Fractured future

Title: Fractured future 4/4
Author: Akuchan
Rating: R
Pairing (s): Seto/Jounouchi
Wish maker: Joey
Beta: Daisey
Spoilers: Throughout the series
Disclaimer: I never have and never will own Yugioh. And I don't make
any money from this story either.
Summary: After a run-in with Kaiba, Jounouchi foolishly wishes for
something that adversely affects Kaiba, and changes the course of his
own life. The two are thrown together, and gradually become closer
but to take their relationship to its full potential Jounouchi has to
overcome his guilt.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I'm nearing the end of my shift. The day passed by fairly quickly,
probably because I was walking on air for most of it. I have to
admit that, after I put Kaiba's washing up stuff away, I sat beside
him and watched him while he slept; I didn't even try to earn my wage
and pretend to do work like I normally do. I thought a lot about
what we'd done earlier and didn't feel a bit of guilt, or barely any,
anyways. Kaiba's not the type of person to be easily manipulated or
coerced, though in his weakened state I might be more appealing to
him than I would be normally. I guess I'll find out about that soon
enough, once he's out and about again. I have no idea where we're
headed, but I can tell ya that I'm looking forward to the ride.

Once he woke up, the day progressed as it normally did. He worked
for a while after lunch. Even though he's out of commission, he keeps
tabs on everything that goes on in the office and spends long periods
of time driving everybody there nuts. He's absolutely refused to
allow anyone from Kaiba Corp. to see him laid up. As far as I can
tell, the company seems to be getting along quite well without him. I
wonder if that's a blow to his ego. I hope not, seeing as I think
that it's a testament to the awesome job that he's done building the
place up. The hallmark of great leadership is not how well people
follow you, but how well they'll get along when you're not there to
tell them what do. From where I stand, I'd say he's a fantastic
leader.

Oh, and I'd be a liar if I tried to say that we kept our hands off of
each other. We didn't, but there were no more wild make out
sessions, either. After hashing over our predicament, we've come to
the inevitable conclusion that, for now, we have to keep up an
appearance of professionalism. Which means that, when my shift is
over, I will go home. I won't be showing up at Kaiba manor on my days
off for any impromptu visits with `Mokuba', either. Neither one of
us likes it, but we're playing with fire as it is. Besides, there is
that great little invention called the Internet, which will enable us
to `talk' most of the night if we want to. Again, not the optimum of
circumstances, but it's better than nothing. I even have to kiss him
goodnight half an hour before I'm ready leave, before my shift
replacement shows up.

Speaking of which, she's here now and it's time for me to go. I try
to linger for as long as I can without it looking suspicious, which,
sadly, isn't very long at all. I don't get much interaction with
Kaiba anyway, so I leave, but not before catching his eye and
receiving a rare, true smile from him. I've barely fastened my
seatbelt when my cell phone begins to ring. I grin from ear to ear,
automatically assuming that it's Kaiba missing me all ready. Sadly,
it's not him; it's Yugi.

As soon as I answer, he starts babbling. He's gotten in touch with
Ishizu, and she's almost sure that Yugi could summon some magic, and
she knows of a spell that can turn everything around. In fact, she
said that it could be done tonight if I were willing. "So what do you
say, Jounouchi? Come pick me up, and we'll head over to the museum,
okay?"

I don't answer right away; in fact I don't answer him at
all. "Jounouchi? Yo, Jounouchi, are you there?" Through the fog in
my head I hear him shout.

"Yeah, Bud, I'm here," I say dazedly.

"So are you gonna come and pick me up, or what?"

"Um, yeah, sure… I'll be there in a bit, okay Yug'? There's something
I have to take care of first." I hang up without waiting for a reply,
and then start my car and pull out of the driveway. When I hit the
road, I turn in the opposite direction that I need to go to get
Yugi's. I have some heavy duty thinking to do on my own before I
head over there.

All of a sudden my heart feels like its being pressed on by a ten-ton
weight, and changing the wish back doesn't seem like such a good idea
anymore. I drive down to the docks, and park with a good view of the
harbour. It's too cold to walk, so I just sit in the car and stare at
the water. Besides, I don't want anything to happen to my car. It's
nothing fancy, just an entry level Honda Civic. But it's mine, or it
will be when I finish paying it off, and I don't want anything to
happen to it. If I'm here in this time for very much longer, that is.

I thought I'd had it all sorted out in my head. If Ishizu could help
me, then I'd have the wish reversed and then Kaiba wouldn't have to
go through any of this. But the thing is, he's already broken his
legs. He's already suffered that pain, and the humiliation of
complete helplessness. Going back won't change that. All that will
happen is that he won't remember. But, what if he does? What if
something screwy happens and he remembers this time? Then he's going
to think that he's bat shit crazy. Plus, there's the whole `fucking
with the world's timeline' again. That just freaks me out, big time.

What weighs heaviest on my mind though is `us'. I know it's selfish,
but I can't help it. If things get switched back to before the wish,
will `we' happen? I haven't a clue, and I'm not sure if I want to
take the risk. `Then don't,' my inner voice says matter-of-
factly. `Besides you, Yugi, and Ishizu, who will ever know?' My post-
wish life is better than I could have ever hoped for. Sadly, it's not
me that I should be concerned about. It's Kaiba, and I have to base
my decision on what is best for him. Man, I hate playing god with
somebody else's life. Though I gotta say he looked happy today,
happier than I've ever seen him. And, it was because of me. I know
that it sounds like I'm on a huge ego trip, but hey, it's true. To
say that that blows my mind would be a gross understatement.

I suppose I could talk to Kaiba and see what he thinks, but even
before the idea is complete in my head I toss it away. I think this
whole wish thing falls into the category of `what he don't know won't
hurt him'. Well, it already has, but you know what I mean. Man oh
man. If this decision impacted only me, it wouldn't be a tough one
to make at all, no sir-ee; I'd choose this life in a heartbeat,
whether Kaiba was in it or not. For all I know, I could have things
switched back, and he could still break both his legs. And then, I
wouldn't be there to take care of him. Funny how I feel that I'd be
letting him down if that happened.

All this back and forth, this should I or shouldn't I, is driving me
nuts. I don't know how I do it, but seeing as it's the only way an
answer will come to me, I manage to clear my head of all the noise.
I stop weighing the pros and cons and let the silence wash over me.
Eventually I feel calm enough to look at my problem once more.
Instead of going over it all ~again~, I decide to let my gut tell me
what to do, seeing as it's never let me down before. When I think
about going to get Yugi and heading over to Ishizu's, my stomach
twists up into a great big ball of nerves and I'm panting so hard I
can hardly breathe. Yet, when I say that I'm not going to fuck with
things anymore than they already have been, here's a big surprise:
right away the knot is gone and my breathing is good. That tells me
all I need to know, I don't need to rationalize any further. No
sense in hanging around here. And yes, it's as easy as that.

I start the car up and head for home. I want to be alone, I'm sure
Yugi'll understand. I suppose I should call him now and let him know
that I'm not coming over, but I don't feel like it, I just want to
enjoy this moment of absolute clarity by myself. I'll call him when
I get back to my place.

**********

It's been a month since that fateful make out session in Kaiba's sick
room. His casts have been removed, and as of yesterday, I'm no
longer his caregiver. As of last night, we are officially lovers. I
know I could still be risking my career, but somehow I think that,
since we restrained ourselves during his convalescence, my bosses
will overlook any impropriety. Besides, being the boyfriend of Kaiba
Seto will keep me insulated from too much hassle. I've been wearing
a grin a mile wide all morning long. Still haven't had the pleasure
of him doing me yet; I'm thinking it'll be awhile until his legs are
strong enough to manage that. I suppose I could ride him… hmm, yes,
that's a definite possibility in the very near future.

Right now, I'm leaning up against the limo, enjoying the warmth of
the early spring sun on my cheeks as I wait for him to finish up his
first physical therapy session. Even though the casts are off, it's
going to be a long road to get him back to the way he was before his
fall. I haven't got a doubt in my mind that he won't get there,
though. He's a determined bugger, and nothing short of running a
marathon is going to be good enough for him. Or fucking me through
the mattress… damn, I'm such a horny bugger. Comes from being around
him, but not being able to do more than steal a kiss here and there.
Well, maybe a surreptitious hand job underneath his blanket every now
and again, but ya know what I mean. Believe it or not, there is a
plus side to not being able to fool around; we've actually gotten to
know each other quite well in the meantime.

We were talking about his accident one afternoon; actually, I caught
him watching a clip of it on the Internet. It was the first time
that he'd looked at it since coming home from the hospital. Up until
that point he hadn't been able to, said it was something that he'd
rather not relive. But he'd been confused about something, and he was
trying to get some answers. He swears that he felt somebody shove
him, but the tape showed him to be alone on the stairs. When he'd
mentioned that to the doctor when he'd been in hospital, the man had
brushed it off as Kaiba's unwillingness to accept his own frailties.
For a while he'd bought it, but he could never completely shake the
feeling that he'd been pushed.

Kaiba's not the only one who hasn't been able to watch that tape; I
could never bring myself to look at it either. The reality of seeing
him pitch forward and then tumble down the stairs banging his head
every step of the way, only to hear his agonized screams and whimpers
when he finally came to a stop is not funny at all… not the way I'd
imagined it would be. I forced myself to watch it with him, and I
can see what he's talking about. One minute he's making a grand
entrance down the steps, the next it looks like he's fighting to keep
his balance, and then just before he goes, you can see him turn his
head like he's ready to chew somebody out. Thing is, there's nobody
there.

Half jokingly, I said that maybe it was some cosmic force that caused
the fall. It's as close as I'll ever get to telling him what really
happened. His reaction was not typical Kaiba; he didn't snort and
call me crazy; instead, he seemed to contemplate the idea for a
moment. His reply was probably one of the most astounding I'll ever
hear in my lifetime. He just shrugged his shoulders and
said, `Perhaps. I guess we'll never know'. He then told me that,
since it brought us together, he didn't think of the accident as
being all that horrible. He also said that it was the drugs talking
and that, if I ever repeated what he'd just said, he'd deny, deny,
deny. I can't tell you how much him saying that relieved my guilt.
I don't think it'll ever be gone from me completely, but whenever it
rears its ugly head, I have that silver lining he gave me to hang
onto.

My thoughts are interrupted when the automatic sliding glass doors
open and Isono wheels him out. Kaiba doesn't look at all impressed
that the clinic staff insisted that he leave in a wheelchair, and as
soon as he's over the threshold, he makes his bodyguard stop. I know
that stubborn glint in his eye; he's going to walk to the car if it
kills him. He struggles to get out of the chair but refuses to ask
for help, and I have a pretty good idea that, if we offer, the only
thanks we'll get is a whack over the head with his cane. That's
another thing that has him pissed off too, that he needs that
crutch. I think the cane is cool; it's made from a single piece of
ebony, and has a hand-carved dragon's head handle. It's just a
generic dragon, but he loves it just the same, even if he doesn't
want to use it. Or, that's what he said when I gave it to him. I
didn't have the time to get one customized with his Blue Eyes White
Dragon.

As he walks toward me, his step is unsteady and he's leaning heavily
on the cane, but I don't move from where I'm leaning against the car.
It may not look it, but I am prepared to move fast should he stumble;
I won't let him hit the pavement. When he finally reaches me, he's
winded, and I can tell he's in a lot of pain. But he has that look in
his eye, the one that says never give up. He'd never believe me, but
I don't think I've ever seen him looking sexier. He allows me to help
him into the car, and as I do, I can't help but think that, as I told
Yugi all those weeks ago, I really am the luckiest sonovabitch alive.

The end.