Author's Note: Chapter Two! All right! Now for a plot. And for anyone who was wondering, Chapter One's title means "away from the old castle" in Italian. I suck at titles. Also, my pen name means "poem/song"--it's an Old Norse term. So if you write songfics, that's what they are!
Enough babbling, on with the story!
Chapter Two - Those Suspicious Invitations
The alarm clock had been ringing for five minutes. Yugi's hand tried to find it, but he kept missing. He knocked the lamp on the floor first, and then his deck on top of that. Then all of a sudden--silence. He opened one of his big purple eyes and saw Jounouchi holding down the snooze button. Beyond him, the curtains were billowed out in front of a wide open window.
"Jou? What are you doing here?" Yugi mumbled, surprised.
"Er--" Jou didn't really know how to answer that. "I got lost?"
Yugi pulled himself out of bed. "You got lost, and so you climbed through my window?
"What's it to ya? Can't a guy stop by his friend's house without gettin' interrogated? Jeez, tie me to a chair and shine a bright light in my eyes, why don't ya?"
"Um, I'd rather not," replied Yugi, disappearing into the bathroom.
Jou winced as he realized what he'd just said. "That's not what I meant! Dammit!" He punched the wall, sending a rain of broken sheet rock to the ground. "...Oops."
"I know, Jou," Yugi said from the bathroom, his mouth full of toothpaste.
Jou quickly swept the sheet rock underneath the rug, trying to think of something to say that wouldn't get him picked on. Then, he remembered why he came to Yugi's in the first place. "'Ey, Yug'! I remember now--wha'd ya do with that tape I loaned ya? I was gonna loan it to Honda today."
Yugi remembered
that tape with a grin. "Oh, it's on my dresser. Hey, that reminds me! Grandpa got a really good tape in the mail last night, but he wouldn't let me near it. He probably hid it."
"It has to be good, if we can't see it! Leave it to me, I'll find it before you can say 'g-string'!" Jou declared, jumping through the door.
'What's a g-string?' Yugi wondered, pulling on his uniform. 'And why is Jou acting so strange?'
"Just don't wake up Grandpa, or you'll never get it!" he shouted, but Jou was already gone.
Downstairs Jou skidded to a halt, at the sight of Sugoroku, his mouth hanging open, snoring in his la-Z-boy. 'Yeesh. One more step and I'd never get that tape. Oh, man, it's gotta be the best one ever--otherwise why would he keep it all to himself?' Jou thought, tiptoeing up to the door and looking around. The TV was still on, but there was nothing on the screen. Piles of mail surrounded the old man's sleeping form, creating a sort of walled fortress.
Jou scratched his head, puzzled. 'No tape here. Let's see, if I were Gramps, where would I hide a really good...' His head hurt from all this thinking. It was like he had a hangover. Then it hit him.
"Of course!" he blurted, then clapped his hand over his mouth. Sugoroku didn't budge, and Jou let out a sigh of relief, then grinned. 'To the vegetable crisper!'
In Jou's house, that's where his dad kept all the really good stuff that he didn't want Jou getting his hands on. Underneath the rotting tomatoes and onions--Jounouchi wasn't one to eat his vegetables--lay a treasure trove of the finest liquor. Jou figured from Yugi's height that he probably didn't eat his veggies, either. He dashed to the kitchen and pulled open the 'fridge door.
"Porno, here I come!"
...
"Huh?" There was no porn tape, but there was indeed a treasure (and some moldy cauliflower). "What's this? An invitation! A tournament...HEY YUGI!" he shouted.
Yugidraped his puzzle around his neck, then stuffed his books into his school bag. And as he zipped it shut he heard Jou shouting for him. "I'm coming!" he called, scanning the room for his cards. He spotted them on the floor, and frantically gathered them up, stuffing them into his pocket and half running, half falling down the stairs.
Jou held the chilled letter up in front of him triumphantly as Sugoroku staggered out from the den and Yugi flew in, landing on his face.
"What is it, Jou?" Yugi asked.
"You got invited to another tournament! We are going to America!"
"America?? Tournament? But we just got back from the last one!" Yugi protested, seizing the letter.
"Jounouchi! What are you doing here, reading Yugi's mail?" demanded Sugoroku.
Jou froze, a drop of sweat on his forehead. "Um..."
"Hey Jou, where'd you get this? It's all cold," said Yugi.
"In the 'fridgerator..." said Jou, giving Sugoroku an odd look.
It was the old man's turn to be embarrassed. "You must have been really tired last night, huh Grandpa?" said Yugi. "But you should have told me, because this is great news! I can't wait to tell everyone!"
"Yeah, let's tell 'em! Race ya to school!"
"I never thought I'd hear you say that!" Yugi laughed, as the two ran out of the house and down the street.
Sugoroku stood alone in the kitchen, with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. The fact of another tournament following so close to the last one made him nervous and uncomfortable. Although he was sure that Yugi would win, regardless of the challenge, there was something not quite right going on, and he muttered to himself, trying to figure it out.
The school bells hadn't rung yet, so Jou didn't feel right being there already. He was
never early. Yugi, next to him, tried to catch his breath. Jou checked his watch.
"Ha! Beat ya by three whole minutes!" said Jou, kicking away a ball that rolled toward him.
"But did you...have to run...so fast?" Yugi panted.
Jou was about to answer when Bakura and Honda walked up. Honda had a taunting grin on his face, and Bakura looked uncomfortable.
"Mornin'," said Honda, sniffing the air. "Wow, something smells great, like...perfume!"
"Shaddup," snapped Jou. "We've got news, tell 'em, Yug'."
Yugi took a deep breath and held up the letter, but Honda cut him off.
"If you're talking about the tournament in America, that's yesterday's news. Bakura here called me and told me last night."
Jou's jaw dropped, and Bakura smiled thinly. "But how did he--"
"You got invited, too? That's great, Bakura!" contributed Yugi.
Bakura frowned. "I don't know about this, Yugi. When those invitations were mailed, we were both virtually unknown, and I still am! Why would anyone bother to invite us, all the way from Domino City?"
"Maybe they had ESP. Anyways, who cares? It's a chance to go to the U.S.A," Jou put in.
"Were you invited, Jou?" Honda inquired snidely.
"Erk..." Jou hadn't seen any invitations at his house, and he turned red.
"Well, that didn't stop you before, did it?" asked Yugi.
"Ha, you're right, nothing's gonna stop me!" Jou grinned.
"Well," said Bakura, "the invitation said that each contestant could bring along one friend. So if I bring Honda, and Yugi brings Jou, that leaves out--"
"Hi guys!" chimed a girl's voice.
"Oh, hi Anzu," said Yugi, while the rest of the group looked away, wincing.
"Well, what's up?" she asked, sensing something amiss.
Jou jumped forward with bravado. "Anzu, you'll be going to America sooner than ya planned. Yugi here got invited to a tournament in the U.S. of A."
Her eyes widened. "Another tournament! Wow!" Yugi blushed a bit, and Honda elbowed Jou for telling. Then Anzu slumped, frowning. "But I don't know if I can go."
"Huh? Why not?"
"I missed so many dance lessons going to the Duelist Kingdom, I don't know if I can miss any more without being kicked out of the class!"
Bakura flinched. "We might none of us be able to go. We've missed a lot of school, and they might not excuse us."
Everyone looked sad, then Jou piped up. "Well, they have to let us out! Yugi's the champion, and they have to let us go to cheer him on!"
"We can always ask. No point in giving up, right?" said Yugi.
"Right!" said everyone, and the bell rang for class. "We'll go at lunchtime," Bakura declared, then excused himself, turned and ran off to class. Honda said he'd better get going, and he and Jou dashed toward their math class at the far end of the school.
"Come on, Yugi," said Anzu, taking his hand. "I don't wanna be late!" Yugi grinned and blushed, and jogged off with her.
"Absolutely not!"
The principal of Domino High School was not listening to reason. He'd already taken a load of crap fromt the superintendant for allowing so many students to head to the Duelist Kingdom tournament, and he didn't give a rat's ass whether this one won it or not. Duel Monsters was just a silly card game, and even if a student from his school won, it brought him no prestige. He looked down from his desk at the five students grouped around it. He didn't like the look on the blond one's face. The one with white hair needed a haircut. The puny one with the Dragonball Z hair needed one too. He pondered enforcing a dress code for hair.
"But, Mr. Principal, Yugi has to go to this tournament!" protested Anzu.
"I don't answer to 'Mr. Principal,'" the man said. "You children have missed a lot of school, and I cannot allow you to go on this trip. That's final!"
Jou opened his mouth to give him a piece of his mind, but the principal anticipated this, and tossed him out of the room. He whirled on the other four, and they jumped out after Jou.
"You kids need to learn to put academics ahead of cheap card games!" he shouted, then turned to his secretary. "See them back to their classes, where they can think about becoming better students." He slammed his door shut behind him.
//You'll change your tune later...//
Yugi shuddered and clutched his puzzle.
"That jackass," muttered Jou.
"Who does he think he's talking to, anyway?" added Honda.
"Little children," answered Anzu, pouting.
"Hey kids! What's got you so blue?" asked a man with a huge, gummy smile and a sharp blue suit. Bakura and Anzu recognized their history teacher.
"Oh, hi Mr. Toshira," said Anzu. Bakura gave the teacher an icy glance, while Honda and Jou looked at each other and shrugged. Yugi felt funny, but couldn't be sure what it was. Like everyone else, he'd heard the rumors. A certain teacher was a little too friendly with his female students. Some even said he had affairs. Some said he made adult films at his huge mansion, and that's how he got all his money. Some said he killed people and ate their eyes, and at night he turned into a huge monster that roamed the sewers.
"The class wasn't the same while you were away. So why are you sad?" Toshira prodded, the expression on his face never changing.
She didn't really want to tell him, but he stepped forward, and she blurted, "the principal won't let us go to another Duel Monsters tournament, that's all."
"That's too bad," he said, suddenly frowning. "But cheer up! I'm letting you be exempt from the next test, since you missed so many days."
"Wow! Thanks a lot!" she exclaimed. The men were glaring, but Toshira paid no attention.
"But, there is something I have to ask you," Toshira added. When Anzu raised an eyebrow, he continued. "If you could stop by my place this evening--I'm putting on a little production and I'd like some help from a star dancer like yourself."
Before anyone could say anything to stop her, Anzu said, "sure, I'll be by right after my modern class," and Toshira winked and was gone.
And the bell rang, and lunch was over.
"This isn't fair. I want to be exempt, too," said Bakura.
Jou pulled Yugi aside. "'Ey, Yug'. I heard some rumors about that teacher. I think you heard them too."
Yugi nodded.
"Man, things just go from bad to worse round here," Jou sighed. "Now we have to spend the evening following Anzu to keep her out of trouble, and we don't even get to go to America!"
"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that," said Yugi, his voice sounding a little like his Yami. The puzzle in his hands glinted in the fluorescent light.
Jou punched a locker. "You'd better be right."
End of Chapter 2! Next up...Yami "persuades" the principal to change his mind...and Anzu heads to Toshira's Mansion, with Jou and Honda following behind...I promise it'll be good!