Hey there! Welcome to the first chapter of All That Glitters! The idea for this story was rather spur of the moment, because I've been thinking about starting a new story but I didn't know what I wanted to do. Then I was struck with inspiration for a j/s oneshot, and I enjoyed writing it more than my other story. I feel guilty admitting it but I'm getting tired of All's Fair! I'll keep updating but, time for a change of course. And so! I've tried to write an original story… there's so many j/s fics on the site that it's hard to come up with something that hasn't already been done 20 times, but I did my best! And now, on to the fic!
Oh yes! And please please please with a pineapple on top… review! Reviews fuel my inspiration for writing… i.e. quicker updates.
Warnings: shonen-ai, j/s later in the fic, possibly other unmentioned pairings
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh! I don't own Apple computers! I don't own Kaiba Corporation! I don't own the company that manufactures those adorable Seto plushies! BUT I WISH I DID!
Chapter 1 The Sands of Time
The crash resounded throughout the storage room, down the hall and out to the store where the few customers who had been milling about stopped momentarily to gaze around in confusion, before shrugging and returning to the items they had been stooped over. However, to the elderly man behind the counter, the crash was a cause for concern, indeed. He happened to be aware of the fact that his grandson and friend were snooping around in the room down the hall. A room which happened to contain some rather rare and valuable items. The man snorted, deciding that he was too busy on a Saturday afternoon to go investigate, and left the condition of the stock in the back room up to fate. He turned to the nearest customer in line, who was coughing rather loudly in annoyance at having to wait. And soon, the echo faded from the room and the man's thoughts.
"Jou!" hissed the shorter boy, who had frozen at the impact of the cardboard box with the floor, "I sure hope Grandpa didn't hear that!"
The boy called Jonouchi shrugged sheepishly before bending down to retrieve the box, whose contents had spilled halfway across the floor.
"Sorry, Yug'. But don' worry! Everything'll be good as new as soon as I get this picked up!" He smiled reassuringly at the boy called Yugi, who sighed in defeat and continued to pull boxes down off the high shelves, tottering precariously on a spindly stool. Jonouchi had spent the night at Yugi's house, promising to help Grandpa in the shop the following day. However, he had a rather short attention span, and soon found his mind wandering. Not meaning to be insulting and still realizing that Jou was doing the shop more harm than help, Grandpa suggested that Yugi and Jou might find looking around the storage room more enjoyable. He had hinted that there were some interesting things in there that they might find. The boys had jumped at the chance to get out of the stuffy shop and get away from the irritable customers, and so, hours later, still found themselves picking through seemingly ancient cardboard boxes stuffed with…well, junk. Whatever strange and mysterious artifacts that Grandpa seemed to think were in there were either nonexistent or very cleverly hidden. Jou suspected that there wasn't really anything to find, but he was reluctant to voice this opinion to Yugi, afraid of offending him.
Jonouchi glanced up at Yugi again, worried that he would fall off the fragile old stool. But it seemed that Yugi had finished with the boxes on the highest shelf, and was carefully climbing down.
"Here, Jou, let me help you with that," it took Jou a moment to remember that Yugi was referring to the various artifacts that he had accidentally scattered across the floor.
"Oh… right. Thanks, Yug'," he said, falling to his knees once more and scrambling around on the floor to retrieve the smaller pieces. It seemed that this box contained nothing more interesting than the rest, and it was one of the last boxes they'd searched, too. So much for that. But it was then that Jonouchi caught sight of a glinting from underneath the old desk in the center of the room. What's that…? He crawled over to it on his hands and knees and bent down farther, peering through the darkness under the desk at the unidentified object. Yugi looked up.
"What's up?" he asked curiously, "Did you find something?"
"I think so…" Jou muttered, straining to reach his arm into the small space, "but I… can't… get… it out…" he groaned in frustration before attempting to get his arm unstuck from underneath the furniture.
"Here, let me help. I bet I can get it!" Yugi smiled and bounced over to Jou, plunking himself down on the ground beside his friend and easily reaching his arm under to pull out the artifact. It appeared to be an ear cuff of some sort… and it also seemed to be made of gold, with strange symbols carved into the inside.
"Hey… looks like we found something!" Jou grinned in triumph as he peered at the object laying in Yugi's palm.
Yugi turned over the object excitedly, noticing at last the cryptic inscription on the piece.
"Hey… Jou… those look like hieroglyphics!" He almost shouted the last word, overcome by excitement at seeing anything Egyptian. And judging by those hieroglyphics, it was probably a very old artifact, indeed. Yugi smiled to himself as he thought about all the other Ancient Egyptian artifacts his grandfather had found, and how they always seemed to be linked with the spirit plane… with magic. He wondered to himself if this cuff was any different, but decided against voicing his suspicions to Jou. Don't want to get his hopes up, just in case there's nothing really special about it, he thought.
"This is awesome, Yug!" Jou's voice broke through Yugi's thoughts and brought him back to the present, "Hey! Let's bring it to school tomorrow to show the gang! I wonder what they'll think of it?" He grinned happily and looked expectantly at Yugi for confirmation that this was a good idea.
Well, Yugi wasn't one to let his friend down. But still… he hoped nothing bad would happen to it… it was probably worth too much to be taking it back and forth to school. But no, he shook his head. They would only take it out for a minute. Nothing bad could happen in that amount of time, right?
He grinned back suddenly. "Sure, Jou, that sounds like a good idea. I bet they'll think it's pretty neat, too!"
"Hey, what if there's more funky old Egyptian stuff in dat box?" Jonouchi reached out and grabbed a corner of the box, pulling it towards him and shuffling through it. Yugi sat on the floor, occasionally rubbing his thumb over the hieroglyphics on the cuff as he watched Jou rifle through its contents. After about a minute, a shout of triumph could be heard resounding inside the box where Jou had wedged his head and shoulders, before he pulled himself free and fell onto the floor with a thump, waving something over his head. Something that glittered very prettily.
"There's another one! Doesn't look like dat one, though…" he trailed off, eyeing the object in his hand. It appeared to be a golden anklet of some sort, with more hieroglyphics snaking around it in spirals. Jou's eyes widened suddenly before he sat back on the floor and snapped the object around his ankle.
"Um… Jou? What are you doing?" Yugi asked curiously, head tilted to one side.
Jonouchi paused for a minute as if in a daze, before his gaze snapped back up to Yugi's. "I…dunno… I don't remember putting it on, but… that thing's on my ankle!"
Yugi looked at him strangely. "Well, if you don't like it you can always take it off," he pointed out.
"Yeah, I guess." Jou reached down and was about to pull off the golden jewelry before his hands paused inches from it, and doubt crossed his face. "I dunno why, Yug, but for some reason I really don't want to take it off. Weird stuff…" he trailed off.
"Well, that's all right, Jou. I'm sure Grandpa won't mind if you borrow it for a little while," Yugi smiled reassuringly and pulled himself to his feet.
"Yeah… well, I better go, Yug. Th' old man's expectin' me home soon," he smiled, "see you tomorrow… and don't forget to bring that Egyptian thing!"
"Okay, Jou, see you tomorrow!" Yugi waved as his friend walked out the door, returning to the middle of the room to look with heightened curiosity at the old cardboard boxes and the item that had been stored inside.
Jonouchi Katsuya woke up the next morning with a jolt to the sound of his alarm clock. Damn piece of junk. Squinting his eyes, his hand made a fist and he punched at the top of it until he hit the button that would make it shut up. What he wouldn't do for a little peace and quiet once in a while…
Shit… I gotta headache…
Memories of the night before slowly flooded back into his mind.
He had just finished walking home from Yugi's with the Egyptian anklet, in a particularly good mood, though he wasn't quite sure why. That's when he noticed that the door was wide open… that was bad news. Either they had a robber on their hands… or his dad was drunk again and forgot to close the door. That wouldn't be so much of a problem except… Jonouchi Sr. tended to get violent when he'd had too much to drink. And he usually took it out on Jou.
Jonouchi cautiously crept up to the door and peered inside, heart sinking as he saw a familiar and unwelcome sight. His father was sprawled across the dirty brown couch , empty bottles strewn at his feet and holding a half-empty beer bottle in his hand. Jou glanced near the walls and noticed that several bottles had been thrown at them and shattered, scattering glass fragments all across the floor. Well… better the walls than him…maybe he could slip out before his father noticed he was there…
"Boy! S'at you…?" growled a voice darkly, as the man on the couch struggled to sit up. Jou's heart sank. It seemed he was too late. He attempted to duck just as he heard the telltale whiz of a bottle thrown, but he wasn't quick enough, and it connected with the side of his head with a crack that echoed as his vision slowly began turning black around the edges. Soon he saw only a pinpoint of light, which went out like a candle, and he fell to the ground, out cold.
Aside from the bruising on his skull, Jou reasoned with himself, he had gotten off rather easily. Sometimes things got a whole lot worse before he passed out. He should be grateful that the bottle connected. He traced his fingers lightly over the tender spot on his skull to assess the damage and cringed at the light contact as a sharp ache shot through him. Best to just leave it alone… it'll heal eventually.
Jou glanced at his alarm clock once more and yelped, seeing the time and rushing to get ready for school as fast as he could. He began to see spots across his field of vision again and, realizing that it would be better to be late to school than to pass out and miss it, he began moving more gingerly. Jou swung his schoolbag over his shoulder and headed down the hall towards the door, passing by the tiny kitchen on his way out. His father was seated inside, clutching his head in his hands and nursing a mug of coffee. Jou snorted. Seems he wasn't the only one with a headache. Serves th' bastard right. Still, there was no real menace behind the thought.
"Hey, boy! Come in here a minute." He heard his father's words as he passed by and sighed inwardly. Caught. Jou stepped cautiously into the kitchen and eyed his father, keeping as close to the door as possible in case a quick escape was in order.
"What th' hell was that girly piece of jewelry yer wearin', huh? No boy o' mine's gonna be a fag," his father sneered spitefully, "I tried to get the damn thing off but it's stuck."
Jou flinched at the words. True, he had never found himself attracted to a girl, or to anyone in particular really, but his father didn't need to know that. He would probably kill him, quite literally. Banishing this thought from his mind, Jou managed to process the rest of his father's statement.
"It doesn't… come off?" Jou pulled up his jeans to his knees and looked at the gold anklet. No… he really didn't want to take it off, but he just had to make sure that he could. Jou clasped each end of the anklet and swiftly removed it. Anklet dangling from his hand, Jou looked at his father in confusion. What did he mean, it didn't come off?
"How…how th' hell did you do that? I spend half an hour an' I couldn't do it!" his father glared at his son as if Jou had planned it all to make him look like a fool.
"I don't know how… sorry, pop, but I gotta get t' school," Jou looked down, not meeting his father's eyes in case he thought he was being disrespectful. That could end badly.
"Allright… but you make sure to come right back. Don't want you fuckin' around and gettin' into trouble."
Jou nodded absently and exited the room, realizing with a start that school started in 10 minutes and it was a 20 minute walk.
"Ah, shit!" he muttered, hurriedly putting the anklet back on. Gotta get to school, and fast.
Suddenly, Jou's vision began to swirl and spin. Colors and objects blended together until all he could see before him was a spiraling kaleidoscope. He yelled out in shock, and yet no words escaped from his mouth. And then, the colors slowly separated and took shape once again. The shape… of his school. And then the world slowed, and Jou's feet hit the ground. He toppled over, staring up at Domino High School. What the fuck…?
How had he gotten here? He had just been standing outside his apartment! What was going on? Well… he had been sick… maybe he just imagined it. He must have walked to school, passed out in front, and dreamed up the rest. Yeah, that must be it. Reassured, Jou clambered to his feet, retrieved his backpack, and jogged inside.
Jou swung open the door of his algebra class and slouched inside, ignoring the grins of the class and the cool stare of the teacher on his back.
"Jonouchi Katsuya!" Jou's teacher, Hanazawa-san, said, her words crisp and clear. Jou froze, before dumping his bag on his desk and turning to face her.
"Hai..?" he asked, knowing what she was going to say.
"You're late. I expect to see you in my room promptly after school for detention."
He sighed. Wonder what th' old man's gonna say about this. I'm s'possed ta come right home after school… he shivered, finally deciding that it would be safer to skip the detention.
"…Hai…" he muttered again, falling back into his chair and retrieving a notebook. Jou turned as he felt an icy gaze on his back, noticing that Seto Kaiba was regarding him with cool indifference. Kaiba snorted distastefully and turned his attention back to his laptop which was open on his desk. Huh. What th' hell's moneybags lookin' at? Jou thought to himself, annoyed.
He spent the rest of the lesson trying to pay attention, but his mind kept drifting back to the detention after school. Either way, he would lose. Hmm… can't be late t'day or I'm gonna get t' tar knocked outta me… can't let my grades slip any more either or th' same thing'll happen. So what do I do? Once again, he involuntarily let slip a loud sigh. Hanazawa-san looked up at him angrily.
"What is it now, Jonouchi-san? Bad enough that you come in late and interrupt my lesson, but now you apparently see fit to ignore the lesson and act as though you are bored with the material! What do you have to say for yourself?" she stared him down as though daring him to defend himself. Jou made a mental note not to cross this woman in a dark alley.
"Sorry, teach, no offense or nothin'. I jus' didn't get much sleep last night, ya know?" He gave her his most innocent look.
Hanazawa-san gave an annoyed snort worthy of Kaiba himself, before returning to her lesson.
Okay, Jou, ya gotta pay attention. Don' want that ta happen again. Now wait, what was that formula again? The quadratic equation… dammit you, move yer head. I can't see the bored… er… board… hehe. Yeah, that's right. A little more to the left. There it is. X -b /- the square root of b2 – 4ac / 2a. I see now. So… what does that mean?
By lunchtime, Jou was thoroughly exasperated with the whole idea of school. What was the point? Not like he got anything out of it anyway. And he just didn't see how that quadratic thingamajig was gonna help him out later in life. What a load a' bull. I ain't never gonna need ta know that… Hanazawa just likes to watch me squirm. He stared down his sandwich moodily as he sat outside under a tree surrounded by Yugi and Co.
"Something the matter, Jou?" Yugi asked with concern.
"Nah, Yug', it's nothin'. Thanks, though." Jou smiled.
"Oh, hey! I know what'll cheer you up!" Yugi chirped suddenly, "Let's look at that Egyptian earring we found yesterday!"
"An Egyptian earring?" Ryou asked with interest, scooting closer towards Yugi to get a better look. Yugi opened his hand to show them.
The ear cuff was picked up and examined by everyone, with sufficient oohs and ahhs all around. Just as Jou was about to return it to Yugi, however, he heard footsteps behind him and the earring was snatched from his hand. The offending person put on the cuff just as everyone turned around.
"Kaiba?" They said together, shocked.
Seto Kaiba was a slave to routine. And he was quite at good sticking to said routines, thank you very much. So it was as much to his surprise as to everyone else's when that day, he folded up his laptop and quietly exited his personal secluded corner of the lunchroom. He wasn't quite sure of the reason himself, he just knew that he had to go somewhere, and quickly. His feet carried him faster and faster as the sense of urgency grew. Faster still, until he reached a certain tree, with certain people that he happened to dislike sprawled beneath it. And the certain person he happened to dislike the most of all, that certain person with the mop of blonde hair and the ridiculous manner of speech, like some American street thug, seemed to be holding a glinting object.
For some reason unknown to Seto Kaiba, he knew it was his. And he wanted it back.
But, that's ridiculous... How can it be mine? I've never even seen the thing before!
But just as Jou reached over to return the thing to Yugi, Kaiba involuntarily reached out and grabbed it. It looked to be a golden ear cuff, so he put it on. As soon as his hands had stopped moving involuntarily, Kaiba looked down in shock at the people on the ground looking back at him with surprise and some anger.
What th' hell does Kaiba think he's doing? That's Yugi's earring! That goddamn rich boy, he thinks he can just come in and steal anything he feels like! Isn't he already rich enough that he doesn't need to go stealing from people poorer than him? Fuck him, th' bastard!
That voice… it sounded as though it had come from the other end of a tunnel, echoing and reverberating, but it was unmistakably Jonouchi's voice. Who did that dirty stray think he was, talking to Seto Kaiba like that? Well, Seto wasn't going to stand for it. He had a reputation to keep up.
"What did you say, mutt?" he said in his most dangerous voice, low like a panther about to spring, daring Jonouchi to speak up again.
"What are you talkin' about? I didn't say nothin'! All that money must've gone to yer head. You're going craz-"
Jou didn't get any farther before Kaiba's fist connected with his chest and he was knocked over backwards. Seto noted with extreme annoyance that Anzu was screaming her head off about how friend's shouldn't fight each other, and Yugi was saying something similar. Honda had sprung to his feet, ready to tackle Kaiba if it seemed Jou couldn't hold his own. But he didn't care. How dare the mutt imply that his intelligence was waning! The filthy mutt was one to talk about stupidity! Damn him. Good a reason as any to fight. Besides, he felt like it.
Jou had just gotten to his feet once more when he received a blow to the head from Kaiba that had him staggering backwards. His vision temporarily went black around the edges, before he remembered yesterday's run-in with his old man. Well, if he didn't have a concussion before…
Shit! Jou thought. I gotta get outta this. There's no way I can beat 'im th'way it stands… I might not even be able t' win if I wasn't already beat up. Shit…ow!
Just as Kaiba's fist connected with him for the last time, Jou made one final desperate wish inside his mind. I wish I was back home in my room away from all this…
And there it was again, the rushing, the swirling, the blending of objects and colors until he swore the universe would turn into a black hole and swallow him up. Except there was one difference between this time and the last. This time he was not alone.
The world calmed down as it had before, until his vision rearranged itself in his bedroom and he plopped alongside Seto Kaiba onto his bed. Maybe he hadn't imagined it… and then he heard Kaiba yelling.
"Mutt! What the hell just happened? What the fuck did you do! Where are we? Undo it, dammit, undo it!"
This was not good.
To be continued…
And there it is! Chappie one! I hope you liked it… and please review! The more reviews I get the faster I can get out a new chapter
I'll try to be good… cowers I haven't been updating my other stories very often… I'm sorry!
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