Disclaimer – I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!
*Rated M for Mature
Chapter 3 – Sunday
"Do I have to do dis?" Joey asked helplessly. He was currently sitting across from Kaiba in the kitchen, who was holding a stack of premade flashcards with different…letter things on them as far as Joey could tell.
Apparently the rules of this game were that if he could successfully make it through a flashcard, he could have an M&M…a single M&M. Joey was a bit angry by this. M&Ms were his favorite candy of all time. How did Kaiba know that?
"Yes, Puppy. You do," Kaiba sighed. "In order for me to help you speak properly, I need to break everything down into sounds. By focusing on the smallest unit of sound, or phonemes, it will be easier to enunciate words accurately."
Joey groaned. He really didn't want to do this, but what choice did he have? Well, at least he was getting a reward this time around.
"Fine," he grumbled.
Kaiba smiled and showed him the first card. "This is the phoneme /A/ and is used in words like table, bake, train, and say. Now say, /A/."
"/A/."
"Good." Kaiba turned the card over. "After you pronounce each phoneme, I want you to say the word on the back of each flashcard, okay?"
Joey nodded and stared at the word. "Crape."
"It looks like you can have an M&M," Kaiba smirked.
The blond grabbed one and popped it into his mouth while Kaiba moved onto the next card.
"This is /a/ and you would use it in a word like flat. Say, /a/."
"/a/." Kaiba turned over the card. "Lamb."
"/b/ as in ball."
"/b/. Beat."
"/k/ as in cake, key, or back."
"/k/. Camera."
"/d/ as in door."
"/d/. Dribble."
"/E/ as in me, feet, leap, or baby."
"/E/. Shriek."
"You're doing great, Puppy. Next one. /e/ as in pet or head."
"/e/. Blend." Joey was really getting bored. "How many?"
"A lot. And we'll get through it a lot faster if you at least try like you want to do this. I'm actually trying to help you. And besides, if you make it through this, I'll give you an even better treat tomorrow," Kaiba replied huskily, giving the blond a seductive wink.
Joey tried desperately to hold back his blush, but failed. Well, if that's how Kaiba wanted to play this game, then he might as well step up to the plate.
"/f/ as in fix or phone."
"/f/. Fizz."
"/g/ as in gas."
"/g/. Frog."
"/h/ as in hot."
"/h/. Hog."
"/I/ as in bite, light, or sky."
"/I/. Fight."
"/i/ as in sit."
"/i/. Pig."
"/j/ as in jet, edge, or gem."
"/j/. Jump."
"/l/ as in lamp."
"/l/. Light."
"/m/ as in my."
"/m/. More."
"/n/ as in no or knock."
"/n/. Not."
"/O/ as in okay, bone, soap, or low."
"/O/. Boat."
"/o/ as in hot."
"/o/. Doctor."
"/p/ as in pie."
"/p/. Drip."
"/kw/ as in quick."
"/kw/. Quit."
"/r/ as in road, wrong, her, sir, or fur."
"/r/. Robot."
"/s/ as in say or cent."
"/s/. Spray."
"/t/ as in time."
"/t/. Tick."
"/U/ as in future, use, or few."
"/U/. Cue."
"/u/ as in thumb, about, or wagon."
"/u/. Punch."
"/v/ as in voice."
"/v/. Shave."
"/w/ as in wash."
"/w/. Wimp."
"/ks/ or /gz/ as in box or exam."
"/ks/. /gz/. Fox."
"/y/ as in yes."
"/y/. Yak."
"/z/ as in zoo or nose."
"/z/. Zipper."
"Very good, Puppy," Kaiba said approvingly.
"Are we done?" Joey inquired hopefully. He was really tired of making weird sounds. Who knew that twenty-six letters could do so many things?
"Not quite. I have thirteen sounds that I have found that are a bit harder for you to do, especially when it comes to using them in longer words. We'll go through these and you can take a break for the rest of the day. But I suggest you study these sounds in order to get your treat tomorrow."
Joey narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What kinda treat?"
Kaiba just smirked. "You'll just have to wait and see, Puppy. Shall we continue?" Seeing Joey nod, he continued. "/OO/ as in boot, truth, rude, or chew."
Well, that one seemed easy. "/OO/. Hoot."
"/oo/ as in book or put."
"/oo/. Good." To Joey, these seemed pretty easy.
"/oi/ as in soil or toy."
"/oi/. Boy."
"/ou/ as in out or cow."
"/ou/. Wow."
"/aw/ as in saw, caught, or tall."
"/aw/. Draw."
"/ar/ as in car."
"/ar/. Gargle."
"/sh/ as in ship, nation, or special."
"/sh/. Share."
"/hw/ as in white."
"/hw/. Where."
"/ch/ as in chest or catch."
"/ch/. Chunk."
"/zh/ as in measure."
"/zh/. Pleasure."
"Now I really want you to take your time with this next one, okay? Just take your time. /th/ or /th/ as in thick or this."
Joey huffed. This was where he would always go wrong. He knew that. "/th/…/th/…Thin…There."
"Great job, Puppy," Kaiba said, smiling. "Last one. /ng/ as in sing or think."
Great. Another one. "/ng/…String…Pink." Although he seemed to really stretch out his /ng/, Kaiba appeared impressed.
"It looks like you did it."
"I guess I did," Joey said quietly with a small smile on his face.
"I'm proud of you, Puppy."
Joey beamed.
"But just pronouncing these sounds on flashcards won't improve your speech. You need to start thinking before you speak. You need to enunciate each word carefully. No more shortening words, either. From now on, instead of saying, 'don't,' say, 'do not.' Use /th/ and /th/ to replace your use of /d/; for example, the word 'the' instead of 'da.' Use /ng/ to replace your use of just /n/; for instance, 'using' instead of 'usin'.' Do you get the idea?"
Looking down at the table, Joey frowned, slightly disappointed that all his hard work still seemed meaningless. Kaiba noticed his somber expression.
"Since you did so well today," Kaiba began, making Joey's head shoot up, "I'll allow you to call me Seto."
Joey's eyes widened as he stared at the brunet with a blank look on his face. "Really?"
"Of course," he replied, getting up from his seat at the table. "If you're going to be mine, then I suggest you get used to using my first name." As he passed Joey, he leaned down and gave the blond a quick kiss on the forehead. "And you had better study those cards well if you want a special treat tomorrow.
Chuckling, he left Joey. Oh, what fun he'd have if the blond succeeded.
End Chapter