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Jounouchi
It all started with a bowl of ramen and an impulse.
Mokuba had invited me over for lunch and a movie, claiming that he was lonely because all of his friends were on vacation; I couldn't turn him down. In truth, I liked spending time with him; he was a good kid: silly, fun, and mature enough to talk to. Besides, he was fun to flirt with; whenever he realized a double meaning to something I'd said, or caught a joke, he'd blush a little, laugh, and throw something just as suggestive back at me.
It was hard to notice that there was an age difference at all.
Lunch was ready when I got to his house: spicy ramen, all set up on the living room floor. When I eat ramen, I slurp it. It's messy, it's loud, but hey, it gets the job done. On the other hand, Mokuba's noodles slipped past his lips without a sound. The way I looked at it – or at the rate I was going, staring intensely and forgetting to eat my own food – he was either just amazingly talented, or he was using his tongue to do that.
I liked option two much better – it provided more interesting mental images. And then there was something sexy about the way his chopsticks brushed his lips…
That was where impulse kicked in – I just leaned forward and kissed him, right before his chopsticks reached his lips; they clattered down to his bowl. What I didn't realize until I had already kissed him was that when you kiss a Kaiba, there's no room to turn back. Nope, your fate is sealed – they own your ass.
My ass was sufficiently owned by a thirteen-year-old.
And it was good. He tasted like spicy ramen. For a ten second period, I didn't realize that Mokuba wasn't spicy ramen, and I couldn't eat him alive just by tasting him; the second my tongue touched his lips, he giggled, breaking a perfectly good kiss. "Do you always kiss without warning?" he asked, grinning from ear to ear. With a look like that, there was no way he could convince me that he hadn't loved every second of it, even if he had been trying.
"It usually seems to work out better that way. Did it?"
"Well, yeah, I was kind of been hoping that you'd… Umm… but I'm trying to eat, and Seto could be home any minute," he rushed, looking down into his bowl and retrieving his chopsticks, wiping them off on his t-shirt.
I wanted to laugh as I returned triumphantly to my ramen. I hadn't thought of that – I was irresistible in the eyes of Kaiba's younger brother. "Fine," I said cheerfully, slurping up some more of my ramen – why change a good thing? Still, I couldn't stop looking at him, taking another bite of his food, eyes glued on the movie…
I guess I could handle being owned by a Kaiba, just as long as I got the better of the two.
He looked over at me – probably noticed I was still staring at him. I could see the excitement in his face, and he asked what any thirteen year old boy would have asked right then: "Upstairs?"
My ramen got knocked over as we scurried up to his room.
It wasn't like I was some sort of sex fiend who gets off on deflowering young boys, but I figured thirteen was a decent age for dating, and Mokuba acted older anyway… so it seemed okay. Besides, I had absolutely no intention of doing anything dishonorable – as long as everyone's clothes stayed on… some good-natured necking between teenagers was perfectly honorable.
From this, I learned two lessons.
One: never leave a mess on Kaiba's living room carpet; he notices, and he investigates. Of course, by the time that Kaiba got home – an event unbeknownst to either of us – I had Mokuba pinned down on his bed. I had honestly expected him to have a chair or something in his room; I hadn't known that the only place to sufficiently kiss him was going to be on his bed, and I certainly hadn't expected him to literally yank me down like that. The kid was definitely a Kaiba: aggressive, demanding, and good at everything he did. Of course, when the event in question was kissing me, I'm not sure that it would be any consolation to Kaiba if I announced that.
And of course, Kaiba would choose that minute to walk in. Mokuba shoved me away as forcibly as he had pulled me to him, and he ended up looking away from Kaiba. I looked from Kaiba, to Mokuba, then back to Kaiba, and said without thinking, "Whatever happened to knocking?"
Which brought me to lesson two: telling Kaiba that you were examining his brother's tonsils is not a good reason for having your tongue down his throat, especially if it turns out that the kid doesn't have his tonsils anymore.
Kaiba just kept staring. It was like watching a pong match; I kept looking back and forth between Kaiba and Mokuba, just waiting for someone to miss… something. They weren't saying anything, just staring at each other. Just when I was about ready to say something, just to get create some noise other than my uncomfortable shifting on the bed, Mokuba spoke up. "So, am I grounded?"
With a glance in my direction Kaiba slowly answered, "No. But if you've decided you're old enough to…" He visibly cringed, and I felt a small surge of pride – even if I was a dead man, I made Kaiba cringe! How many people could claim that? "If you're old enough to engage in this sort of activity, then you're old enough for some new rules. We'll talk about it later, but I can tell you your first rule right now."
Mokuba gulped and smiled weakly. "And that is…"
"No boys in your room – at all. So, Jounouchi, that means out."
Fine, if Kaiba wanted to play dirty… "Okay," I said calmly, leaning over to kiss Mokuba before I got up; the kid blushed and ducked his head was I backed away, but he was smiling. "I'll call later."
"Bye, Jou," he said meekly, glancing over at his brother as though he was waiting for Kaiba to say something. Kaiba just glared at me.
It took all my resolve not to flip him off as I left the room.
But I was whistling when I left the Kaiba premises. It wasn't one of my smartest moves, but I didn't regret it. I had the distinct feeling I was about to get involved with a great kid, and on top of that, I got to piss off Kaiba just by having a good time.
Sundays didn't get much better than that.
Shizuka
"Excuse me, miss?"
I looked up from tying my shoe to see Kaiba Seto looking down at me. According to Oniichan, looking down on people was a typical activity for him, but not only was he in front of my school, he was smiling and being polite. Everyone knew about Kaiba, and everyone knew that smiling and being polite – at least, not without being condescending – simply weren't things that he did. I had only met him once (if 'met' was the right word to describe the brief second that I had pleaded with him on the Battle City Blimp), and he hadn't looked happy then, not even once. "Do you need something?" I finally asked, finishing with my untied shoelace.
"Yes, I'm here to get my brother, but I don't know where to find him…" He looked slightly embarrassed, and despite every mean thing that Oniichan had ever told me, I smiled. He should've smiled the way he was smiling at me more often – it looked good on him, much better than the scowls he showed the press. Hell, if he had been anyone but Kaiba – that is, if I thought there was a snowball's chance in hell of succeeding – I might have been tempted to flirt with him a little.
I stood and stretched my arms, picking my bag up from the step I had been sitting on. Hitting on him wasn't an option, but I could at least be nice in return. "I can help you; what's his room number?"
"I'm not sure; he's in some sort of club."
That only narrowed it down to about half the school. I had to laugh a little bit; I would've thought a business genius would have had a better idea about where to find his brother. "Well, he's first-year, right? There are only so many clubs he could be in… I'm sure we can find the right one. Follow me."
I expected him to be his trademark quiet and sulky self – at least, that was how Oniichan had always described him – but instead he tried to strike up conversation. "So you're in your third year?"
"Uh-huh," I replied. I was intent on trying to stay ahead of him; he had such a long stride! "Slow down!" I finally laughed, stopping. "I can't really lead you if you keep getting ahead of me."
He smiled at me again and noticeably slowed, falling into step beside me. "How old are you?"
"Fifteen."
He nodded to himself and cast me a sidelong glance. "Fifteen? You're awfully pretty for your age."
"Thanks…" I looked down, hoping my hair covered the blush on my cheeks. I had just ruled flirting with Kaiba out, but if I didn't know any better, I'd think he was trying to flirt with me. It was sort of embarrassing – with Honda or Otogi, I would blush, and they would be proud of themselves, but it was Kaiba…
"Niisama!" a voice broke through my contemplation. I looked up to see his brother walking towards us. "Is something wrong?"
Kaiba shook his head. "No, I just had some time and thought I'd pick you up today. Are you done yet?"
Mokuba was looking me over carefully, as though gauging a threat. I smiled at him, hoping he'd stop scrutinizing me like that; it made me uncomfortable. Maybe he didn't remember me?
Come to look at it, it was hard to find a resemblance in the brothers; from appearance to demeanor, they seemed to be from completely opposite ends of the spectrum. Hell, even in their appeal, I couldn't find a semblance – Kaiba was typically the dark and broody type, the sort of guy that a girl's mother warned her about, and Mokuba was cute and scruffy, the sort of guy that a girl could have fun just goofing off with.
I'd always sort of liked dark and broody myself.
"We'll be done in about twenty minutes," Mokuba said, finally looking away from me. "But I can leave now if – "
"Don't worry about it," Kaiba said. "I can wait."
Mokuba paused for a second, looking at me again before nodding and leaving, and I was alone in the hall with Kaiba. "Would you like some company while you wait?" I offered impulsively. I knew it was obvious: I was fishing for excuses to spend time with him. Oniichan would have scolded me for hours if he knew, but Kaiba seemed harmless! He was smiling, being nice, and he even called me pretty; he was so contrary to Oniichan's arguments that it seemed perfectly logical to see how drastic the change was, or if there was a change at all.
After all, maybe he just really hated my brother.
"Sure." He was still smiling, looking right at me – not through me, or around me, or past me, but at me. It made me feel a little weak in the knees, and all of sudden, I realized I had taken up a great opportunity to spend time with a good-looking guy, and I was verbally unarmed. Five minutes passed, and in that time I leaned against the wall, crossed my ankles, uncrossed them, wrung my hands behind my back, and bit my lower lip nearly to death. I couldn't think of anything to say! Honestly, what could I say to a multi-billionaire with everything a person could want? Somehow, 'How's the weather?' just wouldn't cut it.
"What's your name?" he asked, and I nearly jumped; I'd been so wrapped up in my thoughts that I'd almost forgotten that he was really there. "I forgot to ask."
"Shizuka," I said, smiling and looking down. I couldn't even ask his name. Maybe 'what's your sign?'…?
A crooked smile tugged at his lips. "Just Shizuka?" he asked, an amused ring to his voice. "Don't you have a family name?"
"Oh!" I blushed again – how silly of me! I was agonizing over making a good impression, yet I forgot something THAT simple. "Sorry, I guess I'm a little out of it. It's been a long day."
He nodded, and almost looked sympathetic. "I remember a few school days like that."
I beamed at him. He was so normal compared to that last time that I saw him. Maybe the years had really mellowed him out, and maybe I ever had a chance to… "Kawai," I added before I got lost in my thoughts again. "Kawai Shizuka."
notes
This was a plot bunny that I kidnapped from Nenya85 – it was consensual, I promise. It was an idea she had after reading Damaging Innocence, and after a while I decided it sounded like fun to run with. She rocks, and I demand loudly that you go read some of her work. Or all of it. Right now, lol.
As for the story, Hannah's back on beta'ing for this one. That's going to be fun. Thanks Hannah! :)
Oh dear hell. Well, right now, my biggest issues are the fact that Kaiba makes NO sense in the last half of this chapter, and that I've never really written a female as a main character before; I'm worried that poor Shizuka's going to come out badly.
Um, other than that… Well, that's about it. The title is pretty lame, but no matter how many others I tried to come up with, that one always came back, so I decided to go with it and call it day, lol.