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Jounouchi stared at the license in his hand, as he had been for the past ten minutes, as though if he didn't commit every millimeter of it to memory, it would disappear.
Jounouchi Katsuya, Dragon Rider, 5th Class
One day, he'd be first class. Sure, that was several years and many missions later, but he'd been accepted and passed and that's really what counted right now.
"Jounouchi! Earth to Jounouchi!"
He looked around, his eyes trying to focus on their new distance. Yugi was waving at him, beaming like always.
"You wanna eat, or...?"
Jounouchi threw an arm around Yugi's shoulders. "Yugi, right now, I could eat a dragon."
"Don't let the coaches hear that," Honda said. "They'll put you back on stable duty."
Jounouchi lightly punched Honda's shoulder. "Yeah, yeah. Come on, guys. I'm ready to celebrate!"
Anzu was already waiting for them at the tavern, decorations hanging above a table, spelling out his name and "Congratulations" in shining scales.
"Wow, that looks great, Anzu!" Yugi said, as they approached.
Anzu hugged Jounouchi in greeting, the four friends chatting as their drinks and food arrived right on time.
"I'm so excited for you," Anzu said, as they clinked their mugs together. "You're going to be a great Dragon Rider, I can tell."
"Thanks. Man, this feels just-- I can hardly believe it's real," Jounouchi said, holding his license out again.
"I certainly can't," said a cold voice behind them.
Jounouchi's smile disappeared instantly. "Kaiba."
"Jounouchi's going to be a Dragon rider with us, Kaiba," Yugi said, trying to cut the tension.
Jounouchi was already ready to spring up and fight, and, although Kaiba looked relaxed, Yugi had already seen how fights between the two of them ended. He really didn't want that to happen today.
"Well, he'll be a Rider," Kaiba said. "But he certainly won't be in my class." Kaiba leaned a centimeter closer. "Fifth Class, hm? Mokuba just reached that level. But then, he's ten."
Jounouchi stood up, whirling around into Kaiba's smug face. "You wanna go? We can do it right here."
"Jounouchi!" Yugi called.
Honda stood beside Jounouchi and put a hand on his shoulder. "Man, c'mon. If he gets you into a fight, you'll get suspended before you even start."
Jounouchi snarled. Honda was right. One of the rules of being a Rider was that you had to stay out of trouble. Even if that trouble was asking for it.
"Don't you have your ego to go stroke, or something?" Jounouchi said.
Kaiba smiled. "Sadly, I do have work to do. You know how much I'd love to stay and..." He glanced at the decorations and sneered. "Celebrate."
Jounouchi straight up growled at Kaiba.
"Down, boy," Kaiba whispered, just loud enough for Jounouchi to hear alone. With a parting smirk, Kaiba stepped to one side and soon disappeared in the tavern's crowd.
Jounouchi plopped onto the bench and sighed. "Man, fuck that guy."
"He just does it because he knows it gets a rise out of you," Anzu said. "You should talk to my mentor. She's great at helping me deal with people like Kaiba."
"Yeah, yeah," Jounouchi muttered. He shoved his license back in his shirt pocket and downed his drink. "I'm gonna step out for a minute."
"You want company?" Yugi asked.
Jounouchi put on a forced smile for him. "Nah, that's OK. Just gonna think for a minute. I'll be right back."
They nodded and Jounouchi headed out the back door.
One of the Kaiba brothers' Blue Eyes White Dragons was flying over the city, heading back to the Kaiba mansion. Man, what a dick Kaiba was! Jounouchi shook out his shoulders. He didn't want to keep thinking about Kaiba, but damn, if he didn't always know what buttons to push.
Anzu was half right; he really needed to talk to somebody about this. Maybe Yugi's grandpa would be a good person to get advice from. He'd always supported Jounouchi throughout his training for his license. And he'd been a Rider General. If anyone knew how to handle a jerk like Kaiba, he would.
Jounouchi closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He was officially a Rider now, and not even Kaiba could ruin that for him today.
Smiling, he headed back into the tavern to celebrate with his friends.
The party had moved back to Yugi's place by the end of the night and, somewhere between the games and the four of them crashing in Yugi's room, Jounouchi found himself outside in the stable, watching Grandpa tend to his aging Blue Eyes.
"Hey, Gramps," Jounouchi said, leaning against a stable post. "How do you deal with people like Kaiba?"
Grandpa chuckled. "That young upstart with the other two Blue Eyes? People like him will learn eventually."
"Yeah, but how do you deal with them right now?"
Grandpa looked over at him. "The most important thing is to focus on yourself. The Kaibas of this world will always be around, but if they're around you and you're true to yourself, they'll become tolerable."
Jounouchi wasn't sure if it was the amount he'd had to drink, or if that really didn't make sense to him, but he nodded anyway; it sounded wise enough.
The old Blue Eyes opened one eye and stared right at him. For a moment, Jounouchi felt a tug on his heart, as though the dragon was trying to speak to him, like it was trying to tell him something very important. Then, it closed its eye again and shook its head, settling down for the night.
Grandpa laughed. "I think it's time for bed. You have to be up early tomorrow for your first day, right?"
Jounouchi blinked and the moment had passed. "Uh, yeah. I get assigned a partner tomorrow. Yugi and I have already put in our applications, so we're hoping we get each other."
Grandpa nodded. "I'm sure whoever you're paired with, you'll bring out the best in each other."
Jounouchi smiled in thanks, and followed Grandpa back into the house.
Yugi and Jounouchi went skidding into the great hall, nearly sliding out in their hurry to check the partner boards. They'd both overslept and missed the formal announcement, but at least it was still posted. The board was nearly bare, only two sheets still stuck to it. Both had Yugi's name on them.
Jounouchi read them over and over, but his name wasn't listed at all. In fact, it looked like someone had taken his partner sheet down already.
"That's normal, right?" Jounouchi asked, panic settling into his gut. "Like, sometimes they just, like, don't put your name up, right?"
Yugi frowned at his listing. "I've never heard of this Rider before. I wonder if he's from another school."
"Like, this is totally normal, right?!"
"Jounouchi..." Yugi began.
"Jounouchi Katsuya?"
Both of them whirled around, expecting to find one of their teachers, but there was only another student behind them.
"Hi, sorry if I startled you," he said. "I'm Bakura Ryou. Which one of you is Jounouchi?"
Jounouchi pointed to himself silently. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Maybe this kid was his new--
"Headmaster Crawford wants to see you immediately," Bakura said.
Jounouchi blanched. That sounded definitely bad.
Bakura gave him an apologetic smile and stepped forward. "I think I'm supposed to be here?"
"Oh," Yugi said. "I'm your partner, I guess."
Bakura smiled a little brighter. "Hello! I'm glad to meet you--" He glanced at his sheet. "--Mutou Yugi?"
"Yep, that's me," Yugi said.
A moment of awkward silence passed between the three of them.
"I think he wanted to see you right away," Bakura said to Jounouchi.
Jounouchi nodded once, spun on his heel, and marched himself towards the headmaster's office.
Pegasus J. Crawford was supposed to be one of America's greatest Riders. It was rumored he'd invented the American saddle, not to mention that it was said he had some sort of magic communication power with any dragon he came in contact with. He wasn't particularly strict, but he wasn't exactly a pushover, either.
Jounouchi had just reached up to knock on the door when the headmaster called out, "You may come in, Jounouchi."
He braced himself and opened the door. Two high-backed chairs sat in front of Crawford's desk, one of them occupied by someone Jounouchi couldn't quite make out, just that they were already decked out in riding gear.
Jounouchi stepped forward, desperately trying to school his expression into one of curiosity instead of sheer panic. Crawford had one of his enigmatic smiles already on his face, and that was not helping Jounouchi's sense of foreboding. Forcing himself to move, Jounouchi walked stiffly toward the other chair.
"Your partner already has some complaints about you," Crawford said. "An impressive feat, considering that you two haven't worked together yet."
Jounouchi stole a glance toward the other chair and froze.
No.
No way.
A very petulant-looking Kaiba sat in the chair beside him, his arms and legs crossed, and his expression so fiercely dark Jounouchi was almost surprised Crawford was still alive, that the Kaiba glare hadn't killed him on sight..
"I do know you two have met before, but I didn't realize it was so... personal," Crawford continued, that smile getting a little bit more amused than it had a right to be.
Jounouchi fell back into the chair, feeling already defeated.
"Well, Pegasus, now that you've had your fun, can I get my real partner assigned to me?" Kaiba asked, purposely not looking at Jounouchi.
Crawford looked at the parchments in front of him, one of which had clearly been smoothed out after being crumpled into a ball.
"Kaiba-boy," he said, his tone edged with a hint of warning. "You know I have great respect for your family and your own achievements in protecting our last remaining Blue Eyes White Dragons."
Kaiba's expression didn't change; he still looked as hateful as before.
"I think you two are the perfect match," Crawford finished.
"Uh, if I can say something?" Jounouchi said, his voice thin.
"Of course, Jounouchi," Crawford said, that damn smile back on his face.
Jounouchi cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter. "My application. It did have a couple of partner suggestions on it...."
"Yes, it did," Crawford agreed. "And as they were only suggestions, the final decision is still mine. I believe you and Kaiba will have much to teach each other."
Jounouchi glanced sideways at Kaiba, but Kaiba just kept glaring at the headmaster.
Crawford pulled out two fresh parchments and handed them to each of them. "Your schedules. Remember, a partner is there to keep you safe, to keep you on track, and, most importantly, to keep you alive."
Jounouchi bit back a snort, but just barely.
"I'll expect you both back here at the end of each week," Crawford said, waving a hand to dismiss them.
"Why?" Jounouchi asked.
He glanced up at them. "To make sure both of you are, in fact, still alive. You may go. Your first lesson will be starting soon."
Kaiba rose and left immediately. Jounouchi looked between the headmaster and Kaiba's rapidly leaving person, and hopped up to follow his new partner.
He finally caught up with Kaiba halfway down the hallway. "Kaiba, wait up!"
Kaiba spun around, his eyes lit like blue flames. "Get this straight right now, Jounouchi. If you cause me any trouble, I will have no qualms about feeding you to my dragons, do you understand?"
"What is your deal with me?" Jounouchi asked.
"Crawford made it clear to me that my rank is on probation until you catch up to me," Kaiba snapped. A flash of regret crossed his face, as though he'd said something he hadn't meant to admit out loud.
"Oh my god, you were blackmailed into being my partner?" Jounouchi said, torn between laughing hysterically and tearing his own hair out.
Kaiba bared his perfect teeth. "If you tell anyone about this, you're food, got that?"
Jounouchi couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up from his chest. "Whatever, Kaiba. You so owe me."
"The debt's been paid by allowing you in my presence," Kaiba said.
Jounouchi just kept grinning. Kaiba huffed and turned back to head to their first class.
Well, although this roundly sucked, at least Kaiba wasn't getting a good deal either. Jounouchi figured that had to count for something.
Apparently, being a Fifth Class rank meant you spent hours on extra training and almost no time riding. Sure, there was still one riding class a week to make sure you wouldn't forget how, but this theory stuff was not what Jounouchi had been planning on. Still the two of them had made it through the first week without killing each other, so that was going OK.
But maybe not OK enough.
"--to mention how sloppy his take offs are," Kaiba was saying. Jounouchi had tuned him out at the first complaint to Crawford, and, from the look on the headmaster's face, he was tuning Kaiba out, too.
Kaiba huffed and sat back in his chair, arms crossed tight across his chest.
"And yet, look at you two," Crawford said. "You've survived your first week."
Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Due to my skill and mine alone."
"You know, I'm really not as bad as you act like I am."
"Bold of you to imagine that, but you really are hopeless," Kaiba said.
"Would I really have made it here if I was?" Jounouchi asked.
"Of course," Kaiba said. "We need all the Riders we can get. You're expendable."
Jounouchi clenched the arm of his chair, ready to spring up and fight, when Crawford put his hands up.
"Enough!" he said, something gold glinting behind his white hair. "Both of you."
A wave of energy pushed Jounouchi back into his seat and, from the looks of it, the same thing happened to Kaiba, judging by his stunned expression.
"Now, the reason I wanted you two here today is because I have a special task in mind for you both," Crawford said. "Kaiba, we just received an injured Red Eyes Black Dragon. His Rider is being looked after, but the dragon himself isn't doing well. He's wild and untamable without a Rider. We need you to take a look at him."
"The Blue Eyes will calm him," Kaiba said.
"Weren't those two enemies, like way back in the day?" Jounouchi asked.
"Ancient history," Kaiba said.
"Not quite so ancient," Crawford said. He stood, and for the first time Jounouchi saw what had shone on his face. Crawford had a false eye. "Come on. We'll need help getting him care."
Kaiba followed dutifully, glancing sideways at Jounouchi. "You may as well stay back. You'll only anger the Red Eyes."
"I'm telling you, Kaiba, any time, you just say it," Jounouchi said, his hands balled into fists.
"Quiet!" Crawford snapped. "I need both of you for this."
Jounouchi cocked his head. "Why?"
"You'll see," Crawford said.
Even Kaiba looked confused, so Jounouchi just shrugged and let the headmaster lead them to the field where the dragon was tethered.
Squires were holding down the canvases that stretched across the Red Eyes, holding it still. More of them clung to the large stakes that the canvases were tied to. Even with the weight of the dragon hide, the Red Eyes was still reeling upwards, threatening to upend everything and everyone.
Kaiba's two Blue Eyes were circling, calling to the Red Eyes as if trying to calm it, but the Red Eyes was having none of it.
"Big brother!"
Kaiba Mokuba came running over to them, looking very much like the child he was, youngest Rider or no.
"What's the status?" Crawford asked.
Mokuba read off of his clipboard. "He can't fly anymore. One wing is almost totally shredded; it's going to take months to heal. His tail's in better condition, but not much. He's really angry, though. He already took out a couple of squires earlier. They're in the hospital now."
Without a word, Kaiba started towards the dragon, making eye contact with it.
"Not for nothing, but isn't that dangerous?" Jounouchi asked.
"Don't worry," Mokuba said. "My brother can handle any dragon."
The closer Kaiba got to the Red Eyes, the more the dragon huffed and spat. Kaiba held out his arms as though he was going to hug the dragon. The Red Eyes snarled and opened its mouth, sending a blast of fire out and straight into Kaiba.
The three watchers cried out as Kaiba was knocked to the ground. Crawford and Mokuba were already on the move and calling for water before Jounouchi realized he should be running over, too.
Kaiba's clothes put out, Kaiba shook his head, the edges of his hair singed and smoking. "He's weak."
"Luckily for you," Crawford said, pulling Kaiba to his feet.
"That wasn't to hurt me. That was a warning."
Jounouchi was watching the Red Eyes. It's hide was dull, not nearly as healthy as it should be. Whatever battle it had been in, it had barely made it out. But its eyes... they were still sharp.
The Red Eyes was down, but not out.
As if in a trance, Jounouchi found himself walking closer to the Red Eyes. Dimly, he heard Kaiba yell at him to stop, probably with an insult somewhere in there, but Jounouchi couldn't hear him. Something was filling his head, blocking his senses to everything else except the Red Eyes.
The dragon huffed through its nostrils, but didn't breathe out any fire toward him. In fact, it almost seemed to be... calling him?
Jounouchi reached out one hand and touched the dragon's large head. Its scales were cooling; Red Eyes Black Dragons were supposed to be warm, even hot to the touch. He looked the Red Eyes in its eye and the dragon snorted, then closed its eyes.
"He's dying!" Jounouchi shouted, not sure how he knew that, but completely certain about it.
One of the Blue Eyes White Dragons landed beside the canvas by the Red Eyes' wing, while the other continued to circle above them. Crawford and the Kaiba brothers came running over, Mokuba calling out orders to the nearby squires to loosen the tethers.
While Crawford and Kaiba discussed what was needed to heal the Red Eyes, Jounouchi knelt beside its head and rested his forehead against it.
"You're a fighter," Jounouchi whispered. "You're gonna make it. You'll be flying again soon."
He couldn't see him, but Jounouchi felt Kaiba's curious stare burning into his back. Jounouchi wasn't sure what had just happened to him, but somehow, he knew this dragon would be all right.
And if the Red Eyes would be all right, so would he.
The rest of that day was a blur of trying to get the Red Eyes moved to one of the safer pastures on the Kaiba estate. Jounouchi stayed with the dragon keeping it calm while Kaiba did whatever it was he was doing around the injuries. By the time the Red Eyes had finally settled down among flames, and they were sure it wouldn’t die during the night, the sun had already set, leaving Jounouchi without a way back from Kaiba’s place.
“Hey, Kaiba?” he tried, following him into the mansion. “I don’t suppose you wanna take me back to the city?”
“Not really.”
OK. Dick move.
“So, can I stay?”
Kaiba froze mid-step.
“No.”
“So, I can’t stay here, but you won’t give me a ride back?” Jounouchi said. “Wow.”
A strange whisper rushed by him, like wind blowing through leaves, except that there were almost words in it. It hit Kaiba and swirled around him, then disappeared as soon as it had appeared.
Kaiba sighed, his shoulders slumping.
“Yes, you may stay. I’ll have a room prepared for you.”
Jounouchi’s eyes narrowed. Something strange and suspicious just happened there. Still, he wouldn’t look a gift dragon in the mouth.
“Thanks.”
“No. Don’t mention it,” Kaiba replied, blandly.
A door opened to their right and a servant appeared, bowing deferentially to Kaiba.
“Dinner is prepared.”
“Mokuba won’t be here tonight,” Kaiba said, seeming to snap out of his weird whatever. He gestured back to Jounouchi. “He will be dining with me.”
The servant bowed again and vanished behind the door.
“Come on,” Kaiba said, unbuckling his riding gear. “I’ve got to change. The servants will find something for you to wear.”
“What’s wrong with this?”
Kaiba looked at him for the first time since they’d arrived. “No. We don’t eat in our gear. This isn’t the local tavern.”
Jounouchi rolled his eyes at him, but Kaiba had already turned back around and was marching up the stairs. Jounouchi hurried after him, trying to remove the bulkiest of his gear at the same time.
“Kaiba — oof! — where am I supposed to change?”
“The servants will find you a room,” Kaiba said, his outer gear already collected in his arms. Jounouchi followed him to the door of what appeared to be Kaiba’s own room.
“Can you at least let me borrow a—?”
“No!”
Kaiba spun on his heel. “The servants will find you what you need.”
“How?”
Kaiba stared at him as if Jounouchi was a bigger idiot than he’d thought. “Just call for them.”
“But what do I—?”
“Figure it out!”
With that, Kaiba slammed the door in Jounouchi’s face.
Rude as hell.
Jounouchi was about to go in and argue the point when the lock clicked into place.
Wow, super rude.
He wandered back to the stairwell, ready to shout for someone in this giant, seemingly empty house. He looked down and jumped in surprise.
At the bottom of the stairs was a servant, different from the first one he’d seen, but only just.
“Uh. I need, uh,” Jounouchi stammered.
“Master Kaiba has informed us you will be staying the night,” the man said. Jounouchi assumed the “us” referred to the other servants of the house, and not like some weird sort of hive mind in a human suit.
“Yeah. I need clothes, too,” Jounouchi managed, still very weirded out.
The man bowed. “They shall be provided. Your room is on your right.”
Jounouchi turned around. “Wait, my right here, or…”
“Right this way,” said the servant, suddenly beside Jounouchi, who jumped again. He hadn’t even heard the man climb the stairs.
The man led Jounouchi to his room and opened the door for him.
“I shall fetch you when dinner is prepared,” the servant said. “Master Kaiba always appreciates a bath before eating, so I have drawn one for you, as well, through there.”
“But where are my clo—?”
“Everything will be ready once you have finished.” The servant bowed again, somehow simultaneously pushing Jounouchi into the room.
“Yeah, but I—?”
The door was already shut.
Jounouchi sighed. “I don’t like this place,” he said, to no one.
Still, a bath didn’t sound bad, really, so he headed in to take one. The bathroom itself was bigger than his whole place back home, and nearly as big as the rooms at the academy.
Wild.
Clothes were lying on the bed when he emerged from the bath; he’d heard no one in or out, nor the door open or shut. How could Kaiba stand it?
“Heh, creepy Kaiba,” Jounouchi said to the room.
He’d just finished dressing when the servant knocked on his door.
“Dinner is ready. Please follow me.”
The mansion felt labyrinthine as they made their way down corridors that Jounouchi couldn’t figure out. Finally, they arrived at the dining room. Kaiba, of course, was already there, seated at the head of the table.
Jounouchi shrugged and headed toward the other end.
“Up here,” Kaiba said. “That’s Mokuba’s seat.”
Jounouchi froze. “Way down there? I thought you said he wasn’t going to be here.”
“He isn’t,” Kaiba said. “Anyway, I’d prefer you within my knife’s reach.”
“Ha ha.” Still, Jounouchi took the seat Kaiba had indicated. “Don’t you get bored being mean?”
“I’m not mean, you’re just thin-skinned.”
“Believe it or not, Kaiba, there is a reason I haven’t tried to kill you yet.”
Kaiba smiled over his raised glass. “If I remember correctly, I won the last time we fought.”
“Only because you cheated.”
Kaiba chuckled. “Fighting with style isn’t cheating.”
“I really didn’t want to stay here to be insulted, you know.”
Kaiba opened his mouth to reply when two more servants walked in, both nearly identical to the others except for slight differences in their faces. They served the food and disappeared as silently as they’d arrived.
Jounouchi stared at the food on his plate, trying not to drool at it’s aroma. Damn, he was hungry. He hadn’t realized how long he’d gone without eating. But still….
“So, what’s the deal with the servants?”
“They’re my father’s leftovers,” Kaiba said.
“Your dad’s what now?”
Kaiba huffed. “They came with the house. They’re convenient and I just haven’t bothered getting rid of them yet.”
“Are they— I mean, they’re people, right?”
“No.”
Jounouchi’s mouth thinned into a hard line. “You’re big on one-word answers, aren’t you?”
“You don’t need to know anything about them,” Kaiba said. “What would be the point of telling you?”
“Partners are supposed to work together, right?”
“Work,” Kaiba said. “Not know everything about each other’s lives.”
That strange whispering wind flew in from nowhere, swirled around them, and dissipated.
Jounouchi looked around. “What was that?”
Kaiba sighed. “They’re… Shades,” he said.
“The wind?”
“No, the servants.”
“What was that that just happened?”
“Pegasus is being… persuasive,” Kaiba said.
Come to think of it, Jounouchi realized that it did feel similar to the energy wave that had hit them during that office visit.
“Is he a wizard?” Jounouchi asked. He’d heard of them, but nobody had seen one in so long, that seemed strange. A wizard rider, here? No way.
“Not really. He’s just nosy,” Kaiba said.
“What’s ‘not really’ mean?”
Kaiba frowned. “I mean he’s not really a wizard. Not a real one.”
“How would you know?” Jounouchi asked. “I mean, when’s the last time anyone knew a wizard?”
Kaiba took a drink and mumbled something over the rim.
“What was that?” Jounouchi asked, leaning nearer.
“My father was,” Kaiba said, unwillingly.
“Was what?”
“A wizard.”
“Oh!” Jounouchi thought about that for a moment. Come to think of it, he’d never really heard much about the Kaiba patriarch. “So what was he—?”
“Eat. Your food’s getting cold,” Kaiba said, abruptly.
The conversation ended for the rest of the dinner. Jounouchi did his best to focus on his food, but he kept catching Kaiba watching him every time he glanced over at his unwilling partner. That was weird.
Creepy Kaiba.
After the Shade servants had cleared the plates, Kaiba led Jounouchi back upstairs.
“I’d tell you to lock your door, but the Shades don’t respect those,” Kaiba said. “Just don’t sleep too deeply. You may not wake up.”
“Wait, what?” Jounouchi paled. “You’re kidding, right, Kaiba?”
Kaiba just stared at him. “No.” He turned to leave when Jounouchi grabbed his arm.
“Look, Kaiba, can you just, like, tell me what’s going on?”
“With what?”
“Everything? Why do you have Shades working for you, like, aren’t they dangerous?”
“Yes.”
“Then why are they—?”
“I told you, they came with the house. I just haven’t bothered to rid myself of them.” Kaiba shook his arm free from Jounouchi’s grip.
“Jounouchi, I’m tired, I’m injured, and I want to go to bed. Feel free to stay up all night if you’re so worried. I’m sleeping. Good night.”
Jounouchi blinked in confusion as Kaiba vanished into his room. Well, then. That was it for today, he guessed.
Jounouchi returned to his room, immediately locking his door. Maybe it wouldn’t stop the Shades, but it made him feel a little better. He slipped into the ridiculously large bed and burrowed into the covers.
Halfway through the night, Jounouchi woke up.
Unsure what had awakened him, he slipped out of the bed to the window. It was dark in his room, but the faint glow of moonlight beneath the drapes helped guide him.
The moon was bright that night. To the left, he could still see the fire glowing around the Red Eyes. Jounouchi watched it, a strange sense of peace filling him. Maybe it was that strange connection he’d felt with the dragon earlier, or maybe it was just the stillness and quiet of the night.
Movement off to the right caught his eye. Kaiba’s Blue Eyes were flying off to who knew where. There went one. Then the second. Jounouchi was about to pull back the drapes and head to bed when a third Blue Eyes joined the other two.
Could that one have been Grandpa’s? But his didn’t fly very far anymore. Besides, this one had come from the Kaiba grounds.
Where did Kaiba find a fourth Blue Eyes?
Jounouchi felt more than saw the shadows move behind him, creeping up on him. He spun around, but the shadows were back where they belonged. He left the curtains open and all but ran back to bed.
Whatever was going on in this house was weirder than he wanted to deal with. But that third Blue Eyes. Where had that come from? The other two had seemed to defer to it. Was Kaiba keeping it a secret from everyone?
Jounouchi pulled his license off the bedside table, holding it close to his chest as he hid beneath the blankets. The mansion was almost terrifyingly quiet now. In the darkness, he ran his fingertips over his license, marveling at the week that had just passed. If he’d been a more mystical person, he would have wondered if this was an auspicious start, or just a suspicious one.
Eventually, sleep overtook his nervous energy. As his mind drifted back to sleep, Jounouchi wondered if Crawford knew about that other Blue Eyes. Hmm.
Kaiba may have his rank to hold over him, but now he might have something to hold over Kaiba, too.