Um…okay, so this is THE FIRST PART of chapter seven. Meaning, there will be another part of this(obviously XD). Mainly because it's getting a bit too long and I want to update faster. It's all for your own sake! Kinda.
As usual, I want to thank everyone who has reviewed for the last chapter! You're all amazing, taking your time to write a comment to what you think. You have no idea how happy that makes me. :D You give me a reason to keep writing!
Anyway! Without further ado, I'd like to get this chapter started!
Disclaimer: Alas! To my great disappointment, I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. If I did…weeell, the new arcs would be a lot less about card games and a lot more about boy on boy activities.
Pairings: SetoxJou, hints of YamixYugi, BakuraxRyou and OtogixHonda.
Warnings: …I guess boyxboy lovin' and my usual silliness? XD
Well then! Read and enjoy!
Chapter 7
Saturday
Normal POV
Step 7: Now that you've got His attention, it's time to show Him He's not the only one who has! Make Him jealous! Go on a date with a guy He's familiar with. The most effective is, of course, a person He doesn't like or a rival. Make sure to make his blood boil with jealousy! Make Him understand that He needs to take you NOW, or someone else will!
…now this was starting to get tricky.
Jou groaned softly, tossing the magazine to the other end of the room, bouncing off a wall before hitting the ground. It deserved it after all the pain it put him through(literally; Jou's back hadn't fully recovered yet from the previous day)…
Finding a guy Kaiba hated, now that was the easy part of this step. There were plenty to chose from.
Jou started considering his possible choices.
There was, of course, Yami. Kaiba's arch rival, the one who always beat him in any game. Really, ANY game; Duel monsters, Go Fish(man, the look on Kaiba's face at that…never failed to make Jou laugh) you name it. The one exception was Monopoly, but that was self explanatory.
But, Yami was going out with Yugi. And Jou really didn't want to ruin anything there, even if it was highly doubtful he could.
Then, there was Bakura. Kaiba hated his guts as well, after the whole 'stealing Mokuba's body and kidnapping him' thing.
Jou cringed. No. No matter HOW desperate he was, he wouldn't go on a date with that madman. Besides, he was together with Ryou. Sort of. It wasn't really boyfriend gooiness…more like 'he's mine, back off before I stab your guts out' thing from Bakura's side.
Jou went to the next possible candidate.
Otogi. He was a rival to Kaiba in the business world and the two disliked each other. Immensely. And Otogi was cute and single. Perfect jealousy material. Except for him having a crush on Honda. Not that THAT would make any difference, Otogi still went out with anything that was cute and alive.
Still, there was something definitely awkward about going out with the dice-master. Jou supposed it COULD have something to do with the so called 'dog-suit incident'.
Pegasus?
Jou fought back a gag. He was NOT even gonna go there…
Bandit Keith?
Not even if his life depended on it. Besides, Kaiba didn't have a grudge on him anyway.
Jou groaned, falling backwards to lay on the floor. A pout grew on his face. Every guy Jou knew were either dating someone or creeps! Or both! Or too young(the downside about getting to know people by playing card games…).
And even if he DID find someone to go on a date with, he had no idea how to make Kaiba find out about it! The guy spent his weekends locked up inside that huge skyscraper! He wouldn't even notice if a World War 3 hit Domino…
It was then Jou had an epiphany.
Or, well, he remembered something he read earlier in the newspaper.
Fast as lightning, Jou shot up from his floor, out from his room. He returned five seconds later, sinking down on the floor again. Furiously turning pages and mumbling 'where is it, wasn't it on page thirty-two?!' for a few moments, Jou finally found the article he was searching for.
The headline read; "Kaiba Corporation's annual Ball of Technical Improvements".
Jou scanned the page with great interest. The ball was tonight, at seven PM sharp. The elite of Japan's gaming-companies, along with tons of other hot shots would be there. According to the article, it would be the biggest social event of the year.
Kaiba would attend that ball. Jou could figure out THAT by himself. That would be the perfect place to put the 'plan-to-make-Kaiba-jealous' into action. Only one big problem.
Jou wasn't invited.
The blond sighed softly, the ray of hope crushed. This sucked majorly! There was really no way he'd get Kaiba jealous, especially since there was no one to go with.
Jou scanned the article with a heavy heart. There was even a small guest list of the biggest people attending and their dates(Jou was very pleased to see that Kaiba at least didn't have a date with him). Most names, Jou had no clue who they were.
But, by some strange kind of chance, a certain name suddenly caught Jou's gaze. And he stared for a long time.
The ray of light returned and his heart soared with renewed hope.
That guy was perfect. He had it all!
He was handsome.
Kaiba hated his guts.
He was invited to the big shot party, without a date.
And Jou had his phone number.
With a grin, reminding you of the kid who just found out where the key to the chocolate factory was, Jou shot up once again to tear through his drawer for the old note of that cell phone number he had received, along with a fleeting kiss on the hand and a whispered 'call me if anytime you vish to have a good time'.
Ten minutes later, Jou had a date.
Kaiba Mansion
19.30
Normal POV
The ballroom was full of people, everyone dressed clothes equivalent to a normally paid worker's yearly salary and even more expensive jewelry to match.
Kaiba greeted yet another middle aged man in a tailored suit, with a woman about half his age clinging to his arm with a cleavage that could match the Grand Canyons. He had to force himself to politely chuckle at the man's joke about him not having a date with him and firmly decline when he offered his daughter for the next party. This was about the twentieth man who had pulled the same lame joke and offered his spoiled daughter. Quite frankly, the joke didn't get better the more times you told it.
The only reason he held this ball in the first place was for the business connection it could provide for Kaiba Corporation. Thank God he only had to stand this hell once every year.
The faint sounds of voices approaching the door made him almost groan in annoyance. Another few people to greet, another joke and perhaps another daughter offered. He quickly put on his 'business face' as he heard the voice get closer.
The facade dropped slightly when he recognized the voice and his eyebrow twitched(it had done that far too often for his liking these past few days).
"Ah, but don't vorry your pretty face, my sveet. You look absolutely stunning!" The German accented voice that could only belong to Siegfried von Shroider. "Ah, Herr Kaiba! Hov utterly pleasant to see you again!"
Kaiba tried not to look too pained as he turned around to greet the other…and froze.
Standing next to Siegfried, holding his hand(Kaiba's eyebrow twitched again) was none other than Jounouchi Katsuya. The boy was rather nicely dressed, but not overly so like the rest of the ballroom's inhabitants. He wore a rather simple pair of white slacks and a white dress shirt. A turquoise tie was the only accessory, the colour obviously chosen to match Siegfried's stylish, turquoise suit. The blond's hair was messy, but still tamer than usual, kept out of his face by a silver hairclip.
It looked as if he was glowing…
Kaiba blinked hard. The strange glow was gone at once. Must have been a weird light phenomenon…
Siegfried smirked when he saw the surprised look on Kaiba's face. "I see you recognize my date for ze evening…Jounouchi Katsuya. He was in your latest tournament, if I'm not mistaken. Is zat not right, my sveet?" Siegfried turned to Jou with such a sweet smile that Kaiba was afraid the blond would get diabetes from just meeting the gaze.
"Um, yeah…" Jou looked slightly sheepish as he turned back to the brunet. "Hi, Kaiba."
"…good evening." Kaiba replied stiffly, before turning to Siegfried again. He forced himself to look natural and not snarl(too much). Still, his blue eyes betrayed his raw distaste for the pink haired man. "You are late, Siegfried."
"Ah, but have you not heard, Herr Kaiba…" Siegfried flicked a strand of his long hair backwards, making several ladies in the room swoon. "…of ze expression being fashionably late?"
"Nothing about you is fashionable." Kaiba deadpanned, before swiftly turning around and walking away.
Jou almost snickered at the look on Siegfried's face at that comment. Kaiba must still be rather sore about the whole 'trying to destroy his company' thing Siegfried had tried to pull.
The amusement changed into longing(and mental drooling) as Jou stared after the departing brunet. Damn…if he had thought Kaiba looked handsome in his school uniform and those coats…
Kaiba was wearing black slacks, a white dress shirt and a tie almost as blue as his eyes. Over this, he wore a tight fitting, black tuxedo jacket, a little longer than average and with bigger tails(probably to compensate for the fact that he couldn't wear one of his anti gravity coats at this ball).
"Vell, Katsuya…" Jou quickly turned back to the pink haired man, trying to pretend he hadn't just stared at Kaiba's ass. "Shall ve go? Ze dinner is served." A very charming smile lit up Siegfried's face.
"Oh, yeah! Sounds good!" Jou grinned, nodding, pulling Siegfried along. He was starving!
The dinner was rather awkward for Jou. With his dad, he usually talked all the time about random things at the dinner table. Here however…
The only sounds made were the occasional scraping and clatter of the utensils(pure silver!) against the expensive plates. Everyone was deeply focused on their food, of which Jou didn't recognize a single dish. He still ate everything served to him, not wanting to insult anyone who'd made the food. Jou had learned from a young age not to be picky about what he ate.
As if the silence wasn't bad enough, Jou was sitting about twenty seats away from Kaiba and could barely see him from all the rich people in the way. Which left Jou being completely bored the entire dinner.
Finally, after the last dish had been served(some weird cake Jou couldn't pronounce even if his life depended on it), they were all ushered back into the ballroom for dancing and/or chatting politely with glasses full of expensive wine in one hand and the other on their respective date's waist.
Since Jou was a minor, he didn't get any wine. None of the waiters offered him anything else to drink either. Strangely enough, Kaiba got wine anyway, which he sipped on as casually as anyone else, as if he was used to it.
He and Siegfried were now standing amongst a small group of business men. Siegfried was chatting, one glass of wine in hand and the other on Jou's waist. Jou wasn't even pretending to be listening, having shut off his ears after the first mentioning of 'stock'. He was looking around for Kaiba instead. He found him standing amongst another group, much larger, conversing politely about something or other.
All of a sudden, Kaiba looked up and straight at him. Their eyes met for a brief second and Jou found himself unable to look away. Damn that Kaiba and his breathtaking eyes…
It was Kaiba who broke the eye contact first, turning back to the conversation he was having. Jou quickly looked away as well, trying to focus now on Siegfried and the rest of the whatever-their-names-were group.
It was then, a young and very busty woman with the greenest eyes Jou had ever seen, walked up to them, confidence in her stride.
"Siegfried, darling!" She exclaimed, giving a small giggle, batting her eyelashes in a speed Jou had never thought possible.
"Aah, Amalia, my beautiful rose! You look more stunning zan ever." Siegfried gave the woman one of those charming smiles that could make any woman swoon.
Including 'Amalia', it seemed. She giggled once more, offering him his hand so he could kiss it. "It has been such a long time…what say you, that we take a dance and…catch up on old times?" She gave a small wink, playing with her waist long blond(obviously bleached) hair.
"Vhy, zat sounds lovely, my sveet!" Siegfried said in the same flirtatious voice he had used with Jou all evening. "You don't mind, do you, Katsuya?" He didn't even look at the blond.
"I…guess not." Jou said slowly, not even having finished his sentence before Siegfried spoke again.
"I didn't zink you vould! Nov, let's go, sveet Amalia." With those oh so kind words, Siegfried took Amalia by the arm and led her out to the dance floor, soon disappearing from Jou's view.
Jou gave a deep sigh, moving to lean against the ballroom's wall, watching the dancing pairs, pointedly not looking at Siegfried and Amalia. Of course, he didn't really care whom Siegfried danced with. It just sucked to be left alone like that. Especially amongst boring businessmen who kept giving him funny looks.
Also, they were giving rather mean comments, not caring whether Jou could hear them or not. Some called him 'Siggy's boytoy'. Others, 'a prolaritat whom had gone lost into the big league'. Siegfried hadn't mentioned it, not even once. So Jou hadn't either. He didn't want to give them the satisfaction of thinking he was offended by them. Please, he had heard worse from his mother. Or from Kaiba.
Speaking of Kaiba…Jou scanned the room. He was no where to be seen. That sucked even more! Not only was he bored out of his mind and standing all alone, he couldn't even pass his time staring at Kaiba…
"Prince Charming abandoned you for the new princess in town?" Jou gave a surprised squeak at the sudden question spoken just from beside him. He quickly turned around.
Leaning casually against the wall next to him was the object of his thoughts and star of his liquid dreams, Kaiba Seto. The cold blue eyes were directed straight at him(and yesterday it had been such a hard thing to manage that, Jou huffed).
Jou huffed. "It was an old friend of his. She wanted to catch up."
Kaiba gave a low snort. "She was not an old friend. More like one of his girlfriends on the side of his OFFICAL girlfriends."
"You calling him a player?" Jou rose an eyebrow.
"If the shoe fits…" The brunet shrugged.
"Hah…didn't think you were the type to talk behind people's backs." Jou snickered. "You seem more like a straightforward kinda person."
"Hn…" Kaiba didn't answer to Jou's claim, instead turning back to the dance floor.
Jou fidgeted slightly, glancing from the chandeliers in the ceilings, to the dance floor, to Kaiba and then back to the chandeliers. The silence between them was…kind of awkward. At least to Jou. Kaiba didn't seem affected at all(but then again, affecting Kaiba wasn't really easy…it was said that he changed his facial expression about three times a year). Still, Jou didn't say anything. Mainly because he had no idea WHAT to say.
After about half an hour of silence and fidgeting, during which Jou had ripped up a couple of napkins on a nearby table, cleared his throat a gazillion times, tugged so much on his tie that he was positive it was at least half an inch longer and corrected his hairclip seven times, Jou decided that MAYBE he should try talking now.
"…soo…" Jou drawled aimlessly, trailing off.
Kaiba quirked his eyebrow at him. "So, what?"
"I was getting to that!" Jou huffed. "I…was just wondering…"
"Yes?" Kaiba interrupted again, sounding rather annoyed.
"Would you let a guy finish before interrupting?!" The snap was slightly more annoyed than Jou had planned.
"Can't help that you're slow. And wasting my precious time."
"What 'precious time'?! You're standing leaned against a wall, doing nothing!"
"Precisely." Kaiba stated, as if that explained everything.
"Err…right. Anyway. As I was about to ask…err…well…that is…"
Kaiba pointedly looked at his watch.
"Would you like to dance?!" Jou blurted out, blushing slightly. What, it was the first thing that came to mind, when watching all those dancing couples!
Kaiba ever so slowly rose an eyebrow at the fidgeting, blushy and overall nervous teen. "…dance?" He asked, voice flat.
"Err, yes." Jou nodded several times.
"…with you?"
"Yes…" Jou gave another nod, more hesitant this time. Had that been too forward, perhaps?
A long silence followed, during which Kaiba gave Jou a flat out stare, not blinking at all, while Jou was biting his lip, working on making his tie longer again by tugging.
"…I'll lead." Kaiba suddenly said, abruptly pushing away from the wall. Before Jou could say anything or even react, he grabbed Jou's hand and dragged him towards the dance floor.
End Chapter
Alright, this was the end of the first part! Please, leave a review and tell me what you thought! Kind words, critique and even flames are welcome. Why yes, I embrace getting flames. You people who give 'em are just a great source of amusement for me.
Anyways! Stay tuned for the next chapter!
-The Blonde Midget