Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Just Before Dawn ❯ Just Before Dawn ( Chapter 1 )

Just Before Dawn

 

“Mr. Wheeler! Pay attention! Stop watching the clock!” Joey started and looked at the teacher who was glowering at him.

“Sorry Mrs. Blaine,” Joey apologized, but before he went back to his work he glanced at the clock. There were five more minutes until the end of the period and he desperately need to get out to do something. Yugi looked at his friend curiously, after that day Kaiba came in late Joey had been acting a little strange. It was driving Yami up the wall because whenever he went to say something mean about Kaiba or to criticize him, Joey would defend him almost to the death. Kaiba's empty desk in the back of the room struck them all as odd, but Kaiba had been coming in late and missing class a lot; it was starting to be normal. Occupied with his own thoughts Joey almost missed the note that was flicked at him by Yugi.

Hey Joey,

 

What's going on? Is something wrong? You seem kind of distracted.

 

Yugi

Sighing Joey tried to figure a way to calm Yugi's worry and keep Kaiba's secret. Wracking his brain for something Joey didn't notice the teacher loom over him and snatch the note away. Had the blond been paying attention and on his toes he would have been able to hide the note, but he was a little too frazzled. When the bell rang he dashed out of the class trying to avoid both Yugi and the teacher. It had been a week since Kaiba had called him and he was worried about him. The poor guy had so much on his plate and he was afraid to talk to his brother.

“Joey.” Looking up Joey stifled a groan, it was Yami and he was in for it. “Can I talk to you for a moment?” All he wanted to say was `no,' but he had to deal with his friends sooner or later.

“Of course Yami,” Joey said flashing a grin at his friend. “What's up?” Yami was watching him with concerned crimson eyes and Joey knew it was going to take a lot to fool him.

“We're all worried about you Joey, you've been acting kind of off lately.” Yami tried to pick his words carefully because he didn't want to offend his friend. “Yugi is especially is worried about you.” Joey pulled the first thing off the top of his head and used it.

“I know and I'm sorry it's just my pen pal is having some problems and I'm kind of worried for him.” Joey crossed his toes and hoped that Yami's Gods wouldn't strike him down for lying to an ex-pharaoh.

“What's a pen pal?” Yami gave him a confused look and Joey silently sighed with relief. Trust Yami to be more upset about what he didn't understand than what the whole meant.

“Yugi'll tell you, I have to go check and see something.” Joey ran off waving as Yami stood there trying to figure out what he was missing. There had to be something, but what the hell was a pen pal?

 

Once Joey reached his apartment building he found he could breath a little easier. Completely preoccupied with his thoughts he failed to notice the car parked nearby that had he been in his normal frame of mind he would have recognized immediately. After a moment or two of digging around in his pockets, Joey pulled out his keys and opened the door. Not paying attention to the man who was watching him in the corner the blond made his way up the stairs to the apartment he shared with his dad. Five flights of stairs later he flipped through his key ring looking for the key to the apartment rattling off what the other keys were for. Finally inserting the key into the lock he turned and then started violently when someone laid a hand on his shoulder.

“Can I talk with you for a moment?” Seto Kaiba stepped out of the shadows. Joey barely heard him, he was too busy clasping his hands over his heart and gasping like a fish.

“You scared the crap out of me!” Joey yelled closing his eyes and trying to regulate his heart rate. “I could have died! My poor little heart would have gone pop! Then you'd have a dead innocent at your feet!”

“Sorry,” Seto offered with a shrug and Joey nodded opening the door.

“Where were you today?” The blond threw his backpack onto the floor and motioned Kaiba to have a seat on the couch.

“Talking to my doctors about what I should do.” Kaiba relaxed against the couch and looked at Joey who was doing last minute cleaning. “I have three choices, we put them in order of which ones to try.”

“That's great!” Wheeler beamed at the brunette and sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall. “Have you told anyone else?”

“No, Mokuba and I decided that it would be best to keep it quiet, not let the media know, they would make it worse,” Seto explained. “I also got him to agree to not go and blurt it out to Yugi and the gang, I want this as low key as possible. If it turns out that I'm not going to make it I want to be the one to make it public, not someone who doesn't know what they're talking about.”

“How's Mokuba handling it?”

“As well as can be expected.” Kaiba pushed his fingers through his hair as he closed his eyes.

“Which translates into, not very well?” The blond tilted his head to the side as he waited for Kaiba to respond. Seto didn't look too good, but he had a tumor so that much was to be expected. Lately he had come to wear less formal clothing and more comfortable outfits. Today he wore a pair of frayed jeans that had stains on them, a grey turtleneck, a baseball cap and scuffed up sneakers.

“He's upset that I didn't tell him immediately that I was sick.” Seto divulged this information before sighing and leaning back against the couch. “I'm going in for radiation treatment next week on Friday and he doesn't want anything to do with me. He's spending even more time with the gang than at home, I can count the times he's slept at home on one hand. When I call to try and talk to him I either get reamed out by Yami or they don't pick up because they recognize my number.”

“Why don't you just tell Yami? If you do that he'll understand and he'll try to help.” Joey picked at his uniform as he tried to think of any other solutions because he knew the older one would reject that one.

“Why? So he can laugh at me? Pity me? I don't want anyone's pity!” Kaiba spat bitterly. “It's bad enough that my own brother prefers his company to mine, I would rather die than tell him my problems.”

“What was his first reaction?” Wheeler questioned. It would be best to try and figure out why Mokuba was acting the way he was, because if Seto had Mokuba he would be much better.

“He was in shock. He cried. We stayed together for the day talking and figuring things out and then the next day he was completely different.” Seto shrugged his shoulders. “I don't know what happened, it was he just fixated on the fact that I hadn't told him and wouldn't listen to anything I said. I don't understand anything anymore! It's like the whole world is against me!”

“Hey,” Joey exclaimed softly reaching out and grabbing the elder Kaiba's hand. “I'm here, and I'm listening. You're gonna get through this.” Seto looked at the hand over his and tried to figure out how this had happened, they had always been at each other's throats and now the `pup' was helping him.

“Why does it have to be so hard?” Kaiba whispered hoarsely bowing his head. “Why can't it be simple? Is it too much to ask for? I didn't ask for all of this to happen, though some may say I did by the way I have acted. I hate who I've become, but it's not easy to just suddenly change. To become fun. To be who everyone wants you to be. Gozaburo would be proud to see what I've become; I'm just like him. A twisted, heartless bastard.”

“I don't know why you are the way you are, but I do know that you are nothing like Gozaburo. He had no room in his heart for anything, but his business. You care about your brother; you would do anything for him. I can only tell you what I know and that's you are far from heartless.” Kaiba opened his mouth to say something, but Joey shook his head. “I used to think you were heartless, yes, but I saw how you treated your brother, how you softened around him. I know that if there was no choice, no way out and you had to choose between Mokuba and your company you would choose Mokuba. You kept your illness from him to protect him don't be ashamed of that. Some day, Mokuba will see that.

“Life is really hard, there's no doubt about it. I've been there; I've had my hard times. What you have to remember Kaiba is that it will get better because whether you know it or not you do have people who are there for you. If you ever need anything I will be only a phone call away. Mokuba's going through a rough patch, he'll come around, he just needs to hear you out. You need to get away from everything and relax or just take a few days off to goof off with your brother or by yourself.”

“Thank you so much Joey, I don't know how I would do this without you.” Kaiba placed his hand over the blonde's and closed his eyes in exhaustion. “I've been going to that shrink, but I can't talk to them. It's too difficult.” Joey couldn't stand it anymore; he reached out and wrapped his arms around the CEO. Shock stiffened Seto's backbone, but it didn't take him long to relax into the hug and tentatively returned it. The hug felt so good to him, to be able to just lean on someone else for a moment or two. In the small, cozy apartment with Joseph Wheeler he felt more at home than he had in a while. After a moment Joey pulled back and brushed hair out Kaiba's face with gentle fingers.

“Come on into the kitchen, you need some cocoa.” Wheeler stood up and tugged the brunette with him in to the small kitchen where he cleared off the counter and offered him a stool. Humming to himself he poured milk into a pan and set it to heat on the stove while he dug around in the cupboard until he came up with the mix he needed. Kaiba leaned on the counter and watched him, blue eyes weary, but alert. When Joey handed him a steaming cup of hot chocolate he snorted lightly with laughter.

“I can't remember the last time I had hot chocolate.”

“Want marshmallows?” A bag was plopped down in front of the elder of the two as the younger mixed in his handful of mini-marshmallows. “They make it even better, what's the best though is whipped cream with chocolate sauce drizzled over the top.”

“You should be a food critic when you get out of school.” Kaiba chuckled a little at the thought. “I can just see you eating out a restaurant and then saying the food could have been better.” Joey probably would have said something if his mouth hadn't been full with marshmallows and cocoa.

“You're just jealous of my talents,” the teenager sniffed after swallowing his drink. “It takes skill to eat like I do, I am second to none. I have won every eating contest I have been in.”

“I bow down to you oh mighty pig.” Seto smiled lightly as Joey spluttered at the teasing. When they were done Joey excused himself for a moment and came back with a portable phone.

“Mokuba can't stay in denial for forever,” Joey told him. “He's scared to accept the truth so he hides behind the little things. You need to talk to him and you can't with him hanging around Yami and not being able to contact him. Yami can be a very intimidating person even though he does mean well.” Carefully Wheeler punched in Yugi's phone number and waited.

“Hello?” Yami was the one who picked up.

“Hey, it's Joey, can I talk to Mokuba for a moment?” Joey sensed his friend's hesitation. “I just have to ask him a question.” Winking at a worried Kaiba, Joey waited for Yami to respond.

“Of course, hold on one moment.” It was easy hear the phone being passed to the younger Kaiba.

“Hello?” Mokuba's voice came across the line and Joey grinned and gave Kaiba the thumbs up sign to show it was going well.

“Hey kid, how are you doing?” Joey asked.

“I'm ok, how are you?” Mokuba sounded uncertain, like he didn't know where the conversation was supposed to go. The blonde supposed that Yami might have told him how he had been defending Kaiba.

“I got a question for you.” Joey quickly got to the point of their conversation. “Do you hate your brother?” There was a long pause at the end of the phone; it might have been from shock or the other being uncertain. Deep blue eyes were glued to Joey, praying for a miracle, wishing for a lifeline to be thrown to him. Smiling gently Joey reached out and laid a hand over Kaiba's squeezing gently.

“No, I don't hate Seto,” Mokuba said quietly.

“Then why won't you talk to him?” Silence reigned for a few more long moments while the young boy tried to sort out his feelings and thoughts. Everything was so messed up. He loved his older brother, but he didn't want to admit he was dying. He was so scared; if Seto died he would be all alone. Tears welled up in his eyes just thinking about how his older brother was slowly dying.

“I'm scared, I don't want him to leave me.” It was obvious Mokuba was close to tears and he felt really lonely. Joey could only imagine, sometimes being with Yami and Yugi could be nice and helpful, but other times it felt like all you wanted to do was run away.

“Do you want to talk to him?” This was the big leap of faith that needed to be made, if Mokuba could do this then it would be ok. A dry sob was heard from the other side of the phone and then the sound of someone walking somewhere and closing a door.

“Yes, I want to talk to him so bad,” Mokuba sobbed quietly tears running down his cheeks. Without another word Joey handed the phone over to Kaiba who grabbed it and cradled it between his ear and shoulder.

“Mokie?” Seto whispered as his own voice cracked with tears that shimmered in his eyes. “Oh, Mokuba, are you ok?”

“Seto!” Mokuba cried. “Big brother!” Just hearing his little brother's voice sent the tears cascading down the elder of the two's cheeks.

“I'm so sorry Mokie.” Seto let his tears fall unchecked as he cherished being able to listen to his brother. “Don't cry, I'm here.” Mokuba muttered something incomprehensible as he wrapped his arms around himself. “I need to talk to you, but I don't want to do it over the phone, can I come and pick you up?” Mokuba nodded vigorously forgetting that his brother couldn't see him.

“Yeah, come and get me, I want to go home,” Mokuba told him.

“I'll be there in a minute, be ready,” Seto instructed. “I love you, see you in a little bit.”

“Love you too.” Mokuba hung up and hurriedly packed what he had brought with him to Yugi's. A few tears slipped down his cheeks every now and then as he shoved things into his duffle.

“What are you doing Mokuba?” Yugi walked in looking confused as his young friend turned, his bag over his shoulder.

“Seto's coming to pick me up.” He smiled at Yugi through his tears. “Thanks for letting me stay for you, but I need to go home.” Quickly he hugged Yugi and headed for the stairs his short friend right behind him.

“No problem, if you ever need to come over again, our door's open to you always,” Yugi gave him the simple invitation. “I hope you two fix whatever went wrong between you.”

“We will.” Mokuba grinned.

 

“Hey Kaiba, before you go to get your brother, I go something for you.” Joey dashed off and Seto took the opportunity to scrub at his face trying to rid it of tears. The younger one came in an envelope and wrapped present in his arms. “Here, and take this.” The cocoa mix and marshmallows were piled on top. “You'll need something good to drink tonight.”

“Thank you again Joey.” Kaiba pulled Wheeler into a hug surprising him completely. “I don't think I'd have been able to do this without you.”

“Ahh, don't mention it Kaiba.” Joey blushed and swiped at his nose with his thumb. “That's what friends are for.”

“Seto, friends call each other by their given name.” The brunette smiled at the blond.

“That's right, they do Seto.” Joey grinned. “Now go get your brother.” Kaiba hurried out the door. Taking the steps two to three at a time he made his way to his car yelling at his bodyguard to wake up as he made his way through the lobby. Sliding into the back of the car he set the gifts down to be looked at later, he just wanted to see his brother. Streetlights flashed by lighting up the snowdrifts that lay on the sides of the road, it had been a hard winter, but it was March so it would soon be spring. The driver took him to Yugi's house by the fastest route, which included a little bit of illegal driving. As the car slowed down to stop the young CEO flung open his door open and jumped out.

Mokuba was already halfway across the lawn running as fast as he could to his older brother. With a cry of joy Seto grabbed his brother and pulled him into a hug. Their tears mingled as they held on to each other. Standing up, Kaiba picked up his baby brother who didn't protest being treated like a child. Wet cheek pressed against wet cheek they made their way to the car. Once inside the vehicle they sat in silence, happy to just be back together.

Later that night

 

After tucking Mokuba into bed Seto sat down next to him and watched him sleep peacefully. Spotting the envelope and package he had brought in, Kaiba picked them up and opened the letter first.

 

Dear Kaiba,

 

How are you feeling? I've been thinking about you lately and wondering how you are. When you called me that night and told me what you were going to do I was so scared about what I should say, but now I can say what I want. You're an amazing person, you always are able to take a hit and stay standing. You love your brother so much that just watching the two of you together feels like you're intruding. I know you'll probably never tell anyone about that night and who can blame you. The only thing that I really want you to remember is that you can always count on me; I'll be there. If you need to contact me I'm sure you'll have the means to do so.

The other day I went over to Serenity's and got her to make your gift, it took a little explaining. No worries, I told her that I was trying to reach out and touch someone. While we were talking she said something that made me think about you. It applies to your situation very well. She said, “I read that it's always coldest right before dawn.” Don't you agree? Life feels like crap and like nothing can be better and then the sun rises and something awesome happens. I know it'll be hard, but dawn ain't that far away. Hold fast.

Joey Wheeler

 

Opening the gift, Seto smiled. In his hands was a black hooded sweatshirt with a Blue-eyes White Dragon embroidered on the back. Shaking his head he folded it up and thought about what was to come. It was scary, but with Mokuba and Joey by his side it would be that much easier.