He walked out, zipping up his coat. It was so cold, puffs of steam danced out from his lips. Yet no snow. he silently mused.
He walked down the driveway, avoiding patches of ice that were left for the sake of them being there. From habit, his hands went into his pocket and the soft material of Seto's scarf tickled his fingers. He pulled it out, holding it with a blank stare. Should I go back and return it? He bit his lip. Parting with such a thing would make his heart sink possibly lower.
I've got to. in the process of turning around, a patch of ice crept up from behind him and he felt his feet slip from under him. Feeling his rear hit the sidewalk, he gasped in pain and from the coldness of the ground. He cursed, standing quickly back up. Nobody was watching. At least he didn't think so. He checked his body for any cuts and then he realized The scarf! His eyes went wide, panic in his eyes. He searched the ground, looking for his beloved gift. He turned around and was surprised to see Seto Kaiba was looming over him; scarf in hand.
"Seto!" Honda gasped, his breath taken from him once more.
"Since when have you called me that? I thought we agreed on Mister Kaiba." The taller boy smirked. Honda locked his knees or else he'd be on his butt again.
"I… a… I was going to return the scarf." Honda said, looking away from the other's eyes. Why couldn't tonight just be over?
Seto put on a little mock surprise, "Returning it?" he sounded a little sincere, "You didn't like it?"
Almond eyes went, if possible, wider, "What? No! It wasn't that. I umm…" he bit his lip. How was I getting out of this one? He asked himself.
"Set-kun! We'd better go or Mokuba's going to get worried!" Jou called from the car. He waved at Honda and smiled before the window to the car slid back shut.
Seto looked down at Honda and wrapped the scarf around his neck. He tapped Honda on the head like a pet and chuckled slightly, "Merry Christmas, Honda." He shoved his hands in his pockets and strolled away. He never looked back.
Honda was beside himself. He didn't know what to say. He watched Seto slip into his car with his mouth dropped open. It wasn't until Ryou came up from behind him that caused Honda to look away. "Oh. Hey there, Ryou. I didn't see you."
"I noticed." Ryou replied with his gentle smile never leaving his lips, "Honda…are you doing anything tonight?" he held his mittens in his hands tightly.
Honda's eyebrow raised, "Umm no. Why?"
"Well, Yami's going to the Ishtar's for the evening and I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind keeping me company. I can understand if you have plans with your family or something." Ryou didn't look Honda in the eye as he spoke. Maybe it was the cold that was making his cheeks turn such a cute shade of pink?
Honda shrugged, "I don't see why not. Let me use Yugi's phone and I'll tell my folks. Come on." He ushered Ryou back into the game shop. Anything to get my mind off of this. He didn't bother removing his jacket but he slipped the scarf into his pocket before he found Yugi. The last thing he needed was another interrogation from him.
x-x-x
Ryou's house was always pleasant for Honda to visit. It always seemed slightly feminine, but he always thought it was because Ryou was hiding his yami's presence from the rest of the world. Nevertheless, it was always clean and smelt of fresh flowers or vanilla.
"Don't be shy. Make yourself at home. I still had your bed clothes in the bottom drawer of my dresser from the last time you slept over. I washed them for you." Ryou said as he unlocked the door and swung it open with a gentle push.
"Thanks." Honda said. He walked up the stairs and changed into the T-shirt and flannel pants he had missed. He came back down, entering the living room.
"Feel free to pick out a movie. I'm afraid there isn't much else to do here, but you know that." Ryou called from the kitchen. Some how, the louder his voice got, the calmer it sounded.
Honda sifted through the many films Ryou had in his collection. The boy was quite the movie watcher. He selected a title or two and decided to ask Ryou which one he wanted to compromise with. He grabbed the remote and set the room up for them to watch.
Ryou showed up shortly after, a tray of cocoa mugs and a plate of Christmas cookies was in his hands. He had somehow changed into a large sweater and shorts as well. He set it down on the ottoman and took a seat on the couch.
"Pick a movie from the ones on the table." Honda said, taking his cocoa, "Cookies? Awesome." He took one and smiled.
Ryou grinned, taking the movie he wanted and popping it into the machine. He replied, "Don't get too excited. They're store bought. Yami won't eat them because he says he doesn't trust anything I don't make." He sat beside Honda on the couch and snuggled underneath the blankets they were sharing, "I'm so glad you came over, Honda. I was worried I'd be spending the holiday alone." He rested his head on Honda's shoulder.
Honda wasn't really surprised by Ryou's affection. The boy and he had become friends and used to see each other a lot. There was once a point in time where Honda had considered being with Ryou if he had not realized his longing for Seto. He didn't feel it was fair to treat Ryou as if he was second best and left the other boy alone for a while. Ever since then, they rarely got together but never stopped talking to each other.
They were about as close and he and Jou. Jou was his wild friend that went to arcades and jumped the other school's football team before a big game. Ryou was different. He and Honda would usually stay in and talk or even cook together if it was close enough to his yami's dinner time. Honda never complained. He liked the balance.
"It was no problem." Honda replied to Ryou, wrapped a strong arm around Ryou's shoulders. The sweater was soft underneath his skin and the boy's shoulders were slimmer than Honda had remembered. It's like holding a woman. Honda used to tease to himself. He knew that any talk like that would upset his friend. He always had to hear it from people at school. He didn't need it from Honda.
"I've missed you so much." Ryou confessed, watching the television, but not seeing the movie.
Honda felt the other boy tense up in his arms. He looked down and saw that it wasn't the cold after all that was causing the pink on those pale cheeks, "Ryou?"
"Honda…I…I miss being with you a lot." Ryou kept saying, clutching tightly to the bottom of his sweater underneath the blanket, "I always think about you and I always hoped that you and I would become something other than friends. Honda…" he looked up at the other boy with his large eyes rimmed with tears, "Honda, I think I'm in love with you."
x-x-x
Does EVERYONE have a crush on Honda? I guess so. Haha. Well, I suppose we'll find out what happens soon huh? I'm sorry I haven't been updating often, but I do have a couple days off from school coming up so I'll probably post a new one soon enough. Love you and your reviews! -Rain
