A/n: Not only do I not know if Japan has pre-schools, I have never been to one, so… :P

The Bridge

I can still remember the first day I met him. It was so long ago, but this kind of thing ya just don't forget easily. We were either four or five when we went to pre-school, but that's not important. The moment my parents dropped me off, I was causing trouble, it seems. I had a fit 'cause I thought they weren't gonna come back. So, naturally, I was in a pretty bad mood when the teacher asked me to sit down and be quiet. When it was "free time" I had calmed down just a little and grabbed a dragon toy out of the toy box and had actually started to enjoy myself when this snot-nosed kid walked over and began poking me. I pulled away with a scowl on my face, intent on being alone, even moving away a few feet. This kid just wouldn't leave me alone though, so I punched him in the nose.

"Jounouchi Katsuya!" I cringed as the teacher said my full name and grabbed my arm and walked me to the "Time-out" corner. "Stay here until I say you can move." She turned away and left me to sulk in my corner. A few minutes had passed and I began staring at the ceiling and fell backwards and just laid there. I blinked as a pair of hazel eyes greeted mine.

"You okay?" I saw him blink rather cutely, but at the time I didn't think of it like that. I nodded quietly to him.

"Hiroto, come back over here. He's in time-out right now," he turned as he heard the teacher calling him. I thought then that he'd leave me and join the others, but instead of silence, I heard his voice again.

"How come you're over here?"

"…punched a kid in the face, cause he wouldn't leave me alone," I smirked, thinking maybe that would scare him away. But still he stayed by my side, smiling at me.

"I heard the teacher yelling to someone, Katsuya? Is that your name? I'm Honda Hiroto," he grinned and helped me sit back up.

Not long after that, it was naptime. I don't remember much, but I know I woke halfway through to find myself curled up next to him. I saw the teacher looking at us, ready to split us up since I was still in time-out. I looked up at her and curled my arms tighter around Honda, my lip quivering as I gave her a look that said "please don't take him away from me." She sighed lightly and shook her head, giving me a light smile as she left us alone.

I smiled as I remembered that day, little did I know he would stay by my side much longer than I had anticipated. He was one of the few people that knew about my dad and became my best friend in the world. In grade school, he would smack me on the back of the head when I tried to cheat, but he still let me do it when I desperately needed to. He didn't want me to be held back, it would have killed him. Honda was always there to help me, even times when I have no clue how he knew I was in trouble. He always loved me, and what did I do? I pushed him away, we did pick on Yuugi together, but then I became friends with him. I admit, I began to fall for the cute little guy, and I think Honda knew it. I tried not to do anything about it, but then Mai came along. Sure, she's pretty and all but I don't think I would have lasted long with her. Chalk it up to teenage hormones, of course I'm gonna like Mai, there was nothing I could do about that. Then there's Kaiba Seto, he loves nothing more than to humiliate me. I really hate admitting it, but I did like his domination over me. He's a lot like me too, with a younger sibling he cares about so deeply. I couldn't stand the way he treated Yuugi, and I was jealous of it. It was so frustrating to not be able to say anything and lose all of them in a heartbeat.

Thinking about all this, Mai, Kaiba, Yuugi, it all made me so confused. But it didn't hit me until it was too late though. I didn't realize I was ignoring Honda so much, I had no idea I had lost him until I saw him with Bakura. My heart split in two as the realization hit me harder than a brick wall. First, I was angry, but not at him. I could never have been mad at Honda, no matter what. I was mad at Bakura for stealing him, and I was mad at myself for letting it happen. Second, I resolved to myself that there was nothing I could do. Then I found out not long after that Yuugi was going with Kaiba, and Mai was nowhere to be found.

God, I can't take this anymore, everyone I love has left me behind. That's why I'm here, standing on the railing of this bridge in the middle of the night, waiting for a gust of wind to take me away from it all. I can just see the headlines tomorrow, "Loser Drowns in River, Name Unknown." Maybe I'm exaggerating…I bet they wouldn't even put it in the paper to begin with. Finally the gust of wind comes and I spiral down, awaiting the rush of cold water below. I knew when I hit the water, my body was shivering uncontrollably, the chill biting through me. I couldn't see a thing, but I heard a sudden splash nearby. I gasped as I felt strong arms around me suddenly dragging me to the shore. I must have blacked out a moment, but I slowly came to, seeing familiar hazel eyes staring into mine.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Honda looked angry with me. Like he might just throw me back in the water. Then I realized that look in his eyes wasn't anger, it was fear.

"Nothing…" I lowered my gaze.

"Nothing? You just jumped off a bridge, Jou!"

"What do you care? You have someone who loves you!" I wanted to squirm away right then and jump back into the water.

"What are you talking about? You do have people that love you, you know I love you, Katsuya…don't you?"

"No! You love Bakura!" I blinked for a moment then, did he just call me what I thought he did?

"But I still love you, but damnit…that damn game was more important to you than I was…and you would spend all your time with Yuugi. I'm sorry but I just couldn't wait around to be noticed…"

I felt my heart fall again, God I was so stupid to ignore him like that.

"Oh God, Hiroto…I love you too…but now it's too late…" there were tears now streaming down my face.

"Jou…about Bakura…his evil spirit won't let me near him anymore…I can't be with someone if I can't be close to them…"

"And what about my sister?" I bit my lip, knowing he had a thing for her.

"I'll be honest with you, I only wanted to be with her to get close to you…and when that didn't work…" I heard him sigh then, and I looked up at him. I don't know what made me do it, but right then I pulled him down and kissed him, he blinked and kissed me back, scooping me into his arms.

"Everything will be alright…" I whispered as I held him close, never wanting to let go.