(Untitled)
Jounouchi was walking along, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. Where he was going, he didn't fully know, but that didn't stop him from walking slowly in his chosen direction. He blinked as something wet brushed past his cheek and glanced up, only to see the sky filled with snowflakes. Smiling rufully to himself, he hunched hus shoulders up
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It was after Christmas, though, and the store had been flooded with children eager to spend their Christmas money, so Otogi had be extra-busy after the holidays.
And he seriously needed a break.
He could have just gone home, but he didn't know if his father might still be awake, and he didn't want to risk that chance. He just... didn't want to deal with his father at the moment.
Instead, he simply went walking. It was indeed cold, and he was smart enough to dress in layers to keep warm while he was out.
He didn't know where he wanted to go either, but walking to school and around that area didn't seem like such a bad idea. So he walked for a while... aimlessly. He passed the park by school, and without really thinking much on it, decided he to walk there instead. There were trails inside, and he'd be able to find a place to sit for a while if he happened to get tired.
After twenty minutes or so... he decided that it might indeed be nice to sit... He'd been walking about an hour, just lost in thought. He looked around for the nearest bench. A pond lay to his left, and near it, a bench.
...with someone else there. Even in the semi-dark, he could recognize that blond, wind-blown hair, and he quirked an eyebrow, wondering what Jou could be doing here. Freaking coincidental the whole thing. But he walked over, and stood before the other, and greeted, "'Evening, Jounouchi... What brings you out here, huh?"
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"Two things" he began in reply, "One, I locked myself out of the house. An' my old man's in too much of a piss with me to let me in. So I thought I better scat until he falls asleep, ya know? Then I can just break in or whatever. And two," his smile became a grin as he glanced out over at the frozen pond, "I was debatin' whether that ice would take my weight or not"
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He turned to look at the other, and noticed Jou's lack of a heavy jacket. Otogi instinctively slid his own off, and draped it over the blond's front. He was still warm enough. He was wearing a long-sleeved turtleneck covered by a thick, soft sweater, so he would be just fine. "You can't stay out here, tonight. You'll have to go home or you'll freeze."
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"It's okay," he told him, shaking his head slightly, "I'd feel guilty if you frozed over jus' cos you gave your jacket away"
"...and I don't think it would hold my weight," he added, a little regretfully, looking towards the ice again "I wanted to skate on it. I remember doin' that as a kid, with my little sister"
He thought for a little while, before he shrugged, again noticing how much warmer a single jacket made him feel.
"Believe me. I'm happier out here" he added, smirking faintly, "I won't be out here all night... least probably not"
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He smiled as the other boy explained about his sister. Shizuka was indeed an incredible girl... Jounouchi was lucky to have a sister like her. "...that must have been quite an adorable sight. You should take her to the ice rink in town instead. You wouldn't have to worry about the ice breaking there."
Tentatively, he reached up and curled and arm around the other boy's shoulders. "Come here... If you insist on staying out here longer, let's at least share body heat," he explained logically. "I'm not leaving you until you're safely at home."
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"I-If you're sure..." he began, mentally berating himself for stammering, "Then thanks. It is kinda freezing out here"
He shoved his hands deeper into his pockets at this, glancing out over at the pond thoughtfully, before a realisation seemed to strike him, and he glanced back over at Otogi.
"What about you? Surely you gotta get home?"
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Otogi shook his head. "I come and go as I please. I don't want to be home with my father, anyway. We don't really get along too well. That's why I usually stay at work later... just so I won't have to go home. I like having to tutor you, too... That gives me further reason to stay at work late."
He turned to look at the blond, and smiled. "'Course... I like tutoring you, anyway. I'd gladly work later to get to spend time with you. You're a good kid, Jounouchi."
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He merely grunted at the mention of Otogi not getting along with his father, before stretching a leg out, trying to avoid getting cramp.
"Join the club," he muttered, reaching out to pull at his foot.
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He sighed, and tentatively placed his palm over the other's upper back, just to keep Jou warmer while the blond leaned over to ease his foot. "He just... He's really... manipulative... and I don't want to listen to him. I just... really hate being around him, you know? ...maybe that's bad to say, but it's true."
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"..it's not a bad thing to say that you hate him," he added, straightening up once the muscle in his foot had been relaxed, "I would say I hate my old man, but ehh, that'd be too good for him, ya know. And I've got pretty much the opposite problem to you" he added, smirking faintly despite himself.
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And it was exactly how it was... Otogi's father pressured him into things, wanted to mold him into the kind of person that he saw fit. It was stifling, but there was little Otogi could do about it besides avoid him. Truth be told... it was nice to talk to someone about it. Someone who understood.
Otogi slid his arm back around Jou's shoulders when he straightened again. "...so, your dad doesn't care what you do? Thinks too lowly of you? ...he shouldn't. You don't deserve that, Jou."
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He was amazed. Just because he didn't realise that Otogi had troubles with his old man too. And even more, that he was able to decipher what the other was feeling. Not that he had experienced it; maybe he was just good at analysing problems with fathers?
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Unconsciously, he leaned into the other's warmth a little. "So... yours doesn't even pay attention to you sometimes? That's... that's got to be just as bad as one who pays too much attention... I wish we'd both just have normal families."
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He had never, ever spoken to someone at this length about his father. Of course, most knew that he and his father didn't get along, but no one knew why, or any details. This was the most he had ever told anyone, and it made him feel closer to Otogi in a way, the fact that he found himself able to open up and talk to the other so freely.
"Ah...c'mon," he added after a while, in response to the older boy's last statement, "It'd be boring if we had normal families. Just like it'd be boring if me and Shiz' had gone to the ice rink instead of risking the pond"
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He turned his head to the other boy again, and smiled at the other's last comment. "Well... perhaps you're right. It's certainly made us stronger because of it, right? And we won't grow up to act like they do, because we know better."
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He smiled back at the other, glad that he'd got the basic meaning of what he had been trying to say.
"'xactly. In the long run, we're gonna end up stronger that those gits that have a normal family life with a normal mom and dad"
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