(no subject)
Author: Azure15
Title: Changes
Theme and Number: #17 - First Encounters
Genres: Slight angst, fluff.
Warnings/Disclaimers: Some mentions of child abuse. And I think some swearing.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Pairing: Kaiba Seto/Jounouchi Katsuya
Rating: PG
Summary: What if Jounouchi and Kaiba had actually met a long, long time before? Not really shounen-ai as such, more like friendship.
"Daddy?"
Hiroki glanced down to his young son, unable to stop himself from smiling faintly at seeing those big blue eyes gazing up at him. Making sure that the currently sleeping Mokuba was secure in his arms, he crouched down next to his son, so that he was eye level with him.
"What is it, Seto?"
Seto grabbed hold of his sleeve, tugging on it lightly, his other hand pointing across the park to the swing set, where a blond haired boy sat alone upon one of the swings, swinging slowly back and forth. Hiroki blinked, and looked to Seto questioningly.
"Why's that boy crying?" Seto asked, those eyes flickering away momentarily from his father to gaze at the boy again. Hiroki blinked, before shielding his eyes from the sun, trying to get a better look at aforementioned boy. True to Seto's word, the boy was crying softly as he kept his gaze fixated at the ground underneath him.
"He must be sad," Hiroki offered gently, "Maybe you should see if you can cheer him up?"
Seto blinked, looking back to him. He wasn't that socially adept, Hiroki knew, especially after the death of his mother, and he tried to encourage him to interact with other children his age as much as he could. He was taken aback when Seto nodded, before starting to run over to the swings.
"Hello," Seto began, just a little shyly as he approached the crying boy, "What's the matter?"
Sniffling, Katsuya looked up, a little startled by Seto's voice. Seto gasped as he noticed the ugly bruise on the blonde's cheekbone, eyes wide.
"How did you do that?" he asked, his voice soft as he stood over the boy, nothing but concern in his expression. Katsuya sighed softly, wiping away his tears clumsily with the back of his hand.
"I was bad," he replied softly, the strong hint of an American accent pulling at his words. Seto blinked, having not heard such an accent before, but tilted his head slightly to one side, examining the boy.
"What did you do?"
Katsuya shrugged, more tears threatening to spill down his already reddened cheeks.
"I dunno," he admitted, "...but he said I was bad."
Seto blinked.
"Who?"
"Me dad," Katsuya replied, ducking his head momentarily. He glanced up at Seto again, expression curious. Seto smiled at him a little, before offering his hand out to the boy, remembering having seen his father do the same when meeting new people.
"My name's Seto," he offered, when noticing Katsuya's blank expression to his action, reaching out and taking one of the boy's small hands, shaking it gently. A smile flickered over Katsuya's face.
"I'm Katsuya."
"Katsu," Seto began, finding it a little hard to pronounce the younger boy's name to start with, "..I don't think your daddy.. should be doing stuff like that to you."
Sliding off the swing seat, Katsuya gazed up at the taller boy.
"Huh? Stuff like what?"
"Hitting you," Seto explained, reaching out to brush his thumb ever so gently across the bruised cheekbone, "I don't think that's... right."
The blond blushed faintly at that action, before looking to him in surprise.
"Your dad doesn't hit you?"
Seto in turn looked shocked. Of course his father had never laid a finger on him or Mokuba. He'd hug and kiss them all the time, telling them both that they were the most special people in his life. He glanced back over his shoulder to his father, who was sat on a park bench, playing with Mokuba. Katsuya followed his gaze.
"That's your dad?"
Seto smiled, before turning back to look at Katsuya.
"That's right! And my little brother," he frowned slightly, "...isn't your dad here?"
Katsuya shook his head.
"...your mum?" Seto tried again, wondering if Katsuya was like him, and didn't have a mother. Katsuya shook his head again.
"I'm not here with no-one," Katsuya offered, dragging a bare foot across the ground absently, "I came here on my own."
Seto reached out, taking Katsuya's hand. Katsuya blinked, glancing down at their hands, before looking back up at Seto again. Seto smiled at him.
"I want you to meet my dad," he explained, starting to lead Katsuya over to the bench, "He knows everything! Maybe he can stop that bruise from hurting you."
Katsuya smiled as he allowed himself to be pulled across the park, though seemed quite nervous as they approached Hiroki. Seto noticed this with some confusion, so tightened his grip on Katsuya's hand.
"Daddy?" he smiled as his father looked up, before looking over to Katsuya, "This is Katsuya, dad. Katsuya, this is my dad, and that's my little brother Mokie."
Hiroki smiled kindly at the blond, who seemed to relax slightly. Hiroki frowned as he noticed the bruise, combined with the boy's tear stained face.
"Hello Katsuya," he began gently, as Mokuba burbled happily on his lap, "What happened to your face?"
"His dad hit him!" Seto got in, before Katsuya had even opened his mouth. Feeling Hiroki's gaze on him, he suddenly felt ashamed, looking away. He'd been bad, and now Seto's dad knew it. Maybe he wouldn't let him play with Seto.
"Your dad?" Hiroki asked gently, noticing the angry flush on the small blonde's face, "Does he do that to you a lot?"
Still not looking at him, Katsuya nodded numbly. He was scared now, what if this man went and told his dad that he knew? His dad always said to not tell anyone he was hit for being bad, otherwise everyone would know what a bad boy he was. Katsuya suddenly pulled away from Seto, looking scared and wide eyed.
"I hafta go," he whispered, glancing from Seto to his father and back, "I'm sorry. It was nice meeting you, Seto, Mr Seto's dad and Mokie. But.. I really gotta go..." He ran off before anyone could say another word, bare feet pounding across the pavement.
Seto gazed after him, before looking up to his father in confusion. Sighing softly, Hiroki pulled Seto gently up into his lap, wiping away the lone tear that had strayed down his son's cheek.
"...didn't he like me?" Seto whispered after a while, Hiroki felt torn at the hurt in his son's eyes.
"No, no, it wasn't that," he explained gently, "I think he liked you very much. I think he got scared."
"Scared?" Seto blinked, "...why?"
"I don't think Katsuya's father is a very nice man," Hiroki tried to explain slowly to his young son, "I think that Katsuya was worried if he told me, he would get into more trouble with his dad."
Seto sighed softly, trying to take in this information, and make it make sense. He failed, shaking his head.
"I don't get it. Why is his dad so mean to him?"
Hiroki sighed.
"Some people are just not very nice, Seto. He just happens to be one of them."
He blinked as he heard a rumble of thunder above them, feeling his sons bury themselves against him. Standing, cradling both boys against his chest, he started to walk quickly back to the car. Seto squeezed his eyes tightly shut, trying to block out the images of Katsuya being hurt, or him crying, or him being stuck out in the storm.
As his father strapped the boys into their seats, he gazed at his worried son, ruffling his hair gently. Seto looked up, managing a faint smile. He knew his dad liked it when he smiled. Hiroki smiled back kindly, before getting into the passenger seat. Seto gazed out the window, knowing how lucky he was that he had a father as nice as his, and felt overwhelming sorrow for his new friend.
The next day, Seto begged his father to take them back to the park, so he could look for Katsuya. Hiroki agreed in the end, worried about the youngster himself. Seto gave a happy cry as he noticed the blond on the swing set, and ran over to meet him again. He pulled up short, dismay crossing his face as he noticed the blond was upset again.
"Katsuya?" he asked quietly, before wrapping an arm around the blonde's shoulders, "What's wrong?"
"Seto..." Katsuya murmured, before clinging to the taller boy. Seto blinked in surprise, but wrapped his arms around the blond, pulling him closer to him. He could feel the hot tears from Katsuya sink into his t-shirt, but he didn't mind. He leant down a little, resting his head in Katsuya's thick blond hair.
Seto began begging his father to go to the park. And every day, Katsuya would be there. Sometimes he would be crying, sporting a new injury, sometimes he'd bring his little sister Shizuka to come play with them. Katsuya and Seto quickly became best friends, and would play right until the sun set.
Hiroki tried to get as much information about the blonde's living conditions as he could. Katsuya would often wear the same, tattered clothes, day in, day out, and he would never be wearing shoes, despite the weather. But any information he asked, the boy would shy away, sometimes running off.
Then the day came when neither of them were there. Ironically, they were both in the same place. The hospital. Seto and Mokuba had just managed to come out of a car accident, near unscathed, but their father was not so lucky. They were waiting for their aunt and uncle to come pick them up, and take them home. Katsuya was lying a few wards away, badly beaten. That would be the last time they would be in the same place for a long time.
Many, many, many years later...
Jounouchi Katsuya growled, kicking the wall in frustration. Kaiba had yet again succeed in winding the blond up so much, he was once again kicked out of his class. At this rate, he wouldn't stand a chance at passing the end of year exams with all the work he had missed. Gritting his teeth, he punched the wall, not caring about the pain that spread through his knuckles, shaking his hand absently as he stalked off down the hallway. Screw the class, SCREW the teacher, and most of all, fucking SCREW Kaiba Seto.
He calmed slightly, as he always did, when he heard the name Seto. He could distantly remember the little blue eyed boy he had played with, who shared the same name. Jounouchi smirked, shaking his head as he walked out of the main entrance of the school. They were total opposites. That Seto had been sweet, kind, loving. Not like the stuck up asshole he knew. He began to wonder, as he always did, whatever happened to Seto. After getting out of hospital, he'd ran to the park straight away, heart sinking as he noticed there was no sight of Seto, his father or his brother. He returned everyday, looking for them, but with no avail.
Jounouchi sighed out loud. Now he was feeling more depressed, then angry. He blinked as he suddenly looked up at the entrance to the park, not realising that he'd been making his way there. Walking in, he noticed how deserted it was, most children either being in school, or if they were too young for school, being kept at home, under the watchful eye of their mothers.
Reaching the swing set, Jounouchi smiled faintly, sitting down on the same swing that he had occupied all those years ago. Although now he was a lot taller, so his legs were planted firmly on the ground, and his legs bent slightly. He tilted his head back, allowing the sun to blind his vision as he started swinging. He forgot his current anger with the blue eyed asshole, and instead let his thoughts drift back to Seto. He wondered if they was any possible way he could locate him. All he had was a first name to go on, but combined with his father's and his brother's, perhaps that could help him.
"Mutt."
Jounouchi gasped, nearly falling backwards off the swing in surprise. He found himself stopped by a strong arm, and could only looked ahead to gaze at one Kaiba Seto in disbelief as the older teen pulled Jounouchi back onto the swing.
"What the hell do you want?" Jounouchi muttered half heartedly, feeling his bad mood return. To his great surprise, not only did Kaiba not try to bait the blond anymore, he took the swing next to him silently. Looking over at him in confusion, Jounouchi noticed that Kaiba remained staring firmly ahead.
"You never said your name was Katsuya." Seto spoke finally, his voice not as harsh as it usually was. Jounouchi blinked.
"What if it is?" he asked slowly, taken aback by the hurt that flashed quickly through Kaiba's eyes. Kaiba's strangely endearing blue eyes. Blue eyes. Jounouchi's own eyes widened slightly. Kaiba Seto. With blue eyes. Calling him Katsuya.
"Forget it," Kaiba began stiffly, moving to stand up, only stopped by Jounouchi's hand on his lower arm. He turned slowly to face the blond, who was staring at him as if he'd seen a ghost.
"...you never came back," Jounouchi whispered, caught up in the moment and not trusting his voice to hold steady. Kaiba stared at him for a long moment, before taking his seat again.
"Neither did you." he stated simply. Jounouchi sighed, gazing up at the sky momentarily.
"He put me in the hospital," he offered lowly, "I was in there for ages. I came back when I got better, but you never came here again."
Kaiba sighed.
"We were in a car crash. My father died. Mokuba and I were sent to an orphanage, by our mother's sister, who had promised to look after us," he snorted, "Then, we were adopted by Gozaburo... and the story goes on."
"This is so weird," Jounouchi turned to look at Kaiba again, "Surreal. Who'd of thought... after all this time... we'd... end up like this," he managed a faint smile, "...you changed loads from what I remember."
Kaiba smirked faintly.
"And you have. You wear shoes now, for one."
Jounouchi laughed softly, swinging on the swing slightly. At hearing Kaiba was Seto.. he felt more at ease with him. It was if the years had simply melted away, and they were back to being Katsuya and Seto again.
"Yeah, well I got a job, didn't I?" Jounouchi explained, scuffing a scruffy trainer across the ground for emphasis, "I haven't changed that much though," he added as an afterthought, turning to face Kaiba again. It was then that the brunette noticed the dark bruise underneath the blonde's eye, half hidden from the shadow that his hair created.
"In some ways," Kaiba reached out to brush a knuckle across that bruise gently, "You haven't."
Jounouchi flushed slightly, glancing away.
"Ahh.... yeah. That."
Kaiba sighed, leaning back in his swing.
"You still live with him? Stupid mutt," he shook his head, "You have no idea how much I used to worry about you. My father did everything to try and find out more about you, but you'd clam up and not say a word. He.. said he was close to getting you help... before he died." Kaiba sighed.
"I'm sorry," Jounouchi replied softly, "I remember, he was...such a great guy."
Kaiba shrugged, before standing up. He turned back to the blond, before offering him the faintest of smiles, and offering his hand down to him. Jounouchi blinked, genuinely surprised, before taking the larger hand.
"I guess this changes things between us," Kaiba offered smoothly, pulling the blond to his feet, "...Katsuya."
Jounouchi smiled back at him, not letting go of his hand.
"I guess so, Seto."
Title: Changes
Theme and Number: #17 - First Encounters
Genres: Slight angst, fluff.
Warnings/Disclaimers: Some mentions of child abuse. And I think some swearing.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Pairing: Kaiba Seto/Jounouchi Katsuya
Rating: PG
Summary: What if Jounouchi and Kaiba had actually met a long, long time before? Not really shounen-ai as such, more like friendship.
"Daddy?"
Hiroki glanced down to his young son, unable to stop himself from smiling faintly at seeing those big blue eyes gazing up at him. Making sure that the currently sleeping Mokuba was secure in his arms, he crouched down next to his son, so that he was eye level with him.
"What is it, Seto?"
Seto grabbed hold of his sleeve, tugging on it lightly, his other hand pointing across the park to the swing set, where a blond haired boy sat alone upon one of the swings, swinging slowly back and forth. Hiroki blinked, and looked to Seto questioningly.
"Why's that boy crying?" Seto asked, those eyes flickering away momentarily from his father to gaze at the boy again. Hiroki blinked, before shielding his eyes from the sun, trying to get a better look at aforementioned boy. True to Seto's word, the boy was crying softly as he kept his gaze fixated at the ground underneath him.
"He must be sad," Hiroki offered gently, "Maybe you should see if you can cheer him up?"
Seto blinked, looking back to him. He wasn't that socially adept, Hiroki knew, especially after the death of his mother, and he tried to encourage him to interact with other children his age as much as he could. He was taken aback when Seto nodded, before starting to run over to the swings.
"Hello," Seto began, just a little shyly as he approached the crying boy, "What's the matter?"
Sniffling, Katsuya looked up, a little startled by Seto's voice. Seto gasped as he noticed the ugly bruise on the blonde's cheekbone, eyes wide.
"How did you do that?" he asked, his voice soft as he stood over the boy, nothing but concern in his expression. Katsuya sighed softly, wiping away his tears clumsily with the back of his hand.
"I was bad," he replied softly, the strong hint of an American accent pulling at his words. Seto blinked, having not heard such an accent before, but tilted his head slightly to one side, examining the boy.
"What did you do?"
Katsuya shrugged, more tears threatening to spill down his already reddened cheeks.
"I dunno," he admitted, "...but he said I was bad."
Seto blinked.
"Who?"
"Me dad," Katsuya replied, ducking his head momentarily. He glanced up at Seto again, expression curious. Seto smiled at him a little, before offering his hand out to the boy, remembering having seen his father do the same when meeting new people.
"My name's Seto," he offered, when noticing Katsuya's blank expression to his action, reaching out and taking one of the boy's small hands, shaking it gently. A smile flickered over Katsuya's face.
"I'm Katsuya."
"Katsu," Seto began, finding it a little hard to pronounce the younger boy's name to start with, "..I don't think your daddy.. should be doing stuff like that to you."
Sliding off the swing seat, Katsuya gazed up at the taller boy.
"Huh? Stuff like what?"
"Hitting you," Seto explained, reaching out to brush his thumb ever so gently across the bruised cheekbone, "I don't think that's... right."
The blond blushed faintly at that action, before looking to him in surprise.
"Your dad doesn't hit you?"
Seto in turn looked shocked. Of course his father had never laid a finger on him or Mokuba. He'd hug and kiss them all the time, telling them both that they were the most special people in his life. He glanced back over his shoulder to his father, who was sat on a park bench, playing with Mokuba. Katsuya followed his gaze.
"That's your dad?"
Seto smiled, before turning back to look at Katsuya.
"That's right! And my little brother," he frowned slightly, "...isn't your dad here?"
Katsuya shook his head.
"...your mum?" Seto tried again, wondering if Katsuya was like him, and didn't have a mother. Katsuya shook his head again.
"I'm not here with no-one," Katsuya offered, dragging a bare foot across the ground absently, "I came here on my own."
Seto reached out, taking Katsuya's hand. Katsuya blinked, glancing down at their hands, before looking back up at Seto again. Seto smiled at him.
"I want you to meet my dad," he explained, starting to lead Katsuya over to the bench, "He knows everything! Maybe he can stop that bruise from hurting you."
Katsuya smiled as he allowed himself to be pulled across the park, though seemed quite nervous as they approached Hiroki. Seto noticed this with some confusion, so tightened his grip on Katsuya's hand.
"Daddy?" he smiled as his father looked up, before looking over to Katsuya, "This is Katsuya, dad. Katsuya, this is my dad, and that's my little brother Mokie."
Hiroki smiled kindly at the blond, who seemed to relax slightly. Hiroki frowned as he noticed the bruise, combined with the boy's tear stained face.
"Hello Katsuya," he began gently, as Mokuba burbled happily on his lap, "What happened to your face?"
"His dad hit him!" Seto got in, before Katsuya had even opened his mouth. Feeling Hiroki's gaze on him, he suddenly felt ashamed, looking away. He'd been bad, and now Seto's dad knew it. Maybe he wouldn't let him play with Seto.
"Your dad?" Hiroki asked gently, noticing the angry flush on the small blonde's face, "Does he do that to you a lot?"
Still not looking at him, Katsuya nodded numbly. He was scared now, what if this man went and told his dad that he knew? His dad always said to not tell anyone he was hit for being bad, otherwise everyone would know what a bad boy he was. Katsuya suddenly pulled away from Seto, looking scared and wide eyed.
"I hafta go," he whispered, glancing from Seto to his father and back, "I'm sorry. It was nice meeting you, Seto, Mr Seto's dad and Mokie. But.. I really gotta go..." He ran off before anyone could say another word, bare feet pounding across the pavement.
Seto gazed after him, before looking up to his father in confusion. Sighing softly, Hiroki pulled Seto gently up into his lap, wiping away the lone tear that had strayed down his son's cheek.
"...didn't he like me?" Seto whispered after a while, Hiroki felt torn at the hurt in his son's eyes.
"No, no, it wasn't that," he explained gently, "I think he liked you very much. I think he got scared."
"Scared?" Seto blinked, "...why?"
"I don't think Katsuya's father is a very nice man," Hiroki tried to explain slowly to his young son, "I think that Katsuya was worried if he told me, he would get into more trouble with his dad."
Seto sighed softly, trying to take in this information, and make it make sense. He failed, shaking his head.
"I don't get it. Why is his dad so mean to him?"
Hiroki sighed.
"Some people are just not very nice, Seto. He just happens to be one of them."
He blinked as he heard a rumble of thunder above them, feeling his sons bury themselves against him. Standing, cradling both boys against his chest, he started to walk quickly back to the car. Seto squeezed his eyes tightly shut, trying to block out the images of Katsuya being hurt, or him crying, or him being stuck out in the storm.
As his father strapped the boys into their seats, he gazed at his worried son, ruffling his hair gently. Seto looked up, managing a faint smile. He knew his dad liked it when he smiled. Hiroki smiled back kindly, before getting into the passenger seat. Seto gazed out the window, knowing how lucky he was that he had a father as nice as his, and felt overwhelming sorrow for his new friend.
The next day, Seto begged his father to take them back to the park, so he could look for Katsuya. Hiroki agreed in the end, worried about the youngster himself. Seto gave a happy cry as he noticed the blond on the swing set, and ran over to meet him again. He pulled up short, dismay crossing his face as he noticed the blond was upset again.
"Katsuya?" he asked quietly, before wrapping an arm around the blonde's shoulders, "What's wrong?"
"Seto..." Katsuya murmured, before clinging to the taller boy. Seto blinked in surprise, but wrapped his arms around the blond, pulling him closer to him. He could feel the hot tears from Katsuya sink into his t-shirt, but he didn't mind. He leant down a little, resting his head in Katsuya's thick blond hair.
Seto began begging his father to go to the park. And every day, Katsuya would be there. Sometimes he would be crying, sporting a new injury, sometimes he'd bring his little sister Shizuka to come play with them. Katsuya and Seto quickly became best friends, and would play right until the sun set.
Hiroki tried to get as much information about the blonde's living conditions as he could. Katsuya would often wear the same, tattered clothes, day in, day out, and he would never be wearing shoes, despite the weather. But any information he asked, the boy would shy away, sometimes running off.
Then the day came when neither of them were there. Ironically, they were both in the same place. The hospital. Seto and Mokuba had just managed to come out of a car accident, near unscathed, but their father was not so lucky. They were waiting for their aunt and uncle to come pick them up, and take them home. Katsuya was lying a few wards away, badly beaten. That would be the last time they would be in the same place for a long time.
Many, many, many years later...
Jounouchi Katsuya growled, kicking the wall in frustration. Kaiba had yet again succeed in winding the blond up so much, he was once again kicked out of his class. At this rate, he wouldn't stand a chance at passing the end of year exams with all the work he had missed. Gritting his teeth, he punched the wall, not caring about the pain that spread through his knuckles, shaking his hand absently as he stalked off down the hallway. Screw the class, SCREW the teacher, and most of all, fucking SCREW Kaiba Seto.
He calmed slightly, as he always did, when he heard the name Seto. He could distantly remember the little blue eyed boy he had played with, who shared the same name. Jounouchi smirked, shaking his head as he walked out of the main entrance of the school. They were total opposites. That Seto had been sweet, kind, loving. Not like the stuck up asshole he knew. He began to wonder, as he always did, whatever happened to Seto. After getting out of hospital, he'd ran to the park straight away, heart sinking as he noticed there was no sight of Seto, his father or his brother. He returned everyday, looking for them, but with no avail.
Jounouchi sighed out loud. Now he was feeling more depressed, then angry. He blinked as he suddenly looked up at the entrance to the park, not realising that he'd been making his way there. Walking in, he noticed how deserted it was, most children either being in school, or if they were too young for school, being kept at home, under the watchful eye of their mothers.
Reaching the swing set, Jounouchi smiled faintly, sitting down on the same swing that he had occupied all those years ago. Although now he was a lot taller, so his legs were planted firmly on the ground, and his legs bent slightly. He tilted his head back, allowing the sun to blind his vision as he started swinging. He forgot his current anger with the blue eyed asshole, and instead let his thoughts drift back to Seto. He wondered if they was any possible way he could locate him. All he had was a first name to go on, but combined with his father's and his brother's, perhaps that could help him.
"Mutt."
Jounouchi gasped, nearly falling backwards off the swing in surprise. He found himself stopped by a strong arm, and could only looked ahead to gaze at one Kaiba Seto in disbelief as the older teen pulled Jounouchi back onto the swing.
"What the hell do you want?" Jounouchi muttered half heartedly, feeling his bad mood return. To his great surprise, not only did Kaiba not try to bait the blond anymore, he took the swing next to him silently. Looking over at him in confusion, Jounouchi noticed that Kaiba remained staring firmly ahead.
"You never said your name was Katsuya." Seto spoke finally, his voice not as harsh as it usually was. Jounouchi blinked.
"What if it is?" he asked slowly, taken aback by the hurt that flashed quickly through Kaiba's eyes. Kaiba's strangely endearing blue eyes. Blue eyes. Jounouchi's own eyes widened slightly. Kaiba Seto. With blue eyes. Calling him Katsuya.
"Forget it," Kaiba began stiffly, moving to stand up, only stopped by Jounouchi's hand on his lower arm. He turned slowly to face the blond, who was staring at him as if he'd seen a ghost.
"...you never came back," Jounouchi whispered, caught up in the moment and not trusting his voice to hold steady. Kaiba stared at him for a long moment, before taking his seat again.
"Neither did you." he stated simply. Jounouchi sighed, gazing up at the sky momentarily.
"He put me in the hospital," he offered lowly, "I was in there for ages. I came back when I got better, but you never came here again."
Kaiba sighed.
"We were in a car crash. My father died. Mokuba and I were sent to an orphanage, by our mother's sister, who had promised to look after us," he snorted, "Then, we were adopted by Gozaburo... and the story goes on."
"This is so weird," Jounouchi turned to look at Kaiba again, "Surreal. Who'd of thought... after all this time... we'd... end up like this," he managed a faint smile, "...you changed loads from what I remember."
Kaiba smirked faintly.
"And you have. You wear shoes now, for one."
Jounouchi laughed softly, swinging on the swing slightly. At hearing Kaiba was Seto.. he felt more at ease with him. It was if the years had simply melted away, and they were back to being Katsuya and Seto again.
"Yeah, well I got a job, didn't I?" Jounouchi explained, scuffing a scruffy trainer across the ground for emphasis, "I haven't changed that much though," he added as an afterthought, turning to face Kaiba again. It was then that the brunette noticed the dark bruise underneath the blonde's eye, half hidden from the shadow that his hair created.
"In some ways," Kaiba reached out to brush a knuckle across that bruise gently, "You haven't."
Jounouchi flushed slightly, glancing away.
"Ahh.... yeah. That."
Kaiba sighed, leaning back in his swing.
"You still live with him? Stupid mutt," he shook his head, "You have no idea how much I used to worry about you. My father did everything to try and find out more about you, but you'd clam up and not say a word. He.. said he was close to getting you help... before he died." Kaiba sighed.
"I'm sorry," Jounouchi replied softly, "I remember, he was...such a great guy."
Kaiba shrugged, before standing up. He turned back to the blond, before offering him the faintest of smiles, and offering his hand down to him. Jounouchi blinked, genuinely surprised, before taking the larger hand.
"I guess this changes things between us," Kaiba offered smoothly, pulling the blond to his feet, "...Katsuya."
Jounouchi smiled back at him, not letting go of his hand.
"I guess so, Seto."