Lets get straight to it shall we?
Italics= thoughts
Chapter 10
"Was that Mai that dropped you off Joey?"
"Yup. I… uh… ran into her on my way here."
"What's she doing in Domino? And so early too?"
Shrug. "She was just there."
"Or maybe she's been here since last night." Wink.
"Tristan!"
The gang laughed.
"Pipe down brats!" a surly voice commanded from the doorway.
More than one pair of eyes blinked at the new figure. The hulking man walked up to the desk and appeared to eyeball every single one of the students. A grim smile took over the man's face.
"I'm your new substitute Mr. Andrews. I will be here for the next two weeks as Mr. Taka needed to take an emergency leave of absence. I expect every one of you to- HEY!"
Most of the students jumped into the air at the unexpected boom.
"You! In the back! What do you think you are doing?"
A burly finger was pointed at none other than Seto Kaiba. The brunette spared a single frosty glance at the man before choosing to ignore him and continue moving his fingers over his laptop's keyboard.
Stingy red peppered the man's face as he briskly walked up towards Kaiba. Everyone held their breaths as the man spoke.
"What do you think you are doing brat?"
Kaiba, unbelievably, ignored him as he was.
"You little maggot! Pay atten-"
The burning glare stopped the man, both in speech and in motion as he had reached out in an attempt to snag Kaiba by the collar. Joey felt himself flinch even though the hard blue gaze wasn't directed at him. The brunette scowled as he snapped his laptop shut and stood up. For all his bulk the man had nothing on Kaiba's height… or glare… or sheer intimidation.
"Take care how you speak to your betters insect."
Every word had been laced with a cold threat. It left goosebumps on most long after Kaiba took his leave.
Unfortunately, the burly substitute was a tad too dumb where he should have been a tad too fearful.
The class progressed, albeit with a heavy tension clinging to the air, right up until the end when shit hit the fan, again.
"Everyone understand the assignment? Good! Now listen up for your partners!" The man hesitated as he ruminated on the word prompting more than one confused glance. "Partners."
"You!" he barked, face lit up in ugly glee as he pointed to some poor, unsuspecting soul.
The student visibly sank in his chair.
"Ye-yes?" came the stutter.
"Who's the worst person for that Kaiba to be paired up with?"
"That's easy!" the boy returned in earnest as relief swept through him before he had the chance to crap himself. "It's Joey Wheeler! Everyone knows they hate each other!"
"WHAT?!" Joey sprang up out of his seat. "No way am I gonna be paired up with Moneybags!"
"Sit down boy!" the substitute roared back. "Do as I say or you'll be taking a trip to the principal's office!"
The blonde glared daggers and grit his teeth. Reluctantly, he sat down.
The day couldn't get any worse.
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Several hours later the blonde was learning that hindsight is a bitch and fate might as well join her in that category.
Hating his life so very, very much at that moment he glared at the massive double doors with everything he had. His fingers were numb and he was fighting off shivers. The cold air stung his cheeks and nipped at his ears. He'd already knocked on the door and gave his name only to have the butler apologize to him and shut the door in his face.
Honey eyes had blinked once.
Blinked twice.
Blinked three times before bursting into their present state, literal balls of fire.
'Why can't he, just one time, not be such a jerk!'
"Kaiba!" Joey roared. "You better let me in!"
The blonde began pounding on the door, his fist picking up speed as he went along.
"I'm serious Richboy! I don't have time for this! We got paired up for a project, we only have one week to do it, and I need that grade!"
The door remained closed.
"Kaiba! Come on!"
When there was still no answer the blonde kicked the door in frustration.
'This is crazy!'
"Kaiba! If you don't open up I swear I'll shave your head! I'll kick your lily- white ass! I'll break your windows! I'll convince Mokuba to become a drag queen! I'll tell your fan club you're into bestiality! I'll-"
A second.
It felt like in all of one second the door was thrust open by a fuming Kaiba who grabbed Joey by the collar and forced him inside all while reclosing the door and locking it.
"Would you like to explain to me what it was that you think you are doing you filthy mutt?"
The tone was even and it was only a little higher than a whisper but it was backed by a bone-chilling element that added another layer of cold numbness to blanket over the blonde. Joey was sure his teeth would start chattering soon. Of all times to misplace his coat! Why did he always have such bad luck?
He tried to keep his body from racking but he couldn't. His t-shirt was thin and his jeans were very well-worn. It was all the more telling that Kaiba didn't once smirk at his miserable state.
"We got partnered together for a project," Joey crossed his arms. "It's due in one week."
The hostility dropped a few levels. The azure eyes lost their ferocity but the glare remained.
The blonde shuffled his feet. He didn't know what else to say, what to do. But he was getting impatient- fast.
He hated it, feeling like this, incapable.
His honey eyes slid up, becoming defiant as he say Kaiba was still staring at him. The emotion in those ocean blues was unreadable.
Their gazes held a few long moments. Joey felt a stir in his chest. It wasn't something he recognized and that… bothered him.
Almost at once Kaiba 'hn'd' and turned away. His long gait left Joey in a daze before he shook himself and followed after the taller teen.
The blonde opened his mouth, thought better of it and forced it shut. He'd rather not talk to Kaiba at all if he could.
Instead he focused on the inside of the mansion itself. Kaiba led him up a staircase that was smack in the middle of the entrance hall. The home lacked… color, but the lavish décor spoke of a wealth almost all could only ever dream of.
Joey didn't pay attention to the twists and turns as one hall became another. He'd always pictured the Kaiba mansion to be a depressing fortress kind of abode but it was actually kind of cool. The dark hallways he expected were instead brightly lit and boasted a large amount of objects in glass and portraits on the walls. It was like walking through a museum dedicated to everything Art, Games and History. Every piece managed to catch his own interest so Joey knew they would have had to have been carefully selected. Unfortunately, he could do no more than spare an admiring glance as he had to keep up with the brunette's longer strides.
The blonde almost bumped into said brunette as he was reading the name of a particular art piece. Kaiba had come to a stop before a set of (regular sized) double doors. The brunette slid his keycard in and quickly stepped through.
Just as Joey made to follow, he looked up and caught the quick smirk on the taller teen's face right before he proceeded to shut the door in his face.
The blonde's mouth dropped open as he felt an eye twitch.
'What the fuck!'
Yes, yes I know it's short and a bit uneventful but trust me!
The next chap more than makes up for it!