Karaoke Part 1 - New Fic!
Hello there, everyone! I've finally finished another one...but it's another Yu-Gi-Oh! Jou/Seto this time. Puppyshipping all the way (with many other couples)!
A few notes. I know that Mokuba and Shizuka are about three years apart in age, but they're cute, so I'm letting it go. Hey, it could happen!
I prefer the Japanese names for the characters. I'm sorry, but "Duke Devlin" bugs the heck out of me, especially since "Otogi Ryugi" is such a beautiful name, so, yeah, Japanese names. Occasional Japanese word, too. Sorry 'bout that. "Himitsu" has be my favorite word ever, just to let you know.
Alright, I think that's everything. I've divided this into three parts. Not quite chapter-worthy, but 17 pages means that I'd rather post them in small chunks.
Thanks to everyone who reads this. Hopefully I can get Music of the Heart cleaned up soon. Once they're both presentable, I'll be posting them elsewhere (FFN, Little Dragon, maybe one of the Yu-Gi-Oh! comms on LJ)
Title: Karaoke (May change - not very imaginative)
Anime: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Pairing: Jou/Seto
Genre: Romance, Humor
Rating: PG-13, maybe a bit higher for...suggestive situations
Warnings: Some kissing & petting
Friday nights were always busy at the Domino Karaoke Bar, but Room 5, tucked back in a corner on the ground floor, was always kept open. The owner had a long-standing reservation. The kids who came in were some of the owner’s favorites, even before they rose to fame. They’d been coming almost every Friday night since they were first years in high school, and were still coming, even though they’d graduated several years earlier. Looking up as the bell clanged on the door, he smiled. Speak of the devils.
“Evening, boys,” he said, smiling at his favorite customers.
“Yo.”
“Hey, Okinakawa-san!”
“Good evening, Okinakawa-san.”
“Hey.”
Jou and Yuugi had used the same room almost every Friday night since middle school. They brought their friend Ryou and their other friends along whenever they could. The whole group of boys (Anzu had, part way through high school, managed to procure a place in an exchange program. She had finally moved to New York, and was finishing high school there even as she began training to become a dancer. She kept in touch with the others with regular letters and phone calls), although Yuugi and Jou were his favorites, were always welcome. Once Yuugi and Ryou started bringing Yami and Bakura, things just got even more fun - although they had to pay the occasional damages fee.
“Hello, Okinakawa-san.”
The man’s eyes widened and he smiled.
“Yami! I haven’t seen you here in a while. I thought you were working in Egypt?”
Yami smiled and nodded.
“I was. The expedition was extremely successful, and we almost decided to extend it, but everyone was ready to go home and have a well-earned rest.”
He smiled down at Yuugi, standing close by his side.
“A year is too long to be away from our loved ones.”
Yuugi was gazing up at him adoringly. He almost looked like he was ready to kiss him right out in public. Jou was ready to make a comment along the lines of, “It’s about time!” - Yuugi had proven himself to be extremely shy about physical signs of affection when in public, or even just around friends - when the bell clanged again.
“Hey! What did we miss?” Honda asked, holding two helmets as Otogi followed him through the door.
“Hey guys. Nice timing. We just walked through the door.”
Honda looked around.
“Where’s Shizuka?” he asked, earning him twin scowls from Jou and Otogi. He held up his hands.
“Just asking!”
Glaring for a moment more, Jou turned away.
“She’s coming separately. She’s…bringing someone.”
Honda’s eyes glimmered with interest, ignoring Otogi’s pout.
“A friend of hers?”
Jou’s expression was dark, and his friends took a step back out of range.
“Hn…friend…She’s bringing her boyfriend.”
Gasps went up from his friends.
“Really, Shizuka has a boyfriend? Since when? Who is it? Do we know him?
Jou shook his head again.
“She wouldn’t tell me anything. Said she wanted me to meet him for myself. His brother’s coming with him too.”
“Meeting the family already, huh?” Yuugi laughed. “Must be serious.”
Jou spluttered.
“Cut it out, Yuug’, she’s just barely out of high school. Nothing gets serious in high school…” Jou trailed off, looking at two of his closest friends, each tucked closely into their yamis’ side, “Well, nothin’ that hasn’t been predetermined for thousands of years! Come on, that totally doesn’t count!”
They all laughed. No one could really argue that. Yuugi couldn’t help but smile up at his yami again, starry eyed at the reminder of how indisputable their bond was. He only hoped that his friends could find someone even half as precious as Yami. He looked at Ryou, standing close by his Thief, and felt a surge of happiness that at least one other person knew the joy of finding the other half of their soul.
“Well, I thought that I could hear barking. Who would have expected that they would let dogs into a respectable place of business?”
Everyone’s heads snapped up. Jou’s jaw dropped a little as his gaze was locked with a pair of slate blue eyes he hadn’t seen in over two years - except on TV, or in the occasional dream, maybe, not that he was admitting anything.
“Kaiba? What’re you doing here?”
Kaiba Seto stood apart from the group, his face twisted in its customary smirk. His arms, crossed over his chest, were bare of their customary buckles, and his trademark trench coat was nowhere to be seen. Jou noticed. And wearing those leather pants, he was all legs. Jou noticed that too. ‘Wow,’ was his only cognizant thought, but he brushed it away with a loud comment.
“Yo, Kaiba, tryin’ to go in-cog-nito today? What’re you doin’ on our side of town, money bags?”
“Don’t worry,” Kaiba sent back, “I’m not here of my own volition. I don’t normally enjoy the company of dogs.”
“Why you…!”
“Nii-san!”
“Nii-sama!”
Mokuba and Shizuka appeared from nowhere and planted themselves between their arguing brothers. While most of the group was engrossed, watching the burgeoning brawl, Yuugi’s eyes went wide, closely followed by Yami’s, as he followed his light’s train of thought.
“Shizuka,” Yuugi said, his light voice cutting through the general chaos. “You’re dating Mokuba?”
Everyone else froze, looking over at the two holding their brothers back from each other. The older boys had gone still, so they released their holds, both grinning sheepishly at their friends.
“Hey,” Shizuka said, “At least I chose someone who was already in the group. That way we don’t have to fit any new people, right?”
While it took a few minutes for Jou to stop gaping at his little sister, who was holding Mokuba’s hand and smiling happily, all the while with a look in her eyes that told him just what she would do if he tried to tell her no, they got everyone into their room fairly quickly. Kaiba had come with them, after some wheedling from Mokuba. They managed to convince Shizuka to sing for them, and she started them out with some of the bubblegum pop that she was so fond of. After her song, Jou and Honda stood to perform their traditional karaoke song, Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey. It never ceased to amaze their friends. Honda had a surprisingly clear falsetto. As this was the first time that Otogi and Kaiba had heard their performance, the boys went all out, and Mokuba noticed a telling glint of humor (nearly undetectable) in his brother’s eyes, while Otogi was rolling on the floor when they had finished.
“How did you do that?” He asked Honda between howls of laughter. Honda grinned, claiming it as his himitsu. After that performance, no one wanted to ruin the fun, but finally Yuugi suggested a game.
“Why am I not surprised?” Jou asked in a loud stage-whisper. Yuugi just shot him a fierce glare that failed miserably, and continued.
“We all know what songs we would choose. Why not make everybody else choose for us? It’d have to be a song that the person knows, but we’ve been coming here for so long, I think we’ve heard most everything that Okinakawa-san keeps in stock. What do you think?”
Jou and Honda shuddered.
“Do you know what kind of evil potential this plan has?” Jou asked, still looking horrified. “I’d totally be stuck singing some awful boy-band song!”
Ryou stuck up for Yuugi.
“Come on, chaps, it wouldn’t be that bad. I think it’d be fun. We aught to choose songs that fit the person who’s singing. That way, we could see what our friends are thinking about us, and we wouldn’t be forced to sing something awful.”
Honda snorted.
“Alright, brave-one, you go first. Who gets to choose for you?”
Ryou turned a little pale, but stood firm.
“Everyone,” Yuugi said, “That way no one person can act on a grudge.”
Jou intervened then, seeing Ryou was a little shaky at the chance to go first.
“I think that the new lovebirds should go first. They’re the new ones, and besides,” he grinned, “Mokuba can’t sing to save his life. It’ll make all the rest of us feel better.”
Mokuba gave Jou a betrayed look, while Shizuka laughed and scolded, “Jou!” The others readily agreed, though, and when Mokuba turned to his brother for help, he caught a twitch of amusement in his brother’s expression.
“Nii-sama! Not you too!”
Seto raised an eyebrow.
“You chose to date the girl, now you can handle the baggage that comes with it.”
Jou laughed and punched the air victoriously.
“Way to go Kaiba…but don’t call us baggage.”
Yuugi turned to the room’s quietest occupant, whose scowl was looking a little less imposing than before, and saw the amusement twinkling in usually serious eyes.
“Kaiba, does that mean you’ll play too?” He asked. Kaiba’s amusement vanished, and he turned to Yuugi to deliver a scathing remark, when the mutt butted in.
“Nah, Yuug’, don’t bother. Ol’ Kaiba’s too ‘grown up’ for games like this, ne, money bags?”
A challenge.
And Seto Kaiba never backed down from a challenge.
Especially when the challenge held this much potential for evil. The mutt had been right about that.
“I will participate. However, do not think that I will be performing.”“He can sing about as well as I can,” Mokuba added in a stage whisper that had the rest of the group laughing and Seto growling about impudent little brothers. Before Mokuba could enjoy watching his brother’s embarrassment, however, he was pushed to one side with Shizuka, while the others huddled together, looking at him sideways out of narrowed eyes as they plotted his torment.
A few notes. I know that Mokuba and Shizuka are about three years apart in age, but they're cute, so I'm letting it go. Hey, it could happen!
I prefer the Japanese names for the characters. I'm sorry, but "Duke Devlin" bugs the heck out of me, especially since "Otogi Ryugi" is such a beautiful name, so, yeah, Japanese names. Occasional Japanese word, too. Sorry 'bout that. "Himitsu" has be my favorite word ever, just to let you know.
Alright, I think that's everything. I've divided this into three parts. Not quite chapter-worthy, but 17 pages means that I'd rather post them in small chunks.
Thanks to everyone who reads this. Hopefully I can get Music of the Heart cleaned up soon. Once they're both presentable, I'll be posting them elsewhere (FFN, Little Dragon, maybe one of the Yu-Gi-Oh! comms on LJ)
Title: Karaoke (May change - not very imaginative)
Anime: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Pairing: Jou/Seto
Genre: Romance, Humor
Rating: PG-13, maybe a bit higher for...suggestive situations
Warnings: Some kissing & petting
Friday nights were always busy at the Domino Karaoke Bar, but Room 5, tucked back in a corner on the ground floor, was always kept open. The owner had a long-standing reservation. The kids who came in were some of the owner’s favorites, even before they rose to fame. They’d been coming almost every Friday night since they were first years in high school, and were still coming, even though they’d graduated several years earlier. Looking up as the bell clanged on the door, he smiled. Speak of the devils.
“Evening, boys,” he said, smiling at his favorite customers.
“Yo.”
“Hey, Okinakawa-san!”
“Good evening, Okinakawa-san.”
“Hey.”
Jou and Yuugi had used the same room almost every Friday night since middle school. They brought their friend Ryou and their other friends along whenever they could. The whole group of boys (Anzu had, part way through high school, managed to procure a place in an exchange program. She had finally moved to New York, and was finishing high school there even as she began training to become a dancer. She kept in touch with the others with regular letters and phone calls), although Yuugi and Jou were his favorites, were always welcome. Once Yuugi and Ryou started bringing Yami and Bakura, things just got even more fun - although they had to pay the occasional damages fee.
“Hello, Okinakawa-san.”
The man’s eyes widened and he smiled.
“Yami! I haven’t seen you here in a while. I thought you were working in Egypt?”
Yami smiled and nodded.
“I was. The expedition was extremely successful, and we almost decided to extend it, but everyone was ready to go home and have a well-earned rest.”
He smiled down at Yuugi, standing close by his side.
“A year is too long to be away from our loved ones.”
Yuugi was gazing up at him adoringly. He almost looked like he was ready to kiss him right out in public. Jou was ready to make a comment along the lines of, “It’s about time!” - Yuugi had proven himself to be extremely shy about physical signs of affection when in public, or even just around friends - when the bell clanged again.
“Hey! What did we miss?” Honda asked, holding two helmets as Otogi followed him through the door.
“Hey guys. Nice timing. We just walked through the door.”
Honda looked around.
“Where’s Shizuka?” he asked, earning him twin scowls from Jou and Otogi. He held up his hands.
“Just asking!”
Glaring for a moment more, Jou turned away.
“She’s coming separately. She’s…bringing someone.”
Honda’s eyes glimmered with interest, ignoring Otogi’s pout.
“A friend of hers?”
Jou’s expression was dark, and his friends took a step back out of range.
“Hn…friend…She’s bringing her boyfriend.”
Gasps went up from his friends.
“Really, Shizuka has a boyfriend? Since when? Who is it? Do we know him?
Jou shook his head again.
“She wouldn’t tell me anything. Said she wanted me to meet him for myself. His brother’s coming with him too.”
“Meeting the family already, huh?” Yuugi laughed. “Must be serious.”
Jou spluttered.
“Cut it out, Yuug’, she’s just barely out of high school. Nothing gets serious in high school…” Jou trailed off, looking at two of his closest friends, each tucked closely into their yamis’ side, “Well, nothin’ that hasn’t been predetermined for thousands of years! Come on, that totally doesn’t count!”
They all laughed. No one could really argue that. Yuugi couldn’t help but smile up at his yami again, starry eyed at the reminder of how indisputable their bond was. He only hoped that his friends could find someone even half as precious as Yami. He looked at Ryou, standing close by his Thief, and felt a surge of happiness that at least one other person knew the joy of finding the other half of their soul.
“Well, I thought that I could hear barking. Who would have expected that they would let dogs into a respectable place of business?”
Everyone’s heads snapped up. Jou’s jaw dropped a little as his gaze was locked with a pair of slate blue eyes he hadn’t seen in over two years - except on TV, or in the occasional dream, maybe, not that he was admitting anything.
“Kaiba? What’re you doing here?”
Kaiba Seto stood apart from the group, his face twisted in its customary smirk. His arms, crossed over his chest, were bare of their customary buckles, and his trademark trench coat was nowhere to be seen. Jou noticed. And wearing those leather pants, he was all legs. Jou noticed that too. ‘Wow,’ was his only cognizant thought, but he brushed it away with a loud comment.
“Yo, Kaiba, tryin’ to go in-cog-nito today? What’re you doin’ on our side of town, money bags?”
“Don’t worry,” Kaiba sent back, “I’m not here of my own volition. I don’t normally enjoy the company of dogs.”
“Why you…!”
“Nii-san!”
“Nii-sama!”
Mokuba and Shizuka appeared from nowhere and planted themselves between their arguing brothers. While most of the group was engrossed, watching the burgeoning brawl, Yuugi’s eyes went wide, closely followed by Yami’s, as he followed his light’s train of thought.
“Shizuka,” Yuugi said, his light voice cutting through the general chaos. “You’re dating Mokuba?”
Everyone else froze, looking over at the two holding their brothers back from each other. The older boys had gone still, so they released their holds, both grinning sheepishly at their friends.
“Hey,” Shizuka said, “At least I chose someone who was already in the group. That way we don’t have to fit any new people, right?”
While it took a few minutes for Jou to stop gaping at his little sister, who was holding Mokuba’s hand and smiling happily, all the while with a look in her eyes that told him just what she would do if he tried to tell her no, they got everyone into their room fairly quickly. Kaiba had come with them, after some wheedling from Mokuba. They managed to convince Shizuka to sing for them, and she started them out with some of the bubblegum pop that she was so fond of. After her song, Jou and Honda stood to perform their traditional karaoke song, Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey. It never ceased to amaze their friends. Honda had a surprisingly clear falsetto. As this was the first time that Otogi and Kaiba had heard their performance, the boys went all out, and Mokuba noticed a telling glint of humor (nearly undetectable) in his brother’s eyes, while Otogi was rolling on the floor when they had finished.
“How did you do that?” He asked Honda between howls of laughter. Honda grinned, claiming it as his himitsu. After that performance, no one wanted to ruin the fun, but finally Yuugi suggested a game.
“Why am I not surprised?” Jou asked in a loud stage-whisper. Yuugi just shot him a fierce glare that failed miserably, and continued.
“We all know what songs we would choose. Why not make everybody else choose for us? It’d have to be a song that the person knows, but we’ve been coming here for so long, I think we’ve heard most everything that Okinakawa-san keeps in stock. What do you think?”
Jou and Honda shuddered.
“Do you know what kind of evil potential this plan has?” Jou asked, still looking horrified. “I’d totally be stuck singing some awful boy-band song!”
Ryou stuck up for Yuugi.
“Come on, chaps, it wouldn’t be that bad. I think it’d be fun. We aught to choose songs that fit the person who’s singing. That way, we could see what our friends are thinking about us, and we wouldn’t be forced to sing something awful.”
Honda snorted.
“Alright, brave-one, you go first. Who gets to choose for you?”
Ryou turned a little pale, but stood firm.
“Everyone,” Yuugi said, “That way no one person can act on a grudge.”
Jou intervened then, seeing Ryou was a little shaky at the chance to go first.
“I think that the new lovebirds should go first. They’re the new ones, and besides,” he grinned, “Mokuba can’t sing to save his life. It’ll make all the rest of us feel better.”
Mokuba gave Jou a betrayed look, while Shizuka laughed and scolded, “Jou!” The others readily agreed, though, and when Mokuba turned to his brother for help, he caught a twitch of amusement in his brother’s expression.
“Nii-sama! Not you too!”
Seto raised an eyebrow.
“You chose to date the girl, now you can handle the baggage that comes with it.”
Jou laughed and punched the air victoriously.
“Way to go Kaiba…but don’t call us baggage.”
Yuugi turned to the room’s quietest occupant, whose scowl was looking a little less imposing than before, and saw the amusement twinkling in usually serious eyes.
“Kaiba, does that mean you’ll play too?” He asked. Kaiba’s amusement vanished, and he turned to Yuugi to deliver a scathing remark, when the mutt butted in.
“Nah, Yuug’, don’t bother. Ol’ Kaiba’s too ‘grown up’ for games like this, ne, money bags?”
A challenge.
And Seto Kaiba never backed down from a challenge.
Especially when the challenge held this much potential for evil. The mutt had been right about that.
“I will participate. However, do not think that I will be performing.”“He can sing about as well as I can,” Mokuba added in a stage whisper that had the rest of the group laughing and Seto growling about impudent little brothers. Before Mokuba could enjoy watching his brother’s embarrassment, however, he was pushed to one side with Shizuka, while the others huddled together, looking at him sideways out of narrowed eyes as they plotted his torment.