Chapter 22: Best Friends Forever

Jou's funeral happened on one of the prettiest days in Domino City. Honda straightened his tie, finding the weather ironic. He thought Jou would have loved it. It was a Jou kind of day. There were fluffy white clouds that floated lazily past the radiant sun and a soft breeze cooled people's cheeks as they walked to and from places. Honda felt a tear come as he thought about how much Jou would have wanted to hang out at the park or take a joyride on Honda's motorcycle. Honda's heart felt heavy.

Holding Otogi's hand, Honda stood in front of the small crowd that gathered around Jou's coffin. The dark wood reminded Honda of Jou's cheerful eyes. He didn't listen to the words that the priest said during the funeral. He couldn't. His mind wouldn't focus on them. He heard the birds sing and the wind blow and the quiet tears of Jou's father, Honda's mother, and little Shizuka. Honda made a note that Jou's mother was not there. Yugi sniffled every once in a while and Anzu outright sobbed; drowning out what the priest was saying. She was such a disruption, that Yami no Yugi had to escort her away.

"No!" she cried, "No! I want to see Jou! You can't make me leave!" she was so hysterical, Yami no Bakura had no problem slapping her across the face to shut her up.

When the talking was done and the coffin was being lowered into the ground, Honda couldn't help but think about the last few weeks. How horrible he had been, how wrong he was, and how he never told Jou. He was never honest. He should be the one that is dead. Honda blamed himself for them splitting apart. It was never Jou, although he ran around Domino with his boyfriend and spoke of nothing but Seto, who ruined what they had. It was Honda, for being selfish and envious.

Honda didn't move from his spot for over an hour after the funeral was over, he openly stared at Jou's grave, reading the tombstone over and over again.

Jounouchi Katsuya

A beautiful friend and loving as well.

His only crime was caring too much

About the ones he loved.

He now rises up and waits

For us to join him

And to be the friend he's always been.

Honda and Shizuka had written it together. They ended up spending the night together; Jou's father too much in grief to mind. Honda held the petite angel in her bed, comforting her as she cried in his chest. There was nothing sexual about the evening, but both of them knew that if circumstances were different, it probably would have been.

Seto Kaiba entered the cemetery, closing the wrought-iron gate behind him. He carried a bouquet of daisies; the only flower that Jou really liked. Honda saw him out of the corner of his eye. He did not want to see Kaiba. It was the first time in all the years Honda could remember that he had no desire to be near the billionaire.

They did not speak. Seto put the bouquet along side with the other flowers that had been placed in front of the stone. He stood beside Honda, the two of them just staring. Finally, Seto reached over and grabbed Honda's hand. He gave it a light squeeze and looked down at Honda.

Honda looked up and saw Seto's face. The tired eyes of the executive were bloodshot and made him look even more exhausted. Honda knew those eyes because he had the same ones. Seto had been crying.

With a nod, Honda reached over and embraced Seto, burying his head into Seto's broad body. He said softly, "I'm sorry."

Seto rested his chin on Honda's head, "Don't." he said with a voice heavy from his previous tears, "I should be sorry." He picked up Honda's head, "I said horrible things and I didn't mean them."

Honda nodded, "I know. We both have." He placed a sympathetic hand on Seto's cheek, "You missed the funeral." He said softly, even though he meant to scold him.

"I can't go to things like that. I don't deal with loss very well, but I'm sure you could figure that out." He almost smiled.

"Yes." Honda said, his lips turning up slightly. He looked down at Jou's grave again, "I'm sure he understands."

Seto looked up and watched the clouds doze off in the early afternoon sky. He pointed out, "It's a beautiful day."

"I know." Honda said with a bit of a laugh, "Jou would have loved it."

"I bet he still does." Seto kissed Honda's forehead and said softly, "Do you want to get some coffee or something?"

Honda shrugged, "I'm not really in the mood." He kept his eyes on the stone; "I really want to um…" he blushed a bit out of embarrassment.

Seto caught on and nodded, "Sure. I'll be at the gate." He kissed Honda one more time on the forehead and walked away, feeling that he would have to talk to Jou another day.

Honda took a deep sigh. Now that he was alone again, he didn't quite know what he wanted to say. He had so much going on in his brain; he didn't know what would come out first. He supposed he should start with the simple things, "Hey."

He thought about how stupid that sounded, but in a way, he knew Jou would have responded with the same thing.

"How are you?" Honda kept going, pretending Jou was answering him back, "I'm fine, I guess. I miss you already." He confessed, "I can't believe how weird this all is. We haven't talked or really been together for a long time and you'd think I was used to it. Though, Jou, when we started to split apart, I always thought 'hey, I'll just call him tomorrow. He's probably doing fine.' I kept putting you off. I never thought I would. I didn't mean to and I'm so sorry." Honda's voice began to quiver.

"Hey, remember the Valentine's Day party at Anzu's? You were so angry and I never really apologized. To be honest, Jou, when I said Seto didn't love me back or that I was going to stop, I lied. I'm such a fake!" He buried his face in his hands, "A-and at Christmas, the necklace that Seto got, was from me and I know he hid it from you and it was a big secret. I didn't want anyone to know! I'm sorry for that too!

"I'm sorry for not being able to date Shizuka. I know how much you wanted me to and I know she loves me, but Jou, when I went to talk to her, she knew that I was in love but not with her. She knew about it. She's so smart, Jou. She's so smart and I know you'll be proud of her when she grows up. She's so lucky to have a big brother like you. I promise I'll try to protect you, but no one could do better than you!" Honda was crying now, unable to stop himself. He had wanted to say all of this for so long, "I never had any siblings but I always saw you as mine. You weren't just my best friend, you were family.

"I wish I could have been more honest with you, but, I never wanted to hurt you, Jou. You were always looking out for Yugi and me and Anzu, but you never thought of yourself!" Honda yelled, "Your whole life was falling apart and you didn't see it and you didn't care because as long as we were all happy, so were you! You're such a fool. You didn't want to question me or Seto because you thought as long as the two of us were happy, you'd be too. Well, look at what happened. This is your fault!"

Honda fell to the ground, yelling at the dirt of Jou's grave as the stinging of tears went down his face once again, "Why couldn't you do something? Why didn't you pull me and Seto apart? Why! WHY JOU?" he punched at the dirt, "I'M SO SICK OF CRYING!"

When he regained his composure, he sat back and wiped his face, getting dirt on his cheeks, "This isn't fair. You know that it isn't. You and Seto should be at the beach right now, on a day like this." Honda shook his head, "I should have died. It would have been better than you. It shouldn't have been you." He stood and brushed himself off, only spreading the dirt onto his clothes, "I'll visit, and I'll make sure that you're resting comfortably, okay? I'll still come and talk to you." He walked away, patting the top of the stone with care, "I love you, Man." And with that, he went over to the gates of the cemetery. However, he didn't see Seto like he thought he would.

He turned around, thinking he had walked by him, but he didn't see anyone. Honda squinted and saw, not too far away, was the tall silhouette that couldn't be mistaken. He walked over, not drawing attention to himself. What was Seto doing?

Seto was standing in between two graves, his shoulders hunched down and he seemed to be mumbling something. Honda got closer and was able to make it out.

"I'm sorry I haven't been visiting very much. I have this job and it take up a lot of my time. It's a burden really, but the money's good. I do it for Mokuba. He's getting along just fine. I'm trying my best to raise him right. He doesn't ask about you, but I'm sure he will when he's older. I plan on bringing him here one of these days. When he's ready, you know?"

Honda stood very still. He tried to look around Seto to see who he was talking to. He was able to catch a glance and saw the stone matched. They were clean and made of marble that was silver in color. They looked expensive. Honda couldn't figure out who they were so he continued to listen.

"I would have brought you flowers, but I didn't really think of it until now. I came here today to see someone else who passed away. Maybe you'll bump into him. He's unforgettable." Seto's voice became so warm, Honda could hardly recognize it. He had only heard it once; when Seto called Honda "Hiroto". "He has golden hair and the sweetest brown eyes. He'll probably find you and embrace you tight, so be careful. He was one of my dearest friends and I'm sure you'll love him. He…" Seto became quiet all of a sudden, "he could actually understand me. Nobody ever treated me the way he did. He was strange, but that's what I loved about him. He had a heart so big; I think he tried to fill it up with his love for everyone. I wish…I wish that was why he needed the new heart."

He had silent tears go down his face as he ended his visit, "I promise to pray for you and I hope to see you again someday. I need to go now. I have a date. He's great too. I think he'll be able to help me move on and maybe he'll be able to fix this rut I'm in." he gripped the tops of both graves and squeezed with all the affection he could, "I wish I could wrap my arms around you, but I suppose not being able to do it now will make it so much better later." He stepped back and waved a little, "Take care."

Seto turned around, coming face to face with Honda. His eyes went wide, his jaw dropped from his gasp. Honda looked afraid, "I'm sorry!" he said, "I shouldn't have listened!"

Seto shook his head, "It's alright." He leaned down and melted Honda with his lips. They kissed for what seemed like forever before Honda pulled away and asked, "Who are they?"

"It's not obvious?"

Honda read the stones. There were no clues except that they were married. Finally, it clicked, "They're your-? Oh." He suddenly became very humble. He bowed in front of the graves and smiled, "How are they?"

Seto gave another one of his rare smiles, "Great." He held Honda's hand again, unable to think of anything better, "Ready to go?"

Honda nodded, "Yea. I think so." They walked out of the cemetery and Honda saw a little daisy poking out of the grass that was overgrown next to the wall. People walked by it, not noticing its beauty. The gust of people's steps caused it to twist and turn in discomfort. Honda bent down, dug it up with his already filthy hands and pulled the daisy out with its roots still attached. He held the flower with great care as he and Seto continued to venture down the road. When he got wherever he was going, he planned on putting it in a vase and watching it grow.

X-x-x

A/N: It's a short chapter, but there was a lot of writing so you'll have to excuse the page that is missing. I don't think this chapter was depressing. If anything, it was quite uplifting for me when I read it over. I hope you all feel the same. As for Seto, I don't think I broke the OOC wall. I might be mistaken though, so feel free to tell me in a review. See you all soon in Chapter 23! I'm sorry to say that it will be the last one.