Chapter Eight
Authoress: Keishi
BIG FAT WARNING:
Contains m/m relationships
ONLY read if you are of age and open-minded!!!
Disclaimer
a meaty hand clapped him on the shoulder.
"Whoa there, pony-boy, where's the fire?" Honda asked, glancing at his friend.
Jou groaned. "I got your fire right here." With that, he flipped off the taller boy, grinning half-heartedly.
Anzu playfully whapped both boys with her bag, nearly decapitating Honda. "Stop it, you guys," she scolded.
Jou's grin widened in apology, mirrored by Honda.
It was Anzu who finally asked, as they filed out into the rapidly filling hallway. "So who sent you flowers, Jounouchi?" Her face was tilted in a questioning, innocent smile, but Katsuya swore he saw a malicious gleam hidden within it's depths.
"Yeah, who would send _you_ roses, eh Jou?" mimicked Honda. "Unless they were trying to improve your appearance, in that case--"
"Jou got roses?" A curious voice piped up behind Hiroto, interrupting him. The pointy-haired teen whirled around as Jou said a quick prayer to whatever deity for the floor to open up and swallow him whole.
"That's right. Hey Otogi, Bakura," greeted Anzu. Jou's eyes flew to the pair. Perhaps, salvation, if he could play his cards right.
Otogi stepped over to join the circle of friends, Ryou a constant shadow at his elbow. The emerald-eyed boy glanced at the box in Jou's hands. "Let's see, then."
"No," Jounouchi clutched the floral box possessively, shaking his
head.
"You never answered our question, Jounouchi," admonished Honda, indicating him and Anzu. "Who sent them?"
"Yeah, who sent the flowers, Jou?" reiterated Ryou, stepping in front of the blond. Anzu and Otogi looked curious.
"I don't know, okay?! The card was unsigned!" exclaimed Katsuya, exasperated. He tried to push his way through the impromptu trial, but Honda's hand back on his shoulder kept him held fast. "Lemme go, Honda, I mean it," he growled.
Ignoring his protests, Hiroto asked, "What does the card say? Surely that would give us a clue."
Jou had had enough. Using his last line of defense, he whirled on Honda and dislodged his grip, pushing his way towards Otogi. He hissed in the green-eyed boy's ear, "Dice Boy, you better get them
off my back, or I'll tell them who was licking you like a lollipop during school the other day in the bathroom." Jou watched Ryuji's eyes widen as the words struck home.
"Uh, guys, maybe we should lay off Jounouchi, huh?" Ryuji said, a bit nervously.
Jou muttered a quick thanks as he made his escape, skirting the raven-haired boy and his cohort, walking swiftly down the hallway. What the hell was Seto _thinking_, sending flowers to him at
school? 'What, did he _want_ me to get killed?!'
'Still,' Jou continued as he glanced down at the white box, 'it was a nice gesture.' He smiled indulgently, thinking about the words on the card. 'Yeah, it was nice.'
--
Seto hadn't seen Katsuya the entire day during school, pointedly leaving the blond alone, hoping that the roses he sent would do the job for him. He wasn't sure what sort of outcome he expected to come
from the gift; he just hoped it would be a positive one.
Walking through the gymnasium, Seto tried to squash the trepidation thrumming through his veins. His heart was attempting a suicide dive into his stomach, and his palms were suddenly having a hard time
trying to hang on to his briefcase, but outwardly Seto was his normal cool, collected self. He reached the now-too-familiar door of thelocker room and pushed it open-- finding it empty, devoid of even a
sign that the blond had been there. No book bag shoved underneath a bench greeted him, no strewn clothes silently mocked his anal-retentive ways. This time his heart really did plummet into his
belly, and Kaiba felt sick. He somehow walked on what felt like rubber legs to the nearest bench and lowered his body onto it. Katsuya hated him, he knew it. The blond hated him for what he had done, and now Seto was never going to get the chance to say all the things he had practiced in his head.
The practical side of Kaiba, which usually dominated the brunet's thought process, was trying to reason that maybe the blond was running late, perhaps a teacher kept him after class for one thing or
another. After all, Jou wasn't the most disciplined student in the school, and often had to stay behind as punishment for whatever prank or outspoken comment he had pulled that day. The rest of Kaiba,
however, screamed that Jou really wasn't coming, and it was all Seto's fault for acting like such a dumbass and freezing up over one kiss. One kiss that sent Kaiba's entire body on fire just by thinking about it. The brunet was an amalgam of warring emotions.
Forcing himself back into Ice Prince mode, Kaiba yanked off his clothes and put on his gym uniform, scowling down at the cheap material. He shoved open the door leading out onto the empty field and began warming up. Still no sign of Jou.
Soon he was running at a goodly pace, urging his body to its limits, coaxing more and more out of it at each turn. He ran as if his life depended on it, intent on running the bottled-up passion out of his mind, his thoughts, his body. Seto nearly collapsed when he finally slowed his light-speed tempo, his entire body protesting the abuse he had put it through.
Ending his impromptu racing session, Kaiba limped into the shower area of the locker room. He stripped right there, not caring if his gym clothes got wet or not. Turning on the pulsing hot spray, Seto
stepped under the water and let it knead his tired, stressed muscles, reveling for a minute in the heat and intensity of the shower.
----
TBC.
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