{Quarter to Three}
{Chapter 2: Rubik's Fun}
Jou inwardly sighed, and turned to face Kaiba.
"..Jounouchi."
"..Kaiba." Jou snorted slightly and leaned against the staircase.
They both stood in silence. Silent, silent, silent.. Gosh, it was quiet.
Jou sighed and leaned away from the stairway, walking slightly toward the bookcases in front of them.
It was all the old classics. Jou's mouth twisted. Booooriiin--
"I think you're in the wrong place mutt, the childrens section is downstairs."
Jou's eye twitched in annoyance.
"I wasn't looking for the children's section."
"What then, youth? Mutt's like you obviously don't read classics."
"Says you. Name one, and I'll read it."
Seto snorted, "Jane Eyre. E-Y-R-E not A-I-R."
Jou rolled his eyes. He knew that. ...Well actually, he didn't, but he wouldn't admit it, of course. He grabbed the book off the shelf. He read the back with interest before turning it over to the front cover. Yugi showed up a moment later with a small colorful cube and a book.
"Jounou, I'm ready. Thank you for your help Kaiba."
Jou nodded, gave a half salute to Kaiba and turned away, walking towards the front. He passed the book Advanced Chess once more, and told Yugi to wait a second. He grabbed the book off the shelf, and walked back towards Yugi. He eyed Jou's selection of books, but said nothing.
The reached the front desk and checked out their books.
They walked slowly back to the front of the school, and to the street.
"What is that, Yugi?"
Yugi smiled, "It's a rubik's cube. Wanna see it?"
Jou nodded, and plucked it from Yugi.
...Wow, a cube.
"Well, it's a puzzle. You turn each side until all the colors are lined up. I couldn't figure it out, so I asked around to see if anyone else could. Everyone I talked to said that they couldn't do it. So, I asked Kaiba, and even he couldn't!"
Jou started laughing. The great Seto Kaiba couldn't put a stupid cube back together?
Yugi gave him a slightly sour look, but said nothing again.
"I got this strategy book, hopefully it can help me out."
Jou nodded, and started twisting a side. "Can I see it?"
Yugi handed the book to him. Jou began reading. The words were sticking again. It was cool. He wondered if he had always been able to do this. He didn't read that much to begin with, so he didn't really know.
He read quickly over the pages of the thick strategy guide, while Yugi watched in wonder.
"H--hey Yugi, can I borrow this? And the cube? I'll give it back to you in the morning."
Yugi nodded, and Jou went back to the book, silently reading the rest of the way home.
Jou entered his house quietly once more, as was his regular routine, and ran quickly to his room. He was 10 pages away from finishing. He eyes ran quickly over the page, memorizing each line, word for word.
He finished finally, and picked up the cube. He twisted it around to look at all the sides, and began to move each side. Red to red, yellow to yellow. And when he got stuck, he just remembered back to the book, and he could do it again.
When he finally stopped around three minutes later, Jou examined his work. It was complete. Jou let a breathe go he didn't know he was holding and started laughing. He mixed the cube up again, and started over. This time he completed it in 2 minutes.
He continued going over the patterns. Now he was going for speed. 60 seconds. 53 seconds. 33 seconds, and his final score... 30.2 seconds. He laughed and landed back on the mattress below him. What the hell was he? Where did all this come from? Who cared? He was smart! Suddenly eager to finish his homework, he pulled out his binder.
Only ten minutes later he had finished both his math homework, as well as his Japanese history.
Then he remebered Jane Eyre. He reached for his bag again but suddenly a jolt went through his head, similar to earlier today. Although, it was slightly more painful. Jou massaged his temples, and the headache ebbed away once more.
He reached for the book again, and started reading. An hour later Jou had finsihed Jane Eyre.
'Hm.. not that bad.' Jou smirked. He wouldn't have guessed Kaiba liked romantic stories. Jane Eyre was most definately one of them.
He looked down at his arms, and frowned. There were his bracelets. Sure, he was relieved to see them, but, where did they come from? ...Had they gotten bigger? He examined it closer. No, it couldn't have grown. They were just bracelets. Jou shook his head, as if to clear it. He needed a shower. He got up and walked to the bathroom.
He stripped down, and turned on the water. He checked himself in the mirror once more. He walked up close to it, to examine himself, fully. He seemed... tanner? Where did his tan lines go? He blinked a few times, and checked himself again. No, they were still there. His eyes were playing tricks on him.
He backed away, and climbed in to enjoy the shower he needed to take.
The next morning, Jou woke up with a start as he usually did. He got up slowly, and began changing. His bracelets were still on him. He still wasn't sure how they got back on him. He undressed himself, and got changed for school once more. He looked back on his arms. The bracelets were gone.
'What the hell?' Where did they go now? He started looking back around his room. He flipped through books, binders and pillows, and couldn't find them. He looked down. There they were. Jou was getting freaked out.
He closed his eyes, and looked down once more. They were gone.
He suddenly never wanted to see them again, but still couldn't help but wondering where they were. They suddenly appeared on his wrists. His eyes widened in surprise. …Maybe…
"Disappear." he tried. The didn't move. He frowned. What was he doing? Talking to bracelets. He shook his head. No time for this. He'll deal with his disappearing bracelets later. He needed to get to Yugi's house.
He stuffed all his work and books in his bag, and headed out the door with a goodbye yell to his dad.
When he finally reached Yugi's, Yugi was standing outside.
"I'm sorry I'm late, Yugi."
"Oh, it's fine Jou! We'll just have to walk faster."
Jou nodded, and they were on their way. He suddenly remebered about the cube.
"Guess what, Yugi?"
"What?"
"I finished that rubik's cube."
Yugi stopped in his tracks. "What??" His eyes were wide.
"D'ya wanna see?"
He nodded his head quickly, and Jou brought his back-pack around him and piled through it. He pulled out a finished cube and a strategy guide.
Jou grinned, "I even timed myself a few times. 30 seconds!" Jou chuckled.
Yugi stared at the cube, and looked back up to Jou. Thirty seconds?
Jou smiled down at Yugi, "You don't believe me, do you? Why don't you mix it up?"
They continued walking, and Yugi mixed up the cube. He gave it to Jou.
"Alright, here we go." He examined the cube, and then began twisting it.
Sure enough, thirty seconds (give or take a few milliseconds) Jou had finished it.
"Wooooow! Jou, that's amazing!" Yugi was astounded.
Jou smiled sheepishly.
They continued on to school.
Jou amazed his teachers again by being able to answer the questions correctly and quickly. After school, he found his way back to the library to return Jane Eyre and Advanced Chess. He walked back over to the section where he found the chess book to look for another similar. Chess seemed like such an amazing game!
Sadly, there weren't any there, so Jou walked back over to the stairway to look for the bookshelf with the classics there. Jou found Kaiba sitting quietly at a table near-by. Jou smiled slightly, and walked over to the table. He sat down across from him and stared.
Kaiba said nothing, so niether did Jou.
Several long moments later, Kaiba looks up to Jou, who was currently looking up at the ceiling.
"Wow. The ceilings in here are really high," Jou whispered.
Kaiba blinked. "Is there something you needed?"
Jou continued staring at the cieling.
Kaiba sighed, irritated, "Jounouchi."
Jou lowered his head to meet Kaibas.
Jou's eyes widened when he saw Kaiba, "....Sekh.." it was quietly whispered.
...'Sekh?' Kaiba thought. Jou stood up quickly, and moved to the other side of the table.
Jou's eyes narrowed. His lip snarled slightly, and Seto suddenly found himself on the ground. He hadn't felt anything touch him. Jou hurredly climbed on top of Kaiba, and sneered.
"How could you!? You left me in the fire! You left me!!" Jou screamed.
"Wha--What the hell are you talking about, Jounouchi? What fire?"
"You Bas--" Jou cut himself off. Then blinked.
"Jounouchi?"
"I can't believe I just did that."
"...Did what?"
"I.. I just.." He stuttered and looked around. He was back at the table.
"You were staring the the ceiling and you fell asleep. Wow. Now, If you'll tell me what you want..?"
Jou opened his mouth to protest his confusion, but stopped. He'd think about what happened later. Kaiba didn't need to know.
"I..I uh, wanted another classic to read."
"Give up on Jane Eyre?"
"No, I finished it."
Seto blinked. He wasn't expecting that.
"I'm shocked."
"Yeah, well, I didn't take you for the romance-type reader, so, were both shocked."
Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you read For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway."
Jou nodded, "...Thank you," grabbed his bag, and walked over to the shelf.
Jou grabbed the book, and left without bothering to check it out.
What the hell kind of dream was that? Why did it feel so real? The questions kept running through Jou's mind. He could feel the emotion that the Jou in the dream held. Was it really a dream?
...A hallucination? Jou shook his head. No, he wasn't crazy.
A bolt of pain rain through his head once more, and stopped him in his tracks yet again. He'd gotten through the whole day without a headache, and was wondering where they were coming from.
He didn't think his family had migrains or anything... He'd have to call Shizuka later, ask her.
This time was slightly longer than the pain from the two headaches before. He stopped by a wall, and leaned against it with one hand, steadying himself. He noticed the bracelet on his arm again.
There was something strange going on with these stupid bracelets. Like the fact that they would dissappear. But, no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't bring himself to take them off. They were only bracelets though, right?
Right? How can a bracelet be more than just a bracelet?
...He thought of Yugi's Puzzle and Bakura's ring. Was it possible this was part of the millenium set? Jou's eyes widened.
Waitaminute. That's not possible. 'There are only seven sennen items, Jou, don't be a dumbass,' he though, as the pain finally receeded. It was a welcome feeling.
He rubbed his temples and took off once more. He would be walking home alone again today. He told Yugi he needed to do something that afternoon, so to go on ahead. Yugi was worried as usual, but Jou told him it was no big deal. Yugi agreed, as long as he would call him when he got home. Jou inwardly rolled his eyes, but laughed and told Yugi, "Of course I will!"
Jou found himself suddenly very thirsty, as he turned the corner and heard... running water? It felt as if he hadn't had anything to drink all week. But, running water on the school grounds? There wasn't any running water here. But he could hear it. He walked in the direction of the sound, and felt himself becoming really hot. His skin had a sudden shock run through it, and he was forced to his knees from pain. What was going on? He closed his eyes tightly, trying to block out whatever would come next.
When he opened them, he was back where he was originally standing. He looked around. It seemed darker than it just did and the pain he felt wasn't there. What was going on?
Was he going crazy? He shook slightly.
No, no, it's hormones. Teenager hormones. He could handle this. Determined, Jou walked quickly home once.
When he finally reached his destination, he flopped back down on his bed, and pulled out For Whom The Bell Tolls. This better be a good one. Jou began his reading, and quickly got through the book.
An hour later, he was finished. It wasn't half bad. It was too bad that he hadn't started reading classics earlier. He was bored. Homework. Might as well do that. Wait; he had finished all this homework in class. Jou huffed. He needed more books then. He decided to look around the house. Surely they would have to have atleast one.
He started outside his room, and looked around every book case they owned. Nothing! They had nothing!
Well, besides his father's pornography, which Jou strangely had felt no intrest in.
He sighed and checked his watch. It was only ..wait. Was it really 10 pm? How did it get so late?
Suddenly, he had a thought. ...How long was he standing by that building earlier? He glanced down to his bracelets again. They were just bracelets, that's all. And, all he had were teenage hormonal problems. That was it. It would pass.
Of Course it would.
{End Chapter 2}
Ezra: Muahahah! Who guess it was a Rubik's cube that Yugi had? ^^;
Betty: Ô_o.. Anyway. Thanks so much for the reviews! *dances* We weren't expecting so many!! *grins*
Ezra: And to answer some of your questions:
Vera: XD You'll have to wait and see. ^^;
Daisy: I've read that story so many times! XD Love it to death. Speaking of that story..
Ozark: XD You're so nice! XD So many praises!
Blue Lagoon Loon: Yes, yes it is. ^^
Ezra: Alright everyone! Thank you so much for your support! ^^ So many of my favorite authors reviewed. O_O It's great! I feel special. XD
Betty: Review again! ^____^