Chapter 22: Exits and Entrances

The next afternoon, I meet a thoroughly mentally exhausted Honda at the Headmaster's office.

"Honda, I'd like to have a word with both you and the Headmaster." I said in my best 'no argument ' voice.

"Now?" He groaned. "Kaiba – fine!" He went in and threw himself into the nearest chair. "What?"

Headmaster gave me an odd look and I let a small smile cross my face before turning sternly to Honda. "I do not see why you are being allowed to opt-out of the Sociology paper purely because you will be leaving school a paltry two weeks early."

"Oh I see." Headmaster frowned. "Yes, that is a serious lapse."

"WHAT!" Honda jumped up. "This is a joke, right? You want me to write a 20-page research paper, now? I'm leaving tomorrow!"

"I could do it." I asserted. Headmaster politely covered his mouth and coughed.

"Then you do it!" Honda shot back. "I thought you said the paper didn't matter?"

"That was before I knew other students were aware that you had a waiver."

"Oh come on! It's Kaiba! How many waivers has he gotten?"

"Kaiba's a special case."

"Oh please!"

"I do have a compromise." I offered.

"Do tell." Headmaster seemed to be enjoying this as much as I.

My phone buzzed which was the signal I was waiting for; Yugi was ready. "An essay, say 5-pages. Nothing he'd have to research but something that demonstrates a basic understanding of the concepts."

"An excellent suggestion, Kaiba-san." Headmaster nodded and opened his calender. "You could write that. We'll make the due date simply before graduation. You may e-mail it to me. What will your topic be?"

"How about the social ineptness of rich damned bastards?" Honda snarled.

"Perfect!" Headmaster began writing. "Socially inept, rich damned bastards. Kaiba-san? Your topic?"

"Mine?" I asked with a bit of a start.

"You did say that you could do this." He looked at me almost innocently. "It wouldn't be fair not to give you the assignment as well."

The longer I glared at him, the smugger his expression became. "I'll have to consider the subject." I said finally.

"I know!" He began writing. "What I learned in school. You understand, of course, that I mean about how people interact with one another. That, after all, is what you enrolled here to learn."

"Apparently, I may have missed a lesson." I griped. I pulled out my assignment book and added the essay to the list of assignment I managed to get pushed until after finals.

"There is only one lesson. People are only mostly predictable." He stood up. "Honda-san, I am sorry that you won't be continuing your education, but I wish you well in the future." He bowed to Honda quite deeply. "Kaiba-san, I'll see you Monday. Did you need me for anything else, or am I dismissed?" He smiled at his own joke.

"No, sir." I managed to be polite.

"Thank you, sir." Honda snapped, glared at me and left. I had to hurry a bit to catch him.

"Well, that didn't go as I expected." I sighed heavily.

"Yeah, well at least you got screwed too. What the hell are you trying to do to me, dude?" He yelled.

"I was hoping to..."

He cut me off. "You were hoping to stick your great, big, arrogant butt into somebody's business other than your own! Look, Kaiba." He stopped walking and actually poked me in the chest to emphasize his point. "It is my decision. I'm going. That's final. If you need to pry so much, why don't you pry into why you keep having nightmares? Or how about why you can't keep a boyfriend for a full semester. Oh, here's a good one – why not pry into why everyone hates the rich kid? I'll tell you, it's because he's a jerk!" He turned and stomped off.

Again, someone who claims to be my friend has no understanding of how I think. No consideration for how I feel. I started to let him go to his party on his own until I remembered that I was the one taking him to the affair that he didn't actually know about.

"Damn." I snarled to myself and went after him. I would drop him off at the store and be done with it.

I grabbed his shoulder to stop him when I finally caught up with him. He was almost past the student parking lot. "Honda, wait."

"What?" He snapped. He kept his face turned away from me.

"I'll give you a ride."

He pushed my hand away. "I don't want a ride, Kaiba. Thanks."

I grabbed him again. Honda is larger than I am but not considerably stronger. "I'd like to." Which, I was beginning to think was true.

He wiped his face and looked at me. His eyes were pink. "You remember that whole thing about how you learned about friendship from me? I must have skipped something. If you know a friend is going through a rough time, you don't try to make it worse!"

"A rough time –" I stopped myself suddenly, realizing what I had missed all along. "You don't want to go."

His face twisted in confusion. "Of course I don't want to go! I wanted to go to college! I wanted to at least have time to go see Anzu, find out once and for all what's going on! I mean, if she cared, she'd have called at least once, you'd think. It's been almost six months. Nothing!"

"Then stay. I have the resources to –"

"To what? To piss your father off with this vote next week? Even if you go back, then what? You can't pay for my whole life, Kaiba. I have to solve my problems, make my own way. Even if it does suck." He looked away again.

He was absolutely wrong. And absolutely right. And if our positions were reversed, he'd tell me that. "You are right, Honda. Your life should be your decision. I am so used to telling people what to do that I forget that sometimes it is not my place to do so." I'd save why he was wrong for when I could actually do something about the problem. "I'm sorry I tried to interfere." I had to laugh. "I can't promise that I won't do so again, but you have my express permission to tell me to keep my big arrogant butt out of your affairs." I struggled to look behind myself. "Although, I'd been told it was rather slender."

He laughed slightly. "I wouldn't know. I was speaking figuratively only. Not on your figure!" He added before I could suggest it. He sighed. "I'm sorry I blew up like that. It's just, everybody's all wigged out about me going. I just wish everyone would say 'see you when you get back' and not act like this is forever."

I shrugged. "No one wants to see you go. I don't. I was rather hoping you would be at my first official dinner home. It will be an astoundingly large free meal."

He smiled. "Buy me a pizza and we'll call it even."

"Excellent." I gestured toward my bike. "I need to make one stop first. Shall we?"

When we pulled into the parking lot of Kame Game shop, however, Honda sat looking at me. "Yugi didn't think this would work, did he?"

"Think what would work?" I asked blithely.

"He's got some surprise party thing going, right?"

"I have no idea. And frankly, I doubt I'd be invited since, as you keep reminding me, I have yet to 'apologize' to Pharaoh. And before you ask, no that is not why I am here. Mutou's Grandfather has an Arena that needs repairs. He called me. I am a fully certified technician, you know."

"Yeah. Ok." He got off the bike. "Sorry. I'm just tired. I don't want any big deals; I just want to go home."

"Of course," I said as I opened the door. "This repair shouldn't take long. Then we can go home and you can rest." I stepped aside. "Please, after you."

"SURPRISE!"

It sounded like a thousand people and Honda stepped back into me as they truly did surprise him. He sputtered for a moment before finding his voice. "You lying sonova gun!"

"I did not lie." I shrugged and push him forward. "I prevaricated."

"Hiroto!" Mutou embraced his friend. "Promise me you get satellite out there otherwise we're never gonna talk any more."

There were actually fewer people in attendance than were at the Christmas party, but Honda was glad to see all of them specifically. Apart from Miko-chan and KimKim, Mutou had picked people of particular importance to Honda. I marveled at the interactions around me from a corner by the register. Honda did not want a fuss, had only wanted people to wish him well and Mutou managed to invite only people who did just that. If he decided to retire from dueling, I was considering hiring Mutou as an event planner.

"You are being decidedly remiss." Pharaoh slipped quietly beside me, his voice once again igniting my senses.

"I will have several opportunities to speak my piece to him. For these others, it may be their last chance." I looked at him. "You look well." He looked nearly irresistible.

"As do you." He looked back at the group. "I will not be second. Not to anyone, not to anything." He said softly.

"KaibaCorp is first." I pointed out. "Even I am second to it."

He nodded. "If that is as you wish, then so be it." He moved back into the party.

It was not as I wished, but it was the choice I had to make. I glanced at my watch. It was late enough that Honda and I should both be considering sleep. I caught Mutou's eye and indicated my watch. He checked his own and frowned.

A few minutes later, people began making their exits. It was subtle, almost brilliant and even I had to be impressed by Mutou's ability to convince a whole room of people that it was time to leave, without once saying 'get out'. Mai said it once or twice, but not until after people were already leaving.

Eventually, the group was down to the Mutous, Honda and I. Mai said her final farewells, claiming that she couldn't come to the dock in the morning. Honda hugged her as if they had been lovers themselves not simply friends.

"I'm not going anywhere!" He insisted. "Ten days out. I'll be back for graduation."

"You better be!" She fumed. "This one's already been impossible since he heard you were leaving."

"Dude, you're gone half the time anyway." Honda laughed.

"I refuse to see your point." Mutou quipped. He turned serious, "So, uh, she didn't..." Honda shook his head. "Wow." He exhaled loudly. "All for the best, right? Hey – that means Mai can start setting you up with her friends, right?"

"My friends!" Mai laughed. "Sure!"

"Stars of The Grudge, The Eye and The Ring." Pharaoh commented. "If you have seen those, Honda, you've met her friends." Everyone laughed and Mai denied any resemblance between her friends and the horror movies.

"At least my friends are not homicidal." I reminded him. "And KimKim would be in your bed now if you gave her the key." I pretended to look for my keys. "Or did I give her mine?"

"If you did, she's sleeping in your bed!" Honda insisted. "Your friends get me in trouble!" He laughed for another minute and then sighed. "It's ok. I knew I wasn't really Anzu's type. I mean, hell, she worked for you, Kaiba."

"And that didn't warn you away in the first place?" Pharaoh teased.

"I didn't know." Honda protested.

"You gotta check these things, Honda." Mai advised. "Trust me, I'll find somebody really hot."

"Who can cook." I reminded her.

Mai looked thoughtful. "Oh you want her to do that wife crap."

"Sure, honey, just like you." Mutou said. "She does all that, cooking, cleaning, sex on demand." He managed to dodge when she swung at him.

"I'll get you later." She promised. "I've got the car keys and I'm going to bed so unless you want to stay here..." She headed for the door.

We all chuckled as Mutou scrambled after her, promising to see us at the dock in the morning.

Honda and I followed. "So you and Yami didn't make up?"

"We agreed that we have different priorities." I handed him my helmet – since I only had one, I always let him wear it – and got on the bike. "I think it's for the best."

"Are you sure?" He sat down and held the back of the seat. He always held the seat, never me. "It kind of sucks, that both our love lives reek."

"Offering?" I asked with a sly look.

"Ew."

I had to laugh. "Then hold on."

I took the short route home. About halfway there, we passed a lone boy in our school uniform. He waved as we passed.

When we got home Honda looked back toward the way we came. "Hope he's ok."

"Who?"

"Kajiki. He usually rides with Tsunami. I don't know why he was walking."

"Oh." We started up the stairs and I started thinking.

Kajiki Ryota had asked me out while I was still with Joey. He was on the cheering squad. Although his face was not particularly handsome, his body was physically attractive and his personality was tolerable. I wasn't intending great conversation with him.