A/N - Hey everybody! This took longer than I thought it would, but it is much, much longer than I usually write.
I hope you all enjoy it!
Special thanks to all who read the last chapter, especially those who reviewed: AtomBunny, Balrog Roike (You're right!), Blue Lagoon Loon, kitty tokyo uzumaki and WoNdY Alice - THANKS!
CHAPTER 10.
The helmet came off. And there stood his favourite brother; Hermes.
He was also obviously wearing a slight glamour.
The bone structure and colouring were the same as he remembered, but the lines and wrinkles that adorned his face were new. Obviously, Hermes had 'aged' himself to suit the occasion.
It didn't take long for the familiar face to crack into a smile.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"
It also didn't take very long for Jou and Honda to awkwardly straighten themselves and brush down their clothes.
Honda, vaguely gestured towards the man before speaking.
"Ah...Jou, um...this is my dad." He then placed his arm around Jou and pushed him closer to Hermes, "Dad, this is my best friend, Jou."
Hermes smirked at Jou, before holding out his hand to shake.
"Nice to meet you, Jou." If anything, the smirk grew wider, "Name's Satsugaisha Tsukai. I must say, you are nothing like what I'd thought you'd be from Honda's descriptions."
Honda looked confused.
"Eh? What do you mean, Dad?"
"Oh, nothing bad. Just that, well, when you talked about him...I just never expected it to be this Jou."
Both boys bore troubled expressions from this.
'What is he playing at?'
"What are you talking about, Dad?"
A large 'callused' and rose and ruffled Honda's brown hair; hair that was very similar to his own.
"Well, you wouldn't know it, but when I was in school, I was quite good friends of both Jou's father, Jounouchi Tomoyuki and his mother Kawai Himiko." His large grin and sparkling brown eyes then turned to Jou, "Now, isn't that a coincidence."
'Like hell you bastard! You're totally bluffing!'
However, Jou never let his true thoughts on the matter take over, as he too forced quite a realistic smile on his face as he replied.
"Yeah! That's cool. Must be fate or somethin'" He then swivelled his head round to Honda and slapped him on the back lightly, "Well, have a nice time. I'll see ya' at school tomorrow, yeah?"
"Yeah, I s'pose" Honda, mumbled.
Jou started to walk back to the school, backwards, as he went.
"Well, See ya'!" And with that Jou was off – until he heard the school bell ring.
All three men stood still in terror as they realised what – or who – was soon to come stampeding out of those doors. Dread filled in the bottom of their stomachs.
Hermes was the first to move.
He grabbed Honda's arm and pulled him over to the bike, where-by he proceeded to shove another helmet to his slowly reacting son.
"Come on, come on! Hiroto, we've got to go. This is no time to be spacing out on me!" Honda looked into his eyes and realised he was right. The helmet was soon covering his face and his arms wrapped around his father's stomach.
"Jou, I'll see you tomo – rrooooooooooow!" Honda's voice trailed off as the bike started off and zoomed down the street. The only thing left in their wake; some dust from the dry pavement and a small golden envelope that fluttered towards Jou in the breeze.
Jou grabbed it quickly upon seeing it and ran towards safety. The only safe place available being the nearby tree – which he quickly shimmied up.
Just in time too, as hoards upon hoards of teenagers burst through the front doors. The streets filled with cars containing parents collecting their offspring and the school buses. Another obvious focal point from Jou's bird's-eye-view, was the large stretch limo, which Kaiba powerfully strode towards. He made no eye contact with anyone on his journey, and the transition from pavement to back-seat, was flawlessly made to look seamless and graceful.
'Stuck-up show-off.'
Jou also managed to see his friends, near last to leave the school, as they sensibly hung back to avoid the rush.
He watched as they looked around concernedly, presumably for Honda and Jou, but Jou never made any move to alert them to his presence. He just was not in the mood – especially with the new development Hermes had brought him.
As the gang drifted off home, Jou wondered how he had missed it for all those years.
'I mean, Honda, does look like his dad. Scarily, similar. How did I miss all the signs?'
Jou berated himself over this. As well as lamented over the situation.
Did this mean he had to act more... fatherly...over Honda, now that he knew he was he nephew...
'No.'
This changed nothing.
If anything, maybe this was a sign from the gods telling him to share his secrets... to...to, get a load off of his chest and speak to somebody about himself...
Jou decided this bared thinking about, but he would presently do nothing, unless the opportunity presented itself.
Jou then looked down towards his clenched fist, down towards the letter he still held in his hands.
On the front, in cursive script, as opposed to the recently more usual kanji, was his own name: Apollo. He recognised the hand writing immediately as his brother's.
For his brother to have written this, to have almost exposed himself, as it seemed he too was pretending to be human, (at least for now) meant that whatever Hermes had put in this letter was important.
With that in mind, Jou jumped down from the tree he was in, brushed himself off and started the relatively short walk to his apartment.
If he was going to get news, good or bad, he was going to be comfortable for it.
For the Yugi gang and Kaiba, watching Honda and Jou leave the classroom like that had been a big surprise.
Honda, though not the brightest student, was pretty diligent in school and his studies. And Jou, while often late, would never run out of class like that unless there was an emergency.
All, however, thanked the gods that Chono-sensei had not been there to dish out punishment to either of them.
"Well...that was weird."
Everybody laughed at Ryou's attempt to clear the tension in the room, and all the other students settled back into what they were doing before.
The Yugi gang, however, shuffled over into a corner – Kogano Yuuta was surreptitiously ignored and left at the table.
They all huddled into a circle, their projects left forgotten as Anzu asked the first question.
"Okay, is it just me, or has Jou and Honda been acting strange recently?"
"I, too, have noticed their behaviour," Yami darkly muttered, "I thought it were nothing more than just their own personal business, until..." His voice ominously trailed off as he looked over to Kaiba tapping furiously on his laptop, "Until, cousin started to take note too." He looked back at his friends, "Believe me when I say this, it is no light matter when Seth, or Kaiba Seto as it is now, takes note of you. You either have to be a person he recognises as socially superior, or a thing of utmost absurdity."
The blank looks on their faces made him sigh.
"What I mean to say, is that... for Kaiba's, an extraordinary action that deserves his attention, would be for us something extremely impossible or impressive-"
Here Yugi interrupted him.
"Yami, maybe Kaiba was just amazed about Jou knowing all the stuff about the Greeks," Hums of agreement followed this, "I mean, we were pretty amazed, but it did explain some things and answer some questions we had, even before this incident..."
This answer seemed to appease both Yugi and Ryou, but Yami was still frowning and Otogi didn't look convinced either.
"Look, chibis," Both Yugi and Ryou glared at him, "That just don't cut it. Pharaoh's right for once." Yami's resulting indignation was lost as Bakura continued, "Isn't it just a little convenient. We wait a few days after all the hubbub and then he smoothly pulls this story out of his bag?" His incredulous look spoke volumes, "Nuh uh! Not me! This whole incident has suspicious all over it. And I should know, it was my job to be suspicious."
Ryou huffed out in annoyance.
"I don't understand! Why is this such an issue? I haven't noticed anything; 'suspicious',"
"Tch. That means nothing,"
"Excuse me?" The warning in Ryou's tone kept Bakura from saying anything more.
"What the Tomb Robber was trying to say," Yami, in vain, tried to mollify the two, "Is that, lately Jou has shown some unusual reactions to things-"
"Yeah! Remember when we got the class assignments," Otogi finally joined the conversation properly, "He seemed awfully upset about the whole thing, and...and...Remember!" He gestured frantically, "When he was working with Kaiba? Did you see the look on his, er, Kaiba's face? Apart from being funny, it was also completely gob-smacked," He nodded emphatically, "I agree with Bakura on this. Very fishy."
"Not to mention," Now Anzu had jumped on the proverbial band-wagon, "When we were at that museum, forgetting his fashion disaster of a brother, he was totally dreading the trip, and Yoshimori-Sensei's project."
"That skull," Yami intoned, "It was not normal,"
Bakura snorted.
"What an obvious statement, Pharaoh," He smirked, "Let me try one. Jou's reaction to that skull wasn't normal either."
A/N - Reviews make me happy (and willing to write faster!) :P
Also, the first names of Jou's 'mum' and 'dad' I had to make up, since Kazuki Takahashi didn't bother to make any up.
Also, Herme's assumed name of Satsugaisha Hiroki, means something. Satsugaisha means 'Slayer', refering to Herme's slaying of the giant and Tsukai means 'Messenger' - neat, right? But VERY obvious of Hermes.