Kaiba and Jou had been dragged to the principal's by a fuming Mrs. Tasaki and the school security guard. They didn't look at each other at all; they just walked along together, silently bearing their teachers outrage. After about ten minutes waiting in the secretaries' lounge while the adults talked, the two were finally summoned into Mr. Suro's office.
"Sit," he commanded as they entered. The boys obliged, taking the chairs adjacent to their stern superior.
"I don't know who you kids are that you think you can repeatedly cause disruption in this school without consequence, but this incident really takes the cake. I want to know exactly what happened, and believe me, if you lie I will find out."
"He started it!" Jou burst out.
"What? You hit me first, idiot," Kaiba countered, annoyed that the boy could go right back to his obnoxious self in a matter of seconds.
"Enough!" Mr. Suro shook his head in exasperation. "I should have known you two couldn't calm yourselves down long enough to at least agree on what took place. Never mind with that, we'll deal with the details later.
"Jou, I have no doubt from your past record that you hit Kaiba first, but I know you would never do such a thing without provocation. I think the bottom line is that you both were in the wrong. But what I want to get through to you both, because I believe you to be truly outstanding boys despite this rivalry, is that in the end this fight was probably about nothing. I know you dislike each other for some strange reason, but things like this are frequently the result of some long-forgotten misunderstanding. That's why when you return from your one-week suspension—"
"What?!"
"Yes, Jou, one week! Be thankful you're not being expelled. When you return you will have to undergo peer mediation to get to the root of your problems—"
"WHAT?!"
"Stop interrupting me, Jou! Ahem… In addition, at Mrs. Tasaki's request you will both serve a total of ten days detention, during which you will work together to make-up the assignments you're going to be missing."
"Mr. Suro!" Jou seized his opportunity to make his case. "This is a little over the top, don't you think? I mean, Kaiba's a jerk, we both know that. I'm never gonna get along with him! And if I could just go get my assignments ahead of time I can do them while I'm on vacation—err, I mean suspension. If I do the whole detention thing I'm gonna miss work, and my boss already told me I can't be late anymore."
"The mutt is right, I have a company to run and a brother to take care of. I shouldn't be punished for self-defense."
"Boys," Mr. Suro's impatience was starting to reveal itself. "I'm sorry if you have other obligations, but you should have thought of that before-hand. That is my final word. You can go to the nurse, now."
With that, Mr. Suro resumed whatever he had been working on earlier, completely disregarding the teens as they stepped outside.
Neither of them actually went to the nurse. Instead, they walked down the vacant hallways in silence. Jou parted from Kaiba to stop at his locker, stuffing anything that might benefit him in his upcoming week into his backpack.
The blonde hauled his things through the doors of the school. Blinding sunlight met his eyes and for a moment he stood squinting into the parking lot. Kaiba was waiting on a stone bench with his briefcase, relaxing in the day's warmth.
Jou nearly said something to Kaiba, who had the nerve to look so peaceful after his own job had pretty much been thrown out the window by their sentencing. Kaiba would likely find some way to turn any insult around though, so Jou opted to walk right past the elder teen in a pointed display of maturity.
Holding his head high, he whisked right past Kaiba with the most pride that he could muster.
"Mutt," Kaiba's voice rang behind Jou's back.
Oh no, I just want to get home. Haven't we fought enough today?
Jou reluctantly turned into the piercing blue gaze. "Yes, moneybags?"
"Do you need a ride?"
What? That certainly caught him off-guard. Jou opened and shut his mouth, obviously confused by this apparent generosity.
"Well, do you? My limo will be here in a minute. Look, I already see it up the street."
Jou didn't know what to say, so he just sat next to the brunette. He couldn't pass up this chance to be friendly with this guy, whom at one point in his life he thought he could be close to. It almost surprised Jou how readily he accepted Kaiba's company after everything that just happened. Did our fight change something? Does he respect me more, somehow?
The limo pulled alongside the curb, slowly crunching gravel below its wheels. Kaiba stood and immediately opened the door, ducking into the low automobile. Jou had just a moments' glance of the luxury inside when the door shut behind Kaiba.
Jou could do nothing but stay cemented to the spot, watching in disbelief as the tinted window hummed into a down-position. Kaiba's smug face sneered at Jou.
"What are you gaping at, mutt?"
"You—You told me you'd give me a ride," Jou stuttered, incredulity seeping into his offended tone.
"I never said any such thing." Kaiba didn't expect Jou to react like this, all hurt. His smirk was starting to lose its' staying power, and all at once he didn't want to be facing the victim of his mean prank anymore. He was just beginning to roll his window back up when Jou's expression reddened.
"You're a fucking jerk, you know that?" He threw his backpack onto the grass behind him and reached for the nearest rock, his lengthy arm hurling it at one of the windows. The strong glass didn't break, but it splintered and cracked in a spider-web shape. Jou snatched up his bag and huffed in the opposite direction, not daring to look back at the risk that Kaiba would see how wounded he really was.
"Mr. Kaiba! Mr. Kaiba, are you okay?" His chauffer was rolling down the divider, panic evident in his voice. "I'm calling the police."
Kaiba stared at Jou's retreating back, a strange regret twisting its' way into his chest. "Don't bother. I deserved it."
A steady quiet met his ears, and then the chauffers' dutiful "yes sir."
I'm sorry it's shorter, and not much else has happened, but I thought this chapter could be kind of important to character development and setting the outline of what's to come. Plus, all of your really kind reviews prompted me to make an update sooner. I'm getting out of school soon, so my updates will be faster in the summer, but for now bear with me!
Again, I LOVED your reviews. Thank you so much!! :)
