Press the Home Key for Assistance
There were three things Seto Kaiba hated the most. Yugi Mouto and his other obnoxious friends, school, and cooking. The fact that he was forced to endure all three at the same time was just beyond irritating. Still, he'd stalked into the classroom, eyes peered for an empty table when the teacher moved into his line of sight. At least, he could only assume she was the teacher. She looked too young to be a teacher, though Kaiba had no room to talk. Her brown hair was pulled back into a neat bun, and her baby blue eyes gleamed from behind rectangular glasses. "Name please?" she was far too eager for the first day of class. This much was apparent in the first few seconds.
"Seto Kaiba," was the immediate response, in his usual icy tone. Not unexpectedly, she flinched at the tone, though quickly recovered. Immediately, her gaze went to the clipboard Kaiba hadn't been aware she was holding. Looking back up, she pointed at the table in the back, already seating three others. Yugi, Joey, and Tea. Kaiba frowned, turning back to the teacher to request a different table, but she was already walking toward another student. Dammit!
Just barely surprising a growl, he moved forward, weaving through two other tables to the indicated one. Instantly, whatever conversation they'd been having ceased at his arrival. Their gaze turned to him as he pulled out the only vacant chair left and sat down. Silence reigned for a few more seconds, though was quickly broken as Yugi turned toward him. "I can't believer we're all in home ec together! I wasn't expecting this!" just like the teacher had been, Yugi was far more excited than should be healthy for anyone.
"Yeah. Such a surprise," Kaiba muttered sarcastically. As though six other classes with them wasn't already enough.
Joey narrowed his eyes at the boy across the table. "Hey," he said, "If yer gonna be a-"
"What?" Kaiba cut him off threateningly. He continued in a mocking version of Joey's accent, "If 'Ah'm gonna be' what?"
Joey stood suddenly, glowering down at Kaiba. Kaiba stared back at him with blue, unfazed eyes. He didn't even flinch.
"Joey, stop it!" Tea scolded in hushed tones.
The two looked at each other for a second longer, but finally Joey took his seat again and muttered, "Ah'right…but he started it…"
"What are you doing in here anyway, Kaiba?" Yugi changed the subject quickly.
"It's called credit hours," Kaiba explained boredly, "Every student has to complete a certain number of credit hours in each category to graduate. And it's a condition of the by-laws of the Kaiba Corporation that I graduate high school."
"Really?" Yugi frowned.
"I always wondered about that," Tea said. "Why they would send you here when you should probably be at the office instead…"
"Mm-hm…" Kaiba twirled his pencil absent-mindedly.
"Sounds at me like dey jus don' wan'cha around," Joey grinned, "But I can't say I blame em!"
Icy blue eyes shot back up, glowering at the blond in question. He didn't glare, nor did he dignify that with an answer. Some days, it just wasn't worth the trouble. Tea was already scolding Joey, once more in hushed tones as to not disrupt the rest of the class. Kaiba returned to twirling his pencil, only vaguely listening to the others, until…
The paper airplane whizzed between Kaiba and Tea, landing somewhere near Joey. Immediately, he unfolded it, smoothing it out before reading the inside. Moments later, he lifted his gaze, glaring across the room to another table. Kaiba and the others followed his gaze curiously. It was here that they could easily spot Tristan, looking back at them miserably.
"I kinda feel bad for 'im. Stuck with Destiny an' all…" Joey murmured sympathetically.
"Destiny?" Kaiba frowned, his gaze turning to the girl next to Tristan. She was chatting away with the other girls at the table, and their conversation continued with the table of girls next to them.
"I hate her," both boys said in unison. They paused, glancing at one another with something akin to surprise.
"She's such a…" Joey started.
"Bitch," Kaiba finished.
The table went quiet after this, as though they'd been surprised at the quick agreement from the two boys. They never agreed on anything. This was a first, and probably a last.
Luckily, the were saved from having to saying anything more as the teacher cleared her throat and gazed around the room, smiling. "Good afternoon class, I'm Mrs. Sullivan and welcome to Home Economics. We'll start the semester by learning basic skills you can use around your house, such as: sewing, managing money, cooking, and much, much more. If at any point in the semester you have questions or concerns about anything please feel more than welcome to speak with me before or after class. My door is always open should you need it. Now, to start with, you'll be working with your table to complete a book scavenger hunt to familiarize yourself with the materials that we'll be working with throughout the semester."
There was an audible groan from the classroom, though Mrs. Sullivan ignored it as she moved to pass out the worksheet and textbooks to each table.
"This is definitely a waste of an hour…" Kaiba muttered, more annoyed than the others seemed to be. Though unlike any of them, he actually had a company to run. Business meetings to schedule and conduct, phone calls to make, E-mails to send out…The mere thought was enough to make Kaiba get up and walk out. It was the last class of the day anyways. He stopped though, knowing full well that this particular class was a graduation requirement. Skipping out meant potentially not graduating.
The textbook and worksheet were set in front of him, and he glanced down at the first question curiously. 'What is the title of the book?' Inwardly, Kaiba groaned. This was such a waste of time.
"Dat's not fair…" Joey growled. Kaiba's head lifted and Joey waved a hand in Destiny's direction. Out of the four at the table, Tristan seemed to be doing all of the work, frantically looking through the book before scribbling something down on the paper. The others were talking about who knew what, and didn't seem to have a care in the world. They were probably too wrapped up in their own conversation to realize the assignment.
"They should be helping," Yugi agreed with a nod.
"As if Destiny would do anythin'," Joey remarked.
"She'd be afraid of breaking a nail," Kaiba smirked.
They boys grinned at one another, being able to agree on at least one more thing. It was the thought that made Kaiba's smile falter. It shouldn't be like this. He shouldn't be agreeing with Wheeler, or anyone else at the blasted table. He should have been requesting a table change. Should have been getting away from them, not agreeing with them.
Joey had to have seen the faltering smile. Maybe even the shadow of annoyance, because he said nothing more, rather choosing to converse with Yugi and Tea while they worked on the scavenger hunt. Kaiba on the other hand pretended to look through his own book, in a feeble attempt to look busy. The others were writing down the answers though, so he didn't have to contribute much.
The rest of the hour went by without incident, and as the final bell tolled, Kaiba was left with a new resolve. He would talk to Mrs. Sullivan tomorrow.
A/N: I hope you guys liked the first chapter! The idea for this story kind of just appeared out of nowhere one night while I was staying the night with a friend. We were talking about back in middle school, in the few classes that we had together. Home economics was one of them. After going through some of our memories of the class, I sort of had the idea to put the YGO cast into home economics for a semester and see what came of it. This is probably going to be a long term project, because I'm going to try and cover everything they end up doing in a semester of home ec. Ranging from projects to class discussions, anything and everything. So watch the drama unfold throughout the other chapters. Please R&R! Also, there will be sections in some chapters that I have to credit to my friend KikutaMaster. She's helped me write some sections, and helped a great deal with ideas. Thank you!