The school year is coming to a close at Domino High. The effects of summer appear more and more after each passing week. As finals are nearing, students bombard all of their leisure periods with intense study sessions. Today's the last day before examinations start. The frustrations and lack of sleep accumulated over the past few days create the heaviest strain on the atmosphere yet.
Everyone seems to be trapped in this academic stupor. Whatever amount of consciousness left students spend it on moving up and out to another class. Up and out. Up and out. They might exchange a fatigued hello or a lazy half-nod and nothing more.
It is now one o'clock in the afternoon. Lunch period has started for the sophomores whom are starting to behave a bit more lively now. Food just has a special way of making things better.
Joey's on the lunch line; Tristan following two students behind him. Joey moves up to the cashier line ready to pay. On his tray is an order of large fries with ketchup and a cheeseburger wrapped in a checkered foil.
"That'll be eight dollars." A stumpy middle-aged woman wearing a hair net holds her hand out expecting to receive the cash.
"Wha-Eight dollars?! That's unbelievable, I only paid six dollars last time!" Joey's outburst makes a few heads turn, but the effect doesn't last long. Bouts of anger like this from the quick-tempered blonde are nothing out of the ordinary for veteran students of Domino High.
"Joey, you alright there, bud?" Tristan slightly steps off the line to see what's distressing his best friend.
"Not my fault kid. It's the food company's, now pay up or move it along!" the lunch lady said in a thick Jersey accent, hand still in the air.
"Nrrrrhghhh." Joey slams a ten-dollar bill into the lady's palm. He snatches away his change and violently shoves it into a random pants pocket.
"Buncha freeloaders…" mumbles Joey under his breath as he angrily swipes his tray off the counter.
Joey starts to make his way towards where the rest of his posse is sitting. As he's walking, tray in hand, Téa shouts out to him, "Joey, don't forget the churros!"
Joey makes an expression of sudden remembrance. A certain ancient spirit of a pharaoh had just recently taken a liking to the fried pastry, so the gang takes it upon themselves to treat him now and then.
Joey redirects his route by doing a quick about-face then-CRASH!
Poor thing didn't even know what hit him or who he hit. Joey is sprawled on the floor covered in what he was hoping to scarf down his throat once he had sat down after getting the pharaoh his churros. Joey is only attentive to the long pair of legs standing over him. Ultimately, it doesn't matter who hit who, at least in Joey's mind. Because when he gets up on his own, the owner of those legs is going to pay for making him waste the food he paid eight freaking dollars for. Big time. It's when Joey manages to get on his two feet and look his offender in the eye that makes his intentions short-lived.
"Wheeler…"
Joey stands frozen in his pathetic combat stance, a mix of sudden shock and terror stamped on his face by an expression that makes this situation a bit more comical. He quickly readjusts his posture into something more threatening in an attempt to disguise the dread imposed by the inherent intimidation of the man before him.
"Kaiba! You made me drop my lunch, yah jerk! Betta watch where yah goin' next time, or else!"
"Or else what, Wheeler?" Kaiba's voice is confident and mocking, totally unfazed by the nuisance yelling up at him. Clearly Joey's attempt at angering the brunette isn't working.
"Or else I'll make yah pay, yah damn asshole!" Joey has the collar of Kaiba's uniform in his fists now.
The whole cafeteria is dead-silent. Tristan claws at Joey's backside to try and pull his best friend away before the confrontation escalates too far. Joey, fixated on asserting himself to Kaiba, elbow-shoves Tristan hard enough to make him back down.
"Pay?"
"Yeah, I spent eight dollars on that!" Joey frees one hand to point to the mess on the floor behind him.
"Puh. Eight dollars? Isn't that a bit out of your range?" Joey's grip tightens to match his increasing rage. Tristan steps forward a little when he notices.
"Sure, Wheeler. I'll pay next time. But I'm going to make you pay now." Kaiba cuts Joey off before he can shout more hostile nothings to him. He shoves Joey off of him so he can make space between them to hold up the ketchup-stained item in his hand.
"Wha-what's that?"
"It's a briefcase, you dimwit. What else does it look like? Now this right here..." Kaiba points to the ketchup stain. "…is why you have to pay me in order to get this cleaned. I would make you clean it, but I won't settle for some mediocre hand-job. "
"I ain't payin' for that!"
"Oh yes you are. Because if it weren't for you and your tactless brain none of this would have happened and I wouldn't be standing here wasting my precious time on impoverished filth like you."
"Nghhh. How much will it be, then?"
"Six-hundred." Kaiba's smirk widened.
"Six-hundred dollars?! No freaking way! I don't have that kinda money!"
"Well you better find a way, Wheeler. Nobody ruins my belongings, especially some dog like you, and gets away with it."
"C'mon, Kaiba. Cut the dude some slack, it was only an accident." said Tristan.
"YOU stay out of this! How about you let Wheeler fight his own battles for once instead of butting your nose where it doesn't belong."
"Isn't there any other way I can pay you back?"
"Ha! As if! What else could you possibly do for me that would hold as much value as getting this nastiness off of my three-thousand dollar briefcase?"
Joey, feeling absolutely defeated and stripped of his pride, lowers his head in utter shame.
"All I have is three dollars. Can't that mean something for now?"
"Three dollars? All that can do is buy him ice-cream!" said Tristan
"Don't get smart with me, Tristan!"
"I'm just trying to help!"
The voices of the two boys arguing fill the cafeteria. Téa, Yugi, and Bakura are now each taking turns at pulling the two apart. Kaiba stares absentmindedly at the scene in front of him, deep in thought.
Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea.
As much as Kaiba would hate to admit it, his life is quite dreary. Being the teenage CEO of a billion-dollar corporation doesn't really have as much perks as one might think. Mokuba, Kaiba's pride and joy, is good company, but it's quite hard to relate to an eleven-year-old boy all the time. Besides, when's the next time he's ever going to get an opening chance like this. Even if it all goes wrong, Kaiba will at least get some humor out of it. I'll do it. He thinks. Just to see what happens.
"Joey, please! Enough!" Yugi shouts.
"You both will get detention if you keep this act up when the principle comes down!" yelled Bakura grabbing Tristan's torso.
This went on for a good thirty seconds until…
"That'll do." Kaiba speaks loud enough to be heard over the episode in front of him.
The arguing stops. Joey and Tristan exchange the same confused look with one another before turning their attention to Kaiba.
"Say what, rich-boy?"
"I said 'that'll do'"
"Ehhh, what'll do?"
"Ice-cream, you dork."
"Ice-cream?"
"You want to pay me back? Fine. Buy me ice-cream."
"Did you hit your head or someth-
"Meet me in front of Felicia's Ice-Cream Parlor at exactly three-thirty after school. Be on time...If you know what's good for you."
And on that note Kaiba turns on his heal and walks away, stained briefcase in hand.
Joey, along with his equally dumbfounded crew members, remains still, blinking rapidly, mouth agape. Finally, he turns to them.
"What the hell just happened?"
"Uh, I think you just agreed to an ice-cream date with Kaiba." says Tristan
"I didn't agree to no such thing, wise-guy!"
"If I were you I'd just go along with it. Unless you can magically come up with six-hundred dollars…"
At that Joey had nothing else to say. What is Kaiba getting at?
"C'mon guys let's go finish our lunch before the bell rings." says Téa.
Téa guides her crew to their lunch table. Now that all that drama is over normal chatter fills the air again. Bakura is kind enough to share his lunch with Joey who is still lost in thought.
Just what the hell is he getting at?
This is going to be a very interesting afternoon. Very interesting, indeed.
Chapter One End.
Omake
"Pharaoh, are you okay? You haven't said a word since this afternoon." says Yugi, giving his transparent doppelganger a concerned look.
"I-It's fine, Yugi. No need to worry." Yami turns his head away. His arms are folded and his legs are crossed.
Yugi rises up and supports his torso with his elbow on the mattress. Yugi stares at the pharaoh analyzingly. He speaks up after a moment of awkward silence.
"This is about the churros isn't it?"
"Wha-N-No! I-I-Of course not!" Yami's face is beat-red, but thankfully Yugi can't see that.
"Yes it is. You behaved like this last time when I refused to let anyone buy them for you because it was getting to the point where you would threaten to mind-crush the lunch lady if the cafeteria didn't serve them the next day….Remember?"
"But I-….I just wanted some churros…" Yami's voice is unusually low and soft right now. That only happened when he was feeling distraught or emotional, a side of himself he only showed to Yugi.
"I'm sorry you didn't get your churros today, but you'll get some tomorrow. Promise."
Yami finally manages to smile. "Alright, Yugi. Thank you." says Yami looking at the tired high schooler.
"No prob'. Now let's get some sleep. I have a geometry exam tomorrow."
"Yes. My apologies. Good-night, Yugi." Yami's voice is back to its deep, regal tone.
"Mhm." Yugi pulls up the covers and nestles himself in. Sleep takes him in a matter of minutes.
Yami retreats into the Millennium Puzzle. He travels along the twists and turns of his Soul Room until he finally gets to a door labeled "no.165". Yami opens the door leading to a room with a single drawer. He opens the drawer and pulls out his last bag of churro-flavored chips. It's not the real thing, but it'll suffice for now.
Yami eases himself onto the floor, munching away for the rest of the night.
"Tomorrow." He says in between swallows. "Tomorrow."
Omake End.