Anime One-Shots

I've Got You - Jōnouchi Katsuya/Joey Wheeler

     Alongside your old friend, Jōnouchi Katsuya, you gazed lazily at the sunset reaching over the cityscape of Domino City from your secret spot atop a currently unused office building. The last time you sat next to him like this was years ago, during the summer of third-year junior high.   You and Katsuya (surprisingly, you were the only one who ever called him by his given name) had been together since you were children.  You watched him stay strong when his mother took his sister away, join a yo-yo gang, make friends with Mutō Yugi, learn Duel Monsters -- everything.  You even watched while he fell in love with Kujaku Mai.  It killed you to see him destroy himself over her, chase after her, lose his soul for her.  You never doubted he'd do the same for you, but with her, it was different.

     It didn't take much to figure out that Mai had moved on and found someone else ("That **** Varon!").  You remembered the time you spotted the first boy you ever liked holding hands with another girl.  It was on top of that very same office building that Katsuya wrapped his arms around your neck from behind and rested his head on top of yours until you stopped crying.  "I've got you," he whispered.  You were tempted to do so, but he looked so fragile that if you so much as touched him, he would break.

     A particularly startling instance on top of the office building occurred during his time with the yo-yo gang.  His father, in the usual drunken stupor, had beaten him, and he had to get out of the house before the situation escalated.  The usual pebble on the window alerted you to meet at your usual meeting place.  Katsuya climbed over the fence and balanced on the edge of the roof, one hand on his yo-yo and one barely gripping the barrier between you.  The hollowness in his eyes was terrifying.  With each step, he came closer to falling to his doom.  You could watch no longer.  Without his noticing, you crept quietly through an inconspicuous hole in the wiring and caught up to him.

     His resigned smile and desperate eyes pierced through you, sending an alarm throughout your entire body.  "Hey, do you think if I jumped off this building, I could fly away to meet Shizuka?"

     You slapped him across the face and pinned him to the fence.  "Are you kidding me, Katsuya?  Your sister is alive, and she still needs you -- here!  What good are you to her dead, huh?  And what about me?  Did you even think to consider how I would feel if you left me behind?"  Hot tears came spilling down your cheeks before you even realized.  Why hadn't you seen it coming?  You leaned your head into his chest as he held his arms around you, his shoulders gently trembling all the while.

     "That's right, I've got you," he murmured as he buried his face in your hair.

     He was never the same again -- not until he met Mutō Yugi.  Something about that boy lit a fire in Katsuya, even before they had become friends.  You were grateful to Yugi, but after he introduced Katsuya to Duel Monsters, a wedge slowly formed between you and your former best friend.  You knew instantly that Yugi had replaced you.

     The last time you were with him, however, was the most eventful.  You were waiting on top of the building, sitting on the edge of the roof, after receiving a note to meet up there.  The shove that nearly sent you flying to the cement below told you it wasn't him, but one of the girls in your class with whom you had fought.  Your feet rested on another ledge further below, and your hands gripped the upper ledge.  Your upper body tilted out; if you let go, there was no hope.  All you could do was scream, and the first name that came out of your mouth was his.  You never expected him to come.

     He rushed in like a superhero, daringly pulling you up with his unexpected strength.  "I've got you!" he shouted.

     Sitting there with Katsuya was bitterly nostalgic.  You assumed he had forgotten about you until the third pebble crashed through your window.  No words passed between you.  None could.  The cool autumn breeze whipped his hair away to reveal his fiery brown eyes.  He had grown so much since then.  He was more muscular, more mature, more honest.  He didn't attempt to hide the suffering in his eyes.

     An exasperated sigh escaped your lips.  "You know I'll never be your rebound, right?"

     "Ha!  I know that, stupid."  He stretched his legs out and leaned back on his arms to more comfortably enjoy the view.

      You placed your hand on his.  "But you know I've always got you, right?"

     He clicked his tongue.  "I know that, stupid."

~*~

Art belongs to AngelLust155 on DeviantArt.