Honda doesn't find Jounouchi until 5am. After running himself ragged across the city, dodging gangs and past acquaintances alike, he finds Jounouchi at the beach.
Which is annoying because Honda had looked there just an hour ago and Jounouchi hadn't been there.
He fires a quick text telling Yugi he's found him (Yugi is on the other side of town, double checking the train station) before vaulting over the beachside barriers.
There was a giant bruise on the side of Jounouchi's face. Which at least explains why he disappeared without a word to Yugi. Probably a fight. Probably trying to not get people's fighting on Yugi. Self-sacrificing asshole as always.
"Hey!" Honda called out. He tries to keep the anger out of his tone but he doesn't quite manage. He's pretty sure his expression is one of quiet fury.
He's sleep deprived, tired and hungry. Excuse him for being cranky.
"I lost my phone," Jounouchi says. And that takes some of the wind out of Honda's angry sails. "Got into a fight."
Honda purses his lips. "Did you win?" he asks after a pause. What else was there to ask about. Jounouchi didn't like it when Honda asked about the odds.
Then a quiet, "He locked me in his apartment."
So it was someone they know. Probably.
"Hirutani?" Honda asks. Hirutani is the only person that can ever get Jounouchi to go anywhere.
He wonders what that guy did to make Jounouchi look like this. Like he's lost and confused. It's worse than that time with the Red Eyes. With the Red Eyes it was pure self-loathing.
Here, Honda didn't know, but Jounouchi looks like he's come to some sort of conclusion.
There's no prying if Jounouchi doesn't want to share. So Honda waits. He's always waiting.
For once, Jounouchi doesn't make him wait for long.
Honda coughs in surprise. That's not what he expected.
Honda doesn't really know what to say. Congratulations? Can I get a kiss too? Please don't tell me you're in love with Yugi?
Better Yugi than Hirutani, he supposes.
"Did...did you kiss back?" Honda asks carefully.
"Nah," Jounouchi says, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Punched him in the face. He kept trying to unzip my jeans too."
Honda clenches his fist and reminds himself that murder is not helpful.
"Then his buddies all held me down. Lost my jacket getting away. Phone was in the jacket." Jounouchi says it all matter-of-factly. Which is how he always talks about this type of stuff. Honda should be used to it by now.
"Yugi was worried," Honda says instead. Yugi is always a good and safe topic.
"Yeah, when I found you." Honda checks his phone. "He says he's heading over."
"We should go wait inside a Burger World or something," Honda says. "He's going to catch cold coming out here." Jounouchi's going to catch a cold too at this rate, in his threadbare t-shirt, but Honda can't tell him that.
"Wait," Jounouchi reaches out a hand, tentative, on the crook of Honda's elbow.
Honda raises an eyebrow. This is unusual.
Jounouchi is frowning at him. Honda feels a strange sensation creep up his spine. Like a bombshell is about to drop and he's not going to like it.
"What?" he asks. He should shrug out of Jounouchi's grip but he can't bring himself to do it.
"Have you ever wanted to kiss me?" Jounouchi asks. Blunt.
Honda's eyes widen. His shoulders tense, his throat suddenly dry.
"Sorry," Jounouchi let goes of his arm. "It's just...Hirutani was..." he trails off.
Honda should deny it. He should tell him that Hirutani was talking out of his ass. But the stars are twinkling brightly and waves are crashing down gently and the chill is seeping slowly in to his bones.
He's tired and hungry and he doesn't want to pretend anymore.
Jounouchi's breath hitches and Honda can't look at him. He stares at the ground instead. And the sand beneath his shoes.
"Okay, all the time," he admits. There's a blush blooming on his cheeks and he's thankful it's dark.
Honda hates Jounouchi's excellent night vision.
He dares to look back. Jounouchi is smirking up at him, the way he does when he finds something Honda did amusing but not in a bad way. It eases his worries a little.
"Have you?" Honda asks back. "With me."
Hope stirs deep in Honda's heart.
"But later," Jounouchi says, walking right past Honda like he's not just thrown him a lifeline he never knew he wanted. "I'm hungry. Let's go get burgers."
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