Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Check Yes or No ❯ Chapter 4

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

If ever there was a defining moment in Kaiba Seto's life, now was that time. The letter he had written to Katsuya was sitting on his cherry wood desk and he was pacing back and forth in front of it, his shoes sounding against the hardwood floor. He had not dared open the letter while at school. That would raise too many questions. And so he had taken it home, aiming to open and read it while in the privacy of his own office. Now, however, he could not bring himself to unfold the piece of paper, the anxiety of what it contained tearing him apart. He sweated nervously, pacing back and forth, back and forth, his hands clasped behind his back. He shot occasional glances at the paper sitting innocently on his desk, mocking him with its fine blue lines and signs of black ink that had bled through. He growled and muttered under his breath, frustrated with himself at how childish he was acting. It was just a stupid letter, that was all it was. Still, it seemed like an intimidating monster laying on his beautiful desk.

"Seto, are you okay?"

His brother's voice shook him out of his angry trance and he looked up, startled. "How long have you been there, Mokuba?"

The younger Kaiba shrugged. "A few minutes. I heard your footsteps from downstairs. What's wrong, Seto? You don't look so good."

Seto huffed and looked away. "It's nothing I can't handle Mokuba. Just go back to what you were doing and--"

"What's this?" Mokuba inquired, picking up that same dreaded piece of paper.

"Mokuba, put that down," Seto instructed fiercely.

"Why?" Mokuba asked, curiously. His brother never hid anything from him, and it perplexed him as to why he would do so now.

"It's not for you." Seto's face looked flushed, a state of emotion Mokuba had never seen him in before. It was all so interesting.

"Really? I wonder what it is then," he teased, acting as if he was going to open it.

"Mokuba!" Seto protested. He quickly joined his brother by his desk and tried to take it from his hands.

"Come on, Seto! Let me see!" Mokuba insisted, pulling away from his brother's grasp. Seto reached for the paper again, but in his hurry he failed to see how the rug slightly came up from the floor. It was on this his foot caught, forcing him to lose his balance. He stumbled, rammed his hip into the side of the desk, and landed quite awkwardly on the floor on the other side. Mokuba had a difficult time keeping himself from laughing as he looked down at his older brother at his new position.

"You okay, Seto?" he asked, his eyes failing to hide his amusement.

"I'm fine," Seto replied, getting himself into a sitting position.

"Good. Then I'll just see what this letter's about!" Mokuba giggled and ran across the room. Seto attempted to jump up and run after him, but his head hit the top of the desk and he was forced back down to the floor.

"'Jounouchi,'" came Mokuba's voice from across the room. "'As you can probably assume, this is not easy for me to write, nor bring to your attention.'"

"Mokuba!" Seto growled, finally getting to his feet, holding the top of his head with one hand.

"'I have had this thought cycling through my mind for a while now, and I finally decided to investigate it further.'"

By this time, Seto had stumbled across the room to his brother's side and as he tried to seize the paper out of his hand, Mokuba dodged, using his short stature to his advantage while he played keep-away with his brother.

"'I must know how you regard me. Indicate below if you by chance think of me as more than a friend.'" Mokuba dove between Seto's legs and over to finally jump into his brother's office chair. "Boy Seto, you sure don't know how to write a love letter."

"That is none of your concern!" Seto snapped. "Now give it back."

"Fine," Mokuba sighed, placing it face-down on the desk. "You didn't even look at what he checked, did you?"

Seto fell silent as he lumbered up to the desk and seized the paper. He folded it back up without letting his gaze fall on the other side.

"Seto, don't you want to know?" Mokuba inquired. "I could tell you if you don't want to look."

"I don't need your help right now, Mokuba," Seto responded. "Go do your homework or something. I have to think about this."

"But I don't have any homework," Mokuba frowned.

Seto flashed his ice-blue eyes at his brother and Mokuba said no more. He simply went out of the room and closed the door quietly behind him.

====

Katsuya Jounouchi sat in the first class of the day, his hands clasped in front of him on the desk and his left leg jumping in his nervousness. He had actually gotten to class early that day, in anticipation of Kaiba Seto's early arrival. Not even Yugi had not gotten there yet, and he was alone with Setsuko and the creepy girl in the corner who made weird hissing noises whenever anyone got too close. Jounouchi shifted uncomfortably, waiting for a good five minutes that seemed like an hour until Kaiba finally graced the doorway with his presence. Kaiba froze there in the doorframe and his blue eyes met with Jounouchi's rich chocolate ones. A moment passed, and then another, and then Honda groaned something about Kaiba being in the way. The taller brunette moved to one side, but still did not approach the blonde. Jounouchi licked his dry lips and swallowed nervously.

"What's his problem?" Honda frowned, taking his seat. He looked over at Jounouchi and noted the same strange, distant look on his face that was on Kaiba's. "What the hell's wrong with you?"

Jounouchi and Kaiba continued locking eyes until finally Kaiba took a few steps forward, and stopped directly in front of Jounouchi's desk.

"Uh…" Jounouchi ventured, looking up at Kaiba's tall figure. "Hi."

"Hello," Kaiba responded before taking his seat. He left his briefcase in his lap.

"You uh, sent me that letter," Jounouchi said.

Kaiba nodded. "I did."

There was silence and Jounouchi ran a hand through his blonde bangs. "I uh, checked it. Did you see?"

Kaiba nodded. "I did."

"Oh." Then there was silence again. By this time, Yugi and Anzu had come in the room, and were watching him and Kaiba, as was Honda. Jounouchi swallowed with great difficulty.

"Is everything all right, Jou?" Yugi inquired, starting to walk over to him, but the creepy girl threw a pencil at him.

"It's cool," Jounouchi replied. He looked at Kaiba who was fiddling with the lock on his briefcase. "So uh… Are we going out?"

Kaiba looked at him. "I never asked you out."

"What the hell's going on here?" Honda asked, but no one bothered to answer him.

"Oh." Jounouchi lowered his head.

Kaiba looked the blonde over. "Did you want me to ask you out?"

Jounouchi shifted uncomfortably again. "I uh… I dunno."

The brunette frowned. "It's not that difficult a question. Either you did or you didn't."

Jounouchi held his breath. "I did," he said quietly.

There was another awkward silence. Jounouchi shifted in his seat and Kaiba put a nervous hand behind his head. He looked around at all of the people looking at them. Even Setsuko had set her annoying pointer stick down to see what was going on. The pressure was getting to him, and after a few moments he quickly turned back around and set his briefcase on his desk. He opened it and rustled some papers to make himself look busy. Eventually, everyone lost interest and Setsuko began the lesson. Kaiba breathed a sigh of relief. Now that the eyes were off of him, he could put his pride on the shelf and do what he had aimed to do since the night before. He pulled out a sheet of paper from his briefcase, folded it up, and reached behind him. The edge of the paper brushed against Jounouchi's knee, and the blonde looked up confusedly. He took the paper from the brunette, opened it up, and read it.

Jounouchi,

Do you love me? Do you want to be my friend? And if you do, well then don't be afraid to take me by the hand if you want to. I think this is how love goes; Check yes or no.

[ ] Yes [ ] No


Jounouchi smiled to himself, reading over the words. He pulled out his pencil and checked the appropriate box, then folded the paper before poking Kaiba in the back with it. The brunette reached behind him and took it. Their hands touched, sending a warm sensation chilling through their arms. Kaiba shivered a bit, then pulled the paper out to look at it. Unfolding it, he saw the box he wanted was checked, and he almost smiled, but suddenly he found the paper yanked out of his hand

"Mr. Kaiba, don't you think you're a bit old for passing notes?" Setsuko grinned from ear to ear as she read the note, then folded it and placed it in her breast pocket. "Why don't we go over the material of this after school this afternoon."

Both Kaiba and Jounouchi's faces had turned bright red as the blonde hid his face on his desk and the brunette imagined where he would like to shove that damn stick.