UNLIKELY

Disclaimer: Someone else owns Yuugioh. . . .for now. -evil cackle-

The characters may seem OOC, but this is several years down the line, mind you. And a lot of drama has happened. Try and stick with it. Huzzah to my only Yuugioh fin that isn't Joukai! Well, I've added in some mention of it, but that's it.

"As unlikely as it seems, it's true." Yuugi is speaking to all the others sitting around him, Anzu, Jounouchi, Honda, and Otogi. They are sitting at a picnic table at a park, a scene that is strangely perfect. Too perfect, in fact. If only they suited their scenery better. Yuugi takes a long drag of his cigarette.

"No way, man!" Jounouchi stares at Yuugi in disbelief. "Seto? Married? What kind of world has this come to?" They've all grown used to the cloud of smoke that perpetually surrounds Yuugi, but Jounouchi still lets out a little pointed cough. This earns him a small glares from Yuugi, who besides that small action, ignores the cough.

"I know it's true. Mokuba told me it himself!" Anzu is quick to point out how she's helped obtain this information. Otogi grins and elbows her lightly. "Craddle-robber."

"Shut up!"

"Anyway . . . Well, none of us need to wonder what she looks like. No doubt she's young and beautiful, out to get whatever money she can."

"You better not be getting the same idea," Jounouchi growls. "Seeing as how you're going out with my sister!" Otogi grins up at Jounouchi from behind his black hair and gives him an easy grin.

"No worries, Jou. I won't break her heart."

Honda chuckles lightly, and then turns back to Yuugi, opening his mouth to ask another question. But Anzu interrupts them all with a short snort. "Oh please. As if you guys aren't dying to see this new whore Kaiba has rounded up this time!" She crosses her arms angrily, and only looks up at them only when she realizes that they're staring at her in confusion. "Oh, my god! Please! It's common knowledge that Seto-"

Jou puts his hands up in front of his face. "Ok! More info than I wanted to know!"

All but Anzu wince in silent agreement. "But it's true. You're all curious."

Honda shrugs slowly, willing to admit the truth. "Okay, so maybe a little. I mean, Kaiba Seto getting married isn't something I ever planned on seeing. He's such an asshole; I'm surprised even a girl marrying him for his money would consider it. Did Mokuba tell you when the wedding is?"

Another snort. "Three weeks," Anzu answers, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, you can tell he really thought this one out."

Jounouchi laughs. "Going full steam ahead, then, is he? He must be excited." He runs a hand through his hair. In response to Anzu's glare, he replies smoothly, "Do you like him or something, Anzu? "

"Says the guy who was practically in love with him back when we were in school!"

"You never can put things behind you, can you, Anzu? That was five years ago. Get over it."

"Shut up, Jou," she retorts cleverly.

Jou laughs lightly before answering. "Sorry to cut this wonderful walk down memory lane short, but I've got to go pick up my sister from camp." He flips his legs over the picnic seat and stands up, brushing the crumbs off his pants.

Otogi quickly jumps up from his seat. "Oh! Um . . . if it won't bother you, I'd go with—"

"Come with me? With you going out with my sister, how am I supposed to have any time with her?" Otogi's face falls for a seconds before he notices Jou's huge grin. When Otogi finally catches the joke, Jou slaps him on the back, kind of hard. Well, hard enough to knock his breath out for a few seconds. "Hurry up, Otogi. We're gonna be late." They wave good-bye to their friends as they head off towards Jou's motorcycle.

"Hello? I'm here to pick of Kawai Shizuka. I'm her brother Jounouchi K—" The attendant cuts him off with a sharp nod and waves him off with her manicured hand towards a door to his right. "Through there."

Otogi flips her the bird when she looks back down at her magazine and they both walk through the door. Shizuka immediately jumps into Jou's arms, ecstatic to see him.

"God, this week has been hell! I've missed you and O—"

"Hi." Otogi says softly, almost shyly, which is weird enough. Shizuka looks at him with wide eyes, hardly believing her eyes. She leaps at him and—Jou averts his eyes. He loves his sister to pieces, but her private life can stay private.

"I'll give you guys your privacy." He turns away quicky and retreats back to the other room. There's a woman at the counter, passing a piece of paper to the bitch attendant. Perhaps she feels his eyes on her, because she turns her head and their eyes meet. She's nothing special in ways of beauty. Her figure is hidden by a leather jacket and loose jeans. Her hair is cut short in a spiky blonde cut, which kind of comes down into her face, and her nose is small, pointy and sort of crooked. But once he catches sight of her eyes, he forgets the rest, however flawed it may be. They're mismatched; one being a dense gray which would catch the eye of a blind man, and the other is a dull dark brown, quite an ordinary color.

She shoots him a bright smile, which hints at braces in her youth, and time spent brushing her teeth. Then she turns back to the counter attendant, smiling as she had for him and nodding her head as she turns away to head for the exit.

But before she can get that far, Jou crosses her path, determined to find out who this elegant stranger is, because elegant is a word you can't quite help describing her as. She's got this air of someone who's used to high-heeled shoes and cocktail parties. "And you may be? I've never seen you 'round here before, and I've been here years."

She smiles again. "Well, you must have missed me, because so have I. After I stopped coming here, I began paying this place checks every year anyway. This place got me through the boring summer, and a couple hundred dollars is the least I can do."

A hundred dollars, he thinks to himself. What he would do with a hundred dollars. Certainly not waste it on a camp. Possibly on ice cream, but not a camp. So this completes the puzzle, which he had mostly completed on his own. He should try to steal Yuugi's title from him now.

She's rich.

Then there's the noise of a door opening behind him. It's Otogi and his sister, he knows. So they're done eating each other already? Faster than usual. Otogi gives him a thankful look. Please, as if Jounouchi wanted to watch his sister be corrupted. He smiles back, anyway. He's just that nice. Turning back to the young woman, he decides it's time to be ending their conversation. "I think I should be going now. It's been a pleasure." Shizuka raises her eyebrows at her brother's strange formality.

The woman laughs, and it's a polite laugh. Damn, she's being formal, too. "Well, it has been a pleasure, for however short a time it's been. How about you let me walk you to your car?" Something that looks like doubt flutters through her expression, but it seems to pushes it away.

"Well, motorcycle-"

Shizuka's eyes widen. "You brought your motorcycle?" she cries out in shock.

"Well, yeah . . ." he says slowly, watching the woman out of the corner of his eyes, not catching on to Shizuka's train of thought.

"Only two people fit on your motorcycle, Jou."

As this revelation finally hits Jou, he slaps his hand against his face. "Damn! How was I stupid enough not to think of that?" He runs his hand through his hand nervously. "Damn it!" Thank you God Almighty, he curses the ceiling mentally, you just love making me look like a complete idiot in front of strangers, don't you?

The woman clears her throat loudly and Jounouchi looks up at her. "Yeah?"

"I could give one of you a ride." She smiles and her bright teeth shine again, but her eyes catch his attention again. He wants to ask her to shut them before he completely loses his train of thought, but decides otherwise.

He snaps out of it enough to answer her lucidly. "Would you really?"

"Of coarse. It would be my pleasure. I'll take the young lady, if she's willing, of course." Shizuka gives Otogi a hopeless look before nodding at the young woman. Jou restrains his urge to roll his eyes. As if the two of them can't wait the forty-five minutes it takes to get to town to get together. Not that he wants to think about that. No, thank you.

As the four of them walk out, he readies himself for the sight of a rich car to match her rich personality, but she surprises him.

"Here's my Buggy," she says proudly as she shows them her small, bright yellow Volkswagen. "Hope you like it," she adds opening the door for Shizuka. She looks back up at Jounouchi, questioningly. "Okay, so where do you live?"

"Uh . . .Domino. 2nd Street." Jou manages to reply, with a sideways smile. "You know the way there?"

"Oh! Sure. I'm going there myself, in fact! Domino, not 2nd Street. Believe it or not, I just moved into Domino." She laughs, although Jounouchi doesn't get the joke. She walks to the other side of the car, and gives them a quick wave. "See you there, then." She gets into the car and a few seconds later the backlights light up. Jou pulls Otogi in the direction of his motorcycle, for a second wishing he trusted Otogi enough to drive his motorcycle. But just a second with that thought, makes him shiver. No. Never. His motorcycle is practically his baby.

Hey, she did say she had moved to Domino? Jounouchi's unbelievable short-term memory strikes again! Maybe they'll meet up. The corners of his lips rise slightly at the thought. He hasn't been with a girl (or a guy) in a long time. Not since-

Not for a while.

It doesn't feel right to be writing a Yuugioh fanfiction that isn't joukai. Ha. Yes, this is being rewritten because I didn't like the way Honda came out and etc, etc.