Title: Shell of a Man

Author: Dai Otenba

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, as it already belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

Warnings: Angst, Attempted Suicide, Self-mutilation, Yaoi, Language

Pairings: Kaiba x Jounouchi

Rating: R

Summary: After a tragic accident, Jounouchi's world breaks down slowly along with his sanity. Who will help him pick up the pieces? Then again, can they?

Author's Notes: SUP GAIZ. lol I know, long time no see. After an almost never-ending bout of writer's block and inner debating, I've decided to continue working on this crappy fic... I mean, Shell of a Man. :)

Honestly, I was thinking of deleting this whole thing because it's VERY OOC and VERY cliché but... I just couldn't bring myself to do it because I fail at life. So I'm giving this another chance. If you notice a very abrupt change in character personalities, pacing, dialogue and such, it's because I'm trying to breathe life into a brain-dead fic. Once I finish this series (cough-maybe-cough), I'll hopefully be able to go through the Prologue and first four chapters and re-write them to my liking. Until then, all we can do is move forward and hope for the best.

Also, I apologize for the shortness of this new chapter. I know, I leave you all hanging for almost two years and all I give you is a measly 1,357 word chapter? HOW DARE I? Chill babehs, I'm trying to get back into the groove of things, slowly and steadily. Plus, I ended up totally going a separate direction from my notes, so I need to figure out what's going to happen from here on out. I promise you, next chapter will be long and kinda-sorta awesome.

Shell of a Man: Chapter 5

"How is he?"

"To tell you the truth, we honestly didn't think he was going to make it. There was a large amount of blood loss, and that was just from today. The wounds appear to have been there for quite some time, which is what made things especially difficult. These cases are usually touch-and-go, not much you can do if the extent of the damage is as large as his was. I'd say he's been in this condition for a week or so, deteriorating slowly over time. I'm amazed he was able to hold out for so long. He's in stable condition however, as we've managed to get a blood transfusion going, and we're checking to make sure his wounds haven't become infected in any way. If you had gotten here any later..."

"I understand. Thank you very much."

"Would you like us to call you when he wakes up?"

"No, that won't be necessary. I'll be staying here until he regains consciousness."

About to debate the young man before him on his choice of staying, prepared to say that a solitary and quiet environment would be best for the injured teen in order to recover, the doctor felt a shiver go straight from the back of his neck to the bottom of his feet at nothing more but a blank glance out of the corner of the other's eye. The doctor sighed shakily and let the matter be. He would let one of the nurses deal with the CEO. Moving this particular bolder was definitely out of his own hands. Plus he knew from countless experience that with a situation like this, no one would want to leave the patient alone.

Once he heard the soft click of the door close behind the doctor, Kaiba fixed his eyes straight ahead towards the mass of wires and machines and blankets in front of him. "Jounouchi..." But he stopped. He couldn't think of what to say. And it wasn't like the stupid mutt could hear him. So stupid. An inexplicable surge of anger welled up inside him which he fought to quell down and extinguish, but he eventually did. Instead if was replaced with an equally strong sense of guilt and remorse.

"I'm sorry."

That was all he could muster up.

Kaiba always prided himself in his knowledge, his quick wit and observational skills. But for once, he wished he had stayed in the dark.

Because instead of knowing just what to do, he was completely and utterly lost.

The time between the moment Kaiba had arrived at Jounouchi's home to find him unconscious and bleeding on his floor, to when they had arrived at the hospital rushing the injured boy into the closest emergency room had been nothing but a blur to Kaiba. Having seen the severity of the issue right before his eyes and dealing with the rushed nature of trying to help get the blond treated as soon as possible was barely enough for him to handle.

When the doctors had diagnosed it as an attempted suicide case, and affirmed their suspicions that it was just one of many over a recently short period of time, he had shut himself off to everything except a single thought.

Is he going to die?

He would have been more than happy to sulk in denial over the whole situation in one of the isolated waiting rooms a group of nurses and the head doctor that was treating Jounouchi had provided for him (there was enough chaos and disorder in the hospital already, which didn't need to be worsened by people knowing that Kaiba Seto was around waiting up on a school mate who had just tried to kill himself), but in all the rush he had forgotten that Mokuba had insisted he come along with his brother to find their escapee and bring him back safely. When he had gone to the apartment and returned carrying their former burden back, out cold and bleeding profusely, he could have sworn he thought Mokuba was about to faint. So now, he merely sat in the waiting room, Mokuba seated in his lap, the only real sound through the room was the faint flurried footsteps of nurses passing by and Mokuba sobbing quietly with a little hiccup or sniffle here and there.

An endless, unnoticeable amount of time passed afterward filled with waiting and hoping and sleeping on Mokuba's part and nothing but confusion for Kaiba before a nurse passed by accompanying an older man who looked to be in his 50s but was really only 42. He had a slightly unkempt and scraggy head of dark blond hair, dark brown eyes and a very tired complexion. Actually, everything about the man just screamed that he had dealt with far too much in his lifetime. Though he was relatively tall and stocky, he was actually rather skinny. For some reason, upon getting his first good look of the man, Kaiba assumed that this was Jounouchi's father. Indeed, he was proven correct.

The older man's eyes widened slightly as he was brought into the same waiting room that the renowned billionaire and CEO of Kaiba Corp was in. "K-Kaiba Seto?" Kaiba merely nodded, not so much as blinking an eye. The other just sighed heavily and maneuvered himself one seat over next to the brunet and sat down slowly, leaning over and holding his head in his hands. "Well, I never thought I'd see the day where I'd find myself in my current position."

"Meeting me in a hospital waiting room, or waiting upon your son in the emergency room who was engaged in self-harm?" Kaiba bit his tongue, regretting the humorless response he had just given, though he couldn't have helped it. He felt like a frustrated animal needing to lash out and bite something just for a sense of release. He wasn't expecting the soft yet empty laugh that came from the other.

"Well, both of those along with a heap of other things, but I don't think it's in my best interest to go off rambling about my life to someone I just met. By the way, how did you know that I was Jounouchi's father? I'm sure we've never met."

Kaiba shrugged. "Lucky guess. Don't ever tell him, but you two look alike, somewhat." Tacking on the last word because otherwise, the sentence would have seemed very vulgar in his mind.

The older man smiled crookedly. "I won't, you can be assured of that. I'm sure it's the last thing he wants to hear right now..." His voice faded off and he directed his attention to the table filled with magazines a few feet away from them.

The two sat in silence for about five minutes before Kaiba spoke up again. "When did you get the call about your son?" He felt a small vibration through his chair, assuming that the other was so deep in thought that he hadn't been expecting any type of chat again, so was taken by quite surprise at the question. Calming down and running a shaky hand through his hair, managing to make it look relatively less unkempt, he answered, "Well, I got here about twenty minutes ago, so maybe an hour or so before that." He looked up hesitantly. "Were... were you the one that found him like that and brought him here?" Kaiba only nodded. "...thank you. Thank you very much."

Kaiba looked away and only slightly jerked his head in a yes manner, not knowing what to say at that. He continued on with the conversation. "We got here about... three hours ago." He affirmed the time by unwrapping an arm from around Mokuba and quickly checking his wristwatch.

"I see..." The older man mumbled.

"Will Jounouchi's mother and sister be here soon?" He wasn't expecting another vibration through the chairs, stronger this time, almost like a jolt of electricity had gone through the other's chair.

It was then he knew something was very wrong, and that he would finally be getting to the bottom of this whole bizarre situation. Whether he wanted to or not.