"Bases are loaded. Domino needs just two men to touch home. Honda steps up to the plate. The pitch is low and fast and oh! Just too far to the right. Strike one! Here comes another. Honda steps into it. Oh, no! He missed again! This could spell the beginning of the end for Domino's playoff contention."
Hiroto Honda swore under his breath, tapping the bat against his cleat, knocking off a dirt clod or two. Sweat was accumulating too fast on his brow, and he used the sleeve of his uniform to address the issue. It came away stained brown and yellow. Deep breaths, even deeper breaths and then a breath so deep he almost couldn't let it back out. No pressure, right? Strike out now, and he was the laughing stock of Domino High. All he needed to do was get the ball into right field, away from the guy on third base. Who cares if he ended up getting tagged out? He'd be a hero! Another deep breath; and the brunette raised the baseball bat in an antagonizing slow motion, but there it was. He was ready. This was it.
Brown eyes steeled themselves on the pitcher. The pitcher glared back and spat on the mound. Just for effect, he tapped the ball into his glove before rearing back to let fly. It was going to be a tricky curve ball to the inside. He watched Honda steady himself to step into the ball. It was done; the hitter was too far over home base to get any sort of spin on the ball.
"Strike three!"
"That does it from Domino Field, folks. Final score: Rintama seven, Domino six. Rintama will advance to the first round of the playoffs against Ojima next week."
"Wow. That was…unexpected," Yuugi observed, peering down anxiously as his friend Honda walked off the field, refusing to join his team in shaking hands with their rivals. "I hope he's not going to take that too hard…" the young man had pulled himself up off the metal bleachers and was leaning over the railing in an attempt to see how his friend was reacting. In a second, Jou had reached over and placed his hands gently on his friend's waist, coaxing back down. Somewhere, deep down in his gut, he knew Yami would be freaking out and Jou didn't really want a pharaonic wrath cast upon him.
"Taking it too hard? Honda? Pfft. You know he's in the locker room trashing it right now, right, Yuugi?" were the words of wisdom offered from the taller blonde. Yuugi's eyes widened in response.
"Should we go down there? Tell him it's okay? Should we…"
Congratulate him when he leaves the locker room and has a chance to cool down? Yes, that we should do.
"You okay, Yuug'?" the dueling genius' eyes vacated themselves for a hot second.
"Huh? Yeah. Yami says we should wait a little while. Let him…cool off." The trio had made it halfway back to the high school before they realized that Yami was probably better off being heard, not seen. Much to his (and Yuugi's disappointment) the Pharaoh had retreated to his Puzzle. When the time came to occupy the bleachers, they chose a spot where Yuugi and his shadow self could trade spots on the down low, reducing the threat of anyone noticing two people inhabited one.
Jou considered the suggestion before nodding in agreement, his blonde hair flopping down into his face. He swiped it away, antagonizing one of the cuts on his forehead. "Let's go meet him by the gym, then."
As the bleachers emptied, the pair wandered down and entered the school building through one of the side entrances. The clouds above had ceased their moist onslaught, but remained dark with the threat of more rain. Occasional sunlight cast ominous shadows against the tall stone structure.
Once inside, it was easy to make their way down to the athletics center. Most of the crowd had gone right for the parking lot in hopes of escaping before traffic really jammed up. They passed the occasional administrator in silence and made their way to the gym unmolested. Yuugi's bright violet eyes darted this way and that, hoping to find a sufficient enough deficit in the number of people around to let Yami out. No such luck. Every time they turned a corner, someone would be standing there.
Settle down, little one. I am perfectly content to wait until we get home.
You are not. Quit telling stories. You want to be out of that prison as much as I want you out.
That may be true, but I have the patience enough to wait until a better opportunity presents itself. You should learn the same.
Somewhere in the midst of his conversation, Yuugi felt a sharp jab in his side. Grunting a little, he glared up at Jou, and then looked at why the blonde had elbowed him.
Walking down the hallway towards them, Mokuba bouncing and talking away happily at his brother's side, the eyes of Seto Kaiba had locked on to the pair. His strides quickened and became more purposeful until he was almost dragging his younger brother behind him.
"Seto, hey…Seto! Slow down! What are you—Yuugi!" the raven-haired youngster abruptly let go of his brother's hand and sped off ahead of him. "Yuugi! What are you doing here? Did you watch the game?"
A small smile graced the lips of Jounouchi. The kid was fun and full of energy and life. His stare shifted to the older Kaiba. There was a man who usually sucked all the fun and life out of every situation. It was strange how the pair got along to begin with, but Mokuba obviously felt he had the greatest big brother in the world—and Jou would not try to change that opinion for anything. However, eyeballing the CEO from a distance, he looked more troubled than usual. His ice blue eyes were darkened with either his thoughts or his mood (or both) and he was looking at Yuugi with a frightening sort of intent. It wasn't an unattractive look, either, Jou noticed. It gave Seto a passionate, driven appearance; something completely different from the icy, untouchable, king-of-the world façade. His eyes were alive, and the stone setting of his jaw gave him a wild, sexy look.
Sexy? Using that word to describe Seto Kaiba? Jounouchi would be the first to admit the other man was classifiable as sexy. Men and women alike had their strengths and weaknesses to pulling off said look and Seto, unconsciously or not, seemed to be exuding it without really trying.
"May I speak to you, Yuugi…" he glanced quickly at Jounouchi. "…alone?" there was a serious bite to Kaiba's voice, and he spoke with such gravity that Jou immediately sidelined himself in favor of finding Honda.
Once alone, Seto turned to the small boy and spoke softly.
"Pegasus has found something in Egypt. Something big."
There was no need to elaborate the word 'something.' When it came to Seto and Yuugi speaking, there was only one subject of conversation: Duel Monsters.
An alarm bell went off in Yuugi's head. An alarm bell in the form of an old Pharaoh.
How big?
"How big?" Yuugi found himself asking. He blinked in momentary confusion, the power and energy behind Yami's own questioning had surged out without him realizing.
"Global."
"That's…pretty big. And you don't look happy. It sounds like something bad, as well as big."
"That might be an understatement. I'm leaving for Egypt…tomorrow."
If possible, Seto's eyes grew brighter. There was a deeper meaning behind the emphasis he used on 'tomorrow.' Yuugi was silent for a few minutes, pondering what Seto could possibly be asking for. Yami was the one to decode the hidden message.
"We'll be there."
Seto nodded once, and then extended his hand towards Mokuba, who looked back, horrified.
"You're leaving again, big brother? I thought you said you were staying longer this time!" big, dark doe eyes stared down their lighter relative, glossing over with what were the beginnings of tears.
"Hush, Mokuba. We'll talk later." And that was that. The Kaiba brothers walked off, hand in hand, one slightly more dejected than the other. In fact, Seto's posture had become more upright, if that was even possible, and the sway of his body as he walked even seemed happier, more relaxed; relieved, even.
Yuugi watched them go, a contemplative look on his face. He jumped when Jou's hand came to rest on his shoulder.
"I found Honda."
Jounouchi had in fact found their friend, sitting alone and dejected on the floor outside the locker room, still in his baseball uniform. It took some work, but the blonde finally convinced the brunette to move, with the argument that pouting wouldn't fix the situation.
"Are you alright, Honda?" Yuugi asked, patting his friend on the arm. He peered upwards through the golden veil that served as his bangs, almost enticing Honda to smile. Almost.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." He shrugged roughly, as if rolling it off his shoulders would roll it off his mind. "Why don't we go find something to eat?"
"I'm in!"
"You know, normally, I'd be all for it," Yuugi said, toning down the mischievous light in his eyes and replacing it with a serious look. "But we've got to get some sleep. Our plane for Egypt leaves tomorrow morning."
Honda's face deadpanned. "Our what leaves for where tomorrow?"
"Our plane leaves for Egypt tomorrow." Yuugi repeated. "With Kaiba."
The brunette took a second to pound his ear like he had water in it. "I'm sorry…our what leaves for where with who now?"
"Apparently Pegasus has made some huge discovery regarding Duel Monsters. He didn't quite specify…but I was hoping you guys would come with me to get the details. He didn't seem too keen on talking about it here." The shorter duelist relayed the information as if it were something completely natural; like they and their biggest rival were always traveling together whether for business or pleasure. Or the fact that they always traveled abroad on a whim.
Hiroto Honda peered down the pinnacle of his very pointed hair. Right now, Yuugi was receiving the most disapproving stare that he could muster: the rest was set aside for his baseball performance. "So why does he need us to go along? He's never needed us before." His voice grated deep with agitation and undisguised disgust.
Yuugi could only shrug in response. "I'm sure he doesn't exactly need us, per say. But he definitely seems happier knowing we're coming along. Probably because of this." He gestured briefly to the pyramid hanging from his neck. "Well, what's inside, anyway. Will you come with me tonight?"
"Can't we just wait until morning? Going to Kaiba's place is creepy to begin with…but going to Kaiba's place at night? Are you crazy?" Honda shivered for emphasis, clutching the blue uniform tightly.
"I'll go with you, Yuugi." Jou finally spoke up from the side. The other boy brightened.
"Really?"
"Sure, could be fun." Chocolate eyes darted as calmly as they could manage between the two in front of him. Honda was staring suspiciously and Yuugi was having trouble containing his joy.
"Great! Let's go!" He turned on his heel and started off towards the exit, getting lost in his head again.
"'Could be fun?'" Jounouchi waved off the raised eyebrow his friend was giving him.
"We all know Kaiba's beef with Yuugi, am I right?" he began walking as he explained the logic behind his decision. Honda nodded in agreement. "Given their past history, Kaiba could be looking to lure Yuugi into something dangerous, am I right?" now his tone was beginning to get downright sarcastic and the brunette could only glare. In reality, the only reason Jou was willing to accompany his friend was because he didn't want to go home alone.
"Alright, alright. I get it. I'll go home and cry myself to sleep later." He threw his hands up in resignation.
"I'll even give you a teddy bear so you can cuddle and suck your thumb. C'mon."
"By the way, dude, I gotta ask what happened to your face…"
#%
"Seto, what if—" Mokuba tried for the millionth time. This time, the older brother nipped the conversation in the bud.
"You're staying here whether you like it or not, kiddo. You can't come this time. I'm sorry."
"You promised—"
"I know what I promised, little brother. I'll make it up to you."
"That's what you said the last time and now you're—"
"Hush, Mokuba."
Under the steely gaze of the CEO across from him, Mokuba thumped further down in his seat, crossing his arms defiantly over his chest. He pretended to focus hard on something outside of the limo window.
Seto really did feel bad about having to pack up and leave again so suddenly; he'd only just gotten back from America, after all. His gaze softened as he looked over at his younger sibling. Mokuba was everything he had, and he knew how miserable he made the boy feel. Unfortunately, he had to remain rough to acclimate his brother to the harsh realities of life and to keep himself from making mistakes.
The limo pulled up to the Kaiba Mansion for the second time that day, and Mokuba exited angrily, stomping his feet on the pavement of the driveway. He disappeared silently into the house.
As the car pulled off, something white fluttered in front of Kaiba's face. It settled to an unsure stop at his leather shoes. Picking it up, Seto saw it as a soggy piece of paper. Turning it over, Seto saw the sketch Jounouchi had drawn of him earlier. Some of the pencil had been smudged a bit, and a pang of guilt hit his stomach.
The moment Jou and he had shared sitting in the classroom had been a very…different moment. Conflict usually brought the two together, and they were almost always at odds. This time, though, Jou had looked so content and peaceful bowed over his artwork that even the infamous Seto Kaiba hadn't been able to bring himself to break that peace. Something about the guy nagged at Seto…something…that was all too comforting and all too familiar at the same time. Seto smoothed the drawing out as best he could, then he turned and headed inside, still staring at it.
There were a lot of phone calls to be made.