Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ A Black Dragon's Graveyard ❯ I'm Sorry ( Chapter 5 )

A Black Dragon's Graveyard

Chapter 5

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Was this déjà vu or something? I could hear the alarm going off on my clock, my head was buried underneath the blankets trying to ignore the irritating beeping like yesterday. I threw the blankets off my body and winced when a sharp pain shot into my scalp just from that simple movement I reached up and gently rubbed my head. I felt cloth. "Why do I have bandages on my head?" I asked myself. "Oh yeah. That's right. Jou and Bakura had a battle last night." He grunted as he, once again, slid out of bed and walked across the hall to knock on his father's bedroom door. "Hey, dad?"

"I'm not in there, son," my father said as he came down the hallway staring considerately at me. "Are you sure you want to go to school? It seems you had a rough night."

I stared at him dumbfounded. It's not like I didn't remember the attempts my darker half was trying to give my father. I felt like breaking down and crying into his chest. "Dad…I…I'm sorry…"

"For what?" He asked.

"Don't be stupid, dad," I stated bluntly. "You know exactly what I'm sorry for." Trying to resist the urge to hug him, I turned away, about to go back to my room and get dressed. I was completely caught off guard for what happened next. My father wrapped his arms around my chest and rested his head against mine gently so not to hurt me anymore than I was. He was crying! I wrapped my hand around one of his arms and allowed my tears to fall as well.

"I'm just glad you're back to normal," he whispered. "What happened to you last night?"

"I don't know," I lied. I know exactly what happened. I just didn't want dad to worry.

He pulled back, but still hugged me close. "It was like you were a completely different person. As if someone took over your body."

"Maybe that's what happened," I moderately joked, trying to alleviate things. "I felt like I was possessed by someone, but not really. Ya know what I mean, pops?"

My father nodded, I could tell by the way his chest was moving against my back. "I don't want it to happen again," he demanded.

I untangled myself from his grasp so I could turn and smile up at him. "I promise, dad."

He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me forward. "Good!" He kissed my forehead and released me. "What would you like for breakfast? Since you have time now."

I laughed. "I'll have some of that chocolate cake!" I chirped.

"I'm sure you'll be wired in school then," he chuckled.

I nodded and joked, "I thought that's what you wanted, dad."

He snorted. "Not so much that you're going to get in trouble."

//Would you stop it already! I have a headache!//, Jou commanded more than questioned.

/I know. I'm you, remember?/, I smirked.

Jou grumbled and dropped it. //I guess I have your father to repay for saving us last night, huh?//.

I sighed as I approached the kitchen and sat on my stole. Dad handed me my slice of cake on a plate and I ate it in silence, with the exception of my mind. /Yeah, you do owe him. And, since I didn't get to eat the last slice of chocolate cake, I'm going to savor this…instead of inhale it!/, I barked. I felt him cringe in regret.

//Sorry. I was just so psyched to see Bakura yesterday.//, he murmured. //And stop yelling!//.

/Yeah, and looked where it got ya./, I grumbled.

//…//. He snorted. //Who asked you anyways?//.

I stifled a laugh with a bite of my cake, which probably wasn't such a great idea. I almost choked on it.

Father noticed and handed me a glass of water. I downed that quickly, trying to regain my breath. "Are you alright?" He asked.

I nodded with a grin. "Yeah, I'm fine." I stared at my empty plate and stood up. "I'm going to get dressed now and get to school."

"Before you leave, I need to change your bandages," he said and playfully poked the bandages.

I giggled and pushed his hand away. "Yeah, yeah. I'll remember." I quickly ran back to my room to grab my uniform and get dressed. I headed to the bathroom and brushed my teeth. //Yuck! What in the hell did you just put in our mouth? It's disgusting.//, Jou gagged.

/It's toothpaste. The reason it tastes so nasty is because chocolate and toothpaste don't mix well./, I explained. I had to admit though, Jou had a good point. I had to resist gagging myself. I rinsed my mouth out and called for my dad to change my bandages.

He came in with fresh dressing in his hand and clips in his other. He set them aside on the sink's counter and untied my old bandages and then threw them into the trash can. He cleaned the wound again and wrapped the fresh wrappings around me head. "There ya go kiddo." He patted my back. "You better get going before you're late."

I nodded with a smile and hugged him before I dashed out of the house to catch the bus. I almost didn't catch it. It probably wouldn't have mattered. I still had plenty of time to spare and I could have walked to school. However, if I walked I wouldn't be able to talk to Tristan and Yugi. I don't know about Ryou. I'm kind of worried that Bakura would be lingering in hopes to slaughter me. I shuttered mentally.

//Damn it! You had to remind me, didn't you?//, Jou scolded.

I laughed. /Sorry, but it's kind of hard to forget something that almost ends your life in one night./.

Jou snorted. //Eh. I could have taken care of him.//, he lied.

/Yeah, I bet. It was like waking up to a nightmare with your memories. I saw everything that happened last night./, I mentioned. I could feel him blush in shame. /It's not your fault though. It's been a while since you last saw him. You're kind of rusty./.

//Am not!//, he exploded. //He just caught me by surprise.//.

I cringed. /Okay, I'm sorry./.

//Let's drop it, okay?//, he sighed.

I nodded. /Yeah, sure./. I frowned. I knew he was disappointed in himself. He felt horrible for breaking the promise he had made to me, but there was nothing he could have done, not until Ryou stepped in. I'm glad he did. He's a good friend. I don't think I could have faced a yami like his. I smiled when I saw, out of the bus' window, Yugi turning the corner of the school's fence. When the bus stopped, I quickly raced after the smaller teen. "Hey, Yug. How have you been?"

Yugi looked up at me with a welcoming smile and then gapped at me in sheer shock. "Joey! What happened to your head?"

I looked up at my bandages and grinned. "Oh, I had an accident last night," I said with small pretense. I guess it would be an accident, considering I was the one that didn't start anything. It was Jou. I blame it all on Jou! I chuckled when I received an odd gaze from Yugi. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."

//He looks like Pharaoh Atemu.//, Jou commented.

I blinked. /Atemu?/

//It's a long story. Never mind.//

That's when I realized that Jou wasn't acting like himself. It was like his whole body had gone numb on him. He wasn't very responsive like he used to be. Was it because of the accident last night? Is he more injured than I thought he was?

"Hey, Joey?" Yugi asked. "Is that a new earring you have?" He pointed my left ear with an amazed smiled.

I nodded while sticking my hands into my pockets. "Yep. I just got it pierced yesterday. It's cool, huh?"

Yugi giggled. "Yeah. I wish I had the guts to do something like that."

"Don't worry about it Yugi. You'll know when you're ready." I placed my hand on his shoulder and steered him toward the school's entrance. Just when I was about to mention Jou, Tristan butted in by grabbing my uniform collar and buried his knuckles in the small of my back in a friendly gesture. It didn't startle me as much as it did Jou. I could feel him tense and about to get seriously ticked. It took everything in me to hold him and from beating the crap out of my best friend. /It's okay, Jou. He does it all the time. He doesn't mean anything by it./, I sighed.

Jou grumbled and went back to whatever yamis did in a host's body. I think Yugi noticed the stern look cross over my face and gave me a concerned blink. I smiled at him in reassurance and then turned to Tristan. "Hey, buddy! Where have you been?" I grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it in a warning.

Tristan understood and just grinned. "Yeah, sorry about that buddy. I've been talking to Téa about the next soccer game."

I nodded and realized that we were missing someone. "Hey, where is Ryou?" I scanned the hallway of the horde of students for the familiar, albino.

Yugi sat down on the bench while grabbing his indoor shoes from the cubby. "He didn't come today. He called me and said something about fearing to face someone cause of what he did to them."

I smiled sheepishly. "Now, what could Ryou do to anyone than give them an innocent look?"

//Yeah…right. Why are you lying to him?//, Jou asked a bit miffed.

/Cause I'm not ready for him to know about you yet./, I argued.

//You might as well tell…//, he started until Tristan intervened unwarily.

"Guess what I found out?" Tristan asked.

Good old Tristan to the rescue. "What?" He's abnormally hyper this morning. To get him that excited, you needed a wild orgy on his bed.

"Seto Kaiba is back again."

"Two days in a row? Jeeze, that's his all time record for coming to school," I mocked. "I wonder what's wrong with him? Did he lose his business or something?"

"Doubt that," Yugi laughed. "I think he doesn't have anything to take care of at work as of late."

I snickered. "That's unlikely."

After we were done changing our shoes and gathering our supplies we headed to class. We had plenty of spare time to gossip, so we talked about Yugi's new duel monsters that he was going to use in the Kaiba Games that was coming up soon. I couldn't help but also feel that Jou was being peculiarly quite. When I first met him, I thought he was just going to be this annoying parasite in my mind and bug the living hell out of me and my friends. He's doing the exact opposite. /Is everything that Yami ever told me about Jou even true?/, I asked myself, forgetting that Jou would probably be listening.

//What's true about me?//, he raised.

I fell back a bit. I have obviously forgotten he <i>was</i> there. /Oh, nothing./, I chuckled nervously. /Absolutely nothing./.

//Don't push it. I can still read your mind.//, he growled.

I felt this pressure on one side of my head. I'm guessing that he was studying my thoughts. I waited a moment before I asked. /Hey, have you figured it out?/.

He was silent for a moment before responding. //Yugi has a yami?//.

/Yeah. Why, are you surprised?/, I asked.

//No, not really.//, he murmured. //Your friend is right though. I was a torment in the past, including with Bakura around. But, since I'm back, everything is so new and it's hard for me to adjust.//

His voice was quite, and longing. /Can I ask you something? You don't have answer if you don't want to./

//Go ahead.//.

/If you could go back, would you change the mishaps you've done?/. There! I asked, and I was a bit impressed with my question, if not proud. I don't normally asked questions like that out of the blue. It just told people that I was sentimental.

He knew I was astonished with my question and chuckled. //Yeah, I guess I would. I was going to anyways before I died.//, he sighed.

/What changed your mind?/. Another good question. I was on a role.

He smirked at me. //You're an idiot, you know that? //

I blushed. /Yeah, but I do it to make the people around me feel better. / I realized then that he wasn't going to answer my question, so I didn't push it.

"Hey, Joey! Are you alright man?" Tristan asked as he patted my face.

I growled at him and pushed him away. "Yeah, I just had to relax a bit. My head hurts." I pointed to the bandages to prove my point.

He chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. Alright, I believe ya."

I glared at him and then noticed Yugi's stare. Okay, it wasn't Yugi to be exact, I could tell by the smaller teen's ruby eyes. They weren't amethyst like they usually were. Yugi's gaze then averted to the doorway.

I turned to see what he was staring at. "Seto?" I gasped. I also felt a sharp jolt in my spine, like Jou also realized who it was. /What's the matter with you?/, I asked, holding my head as the pain caught up with my skull. /It's not like you know him./.

//Uh…nothing…//, Jou stuttered and relaxed a bit. He seemed to fade slowly.

Jeeze, I wish I was like him and able to read his mind, to see what disturbed him like that. My eyes widened in distress when Kaiba started to approach me. Why was he moving toward me? Did I have neon lights flashing `Seto Kaiba'?

"So the rumors are true. You do have your ear pierced. What happened? Did you have a fight with the gun-clamp as well, and lose?" He motioned toward the dressing on my head and laughed. "I always knew you were pathetic!"

God, I hated him! I wanted to punch him, even if it was just once. Of course, knowing him he would grab my wrist before it even made contact to his face, and throw me clear across the room. I felt an emotion of hurt course through me. Was that Jou? I wouldn't think a comment like Kaiba's would bother him; maybe piss him off. But hurt? I lowered my head, hiding my eyes. I could feel tears burning, wanting to be released. What was wrong with Jou? I winced when I could feel Kaiba's eyes burning into my skull.

"That's right puppy! Look down when your master is here," Kaiba sneered.

I growled softly and watched as his feet moved him away from me. /What's wrong with you, Jou?/.

//…//.

/Jou?!/.

//NOTHING! Just leave me alone!//, Jou exclaimed causing me to shutter.

There had to be something wrong. He was weeping. I could feel it. It almost made me want to cry. I could feel my friends staring at my back, wondering what just happened. I can already guess what they were thinking. `Joey would never take comments like that. What's wrong with him? He had to have a remark for Kaiba.'

To Be Continued

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A/N: Awe, poor Jou! I want to hug him and make him feel better! T_T

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