{Quarter to Three}

{Chapter 5: Scratch That...}

Jou woke up early the next morning and looked around his room. No fire today. He sat up and ran a hand through his hair. He glanced tiredly at his wrist.

They were still gone.

Good. That's the way he wanted it. It seemed as though they were causing all the trouble he had been having. It seemed outrageous, but he realized that since he had gotten them, things had been changing. It couldn't be a Sennen Item. There were only seven of those. He didn't black out like Yugi used to do. At least… he didn't think he did.

His mouth twisted. So, what was with these stupid things? No need to think about it now. He stood up, and walked to the bathroom for his morning shower.

-_-_-

When Jou and Yugi reached school, the bell had already rung, making the two boys have to rush to class. They entered quietly, going unnoticed by the teacher.

Jou slid silently into his chair, and got his binder out. The teacher turned around from the blackboard and began her lesson.

Her voice seemed to drag on. Jou already couldn't wait for his first break.

-_-_-

His classes seemed to drag, but lunch finally came around. He was slow to the library. Hopefully, the hallucination he had hadn't made him kiss Kaiba yesterday. He blushed at the memory.

He opened the doors, and walked to the book drop first. Okay. Done. Now, the hard part.

He took a deep breath, and walked as slow as possible to the classics. He could peek around... If he was there, he'd go... eventually. He nodded to himself. Okay.

He reached the classics, and slowly peeked around the corner. …Almost..

Almost...

He looked at the table where Kaiba sat yesterday finally. ...Empty!?

Jou sighed and stood straight, crossing his arms. Maybe he really did kiss--

"Looking for me, Jou?"

"Ack!" He turned to find Kaiba standing behind him. He pursed his mouth in annoyance.

Kaiba smirked.

Jou walked away from him, and stalked to a table. He glanced over to Seto, who looked slightly shocked, but followed his steps the table. He brought the chess box out, and placed it on the table. Kaiba took a seat across from Jou.

Jou opened the top of the box, and pulled the board out. Seto dumped out the pieces. Jou grabbed for the white once more, and began slowly putting his pieces to the boxes.

He couldn't believe this. He put a pawn on an empty spot. He was going to play chess again with Kaiba. And he didn't mind. He set up a few more pieces. He smiled slightly; perhaps Seto had gotten bracelets too?

Their board was finally set up. Jou stared down at it, and then back up and Kaiba. He suddenly remembered Yugi had been talking to Kaiba last night.

"You didn't," he paused, "You didn't tell.. Yugi.. um," he tried grasping for words.

"About your bracelets? No. About your psychotic episode? No again." Kaiba's mouth twisted in annoyance.

Relieved, Jou looked back down to the board, and nodded. Now it was time to start strategizing.

He wasn't going to lose this time.

He moved a knight, and waited.

Kaiba sighed to himself, and moved a pawn. Maybe Jou really did know what he was doing.

Jou reached for a pawn but paused. Someone was standing next to him. He turned his head to get a better look. His eyes widened, it was the kid from yesterday. ...With a knife pointed directly at him.

Jou stood quickly with a yelp, and backed away. He didn't notice the sand that was around him.

A hand on his arm suddenly brought him back to the library. Seto pulled lightly on his arm.

"...Hey, mutt, what's wrong with you?"

Yu looked slightly offended, "You know, I just came to see if Kaiba and I were going to play chess today. You didn't need to freak out." He walked off.

Jou glanced quickly around the room. Yes, he was back in the library. Safe; away from the psycho with a knife.

He looked back to Seto, who still had a firm grip on his arm. He looked normal too. He nodded to him.

"Nothing.… I'm fine." He placed a hand over Kaiba's, and pushed it off his arm slowly. He walked back over to the chair.

He sat down, and found an easy win strategy. He suddenly wasn't in the mood to play anymore.

But that didn't mean he wasn't going to win.

Jou moved a pawn.

Kaiba moved one of his as well.

Jou moved his bishop halfway across the board.

Kaiba moved another pawn. He was obviously not paying attention anymore. Jou moved his queen.

"Checkmate, Kaiba."

Kaiba stared down the board in shock.

"That can't be right."

Jou sighed, "I'm gonna go now." He reached for his backpack and headed out the library. Kaiba watched in shock as he went. He piled the pieces quickly back into the box, shoved it in his briefcase, and left the library as well.

-_-_-

Jou walked quickly away from the library. This was all getting way to confusing. He made his way to the bathroom.

He opened the door, and peeked inside. Good, no on was there. Jou walked all the way in and threw his backpack near the wall. He scooted to the sink and turned on the faucet. Some cold water might do him some good. He cupped his hands under the running water and brought it back to his mouth taking a drink.

He sighed, and rubbed his hands on his face. Why was it so warm in here? He put his hands back under the water and splashed some back up on his face.

It seemed to be getting hotter. He cupped more water and splashed it on his face, and behind his neck. It seemed to work for a moment, but the incessant heat just kept coming back. He sighed, and finally reached down to take off his shirt. He threw it down by his backpack, and cupped more water.

This was getting irritating. He splashed the water on his back, and then he noticed his wrists.

There were his bracelets. ...Wait.. Arm bands would be a better name for them now. He stared shocked at them.

...

...

What the fuck was going on here?!

The bathroom door opened, but it went unnoticed by Jou. He just continued to stare.

Kaiba walked completely into the bathroom and found a shirtless Jou staring at his arms. He walked closer. Jou hadn't seemed to notice him yet. He reached a hand slowly to Jou's shoulder...

Jou flicked his eyes to greet Kaiba's. He took a few steps backwards, and Jou's eyes went back to his arms. How had they become that big? Oh god.. they were beginning to burn!

He moved away from Kaiba and into the wall, trying to get his fingers under the cuffs. It was really starting to burn!

Jou yelped, and slid down the wall. They weren't coming off!

"Get them off!"

Kaiba just stood watching shocked.

He looked up to him, "Help me!" Kaiba came forward, and got down to his knees. He took hold of Jou's left arm, and began pulling at the band. It wasn't budging. Then he noticed; Jou was burning up!

Kaiba placed a hand against the upper half of Jou's arm, and waited. Jou felt as if he were on fire.

"Please.. Please help me get them off." Jou whined. He was getting tired, and really hot.

Kaiba wasn't sure what to say. Jou sighed and suddenly stopped moving. Kaiba stared at him.

"...Jou?"

Suddenly Jou fell to the ground. Kaiba reached to grab him, shake him, anything! And suddenly...

He was gone.

Kaiba stared at the empty wall. No, Jou wasn't dead. He just wasn't there anymore.

-_-_-

Jou woke up groggily, and noticed he was on the ground. He sat up slowly, and looked around.

...

Now he was really confused. He wasn't at school anymore. He stood up and walked over to the closest window.

...Pyramids.

Nope. He was fairly sure he wasn't dreaming. He pinched his arm. Yup, it hurt. Okay, so he wasn't dreaming. Now there were only two real things that could be going on here. He was either A)Hallucinating; B)Hallucinating more or C) .really in Egypt.

He peeked out the window again.

Scratch that. Ancient Egypt. The sphinx still had a nose... There were workers on the pyramids.

There were footsteps coming from down the hall, and Jou froze. He looked around, but found no decent hiding places. Suddenly the footsteps stopped and he turned around.

There stood a girl with long hair, and some thingy on her forehead, and a necklace that matched. Jou blinked.

"...Isis?"

She smiled sadly, "Hello Jounouchi."

Jou blinked. Wasn't she that freaky girl who could see things? Like.. the future and stuff?

"...Am I... hallucinating again?"

She said nothing for a moment, and then looked up to him, "No, Jounouchi. But if you do not come with me right now, you are going to die."

{End Chapter 5}

Ezra: MUAHAHAHA!! *hack wheeze choke* Ahem.. I know this is a short one, but it leads up to the next chapter. *nod*

Betty: Um, I'd just like to point out that we um... Have 70 reviews.

Ezra: Yeah.. Wow. *blinks* Thank you so much guys. X3 We never expected so much... *blinks again* And to Jantra: My goodness, girl. Everyone of them matters! =D Each one touches me, especially yours. ^_^ It made me feel so special. =D I want to personally thank all of you to taking your time and reading my story and reviewing. It means a lot.

Betty: You bet it does. =D So, make us feel even more special, and review again! ^_~ *hands OJ and YGO cake out to everyone*