Title: Silver and Cold

Chapter: 14/?

Chapter Title: Supposedly Unfounded Worries

Current Rating: PG-13

Author: Kage Kashu

Archive: FF, AFF, Mediaminer

Chapter Summary: Uhm... Jouno plots to keep his dad from doing career day, and in the meantime Shizuka pays a visit. And Sano gets caught up in... weirdness, but catches up with an old friend.

Disclaimer: No no no. Not mine. Not that I'd mind. Having them, that is.

Author's notes: The guess has been made!!! I don't mind if you guys keep guessing... 'cause it wasn't posted as a review... but the prize has been taken!! Yamai Daiken! She IMed her guess to me. (I think she emailed it too...)

Current guesses that have been made, and were unfortunately wrong: Subaru (Tokyo Babylon/X1999). Kenshin's sensei (Rurouni Kenshin). Chichiri (Fushigi Yuugi). Seishirou (Tokyo Babylon/X1999). Hikitsu (Unknown.). Trowa (Gundam Wing).

Warnings: For this chapter? Weirdness. More weirdness and a smidgeon of violence.

Crossover Shows: YuGiOh, Fushigi Yuugi, and... *unknown*!

Timeline: AUish, after Noa Arc. Some years later.

~*~*~*~*~*~

~ Discomfort

Endlessly has pulled itself upon me

Distracting, reacting

Against my will

I stand beside my own reflection

It's haunting how I can't seem...

To find myself again

My walls are closing in

Without a sense of confidence

I'm convinced that there's just too much pressure to take

I've felt this way before

So insecure ~

~~ Crawling

It wasn't all that much of a surprise. Kaiba Seto had seen it happen quite a few times during his years in school. What surprised him was Jounouchi's reaction. "Are you ashamed of your father, or something?"

Jouno shook his head, pouting. "He _can't_ get a hold of that... They did say they sent the papers home, right? I've managed to keep him out of it every year, and he didn't even know..."

Kaiba snorted. "It's tomorrow."

"That doesn't give me much time then, huh?" Jouno asked, completely ignoring the original question.

Kaiba scowled at the blonde. "What is it that you find so horrible about your father coming to school for career day?"

The blonde being questioned snorted. "You wouldn't have to worry about that, as you can give your own presentation... Heh, yer probably expected to. But... My dad... He's... Damn. I really don't know how to put it, but... He might give the other kids ideas, as it were."

"Ideas?"

Jounouchi scratched at his back. "Yeah... He's not exactly... careful. His job..."

"What is his job, anyway?"

He blinked. "Uhm... Actually, he's a policeman. A really good policeman, who's got everyone at his department afraid of him... Although, Uncle Chiriko says it's the fangs."

Kaiba blinked as well. Fangs? He didn't remember any fangs on the redheaded man. Although, the guy was rather interesting looking, especially for modern society. Androgynous wasn't quite the word, for Jounouchi Tasuki had been masculine in appearance, but Kaiba had never seen another male wear dangly earrings. "Fangs?"

Jouno scratched the back of his head. "Erh... He gets mad if you call them that. Says that he _doesn't_ have fangs. But, they may as well be. He has very prominent canines." He laughed. "And, as far as I know, he's completely human, if you ignore the pyro thing." He shook his head. "But that's not the point (1)." An odd look crossed his face and he snickered.

"Ch'. Just when I'm beginning to think that you may be an intelligent individual..."

"Sorry, it's just... Yeah. Not the point. Point being, how am I going to prevent him from going? I'm fairly sure that he's been checking his own mail these past few weeks, so he probably already has the paper..." He gave a frustrated sigh.

"And what exactly is the problem with this?" Kaiba raised an eyebrow at the other, who for some reason seemed upset about his father visiting the school.

"You know the last parent/teacher conferences? He was the one who showed up drunk. I doubt he would do that early in the day, though... No, instead, he's going to traumatize me, and Honda's going to make jokes about how flaming..." Jouno snorted again. "But yeah. And that's not the worst of it. Considering that he gets into really nasty messes... I'm most worried that he'd give a graphic description of some of the jobs that he's been on... things that I myself had never wanted to hear about in such detail." He started tapping his foot on the table. "Although, I think he was just complaining about that to Uncle Kouji, and hadn't really meant for me to hear it..."

"Messy, huh?"

"Things that would make... Honda ill. Make Yami Bakura ill. Although, I'm not sure if the latter is even possible..." He nearly leapt out of his skin when another voice sounded out behind him.

"Not sure what's possible?" Otogi.

"Oh, hey Otogi. Wassup?" Jouno asked, noting, from the corner of his eye, Kaiba edging away. Ah, so everyone else was showing up too.

"Not much. Who do you doubt has the ability to get ill?" Otogi repeated, almost cheerfully. His eyes narrowed at Kaiba, who was still edging away from the table. "What's with him?"

"Ne, Kaiba, glad it's overcast, ne ne?" Jouno joked, as Kaiba found himself a seat under a nearby tree. "Actually, I was saying that of Yami Bakura, who I think would love the distinction." He grinned.

"Of lacking the ability to be ill just because...?"

"Graphic descriptions of decapitations and the like. And I had to hear all about this stuff for years." Jounouchi shook his head. "Dad doesn't really recognize that some people don't have cast iron stomachs, like he seems to." He sighed.

And Honda popped in with an amused, "Your dad?"

Jouno rubbed the back of his head. "Oh, yeah, he scared the shit outta ya, that one time, didn't he?"

Honda snorted. "I didn't even really see him... All _I_ saw, was that bottle, and it was coming right at me..."

Jounouchi groaned. "Yeah, and yer gonna get a chance to see him tomorrow, if I don't do something to distract him..." He hit his head on the table, several inches from where his foot rested. He didn't notice the wide eyed looks the others were giving him for the unnatural position he was sitting in.

Otogi's voice sounded a little husky when he next spoke, "Ah, now I see why the illustrious Kaiba Seto likes you so much..."

"What?" He craned his neck to the side, the position looking even more unnatural, to look at the Dice Master. "What're you talking about?" He blinked at the looks on the faces of his friends. Even Yuugi was looking at him all weird. "What? What?!"

Honda swallowed audibly, looking away. "You... might wanna move. Yer gonna get a crick in your neck if you keep..."

He was interrupted by Otogi, "No, no. That looks _interesting_."

Jounouchi blinked at them, then pondered what exactly about his position was so interesting. It hadn't seemed that interesting when he had gotten into it, but... now that he thought about it... Otogi was probably meaning his flexibility. Which hadn't actually been so noticeable, before... Maybe it had something to do with becoming a werewolf?

He snorted at them, loudly. "It's not something vulgar, Otogi. Dun know where you got that idea..." With a natural ease, he slipped back into his original position. "Hey, guys, quit looking at me like that..."

They all flushed guiltily, looking away. If they looked at him like that the rest of the day... this was going to get really old, really fast.

~*~

In this case... It wasn't really a surprise. At least, not to Shizuka, who had always known her father to be a bit of a mess maker. Although, her brother Katsuya had usually kept it from getting this bad. She snorted as she tripped over a pile of books that she hadn't noticed.

It's not that the place wasn't clean, it was just... Well, it looked like her dad had been on a rip, not once, but at least five times, recently, and hadn't bothered to pick up the books afterward. If it were actually dirty as well, she would have been disgusted. As it was... If she tripped over one more pile of books on her way to the living room, she would be.

"Dad? Are you here?"

A muffled grunt from the couch let her know exactly where her father was.

"Touchan!!" she cried, diving for the sofa. She reeled back when he sat up though, and laughed at him. "What happened?"

He frowned at her, and then grinned, "Shizu-chan!" He hopped from the couch, in a rather undignified manner, and rushed to hug her. "What are you doing here, Koneko-chan?"

She grinned. "Okaasan had some stuff she had to do... So I get to stay with you for a while!"

He scratched his head. "Uhm... The house is..."

They both winced at the pained holler from the kitchen. "Kouji-niichan?" she asked, a little surprised when the darkhaired man stumbled out of the kitchen. He looked as if he had caught himself on fire. "Oh, Kouji-nii, what did you do to yourself?"

He coughed slightly, eyes watering for a moment. "Shu-chan?" Then he grinned, and tried to wipe the soot from his face.

She glanced to her father. "I need to use the restroom for a minute. I'll be back in a couple."

~*~

A few minutes later, she was washing her hands. She stared in the mirror for a moment. There seemed to be something... A snake? In the mirror? It was... She shrieked in horror when the creature came through the mirror at her. "Touchan!!!"

She fell to her knees as it writhed closer. It wasn't just any type of snake, either. It was a cobra. She whined as it came down from the sink to circle her. It let out a soft hiss, and as clear as day, she heard the words.

"Do not be afraid. It is a gift. You have taken up the spirit..." (2)

Next thing she knew, her shoulders were being shaken by her father, who looked slightly panicked. "Are you okay, Shu-chan?"

She breathed heavily for a moment, nodding. "I..." She glanced back up at the mirror. "I thought I saw something..."

~*~

Saitou Hajime didn't really like going about during the day time, but he didn't really have much control over his job specifics. Of course, if he wanted to bother, he could get it changed, but he kinda liked the beat he was given... If only it was at night.

Not that he really could complain. If he had a night beat, he wouldn't have seen Sanosuke sneaking out of his shop in the bright noon sun. What was the local pack leader doing now? So, it wasn't as if today had to be boring. Nothing happened in this neighborhood anyway, so, when something was out of the norm, he was even more apt to... well, follow up, as it were.

That's right. He had decided to follow the brunette. Not that he wouldn't have, otherwise, but now, there was an actual pull to do so. So it was that he found himself stalking Sanosuke from the shadows in the downtown warehouse district. Sanosuke was actually _sneaking_, which belied any thought Saitou had of this being an innocent endeavor.

The younger man hopped slightly a short distance ahead of him, and sidled along the wall. What the hell _was_ Sanosuke up to?

Normally, Saitou wouldn't have thought it, but with the way Sano was moving currently... He would have made a better cat than a wolf. Maybe. Or even better, if those stupid people working with genetics ever managed it, a cat/wolf creature. Because the were seemed to be caught between the two. But then again, werewolves weren't true wolves to begin with, so it didn't really matter.

He watched from a safe distance (He didn't exactly want Sanosuke to be angry with him, especially after the other night...) as Sanosuke sidled further, up to a door. There was a pensive look on the brunette's face. Like he was worried about something. As Saitou had half expected, Sanosuke slipped through the door with no further ado. Not sure why exactly he was worried, he followed.

His eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness within, and his eyes widened at the sight. There were ten weres that he could see. And from the look on Sanosuke's face, he could tell that they were there, but his eyes hadn't yet adjusted. He cursed silently as one of them lunged at the currently blind werewolf. His own lung was much faster, and took Sanosuke out of harm's way. The were that lunged had had a sword.

Sanosuke grunted as he hit the floor underneath Saitou. "What the fuck!?!"

Saitou hissed into his ear, "I think you should be glad I followed you." He spun around, shifting slightly to the side as that same were came at him again. So slow. There was a time when he wouldn't have thought that these creatures weren't fast... but that time was so long ago that it was barely a spec in his memory.

He lashed out with a stiffened hand, and was satisfied that the wannabe swordsman fell, his neck cracking under the heel of Saitou's hand. His eyes dropped to Sanosuke, who was scrambling to his feet, eyes having obviously adjusted to the darkness of the warehouse. Once Sanosuke joined the fight...

Well, the other nine were nothing. Saitou had the feeling that if someone with Sanosuke's strength, and his own speed, ever came along, and they had to fight... Well, that was just a nasty prospect. He was just glad that the Battousai had never become a were, or a vampire. For a human, his strength and speed had already been unnatural.

Silence reigned for a few minutes. Finally, Sanosuke shifted uncomfortably and grumbled. "So... What happens to the bodies?"

An annoyed grunt sounded out, and they looked at each other, surprised. "..."

"Uhm..." Sanosuke glanced around, unsure of where the sound had come from. He sniffed a few times and got a shocked look on his face. Saitou was surprised when the look turned happy. Really happy. "Rokanu!! (3)"

Rokanu? Who was that? Saitou frowned thoughtfully, following Sanosuke to the source of the annoyed sounds. As he stared at the man who was _chained_ up, against the wall, it finally came to him. Rokanu was the man who had helped Sanosuke get back from China. (4) Sanosuke had talked about him a lot, complaining a bit about the man just running off to America.

The man ceased his struggle against the chains, very heavy chains too, by the look of it, to glance up at the cheerful voice. "Sanosuke?" The voice was harsh and gravelly, almost to the point of being a deep growl. The man looked almost as harsh as his voice sounded. Not as harsh as Saitou himself looked, but... He also had a distinctly Western flavor to his appearance.

"Wow, man, it's been ages! You don't look a year older!" Sanosuke laughed.

"That's an exaggeration," the man grumbled. "Could you please...?"

Another laugh. "Of course. What're you doing here, Rokanu? Last I heard, you were going to... what was it... Canada?" Sanosuke acquiesced to the request with an easy grin.

The man, once free, gave a disdainful sniff, and kicked at the chains. Then he glanced over at Sanosuke, apparently not even noticing Saitou standing less than a yard away. "How did you know I was here? Did Kamiya- san call you?"

Sanosuke tipped his head to the side. "Should she have?" He sounded amused. "I felt something familiar... And trouble, you know... So I went to check it out." He snorted, turning to eye the shadows. "I guess it's a good thing that I was followed... Dunno why, but I kinda expected him to stick around..."

With a start, Saitou realized that Sanosuke thought he had left. In response to that thought, and Sanosuke's revealing that to him, he chuckled. Loudly. And was gratified when both of them nearly leapt out of their skins.

"Mother fucking...!!" Sanosuke cursed. "Bakayarou!! Korogi, sudare-faced cockroach!!"

Rokanu's words were similar, though less personal, and in English.

"What the fuck you think yer doing, Saitou! Scare the living shit outta me, will ya!"

Saitou managed to cut off the chuckle at about that time, although, he lent an amused ear to whatever else they may say. They sounded rather interesting, cursing together like that. Rokanu's curses slowed, and he finally spoke a coherent sentence. Okay, word. "Saitou?"

"Eh?" Sano paused. "What?"

Saitou was curious as well, as it was obvious that the man knew his name. So, Sanosuke mentioned him. Interesting. Even more interesting when Rokanu spoke again. "You said 'Saitou' was dead."

"Huh?" Sanosuke blinked. "Oh! I found out that the bastard had come back from the dead well after you left. So! Introduction time! Although, I think it can wait until we're outside. I really don't want to deal with any other psychotic cops showing up at the wrong moment..." He squinted really hard. "And you did as bad as I did. So nyah." He stuck his tongue out.

Saitou chuckled again. "It'll be taken care of."

Rokanu raised an eyebrow. "How's that?"

Saitou let out another amused huff, before putting a cigarette to his mouth. "Now, if you'll excuse me," he chuckled, "I've got work to do..."

~*~*~*~*~*~

(1) The point. Fangs. Ha ha ha. Yeah. I had to make this joke. ^^

(2) The spirit. Will be explained later on. But the whole reason I even thought of this, was because I had this happen to me in a dream a couple of nights ago...

(3) Rokanu. A mangled version of the name of a man from an American show/comic. I would almost say another guessing contest, but it'll be fairly obvious too soon.

(4) Non-cannon. I mixed up alotta things with this... so... yeah.

~*~

Reviews:

Molly-chan the Anime/Game fan: I don't mind the occasional plain review. ^^ I just like it when people like me enough to say so. ^^ This is being, of course, the next chappy... (Are you chappy happy?)

Danyella Skyler Silverfire: ^^ Ah, yes... Tasuki-kun, floating around the Domino High School... ^^

FREAK014: Ah, yess... the ass. Guy. It was a picture of Sano's ass, so... And his getting angry... Read "Not Meant For Me". It's a prequel to this, and explains the dilly of how Sano became a werewolf in the first place... ^^ I'm not sure if the kids'll be traumatized, but... I don't know, he may manage to traumatize his own son, though... (What would you do if a bunch of your friends started going off about how "hot" your dad is? lol)

anaraz: Sorry about the wait...