Eleven
Seto Kaiba's emotions in that moment to Mokuba seemed like clear like crystal or possibly even glass. He was immensely happy over something as he walked in the door so late night. It made the raven haired boy rather curious…
"Onii-sama?" he asked.
Kaiba blinked for a moment, "What are you doing up this late?"
"Um…watching after your guests and ending the party a couple of hours ago… Where did you go?" Mokuba answered. Had Kaiba really forgot about the Masquerade?
"I needed to help someone out," Kaiba replied with a wave of his hand.
Mokuba stood up with a grin on his face, "It was the one girl huh?!"
"What makes you say that?"
"Because, Seto Kaiba doesn't court anyone but himself," Mokuba pointed out slyly as his lips formed a pout innocently on his tanned baby face.
"You know me all too well," Kaiba said with a sigh as he made his way up the long marble stairs of their mansion.
"I'm your brother! I'm supposed to!" exclaimed Mokuba.
"I suppose."
There was a long silence between the two siblings as they walked down the long hallway.
"So…who was she?" Mokuba asked after awhile.
"Someone," Kaiba answered.
"Oh come on Seto! I have the right to know as your brother, who has caught your attention! Is it someone from Roppongi?"
Kaiba let out a rare smile before answering, "Maybe." And with that he disappeared into his rather expanse bedroom closing the door with the sound of a faint click making Mokuba roll his eyes before shouting out, "You're no fun at all!"
Kaiba began changing feeling happier than he had been in a very long while.
The words from earlier-even while fake thrilled him. The endearment of 'Seto-kun' made his pale face have a tinge of pink as he thought about the blonde haired dancer. Tonight had made him feel hopeful about winning. Jounouchi was such a challenge. It was like winning over a foreign company when they wanted to try to buy you out.
The brunette slid into bed gazing up at the ceiling feeling his age and hopelessly in love. He had ideas after tonight. There were so many teasing ideas to make Jounouchi his. He was looking forward to school and even better, Tragic.
He sighed wondering how Jounouchi's life was for real. He remembered the bruises. Jounouchi always had a mask on-similar to tonight's physical mask. He was always placing up a beautiful front in place of his real self to distract the attention of a crowd whether he was dancing or at school. Kaiba was curious and wondered how well he could bring those masks down and how long it would be to know everything about him. He had an urge to use his money to look into his background but thought of it as cheating. It was so much more rewarding to have Jounouchi be willing…
Kaiba fell asleep peacefully with those last thoughts on his mind…
_-_-_-_-_
Jounouchi looked in the mirror grimacing at the fresh cut on his lip from his dad hitting him the other day ago and sighed in defeat. Make-up was not covering it up for anything and he really didn't want anyone to notice.
His friends would notice and wonder what his father was doing. The teachers would just making dumbass assumptions that it was a street fight and that he was a punk. And that one person… Jounouchi trembled at the thought of Kaiba noticing. It was definitely something to be avoided completely.
The blonde decided to head out, slinging his school bag over his shoulder, and have a bite of toast as he locked the door to the apartment complex behind him.
Tokyo mornings varied. Sometimes-depending on what route Jounouchi would take to school-it would be busy and full of business people in a rush to arrive at work and students in different uniforms that varied from a modern style to 'sera fuku' and gakuran.
Then at points, depending on how late or early it was. It would be a moderate crowd of people. But today, Jounouchi desired nothing but peace for a while, having a feeling that school would not be a walk in the park this morning… Because of this, Jounouchi took the back road where a small driving space and a creek were located. Only a few by passers took this route. The crowd mainly old couples out for a morning run or elementary school children who were cautious of their surroundings.
Occasionally Jounouchi would spot a middle or high schooler near the creek doing morning exercises or running, they were most likely on sports teams preparing to go to morning practice. This was of course, when the blonde haired male was exceptionally early for school which was not often if anyone looked at his school records.
Today however, Tokyo spared him, and the road was all his save for only a small instance when a very tiny elementary school girl passed by with her cute red backpack and hair brown pigtails. The morning was peaceful and Jounouchi savored every inch of it. The water from the running creek was calming and the cool morning air for once, relaxed his body.
Jounouchi arrived at school without a lecture for he was early and the bell signaling the start of class did not sound for another ten minutes. He plopped down in his seat as Yugi turned around to stare at him.
"That looks bad," he announced.
"Don't worry about it. It could be worse," Jounouchi assured.
Honda sighed, "Damn old man…"
"You guys honestly, it's not a big deal," snapped Jounouchi. He hated being fawned over or worried about. It felt humiliating. He was in high school and didn't need to be worried about when he could fully take care of himself.
Anzu had just approached, "Honestly Jounouchi, me being a girl can tell what make-up hides bruises. It's more than just the lip."
"Really?" Yugi asked squinted.
"Can we just drop it? Shit happens okay? Anyway, how was your time at Kaiba's party?" Jounouchi snapped again quickly as he changed the subject.
"It was pretty neat. We enjoyed it a lot," announced Yugi with a smile.
"It was rather amazing. We couldn't tell who was who all except for Kaiba of course," explained Anzu.
"You can spot that prick from a mile away," muttered Jounouchi sarcastically.
Honda laughed, "Well actually he gained a lot of attention on Saturday!"
Jounouchi hid his blush with his hand knowing why but knew his friends could not know about him being there dress as a girl… They'd never let him live it down. Especially since he had danced with the one and only…
"Does he always though? It was his own damn party!" he played off quickly.
"Well, he had a girl," Honda pointed out.
"What? That asshole? Really?!" Jounouchi pretended to be surprised.
"Yeah, it was crazy! We couldn't figure out who she was at all," Anzu exclaimed.
"It was almost like Cinderella!" Yugi laughed.
Jounouchi really needed to resist the urge to slap himself and while he was at it, also resist blushing. He couldn't let them know by any means. It would be blackmail for life.
"Oh honestly, whoever that girl was probably realized real quick that he was ice!"
"Just who is ice mutt?" asked a cool voice from across the room. A couple girls squealed from various places in the room.
"Kaiba-san, who was she?" one girl exclaimed.
"She was so lucky!"
"Did you see us there? We were there!"
"That one girl was too pretty! I bet it was all surgery! No woman is that pretty!"
"Who was she Kaiba-sama?"
Kaiba smirked making a couple girls swoon as Jounouchi rolled his eyes at the massive fan club of females.
"We'd like to know as well Kaiba," said Yugi.
Jounouchi head desked and wished he could have screamed.
"Dammit Yugi!"
The blonde feared for the worst knowing Kaiba would take glee in revealing that the woman was actually a he and was Jounouchi himself.
"It was someone special," Kaiba's voice announced making Jounouchi's head shoot up from his 'fetal' position.
"That's all?!" a girl exclaimed.
"It's quite frankly, none of your business whom I relate to," proclaimed Kaiba as he walked over to Jounouchi suddenly.
"What?" snapped Jounouchi annoyed at the male in front of him. Kaiba kept examining him.
"It's just like you to get yourself mangled up," Kaiba said.
"Ugh. Spare me today," groaned Jounouchi. He felt a headache coming on…
"Actually, I need to see you."
"Fuck off."
Kaiba chuckled before leaning down and blowing on his ear softly before murmuring gently into Jounouchi's ear, "I think you know the consequences if you don't do what you're told."
Jounouchi shuddered at the feeling… Kaiba knew all of his weak spots inside and out and it drove him crazy. There was no winning with him. Seto Kaiba would always beat you like the prodigy he was. It was like his born instinct to outwit someone and if he couldn't-he would gather up dirt to control them like puppets.
"Argh! You don't quit do you?! I hate you!" growled Jounouchi in frustration as he shot up out of his chair and moved outside of the classroom ahead of Kaiba who strode to follow leaving the crowd of students utterly confused at what was going on between their classmates.
Jounouchi took the steps up to the roof swinging the door open and walking as far away from Kaiba as he could possibly get before whirling around and glaring at him.
"What the hell do you want?" he hissed.
"That's quite a way to thank me for everything on Saturday Pup," Kaiba mused.
"Whatever. We're on old terms now. Last time I checked, I saved your brother a while back and you just happened to repay me," Jounouchi explained.
"I thought that debut was paid after Battle City, and if not-your gifts definitely repented," Kaiba declared eyeing Jounouchi's left arm.
"I never asked for any of that," Jounouchi spat.
There was a silence between them for only seconds before Kaiba spoke up, "It's in the papers. We had paparazzi."
"Wha-?"
"They didn't follow us outside of the grounds but we are recognized in the front page of most newspapers. I decided to inform you because I know you're too dense to pick one up," said Kaiba.
"WHAT?! No way! Hell no! Can't you get them to take all of it off of the-"began Jounouchi in panic.
"Half of Japan as probably already read it by now Mutt," interrupted Kaiba.
"What all did they see?" Jounouchi questioned.
"See for yourself," Kaiba said before handing over his keitai. On the screen was a news article about him and Seto Kaiba… Nobody had identified Jounouchi thankfully, but it still appalled him as he saw a picture of him, masked, hand in hand with a very handsome Seto Kaiba. They were most likely heading to the to the ballroom floor when the photograph had managed to be taken.
Jounouchi scanned the article.
Seto Kaiba's Heart Stolen At His Formal Masquerade Event?
Saturday evening, many teenagers from Domino High School in Tokyo as well as the sons and daughters of many business entrepreneurs were busy being dolled up and masked for a rare occasion held by Seto Kaiba of Kaiba Corporation. While many were seen chatting and mingling with people within their age range from different families and wealth-the heir of his very own throne made his entrance Saturday night clad in very impressive blue and silver attire. While Seto Kaiba was expected to receive attention at his own formal event that afternoon, he had gained in a very surprising matter.
Spotted- a newcomer appearing just minutes into his welcoming speech in a red and black gown by an unknown designer-a blonde masked female that happened to gain our very own Cooperate Executive's attention and possibly-his heart.
The lovely couple shared a couple of impressive dances on the ballroom floor, gaining the attention of hundreds of onlookers before mysteriously disappearing into the Kaiba Manor later on into the night.
Has Seto Kaiba gained a love interest? In one of our articles a year back, the young seventeen year old stated that he was not interested in 'useless love affairs' and did not see himself finding a soul mate anytime soon. Saturday evening however, has proven most wrong, and crushed the hearts of many single females that would be eligible for the heir of the cooperation.
The biggest mystery that everyone has been mulling over has been who this girl is? A couple girls from Domino high stated that she did not look familiar to their school unless a lot of work had been done to someone. Could this possibly be a daughter of a businesswoman or man? Or perhaps this in a celebrity encounter considering that in many occasions-Seto Kaiba has been spotted in Roppongi with Japan's biggest pop idol, Miss Kotarou Ayaka who quickly stated for us Sunday afternoon, "Kaiba-kun and I are not a couple-I consider us acquaintances at the most but nothing more. However, I am curious to who has finally captured his heart and wish them the best of luck. I'm hoping their relationship as a couple will last-Seto Kaiba has really needed somebody to keep him grounded within his life."
Seto Kaiba himself has refused to give us any statement in the mean time and nobody has reported as of yet on who this lovely girl is. Everyone is dying to know just who has captured the youngest billionaire's heart!
Jounouchi blushed furiously as he continued reading before screaming, "Bullshit!"
"Last time I checked that was for real," Kaiba pointed out.
"H-How do you plan to deal with this?" asked Jounouchi.
"Well as much as it seems appealing to have the press eat this story up and have my stocks rise, I would rather not let them know I was tricked into dancing with a lousy dog," said Kaiba.
"Che…"
"However, if you want to put up the front for me puppy… I think it would be amusing and haven't you wanted your name in lights?" Kaiba asked.
"Not like that," Jounouchi snapped.
"Oh? Last time I checked you seemed pretty desperate at Tragic," pointed out Kaiba.
"I want to win my own way!"
"And your own way is?"
"Winning through my own talents! I don't want to win through some lousy paparazzi scandal that's been blow way out of proportion!" Jounouchi exclaimed.
"They know you dance well," Kaiba said.
"Kaiba…" warned Jounouchi.
"Think about it Mutt. It doesn't take a lot to think. I gain from having certain girls leave me the hell alone and I can also have my stocks rise so I can release my next console by the fall of next year; and you can finally gain the attention of some professional chorographers to hone your dancing skill and possibly get famous and earn the money to have your sister return to Japan fully seeing," Kaiba explained.
"As tempting as it sounds I refuse," Jounouchi said.
Kaiba sighed pulling the last card from his trick list, "Oh? I thought you were such a good older brother who would do anything for his little sister? You do want to get her away from Makoto-san yes?"
Jounouchi flinched at the situation knowing that what Kaiba was saying made perfect sense. He shuddered at the thought of doing this… Pretending to be Kaiba's lover-inside it hurt him horribly. He actually did love Kaiba. He had fallen in love hard and was on the brink of infatuation. However, he knew this was a fake fairy tale and not the real thing. He did not want to be heartbroken.
"Name your terms," he said.
"Just be you and be my pretend boyfriend," Kaiba stated.
Jounouchi felt his heart hurt at the word 'pretend' and was confused why Kaiba would want this.
"Boyfriend?" Jounouchi questioned.
"Unless you prefer cross-dressing, I think that it makes things easier being you," Kaiba said.
"You're okay with being-"began Jounouchi.
"Homosexual? I see no such thing. I am nothing and that term is tacky," Kaiba interrupted with a wave of his hand.
"How do we…" Jounouchi's voice trailed off awkwardly not knowing how to put it into a proper statement.
"Expose ourselves?" Kaiba asked.
"Yeah…"
The brunette suddenly drew nearer drawing Jounouchi to step backwards cautiously. A grin was on Kaiba's face as he kept stepping forward until Jounouchi jumped as he was backed up into the wall ledge.
"We expose ourselves by doing this," Kaiba whispered, cupping Jounouchi's face into his palms before gently kissing his lips.
The blonde felt himself melt into Kaiba's kiss and hotly kissed back loosing himself into all that was well…Kaiba. He was so dominating and his hands were ice cold but none of that mattered. It was beyond what Jounouchi had ever dreamed and he admitted begrudgingly that he enjoyed this immensely.
"W-What are you doing?" he found himself murmuring gently.
A flash of a camera from the school grounds below them made Jounouchi jump and push away quickly as Kaiba smirked knowingly placing an arm around the lithe male as they were exposed to a horde of stunned paparazzi who were restricted by the front school gates but got a pretty clear view of his and Jounouchi's make out session.
There were loud voices-questions, more flashes from blubs of cameras… He found teachers and the headmaster darting out of the school wondering what the hell was going on and why there was a huge crowd of photographers and reporters in the front of school grounds. Students soon followed in awe.
"Kaiba-san, is it true that this was the *ahem* female that you were seeing Saturday evening?"
"How far has this relationship gone? How long have you both known each other?"
And finally the gutsy question from one reporter came out-the one that Jounouchi was dreading the most, "Are you two gay?"
There were gasps from students and staff who were finally catching on to what had just happened before they had come upon the scene of reporters.
Jounouchi groaned… He had no idea what he had just got himself into…
(A/N: Muwahaha! Sorry it took so long to update! School has started for me and I've been extremely busy with things and somewhat uninspired. I'm hoping that this chapter and new "plot" totally makes up for the wait that you guys had to endure. This fic is now one-hundred pages long! Uwa! I'm proud of myself!!! ^_^ -cheers-
Thank you all for the sweet reviews. It made me VERY determined to finish this chapter up by this weekend even if I had to drink…two…three Rockstars to keep myself up to actually finish this? xD Point is, I enjoy reading people's feedback and it's good to know that people are reading. Grah! Some of you all so sincere. All of the reviews have made me smile and literally spazz out loud and all. –hugs you all- I'm gonna put my heart and soul into this! Rwar!
And eventually I WILL have the art I did for this fic up. -_- I just gotta wait for a functional printer to arrive and hope that it loves my computer bunches~ If you all have designs and fanart feel free to share though! It would thrill me lots!
Until next chapter! *chu*)