[REVAMP] A Fateful Encounter Under A Tree | Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan-Fiction

Blood Stained Claws

'Ugh... My head... Did I have another nightmare...?'

Joey rolled off of the bed and sluggishly rose to his feet. He felt groggy and his mind felt like it was stuck in a thick fog. Even his ears rang at the silence in the room.

He took lazy steps to the bathroom and washed his face, an attempt to refresh himself and hopefully get him out of his daze.

While he turned to grab a towel though, he glanced at his neck, and his eyes flung open. He was suddenly very awake at the sight he saw.

His neck had faded hickeys littered over it and a vague but large bruise ran all the way down the inward part of his spine. His brain was taking a while to process how he received such unique marks when he looked down at the towel, but more importantly, his wrists.

They were red and marked, almost swollen. Something had grabbed at his wrists. The back of his knuckles was even a bit red.

Then he remembered.

'I was pressed onto the wall by...'

Kaiba.

It was him, he did that to him last night.

He quickly dried himself and fled to his closet. He threw on a black turtleneck, his usual jeans jacket, which he didn't bother asking why it was there, and pants and stomped out of his room. He stormed his way to his right and towards a room much grander than his own, surely being Kaiba's.

'I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind!' He growled.

Despite his anger though, he carefully opened the door and peeped inside.

It was empty. He sighed in comfort, thank Ra he wasn't in there. He was too blinded by his anger to even think about how he would have even brought something so intimate up. He didn't fancy awkward convos.

'Why did I even come here...?' He mentally slapped himself. What would he even say? 'Hey, Kaiba! Why the fuck did you go into my room and manhandle the fuck out of me? Did that mean anything to you at all, you emotionless doll?'

It almost sounded realistic in his head but knew it wasn't likely that a conversation would end well with such a starter.

He violently shook his head, his stiff neck protesting. 'That's not your regular mojo, Joey! Let's just head downstairs, make breakfast, and play video games, okay? Okay...'

He closed the door back in place and walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. He wondered what he should make today. He didn't want to make sugary American pastries too often. Maybe something culturally different would work. He knew a few English and North Asian dishes... No, none of those felt appropriate.

He skimmed through the mental catalogs of recipes he had when he thought back to a French dish his sister had sent him a little after she got her sight back.

He soon settled on a "Lemony Apricot Clafoutis". He only made it a couple of times on his trips to see his sister in the hospital, but he knew the recipe well enough. She said it was for a "special occasion" or something. He didn't understand at the time and still sorta didn't. Maybe it was a girl thing, he reasoned.

Anyhow, he needed to hurry before the younger Kaiba woke up and started piercing his eardrums with his video games. He grabbed the ingredients and got to work quickly.

The sweet smell of lemon zest, vanilla, and eggs floated around the kitchen as he arranged the meal on the modern table. The smell of fresh apricots, which were obviously in the fruit pantry, complimented the lemon and even made Joey hungry to try it.

He hadn't even noticed Mokuba entering the kitchen and pulling on his shirt, a sad look on his face.

He looked down and smiled. "What do you need, Moki?"