Silver and Cold

Title: Silver and Cold

Chapter: 3/? Aw, Bloody Hell, 4/? What the...?

Current Rating: Not yet much of anything... R at best... so far.

Author: YumeRyu (aka Lavender Saiyajin (aka Kage Kashu))

Archive: FF (edited version), Dragon's Lair, AFF

Pairings: Seto/Jou (that's all for now)

Story Summary: Seto's a vampire. Jou's really superstitious. When Seto chooses to tell someone about his affliction, he goes to the one who's most likely to believe him.

Chapter Summary: The others get to see Jouno's neck wound, and then... Jouno goes for a walk. A long walk. And then there's blood. Lots of blood. Then, in the next part... Jounouchi heals a bit, and later has a surprising encounter... with a very big... wolf, who some of you might recognize.

Disclaimer: Don't worry, I don't own them... yet. Or the song, though I think it's quite lovely.

Author's notes: Uhm, I'm kinda mean to Jouno in this chapter... And honestly, it didn't turn out as gut wrenching as I had wanted it too... But things get better in the second part. Somehow doesn't seem to have much depth to it, the second part... Oh, well...

Warnings: For this chapter? Blood. Lots of blood. And ouchies. And more blood. (Okay, I might be exaggerating...) Ehm? Crossdressing?

Timeline: AUish, after Noa Arc. Some years later. (Don't ask me to be more precise yet.)

~*~*~*~*~*~

~Life

Like the flutter of wings

Feel your hollow bones rushing

Into me

As you're longing to say

So I

I will paint you in silver

I will wrap you in cold

I will lift up your forces aside~

~~Silver and Cold

"So," Honda paced beside Jounouchi, following his beeline to an outside table, the same one at which their other friends sat in various states of relaxation. Said friends waved at them, gesturing them closer. Yuugi and Otogi, sitting opposite of each other, looked to be playing some sort of neme tme that Jounouchi hadn't even had the chance to try yet.

"So what?" Jouno asked sourly, in a somewhat foul mood. It would have been just fine, if it hadn't been for the fact that he had had a test to take the day before, so it wasn't exactly in the best of moods in which he approached the usual table. Freshmen scattered at his mere presence, so heavy was the dark cloud hanging around him. It seemed that the only one that didn't notice was Honda, who pestered him over the bandage wrapped around his throat.

"So, what happened? Kaiba said 'neck injury'. I was half-expecting a neck brace." Honda leaned right into his face. It was one of those things Jounouchi hated for people to do to him. With their face so close, he couldn't see the rest of them, especially the hands, and it always made him nervous. Not that he didn't trust his friend... it was purely instinctive. "What kind of 'neck injury', anyway? Can I see?"

"No! Can't you jest let it be fer once!?" he yelled, exasperated. Honda was one of those people who could never leave 'well enough' alone. Of course, if it weren't for that, he would never have even become friends with the tall and stocky brunette.

"Not really," murmured Yuugi, looking up from his game with Otogi. "We're your friends, so we worry about you." Huge amethyst eyes glittered at him, and he was reminded of Kaiba's story. One would have thought that some sort of vampire cum stalker would be much more interested in Yuugi than in Jouno.

He deflated. Just a word from Yuugi, and all of the anger just... dissipated. "Yuug'... you should be a diplomat. 'Cause ya know how to ruin someone's anger with just a phrase." It was vaguely frustrating at times, but it seemed to work on almost everybody... so who was he to complain?

Honda scratched his head. "I thought that was Ans lis line, Yuugi." His attention focused back onto Jounouchi. "So..."

Jouno sighed, "You really want to know?"

The denizens of the table leaned forward.

"I had a tragic accident with a blender," he said insincerely.

Yuugi tipped his head to the side. "Somehow, I'm not really sure why, but I don't believe that. You're not a good liar, Jouno-kun."

Jounouchi sat down in the place next to the diminutive duelist. He put his face to his hands, mumbling between his fingers, "You wouldn't believe it, even if I told you... Let's just say I got bitten by a... well, you all believe in ghosts, right?"

Honda leaned in again, eagerly. "Can I see?"

"Fine," Jounouchi muttered, leaning his head back and pulling the bandages up and away from the wound. "Nasty, huh?"

"God, how did that... it looks burnt too," Honda murmured sympathetically. "Burns are terrible, and on the neck... God that had to have hurt like hell..."

Anzu cringed away, wincing, as Yuugi turned a light shade of green. There were several gasps from further down the table, as others leaned forward to get a look. Mai refused to even look at it. "If I wanted to see that kind of thing, I'd watch more TV."

"Ouch," was all Otogi had to say about it.

Jouno pulled the bandages back into place, aware of Kaiba staring at him from the not-so-distant cover of several nearby trees.

Otogi gave him a Cheshire Cat grin, "Looks like Kaiba's worried about you."

"Screw off," said Jouno, without any heat. After Yuugi's 'Friends' declaration, the urge to pick a fight had utterly left him. Haredared back at the brunette leaning against a cherry tree. "He's the one who made sure I was okay... and I think I gotta talk to him fer a minute, 'kay, guys? Then I'm leavin'. Took that damned test, and I wanna get out of here."

He was aware of the confused sets of eyes on his back as he walked over to Kaiba.

Kaiba's eyes were on him as well, even as he paused next to him. "So, are you guarding the barrow (1)?"

"What are you smoking?" was Kaiba's acidic reply.

"There's supposed ta be this guy that guards the bodies buried under the sakura." Jounouchi smiled slightly. "You're gonna have to start reading on that kind of thing. The lack of knowledge on such a subject... when the knowledge may be to your advantage... Let's jest say that I'm disappointed in you."

Kaiba snorted softly, then frowned. "You're rarely so sarcastic. Are you feeling well?"

"I'm alright. I'm gonna take off though. I ain't in the mood to hang around here... 'kay?" Jounouchi grinned, to prove that he was just fine.

"What did you tell them?"

"Jest said that they must believe in ghosts, right?" he chuckled, waving at Kaiba as he walked away. "See ya!" he called out, loudly enough for everyone in the near vicinity, and beyond, to hear.

~*~

A silver nimbus of light followed a lanky figure through the woods outside of Domino. It was cold, and he hadn't gone home to get a warmer jacket, so he kept walking at a brisk pace that would keep him warmer than he would be otherwise. He wondered if anyone had told his father what had happened. Then he wondered if his poor overworked father had even noticed that he had been gone for two nights, and tonight would be the third, without so much as a word.

It was one of the things that made Jounouchi regret staying in school. It was against the rules of Domino High to have an after school job (2). That way, he couldn't do anything to help his father pay for everything.

A slight shift in the air, and Jouno thought that he could hear Nox sighing. A brush of icy air ruffled his hair, and the moonlight _rippled_. A shiver ran up his spine as a deeper breath of sound escaped into the night. He nearly jumped out of his skin at the nearby sound of a wolf howling. He growled. "Damn Lizard Brain (3)." He really shouldn't be so jumpy.

He stared up at the moon and scowled. Three moon dogs. Again. And this time, the moon was completely full. If it had meant bad luck that night... The wolf howled again and he set off running in the direction of town. He skidded to a halt as something silvery flashed through the shadows ahead of him. 'Not now, not now!' He backed away as the creature came forward. A huge wolf, three and a half feet at the shoulder, stalked toward him from the shadows. It circled partially around him, eyes lit with an unnatural gleam.

According to his training, it was bad to let the enemy out of sight... ever. He leaned forward, and pulled two of his butterflies (4). He circled with the wolf, unable to properly back away. This creature before him... Whatever it was, there was something about the wolf that was wrong. On such a deep level that the 'Lizard Brain' screamed continuously about it.

The wolf circled closer, then lunged toward him, the unnatural gleam turning to an unholy glow. Everything slowed down, and Jounouchi turned to the side, jamming one of his stainless steel blades into the wolf's chest. A spray of blood, and the butterfly in his other hand went flying. That was a secondary concern though, as he was driven into the ground with such force that he could feel the bones in his shoulder shatter.

A strangled scream wrenched itself from his throat as blood splattered in every direction. His jaw clenched as he swallowed his voice. His head lolled to the , an, and he was greeted by the sight of his now ruined shoulder. White shone amongst a river of red-black. Nausea rose and he couldn't breath.

Black creeped around the edge of his vision and his mind blanked but for two things: panic and pain. A flash of bluish light, and then the darkness completely overtook him.

~*~

Kaiba Seto had stopped pacing in his bedroom a little over an hour ago, and was currently pacing down the street. He'd managed to get a hold of Jounouchi Sr., but Jouno's old man hadn't seen him since before the park. Apparently, he hadneveneven realized that his son was missing.

Kaiba's feet moved faster, as he followed his nose. Jounouchi had a distinct scent, a lot different than that of most people, and a very pleasant one at that. Yet... he could find the scent in some places, but generally, these were only places that Jouno had hung out at a lot. The scent would fade as soon astrietried to follow it.

He growled when he realized that he stood at the top of a wall... before realizing that he had just run up it with so little trouble that he hadn't even recognized the change in scenery until he stopped. He sighed, plopping down on the roof's edge. Well, there was something to try out. Test his newfound capabilities while looking for the missing blonde.

~*~

It was nearly dawn when he finally caught scent of Jounouchi Katsuya. He was on the edge of town when the sharp scent of blood attacked his senses. It was really strong, and that generally meant that there was a lot of it. Following the scent was as easy as if there had been a visible trail of it, leading back to it's owner. His heart clenched in his chest, a nearly physical pain, at the thought of what could have caused such an amount of blood loss.

In no time he had reached Jouno, and was shocked to see the blonde still standing. He staggered forward, tds Kds Kaiba, though it was obvious that he couldn't see the CEO. His honey-brown eyes were glazed over, in either pain or shock, and his entire left side was drenched with blood. And the right side wasn't in much better condition, unless Kaiba's eyes were wrong. The position of his right shoulder and the entire placement of his right arm just screamed -WRONG!-. Blood covered the right shoulder to a lesser degree, and there was something...

Jouno's dragging feet caught on a limb and he fell forward, right into Kaiba's arms, as the billionaire had charged forward in order to catch him.

This close, the smell of blood was both intoxicating and just plain too much for him to handle. He nearly passed out at the heady smell. And for the third time in as many days, (other than briefly,) he lifted Jounouchi into his arms. He balanced the other teen carefully, pulling out a cell phone, in order to call an ambulance. Then he realized that he could probably get Jounouchi to the hospital before an ambulance had time to reach them.

There was so much blood that the front of his shirt was already soaked with it. With a ratsoursour smirk, he told the quiescent form in hims, ms, "Hang on." And then he ran like he never had before.

~*~*~*~*~*~

~Move in life's thrall

I fell asleep for you

Move in life's thrall

I only ask you turn away

Cold in life's thrall

I fall asleep for you

Cold in life's thrall

I only ask you turn

As you seep

Into me

Oh my beautiful one now~

~~Silver and Cold

Kaiba Seto leaned forward, tipping his head to avoid the light seeping through the hospital window. 'Jounouchi...'

The blonde lay unconscious on the pristine white hospital bed. Kaiba had refused to budge from the room when they had been cleaning the wounds and patching them up. They believed that they would have to fix his shoulder surgically. All in all, the total injuries were fairly few. But the extent of them...

His shoulder was shattered. According to the x-rays, not an inch long piece of bone had survived the impact of whatever it was that hit him. Four inches above the elbow was where the damage began, and it extended to his clavicle and shoulder blade. His right shoulder may as well have been put into a meat grinder... and that was just via impact.

His left arm was nearly severed just above the elbow, and most of the blood had come from that injury... and the one on Jounouchi's side, right next to it. They weren't sure, but they believed that they would probably have to sever it. Although, it wasn't bleeding as much now, as they said that the wound seemed to be slightly cauterized. As well as the deeper wound in his side.

His entire left side was covered in l bul burns, and his left leg was cleanly broken. He had a mild concussion, and would possibly recover... at least partially, from his extensive injuries.

His father had passed out upon hearing the extent of his son's injuries, and was currently seated, still unconscious, on Jounouchi's left side, just across from Kaiba. The stress of work was catching up to the man, with the added shock of his son being found almost dead. Not that Kaiba felt any less stressed.

"Jounouchi..." he sighed, and almost jumped when Jouno's eyes opened blearily. He had been told that Jounouchi wouldn't wake for hours.

"Kaiba?" Jounouchi's eyes slipped back closed. "Why do I keep waking up to your face after I get hurt?"

"Your just lucky," he stated sourly. He leaned closer to the injured blonde. "Do you remember what happened?"

His eyes opened back up, clearer now. "I got attacked. By a huge wolf... I think I lost my knives..."

A slight smirk crossed Kaiba's face at that. "You still had one of them... The nurses had a hell of a time prying it out of your hand. They said that you shouldn't have still been able to grip it with the condition of the rest of your arm..."

"membmember losing one..." Jounouchi tipped his head to the side. "How bad is it, doc?"

Kaiba frowned, "I'm no doctor... but... Your left arm just may have to be amputated. And your right may be useless after this. Severe lacerations on your left side, along with second degree burns all up and down your left..."

"Hey!!" yelled one of the nurses. "You shouldn't tell the patient about that! He needs peace to recover!"

Kaiba glowered.

Jounouchi frowned at her. "All along my left side, huh? Anything else?"

"Concussion," Kaiba murmured, ignoring the nurse's glare.

"I don't feel concussed. And believe you me, I know what concussed feels like." His voice was stronger than it should have been. "Just how many drugs did they give me, anyway? I don't feel no pain..."

The nurse stiffened. "You're not hurting... at all?"

He shook his head slightly. "What the hell'd ya all drug me with anyway? Somethin' new? 'Cause I don't feel lightheaded at all." He lifted his head to get a look at himself. "That's hella lotta bandages..."

She shook her head at him. And Kaiba blinked thoughtfully. He hadn't seen them give Jounouchi anything but antibios yet. "We haven't given you any pain killers...!"

"What?" He tipped his head to the side again. "Then it can't be as bad as it sounded, 'cause I feel fine!" To demonstrate his point, he sat up, and all the doctors and nurses in the room beelined to him to push him back down onto the bed.

Kaiba gaped. The condition Jounouchi had been in... That was _not_ possible. "Jounouchi. How fine is fine?" He was rather proud that his shock didn't carry through to his voice.

"Perfectly fine, just a bit groggy in the muscles, ya know," Jouno answered, trying to push the doctors away.

"Back off."

The doctors and nurses froze at the cold command. "But..." one of them murmured.

"Let him be," Kaiba continued, pushing them away easily. His hand felt for the bandages, and he pressed down. "Do you feel that?"

"Yeah," Jouno frowned, "why shouldn't I?"

He pulled aside the bandages on Jouno's shoulder. The skin was perfectly clear. "..."

"What?" Jounouchi turned his head to look. "Eh? There's nothing wrong with me!" he said cheerfully. Then a serious frown crossed his face. "But I remember hitting that. What about my arm? I remember that too!" Without waiting for Kaiba, he attacked the bandage on his left arm. "Okay... now that's weird."

Kaiba nodded. The arm still had deep angry red gouges... but they looked half-healed. He stepped around the bed to get a better look. And with the worst timing imaginable...

Jounouchi Elder woke up. The man shrieked at the proffered arm, and was backed into the wall before anyone had recovered from the sudden sound. "K...k...kaa... Katsuya!" the man stuttered.

Jouno stared up at his now terrifically pale father. "Eh?" he asked before looking back down at his arm. He poked at the edge of the wound with a surprisingly cold detachment. "It's kinda cool, seein' all the muscles and everything like that, without the skin in the way. But it hurts now. And what's worse... it itches like a mother fucker!!!" He glanced up at one of the nurses, in a pathetic fashion. "Can I have some aspirin? Morphine? A mallet? A grenade?"

The woman pulled out a needle. "Alright then..."

"Eep!!" Jouno jumped up and away from the nurse. "Nonononononononono... no needles," he said, pinning himself against the wall, right next to his father, "needles are bad."

"Well, no pain reliever if you can't handle a needle," she said succinctly.

"No needles?" Jouno asked, sounding relieved.

"Sit down," the woman ordered.

Cautiously, he sat back on the bed. Kaiba noted, with amusement, the sidelong, paranoid glances aimed at the woman.

"I'll need to reclean the wound, and rebandage it. Then we can check to see if you still have any other wounds." She began her careful inspection immediately, removing the now useless bandages (including the one around his neck), and retying the one Jounouchi had ripped off after cleaning the half-healed gouges beneath it.

After that, Kaiba let it be known that the bill should be sent to him, and Jounouchi was released, to everyone's mild surprise.

Outside, the blonde glanced at his father. "Uhm..."

The man drooped slightly, then stiffened. "What the hell have you been up to la, th, that you get so horribly injured so early in the morning, and then are suddenly almost completely healed?"

Jouno scratched the back of his neck. "I dunno. I was walkin' jes' outsida town and I got attacked. By one big ass wolf... Next thing I know, I'm in the hospital with Kaiba lookin' at me like his kitty died." He paused, turning to stare at Kaiba. "Should you be outside?"

"I'm fine," Kaiba murmured. "I've already learned to wear a lot of sunblock." He casually pushed his sunglasses higher up his nose.

Jouno glanced around. "Aw, shit."

His father lifted an eyebrow. "What?"

"I'm missing school!!"

~*~

Mai Valentine leaned forward to put the finishing flair to her creation. "Stop squirming, or I won't be able to get it right!" The boy stilled, and she deftly applied the mascara. "You really are a work of art, even if I do say so myself." She carefully puffed the pale pink blouse, moving on to the semi-short black skirt. "It might not work on him, you know."

"Why not?"

"He's been living around you for several years. And I know you aren't just doing this to make him feel foolish, either. You're doing it for blackmail. Jounouchi is almost never embarrassed about the things he does, so I'll just say tough luck." Mai tossed her hair back. "If you hurt him, though, Ishtaar, you'll be in worse trouble than you can even imagine." She laughed to herself. "I just thought of another reason it may not work... He's got the hots for Kaiba, as well as little me can tell."

"He likes Kaiba?" Malik's (the Hikari) eyes widened. "Oh, well. Maybe I'll just do it to Honda..." He sounded so disappointed, that Mai almost would have thought that the boy had a crush...

~*~

Currently, Honda was jumping up and down, holding Jounouchi in a bear hug. "We were so worried!!"

"Ack!" Jouno shook his head. "Let go! Yer squeezin' my arm!"

Kaiba glared from the shade of the sakura trees (5) on the other end of the yard.

Jounouchi noticed this when Honda finally put him down. "Looky, I'm still very much in the land of the living... Kaiba!" he called, to get everyone's attentions off of him. "C'mon over here, and stop guarding the tree!!"

Kaiba glared for a moment longer before complying. He didn't really want to... but if the pup asked...

Honda grabbed Jounouchi's wrist, pulling the jacket down so that he could see the bandages that he'd been able to feel underneath the school uniform. "What did you do here?" He asked, eyebrows raised.

"I got attacked by a wild animal, in the woods," Jouno answered honestly, if a little distractedly, as Kaiba was now standing right behind Honda. "Kaiba? What're you doing?"

Kaiba shrugged, as Honda jumped to the side, surprised that Kaiba had gotten behind him so easily. "Wondering how much your arm's healed already."

"It can't have healed that much... It still hurts." He felt at the bandage, before undoing it carefully. "I don't think I need the bandage any more, now..."

Kaiba shook his head as Honda leaned in to get a look. "Now that's nasty... And you got it this morning?" He shivered. "There sure is something weird going on here... I mean, weirder than normal."

Kaiba gave a disgusted snort. "Considering our lives, normal should be taken as unusual."

"Speaking of normal being abnormal," Honda said, "You're acting really normal. Which is abnormal for you... What's up with that?"

Both Kaiba and Jounouchi stared at him for a moment, before Kaiba spoke again. "I don't feel like being abnormal right now. Because I'm as abnormal as it comes at the moment."

"No kidding," Jounouchi laughed.

Kaiba snorted again. "At least I'm not the instant healer."

"It couldn't have been instant," Jouno kicked the table, sitting next to some of his other friends. "Not with how much blood was on yer jacket..."

"What? Do you think you owe me for dry cleaning or something?"

Jounouchi shook his head. "No... It's just... I don't get it... What happened? I must have missed a lot of it if you found me trying to walk back home!"

Kaiba nodded. "It's quite likely that the injuries had been worse."

"Ack, don't make me think about it..." Jouno propped his feet up on a nearby table, completely unaware of all of the curious eyes. He peeked at Kaiba. "Ya know... If you told someone about that you would have a lot less to worry about."

Kaiba shook his head. "Right. No thank you."

"Yeah," Jouno glanced over those who he sat next to. Yuugi, Ryou, Malik in a dress... What? Why was Malik wearing a dress? He jumped up and leaned forward. "Yo, man. What's up with the dress?"

Everyone leaned back when he jumped, surprised at the speed with which he had done it. Malik stared, wide eyed, into the face of the other blonde. "What?" He lowered his voice out of the range for anybody not as close as Jounouchi to catch, "How'd you know?"

"Wha? C'mon, man, it's obvious!" Unconsciously, he lowered his voice to match the other's.

"Nobody else knew."

Jounouchi blinked. "Really?" He hadn't realized that his friends were so dense. Then he said so.

"Just pretend that I used to be a tomboy, okay? Because they already know you know me."

"Uhm... Okay." He hopped back into his previous position. "Wake me up when it's time to get back to class," he ordered, closing his eyes to nap. The last thing he heard was what sounded like Malik hitting on Honda. And Honda flirting right back. His friend's were dense...)

~*~

Jouno yawned. Upon opening his eyes, he discovered it was dark. Why was he outside? He sat up, stretching. "When did I get out here?" he wondered aloud.

A soft voice answered. "You've been out here since this morning's school break."

His eyes widened. "Aaah!! Damnit!"

"It's too late to be so upset about it, wolf."

"Eh?" Jounouchi glanced around. "Where are you?"

"Right behind you."

"Iiiiiiiiyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!" Jouno fell as he turned to face the presence at his back. "What are you?" he asked, once he calmed down for a moment. He was now laying on his back, in the grass next to the table.

"I'm what you'll soon be, young wolf," the creature that stood above him was pitch black, and as it said, it had the look of a wolf. "It's surprising that you're alive, little wolf. That one you met last night was maddened by the moon. It happens sometimes."

"Why do you keep calling me that?"

"On next full moon, you'll be amongst my brothers..." it sighed, sounding sad, somehow. "But we're split up, it's depressing. Gangs of us, tearing up the streets. Weaklings." The huge wolf snorted. "I think... you remind me of someone. You'll change things." It sighed again. "If you don't die first. Live by the sword, you know. Of course, I prefer using something bigger." It chuckled. "If you're ever in the South Shop sect... come by my shop. Sagara's Antiques. Kid like you might enjoy it. Ask for Sano."

The wolf leapt from the table, and Jounouchi could see the red strip of cloth above its eyes. Less than a moment later, it was running for the trees in utter silence.

"That was interesting," said a familiar voice, not too far away.

"Kaiba! Why the hell didn't anyone wake me up!!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

(1) The cherry barrow. There is a Japanese superstition that says that the reason a cherry tree's petals are pink is that the tree feeds off of corpses buried beneath it. If one watches Tokyo Babylon, or X/1999, Sakurazuka Seishirou was the "guardian of the cherry barrow", or Sakurazukamori.

(2) In the manga, Anzu had gotten an after school job, and it was mention that it was against school rules.

(3) The part of the brain that holds the instincts.

(4) Butterflies, as in butterfly knives.

(5) As mention before, sakura and cherry trees are the same thing.