Hello, hello.
Title: Once Upon a Time
Pairing: Joey Wheeler/Seto Kaiba. Minor: Malik/Ryou, Otogi/Serenity
Rating: R, eventually
Summary: Joey is a punk with sticky fingers and a horrible report card. Seto Kaiba is the smartest kid in school, and the biggest prep. Once Joey is arrested one time too many, Kaiba is assigned to be his tutor. If Joey can't get his grades up, it's off the state juvenile penitentiary.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Seriously.
Author's Notes: I'm not sure how long this story is going to be, but I'm trying to make it as realistic as possible, which means it can take a pretty long damn time, okay? In this chapter, I'm going to try for Kaiba and Joey to actually meet one another. [Oh, and before, I had forgotten about Mai. She will be a punk in this story, and a close friend of Joey's. I doubt she'll have any steady relationships, so don't count on that. This will not evolve into a yuri, that I know of, though Mai will be bisexual. Almost every punk rock girl I know will go both ways, my friends.]
::By now
I should have been somewhere
Or gone to school, or fixed my hair
Back down
Tell it to someone else
Who gives a shit and needs your help
Cause I found
What I needed
And I don't need you to tell me how you feel
And if I fall
You are not the one that has to cope and deal
All my problems are for me
My god
Look at his tattoos and those earrings
He could never get
A good job
Go home and beat your kids
So they don't turn out as bad as me
Cause I found
What I needed
And I don't need you to tell me how you feel
And if I fall
You are not the one that has to cope and deal
All my problems are for me
I don't need your eyes to see
I will be what I will be
Stop coming around cause you bother me
Stupid motherfucker pull your head out your ass and see
What don't you get, was I stuttering
I don't need to take your shit get away from me.::
--All My Problems, Smile Empty Soul
Chapter 2:
***All of My Problems***
When Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler had divorced, their children had no choice who they were to go with. Were it up to them, Joey and Serenity would have found a rather large box and made a home of it together. Mrs. Wheeler hadn't offered so much as a goodbye as she drug Joey's little sister out of the apartment, and out of his life.
For five years they hadn't seen each other, staying in contact with secret letters and phone calls. Then Serenity turned fourteen, and joined her sophomore brother at high school. At first, Joey hadn't even recognized his precious baby sister.
They finally met one day when Malik called Joey by his last name in the hallway, trying to catch up to his friend. Joey had turned at the exact same moment the lovely brunette at locker 216 had, and the two made eye contact.
"Big brother?" Joey had recognized her immediately after she had spoken. Though she had grown a few feet—and a few other places—her voice was still melodic and sugary sweet.
A lot of boys thought so too. And Joey may not have been there as a real brother growing up, but he was damn well protective anyway. Anytime Serenity had mentioned having a crush in one of her letters, or nice boy's from school, Joey would demand their addresses.
The crush on Kaiba had been a first week sort of thing, wherein Serenity saw the stoic boy strutting down the hall. Through a rather complex grapevine, Joey got news of his sister's crush on the icy junior. Joey had not been pleased.
Appearance wise, he could see why Serenity had liked Kaiba. Hell, even Joey had to admit Kaiba was hot. Which had nothing to do with why he hated Serenity having a crush on him; Seto Kaiba could afford anything in the world, but he did not deserve someone like Serenity Wheeler.
Plus, Joey thought, Serenity Kaiba was a really sucky name.
Serenity was the only prep Joey could honestly claim to like. Their mother was the one who actually made money, and gladly spent it all on her precious daughter. Joey didn't really care though, as long as he got to see his little sister. It didn't matter what kind of clothes she wore, what kind of music she listened to, and who her friends were; Serenity Wheeler would always be the apple of Joey's eye.
Everyone loved Serenity, though. The younger Wheeler sibling had an extreme sense of compassion, and her pretty face helped her along nicely. Also, there was nothing superficial about her; Joey couldn't say the same for her best friend Tea. That was a completely different story though.
As for Joey and Serenity, their large, brown, puppy-like eyes were the only things the two had in common. Most people didn't even put two and two together, the whole same last name thing, when they saw Joey in the school halls. With his ruffled blond hair and famous scowl, even Joey wouldn't think he was the older brother of the sweet sophomore Serenity. Plus, Malik told him Serenity had better fashion sense than Joey.
Deep down, Joey knew that was true. As he leant against the lockers near the lunchroom, Joey tossed his head so his hair covered his eyes. Sometimes, he really hated himself when he thought of Serenity, and couldn't help but wonder if she would be such a good person if she and Joey had grown up together.
And that was so not a tear in his eye, damn it.
"Joey!"
The blonde's head snapped up at the sound of his best friends voice. With his usual flair, Malik sauntered down the hall, hips swaying gently. Joey was amused to see some girls who hung out in the hallway staring at his friends' ass.
"Hurry it up," he called, "I'm starvin'!"
Malik's snorted. "Joey, you'd be starving after a four-course meal."
"Where would I get a four-course meal, wiseass?"
"Maybe Santa will bring you one for Christmas." His lilac eyes glittered in amusement.
"Hey, that would make a cool song." Joey cocked his head to the side. "Santa Clause and four-course meals."
As Joey pushed himself off of the lockers, Malik smirked at him. "Leave the songwriting to those of us who can actually spell, Joey."
"Why you—!" Malik giggled and leapt out of harms way.
Together, they walked into the cafeteria.
Lunch was set up to accommodate the vastly overpopulated school. First lunch—which came directly after second class—was for juniors and sophomores. Second lunch was freshman, third was for seniors. What with Joey's large appetite, he was glad to be a junior. Especially after only two bowls of cereal for breakfast.
Malik threw his arm around Joey's shoulder. "So what did small, pale, and ugly want?" Malik was known for his...dislike for the principal. Most of his school time was spent making jokes about the short principal...and helping the janitorial staff. Malik was also known for his obsession with cleaning.
Joey gave Malik a look. "Isis gave Mr. M. a call, and instead of being arrested, I just have to bring my grades up."
"Doesn't sound so bad." Malik studied his best friend face closely. He chose to ignore the mention of his sister.
Joey kept giving the look. The 'this-should-be-obvious' look.
Malik took the hint. "So...why do you look so pissed?"
There was a short, dramatic pause.
"Seto Kaiba is going to be my tutor," Joey finally growled, unconsciously making himself look more like a puppy.
"...The Seto Kaiba?"
"Are there any other Seto Kaiba's running around school?"
Malik chuckled. "You never know with him."
"Yeah, well, I guess I'm going to find out." The lunch line had died down, as it usually did near the end of lunch. There were still twenty minutes, as far as Joey knew.
He reached into his pocket, snarling when it came out empty. His pockets were the only place he kept spare change and lunch money—he must have forgotten to ask his dad for a few dollars.
And those gooey pizzas's looked so appetizing.
Beside him, Malik's hand came out empty as well. "That really sucks about Kaiba. I'll talk to Isis if you want..." His voice was sympathetic, but his lilac eyes were glittering in amusement.
Joey flicked him in the head, smirking when the smaller blond yelped.
Malik's eyes narrowed at him, before he took to pouting. In the most mature fashion he could accomplish, Joey stuck his tongue out at his best friend. "You're 'little talks' with Isis are what got me into this mess!"
"Are not!"
"Are too!" Malik yanked on one of Joey's earrings. He didn't let go, even as Joey began whimpering.
"Say uncle," Malik purred, tugging gently. It only made him chuckle when Joey growled. Sometimes, Joey acted exactly like a dog.
"Uncle, uncle!"
Malik grinned smugly. After a second of staring hard at something, he cried, "Hey, there's Serenity!"
Joey looked up and smiled at the sight of his sister laughing with her friends across the lunchroom.
Not wanting to embarrass her, Joey refrained from yelling out her name. Instead, he embarrassed Malik instead, by dragging him across the lunchroom.
Serenity, who was taking a bite from her sandwich, looked up saw Joey and waved at him.
Beside Serenity sat Tea, head cheerleader and resident crush of the young man next to her, Yugi Mouto. The small sophomore's relation to the principal was easy to spot—they were the same height and had the same owlish eyes. Even their hair was shaped similarly, which was really freaky, in Joey's opinion.
Once she had swallowed properly, Serenity offered a sweet smile to Joey.
Just as he was going to greet his sister with a hug, he saw him. Icy blue eyes were focused on him, and only him. To tell the truth, it was fucking creepy.
Doing his best to ignore Kaiba, Joey enveloped Serenity in a bear hug. His sister returned the embrace, giggling as she did so. Then she reached into her lunchbox and pulled out a second sandwich, cut in two triangles down the middle.
Joey accepted it with a loud "thanks, sis," and inspected it. Peanut butter and jelly. His favorite. Well, one side was peanut butter and jelly; the other side was plain jelly. He handed over the jelly half to Malik, who flashed a peace sign to Serenity.
When the sandwich was gone into the depths of his digestive system, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the sloppily wrapped gift he had taken from his locker. He would have kept it in his book bag, if he weren't afraid it would break.
Serenity opened it carefully, gasping at the gift inside. It was a perfectly sculpted kitten, only as tall as Serenity's pinky, its translucent mouth stretched open in a yawn. Serenity was a cat person if one ever existed. Sometimes, in her letters, she had mentioned her cat collection, and the feline figurines important from different countries.
The only downside was the cat cost two hundred dollars. There had an assortment of crystal figurines in the jeweler's shop, which made it easy for Joey to steal. Two hundred was too much, even for him, which was why he stole the crystal penguin as well. He had hidden it in his most obvious pocket, the easiest place for Isis to find it. And as much as Joey hated tricking Isis like that, his little sister's happiness was worth more.
The look in her eyes was proof of that. That was pure adoration for a big brother. And to think most big brothers picked on their younger siblings.
"Joey, it's beautiful," she whispered.
Joey bowed his head in pleased embarrassment. He heard rather than saw Malik moving forward (his jewelry was attractive and noisy), and when the Egyptian started praising the gift, warmth spread through Joey's cheeks.
He went to reply, but someone beat him to it.
"Odd," interrupted the new voice, which was cold and silkly at the same time. Joey looked up and scowled. Seto Kaiba stood before him, smug and tall and painfully hot. It really was too bad his personality sucked ass.
"What's odd?" Joey's teeth ground together. Damn that preppy bastard! Couldn't Kaiba see he was just trying to spend some time with his sister?
Obviously not. "I saw the police apprehend a mutt that looked just like you, nefariously close to the jewelry store."
Heat flooded Joey's cheeks, in a totally different sort of embarrassment from the kind before. He didn't mind being reminded he was poor, and he didn't care that people knew he had a history of shoplifting, but he did not want his sister thinking lowly of him. Joey couldn't stand it if Serenity thought he was a bad person.
Serenity, at the moment, had her head bowed, eyes on her gift. "Please, Kaiba, don't." A pink blush bloomed on her cheeks. Joey had never seen his sister looking so uncomfortable, and Kaiba had made her that way.
"Stupid fucking son of a bitch," Joey said loudly, attracting the attention of half the cafeteria. From the corner of his eyes, Joey could see Principal Motou frowning at him.
The blond really couldn't bring himself to care, though. Even as Malik tugged on his arms, he continued half-yelling. "You can talk as much shit about me as you damn well please, but don't fucking do it in front of my baby sister!"
Seto stared back at him coolly. "Watch your language, mutt, I wouldn't want to hear Serenity talking in such a manner."
"Bastard," Joey spat. Kaiba began clapping softly, and smirked. "Very good, Wheeler, now we know you've got a vocabulary of less than twenty words. Good thing I'm going to teach you math and English, isn't it?" Just as Joey though it was over, Kaiba finished with, "Oh, and I got your message. I'll call you tonight."
'He's the reason I hate preps,' Joey thought angrily. And just how the hell did Seto know about the jeweler's? No cars had been around until Isis showed up. That was really fucking creepy.
With a sardonic grin, Joey placed his hands over Serenity's ears and began speaking louder. "Yeah, see you after school, sweetheart. I'll be in the library waiting in our usual spot. Don't forget the condoms this time!"
A twitch in Kaiba's forehead was the only outward sign there was any emotional turmoil on the inside. Ha fucking ha, Joey thought.
A quick kiss to Serenity's cheek was his goodbye, before Malik dragged him out of the lunchroom. He cracked a joke about loving it when Malik was the aggressor, regretting it when his short friend shoved him up against the wall outside in the hallway.
"You know who Seto Kaiba is?" Oh, Malik had his paranoid look on. "He's a millionaire, Joey! He can snap, and bodyguards will jump out of the helicopter he keeps hidden behind the equipment shed."
"I know you don't believe those rumors!"
Defensively, Malik cried, "of course not!" A pause, then, "And besides, you're the one who told me the rumors."
"...Did not."
The bell rang, and Malik took Joey's distraction to his advantage. "So where did you hear those rumors, anyway?"
With a shrug, the taller boy answered, "Eh, around I guess...what the—you tricked me!" He turned to flick Malik again, but the other boy was already running down the hall, his laughter lingering in the hallway.
Joey sighed and looked at his watch. Two hours until Kaiba Time. "Damn."
**********************
Okay, here is chapter two. Chapter three, Malik and Ryou meet (YAY!), and Joey and Kaiba have their first lesson, which does not go well. At all.
At least, I think that's what happens next chapter. *shrug* I'm just making it all up as I go along. Which isn't so good at 1 in the morning. If I repeat information from previous chapters at any point in the story, I apologize.
So, reviews, yes? I was so surprised to get so many. I mean, I know 6 isn't a lot or anything, but it still made me happy.
I would do shout-outs, but I'm not good with that sort of thing.
Maybe next time, though. How does one go about the shouting out?
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HARDCORE COOL THING
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…. Would you just look that review button? It's so...symmetrical. Well, now that I've got you're attention on it, click it.