Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Sweet Revenge ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: DefiantVixen 
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Drama / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 04.24.2009 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 332 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Drama / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 04.24.2009 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 332 | Status: Completed
Sweet Revenge
Summary: After Joey’s girlfriend, Carla dumps him for Seto; Joey stumbles across Ryou being mugged and learns that he’s a girl! Seto can’t stand Carla, but finds Ryou interesting. How does Mai fit into all of this?
Pairings: Seto/Ryou, Hinted; Joey/Mai
Disclaimer: I don’t own the Anime Yu-Gi-Oh! or any character associated. I do own Carla Whitmore. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not based on anyone else’s character design, again if any likeness, it’s purely coincidental.
Warnings: Female!Ryou. The use and introduction of a female Original Character. Any fans of OCs and OC pairings should leave now. Anti-OC pairings and blatant bashing of my own character. I created her; I can do what I want with her. And I plan to. A bit of character bashing on the OC’s behalf and a few swear words, but nothing over the top. Set after Yami is sent to the afterlife, so no Yamis in the story. And Seto goes to school.
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Chapter 4:
Trudging through the surprisingly empty city streets with a fragile cargo grasping onto his back, Joey had his eyes narrowed into a dangerously angry look, warning anyone who got in his way to watch out, he was in no mood for compromise or bargaining.
To say he was pissed off was an understatement; he was infuriated!
He promised Ryou that nothing bad would happen, that he would do anything to help. But he broke that promise today; Ryou was attacked by a couple of dirty, filthy well known street punks who effortlessly violated her personal space, ripping her clothing and exposing her to the vile ways of street indecency.
Yes, Ryou Bakura, the mild tempered, soft voice Brit was really female in gender.
He really had no idea that Ryou was disguising herself as a guy, or why she was in the first place, but he didn’t care. He really didn’t; Ryou was his friend through the whole Yami Bakura ordeal and she will continue to be his friend even though he knows her true gender.
Ryou had always been a mystery to him and the others, but she was genuinely a nice person, calm, gentle and caring, so the secrets she held did nothing to tarnish that image. No one on this planet could fake such gentleness and kindness.
Well, that was what Joey thought and he’ll beat the shit out of anyone who dared say otherwise. The same way he pulverised the punks that attacked Ryou in the first place.
Won’t go into any gory details, but let’s just say those two won’t be able to look at a garbage can without bursting into tears ever again...
Even so, he was infuriated that they even confronted Ryou in the first place. He felt guilty for not being there for her, but he shouldn’t blame himself. If he was with Ryou at the time, nothing bad would have happened.
Instead, he blamed Carla; she dragged him away from Ryou, forcing her to walk home by herself, not caring at all if anything should happen to her.
Carla cared nothing for his friends and always demanded that Joey put her above all others, but how could he do that? She did nothing for him to gain his utter devotion. All she really did was whine and bitch at him, as if she wanted him to drop everything and let her become the centre of the universe or something. It was like she felt that she was the only thing that should matter.
If the world was a stage, she was the main character and everyone else was just background extras there to enforce how utterly special she was.
That was so...egotistical!
How could anyone think they could just throw themselves into someone’s life without first gaining the right to be there? You do not just expect to suddenly find yourself involved with every aspect of someone’s life just like that because you classed yourself as bold and sassy. It’s utterly ludicrous that anyone could think that.
Thinking back, Joey could not even comprehend why he even agreed to start a relationship with her; she was not his type at all. She’s selfish, bratty and demanding.
Currently, he was carrying Ryou on his back and she was wearing his school jacket that was much too big for her, but with her own jacket torn to shreds, she had no choice but to wear it. Not that Joey minded her wearing his jacket; she needed it more than he did anyway.
“I’ll take you back to my place, ok?” Joey said as his apartment complex came into view. “I want to make sure you’re alright.”
Silently, Ryou nodded. She had her cheek nestled in the back of his neck, her snowy white hair curtaining over her face, almost like delicate silk as her fingers grasped onto his shoulders. She was still trembling with fear over what happened, and she was also shivering from the cold.
“Joey, I’m sorry,” she whispered as she finally lifted her head a little, her watery brown eyes peaking through a veil of white. “I never-”
“It was because of Yami Bakura, wasn’t it?” Joey asked as he cut her off abruptly, his attention focusing forward.
A subtle look of surprised appeared on Ryou’s face and she nodded. “...Yes.”
Really, that was all Joey needed to know. It was common knowledge that Ryou was often used by Bakura for his benefit only, and to have the ancient spirit force her to dress as a male was not a stretch of the imagination. Yami Bakura was not above putting physical and emotional strain on his host. He would never physically injure her, but exhaustion was another thing entirely.
Yeah, he was well aware of what Bakura put Ryou through, he wasn’t that much of an idiot.
“You don’t have to explain anymore if you don’t want to,” he said with a sense of understanding.
A genuine look of surprise appeared on Ryou’s face for a moment before being replaced with a soft smile of gratitude. Joey was truly a very understanding person. He might not be smart with academics, but he was world and street wise, that was equally as important. He was usually the first to comment on his poor grades, saying that he was a born idiot, but he wasn’t an idiot at all. He was wise in other areas and really needed to give himself more credit.
“Thank you,” she whispered as she rested her cheek against his shoulder. “You’re a good friend, Joey.”
However, Joey physically winced upon hearing those words. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there earlier.”
Ryou quickly shook her head, not wanting him to feel any sense of guilt for what happened. “Not your fault. Don’t worry about it, I’m ok, really.”
A deep sigh passed Joey’s lips as he could not help but image a far worse scenario if he did not arrive when he did. “But what would have happened if I didn’t arrive in time, Rei?”
“I...don’t wish to think about it,” Ryou said softly and squeezed her eyes shut to attempt to stop her own visions of what could have happened to her and she shivered lightly. “But you did arrive in time, Joey. Let’s not go into the what ifs, ok?”
Joey could sense that she was getting upset again and decided to say no more on the matter. “Alright,” he said as he tilted his head to the side to look at the young woman for a moment, before turning his eyes forward again, his apartment complex well within sight.
Good. He’ll get Ryou to take a shower and get dressed into some clean clothes. He’ll make her stay for the night, the two of them popping over to her place early in the morning so she could get ready for school. He didn’t want her to go to school tomorrow, but knowing Ryou, she would want everything to get back to the norm as quickly as possible.
Besides, he and Tristan can make sure she’s alright as they both had classes with her during the day.
Joey suddenly narrowed his eyes when he noticed a slick black car as it just pulled out the front of a cafe across the street from his apartment complex. The car looked familiar as a certain CEO had the same kind of slick vehicle of his own.
And sure enough, that certain CEO stepped out of the driver’s seat, his face holding an expression of mild annoyance. Seto slammed the door shut as he pulled out his phone and pressed his lips into a thin line.
Seemed like he had a rough afternoon at work.
“What’s he doing here?” Joey muttered as he faltered in his steps for a moment, jolting Ryou a little and causing her to look up as well, her eyes immediately falling upon the tall brunette.
“Ah, it’s Seto-san!” she said in mild surprise, her voice a little louder than expected as Seto seemed to snap his attention straight toward her. A light blush appeared on her cheeks when he did so.
Looking up at the sound of a familiar accented voice, Seto’s eyes widen a fraction seemingly in surprise, before his placed an expression of indifference on his face once again, trying to coolly regard the two on the other side of the street. He tried to look casually, but internally, he had an ever so mild sense of concern, surprised by what he saw; Joey was carrying Ryou on his back, and the Brit looked far worse for wear. He had minor cuts and scrapes on his face, his usually soft tumbling hair tousled and he had this look of shaken fear in his eyes.
It looked like he was in a confrontation of some sort.
A sense of disgust appeared in Seto’s chest at the thought of some brainless thug actually attacking someone as fragile and peaceful as Ryou was naturally made him sick to the stomach. He had witness many displays of cruelty, but it really pissed him off when that kind of hideousness was aimed at someone who was not capable of defending themselves.
Without a second thought, Seto crossed the road and walked over to them, his cool blue eyes trying to see if there were any more injuries ailing the Brit.
Not that he was concerned or something; he was just slightly curious.
“What the hell happen to you?” he asked, which immediately made Joey bristle with a sense of protectiveness, much like the mutt he really was. He might have to start calling him guard dog from now on.
“Nothing, so back off!” Joey growled, his body immediately becoming tense as he tried to give Seto a look of utter defiance. “What’s it to ya?!”
“Ah, Joey,” Ryou said softly in a calming voice and gave a quick nervous laugh at his reaction to his rival. “It’s alright, he’s just asking.”
Seto ignored Joey’s attempts to intimidate him and forced his attention back to the slender youth on Joey’s back. It was obvious he was sporting more injuries than what he could see as he had a small grimace on his face, the mutts bristling not helping in the slightest.
“So?” he drawled, his voice holding a tone that demanded answers now.
“Sh-he was attacked, ok?” Joey quickly replied as he moved to draw attention away from Ryou and onto himself. Seto had a good set of eyes, great for detail; he didn’t want ol’ money bags here to learn of Ryou true gender right now and like this.
“S-he’ll be fine,” he continued, not sure if he was trying to convince Kaiba of this or himself. He wasn’t even sure why he was telling Seto this, as if he was trying to reassure him in some way. “I’m going to take care of her, him!”
Whew, good recovery, Joey thought to himself. He almost slipped up.
Seto, however, raised an eyebrow at his ramblings but chose not to comment on them as it was obviously that the blonde was agitated about something. He always rambled like this when he was annoyed.
Quickly translating Joey’s Brooklyn accented rambling, Seto felt his eye give a twitch when he realized that Ryou truly was attacked and felt an unfamiliar feeling of wanting to exact some revenge enter his being.
“What happened?” he asked in that same tone he used earlier.
Joey found himself blinking in confusion. He could have sworn that there was a sense of protectiveness and anger in Seto’s voice, but quickly shook his head. “Why do you want to know?”
Seto faltered for a moment. Yes, why did he want to know? Was it because he found Ryou here somewhat a tad interesting? Was he simply asking on his brother’s behalf as he knew Mokuba was rather fond on him? Was it because he was trying to find out what Ryou was hiding not only from him, but the world?
What if he really didn’t have a reason?
That question surprised him a little. He always had a reason for doing something and acting a certain way. He rarely did anything on impulse, and yet, he crossed that road the moment he saw that Ryou was hurt and demanded to know what happened.
How strange and unnerving.
“Joey, please stop being so hostile,” Once again Ryou’s soft voice pulled the two taller teens out of their tense states. Ryou gave a little sigh and tilted her head just a little so she could whisper into Joey’s ear. “It’s alright, he’s not a threat. He can’t see that I’m...”
A sense of guilt appeared on Joey’s face and he winced. “Sorry...” he murmured as he realized his very protective behaviour was probably making Seto even more suspicious.
“I’m alright, Kaiba-san,” Ryou said as she turned her attention to him and offered him a somewhat shaky and tired smile. “I just have a few bruises and grazes, nothing to worry about. I’ll be at school tomorrow, you’ll see.”
For some reason, that anger Seto felt before returned when he looked at Ryou’s smile on his weary face. Despite being attacked just moments ago, he seemed oddly calm. He was sure it was a mask, as his eyes gave away his fear, but still, he seemed to have accepted what was done and was merely trying to move forward. Had it been anyone else, he was sure they would be jumping at every shadow.
Ryou was stronger than people gave him credit for. Still, that didn’t mean some lowlife punk on the street could attack him.
Seto immediately felt his eyes narrow dangerously as anger bubbled in his chest. “Who attacked you?” he asked quickly as he clenched his hands into fists by his sides.
“Just a those two deadbeats from school,” Joey explained, a part of him suspecting that Seto’s older brother instincts might be kicking, just like his was when he heard Ryou’s cry for help. It felt oddly refreshing to realize that and he could not help but let a smirk play across his lips.
“You know, the two that are always hanging out the back and smoking?”
He wasn’t sure if it was in Seto’s nature to hunt someone down and threaten them, but it would be great if he did. Although he hate to admit it, Seto had quite a fearsome reputation around school for being blunt and fearless, so if the ‘great Seto Kaiba’ told someone to back off, they would back off.
It was fine as long as it helped Ryou stay safe.
Aw, could Seto here have a soft spot for one of his classmates?
“Yes, I know of the two,” Seto responded tightly, already deciding to head to school early tomorrow to have a small ‘chat’ with the two. Chat, threaten with bodily harm, whatever. His little brother would be all for it if he found out.
Turning his gaze back to Ryou, Seto once again studied him carefully, telling himself that Ryou simply reminded him of his little brother, and it was just his brotherly instinct kicking in. “You should probably go to the hospital to get those injuries checked.”
Ryou’s eyes immediately widen at the thought of going to the hospital. “Ah, it’s ok!” she said quickly, her posture tensing a little as she lifted up a hand that had minor scraps on it and waved it a little in the air, as if that was able to convince the brunette not to force her to the hospital. Truthfully, the shape she was in, there was no way she could fight both Seto and Joey.
“That won’t be necessary,” she added as she plastered a somewhat of a reassuring smile on her lips.
“Rei hates hospitals,” Joey explained when he noticed that Seto had raised an eyebrow at her reaction. “So I’ll take care of him.”
Seto let his eyes linger on the Brit for a moment before giving a sharp nod. “Fine,” he said before he turned on his heel and walked across the street toward his car.
Joey waited until he was out of earshot before he released a sigh of relief and turned to trudge inside toward his apartment. “Damn Kaiba,” he muttered under his breath.
Ryou, however, continued to watch Seto until she could no longer see him, a sense of hope in her chest. “Did he seem...worried?” she whispered to herself.
A part of her hoped so. She liked having Seto’s attention on her, even if she really didn’t deserve it and wasn’t worthy.
It still felt nice to be noticed by someone like him...
Summary: After Joey’s girlfriend, Carla dumps him for Seto; Joey stumbles across Ryou being mugged and learns that he’s a girl! Seto can’t stand Carla, but finds Ryou interesting. How does Mai fit into all of this?
Pairings: Seto/Ryou, Hinted; Joey/Mai
Disclaimer: I don’t own the Anime Yu-Gi-Oh! or any character associated. I do own Carla Whitmore. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not based on anyone else’s character design, again if any likeness, it’s purely coincidental.
Warnings: Female!Ryou. The use and introduction of a female Original Character. Any fans of OCs and OC pairings should leave now. Anti-OC pairings and blatant bashing of my own character. I created her; I can do what I want with her. And I plan to. A bit of character bashing on the OC’s behalf and a few swear words, but nothing over the top. Set after Yami is sent to the afterlife, so no Yamis in the story. And Seto goes to school.
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Chapter 4:
Trudging through the surprisingly empty city streets with a fragile cargo grasping onto his back, Joey had his eyes narrowed into a dangerously angry look, warning anyone who got in his way to watch out, he was in no mood for compromise or bargaining.
To say he was pissed off was an understatement; he was infuriated!
He promised Ryou that nothing bad would happen, that he would do anything to help. But he broke that promise today; Ryou was attacked by a couple of dirty, filthy well known street punks who effortlessly violated her personal space, ripping her clothing and exposing her to the vile ways of street indecency.
Yes, Ryou Bakura, the mild tempered, soft voice Brit was really female in gender.
He really had no idea that Ryou was disguising herself as a guy, or why she was in the first place, but he didn’t care. He really didn’t; Ryou was his friend through the whole Yami Bakura ordeal and she will continue to be his friend even though he knows her true gender.
Ryou had always been a mystery to him and the others, but she was genuinely a nice person, calm, gentle and caring, so the secrets she held did nothing to tarnish that image. No one on this planet could fake such gentleness and kindness.
Well, that was what Joey thought and he’ll beat the shit out of anyone who dared say otherwise. The same way he pulverised the punks that attacked Ryou in the first place.
Won’t go into any gory details, but let’s just say those two won’t be able to look at a garbage can without bursting into tears ever again...
Even so, he was infuriated that they even confronted Ryou in the first place. He felt guilty for not being there for her, but he shouldn’t blame himself. If he was with Ryou at the time, nothing bad would have happened.
Instead, he blamed Carla; she dragged him away from Ryou, forcing her to walk home by herself, not caring at all if anything should happen to her.
Carla cared nothing for his friends and always demanded that Joey put her above all others, but how could he do that? She did nothing for him to gain his utter devotion. All she really did was whine and bitch at him, as if she wanted him to drop everything and let her become the centre of the universe or something. It was like she felt that she was the only thing that should matter.
If the world was a stage, she was the main character and everyone else was just background extras there to enforce how utterly special she was.
That was so...egotistical!
How could anyone think they could just throw themselves into someone’s life without first gaining the right to be there? You do not just expect to suddenly find yourself involved with every aspect of someone’s life just like that because you classed yourself as bold and sassy. It’s utterly ludicrous that anyone could think that.
Thinking back, Joey could not even comprehend why he even agreed to start a relationship with her; she was not his type at all. She’s selfish, bratty and demanding.
Currently, he was carrying Ryou on his back and she was wearing his school jacket that was much too big for her, but with her own jacket torn to shreds, she had no choice but to wear it. Not that Joey minded her wearing his jacket; she needed it more than he did anyway.
“I’ll take you back to my place, ok?” Joey said as his apartment complex came into view. “I want to make sure you’re alright.”
Silently, Ryou nodded. She had her cheek nestled in the back of his neck, her snowy white hair curtaining over her face, almost like delicate silk as her fingers grasped onto his shoulders. She was still trembling with fear over what happened, and she was also shivering from the cold.
“Joey, I’m sorry,” she whispered as she finally lifted her head a little, her watery brown eyes peaking through a veil of white. “I never-”
“It was because of Yami Bakura, wasn’t it?” Joey asked as he cut her off abruptly, his attention focusing forward.
A subtle look of surprised appeared on Ryou’s face and she nodded. “...Yes.”
Really, that was all Joey needed to know. It was common knowledge that Ryou was often used by Bakura for his benefit only, and to have the ancient spirit force her to dress as a male was not a stretch of the imagination. Yami Bakura was not above putting physical and emotional strain on his host. He would never physically injure her, but exhaustion was another thing entirely.
Yeah, he was well aware of what Bakura put Ryou through, he wasn’t that much of an idiot.
“You don’t have to explain anymore if you don’t want to,” he said with a sense of understanding.
A genuine look of surprise appeared on Ryou’s face for a moment before being replaced with a soft smile of gratitude. Joey was truly a very understanding person. He might not be smart with academics, but he was world and street wise, that was equally as important. He was usually the first to comment on his poor grades, saying that he was a born idiot, but he wasn’t an idiot at all. He was wise in other areas and really needed to give himself more credit.
“Thank you,” she whispered as she rested her cheek against his shoulder. “You’re a good friend, Joey.”
However, Joey physically winced upon hearing those words. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there earlier.”
Ryou quickly shook her head, not wanting him to feel any sense of guilt for what happened. “Not your fault. Don’t worry about it, I’m ok, really.”
A deep sigh passed Joey’s lips as he could not help but image a far worse scenario if he did not arrive when he did. “But what would have happened if I didn’t arrive in time, Rei?”
“I...don’t wish to think about it,” Ryou said softly and squeezed her eyes shut to attempt to stop her own visions of what could have happened to her and she shivered lightly. “But you did arrive in time, Joey. Let’s not go into the what ifs, ok?”
Joey could sense that she was getting upset again and decided to say no more on the matter. “Alright,” he said as he tilted his head to the side to look at the young woman for a moment, before turning his eyes forward again, his apartment complex well within sight.
Good. He’ll get Ryou to take a shower and get dressed into some clean clothes. He’ll make her stay for the night, the two of them popping over to her place early in the morning so she could get ready for school. He didn’t want her to go to school tomorrow, but knowing Ryou, she would want everything to get back to the norm as quickly as possible.
Besides, he and Tristan can make sure she’s alright as they both had classes with her during the day.
Joey suddenly narrowed his eyes when he noticed a slick black car as it just pulled out the front of a cafe across the street from his apartment complex. The car looked familiar as a certain CEO had the same kind of slick vehicle of his own.
And sure enough, that certain CEO stepped out of the driver’s seat, his face holding an expression of mild annoyance. Seto slammed the door shut as he pulled out his phone and pressed his lips into a thin line.
Seemed like he had a rough afternoon at work.
“What’s he doing here?” Joey muttered as he faltered in his steps for a moment, jolting Ryou a little and causing her to look up as well, her eyes immediately falling upon the tall brunette.
“Ah, it’s Seto-san!” she said in mild surprise, her voice a little louder than expected as Seto seemed to snap his attention straight toward her. A light blush appeared on her cheeks when he did so.
Looking up at the sound of a familiar accented voice, Seto’s eyes widen a fraction seemingly in surprise, before his placed an expression of indifference on his face once again, trying to coolly regard the two on the other side of the street. He tried to look casually, but internally, he had an ever so mild sense of concern, surprised by what he saw; Joey was carrying Ryou on his back, and the Brit looked far worse for wear. He had minor cuts and scrapes on his face, his usually soft tumbling hair tousled and he had this look of shaken fear in his eyes.
It looked like he was in a confrontation of some sort.
A sense of disgust appeared in Seto’s chest at the thought of some brainless thug actually attacking someone as fragile and peaceful as Ryou was naturally made him sick to the stomach. He had witness many displays of cruelty, but it really pissed him off when that kind of hideousness was aimed at someone who was not capable of defending themselves.
Without a second thought, Seto crossed the road and walked over to them, his cool blue eyes trying to see if there were any more injuries ailing the Brit.
Not that he was concerned or something; he was just slightly curious.
“What the hell happen to you?” he asked, which immediately made Joey bristle with a sense of protectiveness, much like the mutt he really was. He might have to start calling him guard dog from now on.
“Nothing, so back off!” Joey growled, his body immediately becoming tense as he tried to give Seto a look of utter defiance. “What’s it to ya?!”
“Ah, Joey,” Ryou said softly in a calming voice and gave a quick nervous laugh at his reaction to his rival. “It’s alright, he’s just asking.”
Seto ignored Joey’s attempts to intimidate him and forced his attention back to the slender youth on Joey’s back. It was obvious he was sporting more injuries than what he could see as he had a small grimace on his face, the mutts bristling not helping in the slightest.
“So?” he drawled, his voice holding a tone that demanded answers now.
“Sh-he was attacked, ok?” Joey quickly replied as he moved to draw attention away from Ryou and onto himself. Seto had a good set of eyes, great for detail; he didn’t want ol’ money bags here to learn of Ryou true gender right now and like this.
“S-he’ll be fine,” he continued, not sure if he was trying to convince Kaiba of this or himself. He wasn’t even sure why he was telling Seto this, as if he was trying to reassure him in some way. “I’m going to take care of her, him!”
Whew, good recovery, Joey thought to himself. He almost slipped up.
Seto, however, raised an eyebrow at his ramblings but chose not to comment on them as it was obviously that the blonde was agitated about something. He always rambled like this when he was annoyed.
Quickly translating Joey’s Brooklyn accented rambling, Seto felt his eye give a twitch when he realized that Ryou truly was attacked and felt an unfamiliar feeling of wanting to exact some revenge enter his being.
“What happened?” he asked in that same tone he used earlier.
Joey found himself blinking in confusion. He could have sworn that there was a sense of protectiveness and anger in Seto’s voice, but quickly shook his head. “Why do you want to know?”
Seto faltered for a moment. Yes, why did he want to know? Was it because he found Ryou here somewhat a tad interesting? Was he simply asking on his brother’s behalf as he knew Mokuba was rather fond on him? Was it because he was trying to find out what Ryou was hiding not only from him, but the world?
What if he really didn’t have a reason?
That question surprised him a little. He always had a reason for doing something and acting a certain way. He rarely did anything on impulse, and yet, he crossed that road the moment he saw that Ryou was hurt and demanded to know what happened.
How strange and unnerving.
“Joey, please stop being so hostile,” Once again Ryou’s soft voice pulled the two taller teens out of their tense states. Ryou gave a little sigh and tilted her head just a little so she could whisper into Joey’s ear. “It’s alright, he’s not a threat. He can’t see that I’m...”
A sense of guilt appeared on Joey’s face and he winced. “Sorry...” he murmured as he realized his very protective behaviour was probably making Seto even more suspicious.
“I’m alright, Kaiba-san,” Ryou said as she turned her attention to him and offered him a somewhat shaky and tired smile. “I just have a few bruises and grazes, nothing to worry about. I’ll be at school tomorrow, you’ll see.”
For some reason, that anger Seto felt before returned when he looked at Ryou’s smile on his weary face. Despite being attacked just moments ago, he seemed oddly calm. He was sure it was a mask, as his eyes gave away his fear, but still, he seemed to have accepted what was done and was merely trying to move forward. Had it been anyone else, he was sure they would be jumping at every shadow.
Ryou was stronger than people gave him credit for. Still, that didn’t mean some lowlife punk on the street could attack him.
Seto immediately felt his eyes narrow dangerously as anger bubbled in his chest. “Who attacked you?” he asked quickly as he clenched his hands into fists by his sides.
“Just a those two deadbeats from school,” Joey explained, a part of him suspecting that Seto’s older brother instincts might be kicking, just like his was when he heard Ryou’s cry for help. It felt oddly refreshing to realize that and he could not help but let a smirk play across his lips.
“You know, the two that are always hanging out the back and smoking?”
He wasn’t sure if it was in Seto’s nature to hunt someone down and threaten them, but it would be great if he did. Although he hate to admit it, Seto had quite a fearsome reputation around school for being blunt and fearless, so if the ‘great Seto Kaiba’ told someone to back off, they would back off.
It was fine as long as it helped Ryou stay safe.
Aw, could Seto here have a soft spot for one of his classmates?
“Yes, I know of the two,” Seto responded tightly, already deciding to head to school early tomorrow to have a small ‘chat’ with the two. Chat, threaten with bodily harm, whatever. His little brother would be all for it if he found out.
Turning his gaze back to Ryou, Seto once again studied him carefully, telling himself that Ryou simply reminded him of his little brother, and it was just his brotherly instinct kicking in. “You should probably go to the hospital to get those injuries checked.”
Ryou’s eyes immediately widen at the thought of going to the hospital. “Ah, it’s ok!” she said quickly, her posture tensing a little as she lifted up a hand that had minor scraps on it and waved it a little in the air, as if that was able to convince the brunette not to force her to the hospital. Truthfully, the shape she was in, there was no way she could fight both Seto and Joey.
“That won’t be necessary,” she added as she plastered a somewhat of a reassuring smile on her lips.
“Rei hates hospitals,” Joey explained when he noticed that Seto had raised an eyebrow at her reaction. “So I’ll take care of him.”
Seto let his eyes linger on the Brit for a moment before giving a sharp nod. “Fine,” he said before he turned on his heel and walked across the street toward his car.
Joey waited until he was out of earshot before he released a sigh of relief and turned to trudge inside toward his apartment. “Damn Kaiba,” he muttered under his breath.
Ryou, however, continued to watch Seto until she could no longer see him, a sense of hope in her chest. “Did he seem...worried?” she whispered to herself.
A part of her hoped so. She liked having Seto’s attention on her, even if she really didn’t deserve it and wasn’t worthy.
It still felt nice to be noticed by someone like him...