AN: I'm back na no da! I'm sorry I haven't updated… had the worst case of Writer's Block ever… well, it was only a Yu-Gi-Oh one, but whatever. This is my sixth version of chapter 5. (All the other ones were different) but I didn't like any of them. On a completely random note, are any of you FAKE fans? sob it ended just last week! But vol 7 was so good! All the beautiful yaoi. Anywho, onto the thank yous! On ff.n: Shadowguardian, Escachick, DanDora, Kiwana, ori-chen, nix and Ru-chan. And on AFF YamiJou, LeafZelindor, BallroomBlitz, Sakata Ri Houjun, Katmon. And I'd like to thank Dm-san and hotaruchan27 for IMing me and saying they liked it… for some reason they couldn't review
To nix: I don't' really know if I'm that great… but whatever floats your boat.
To Sakata Ri Houjun: No, can't go wrong with any Ryuji pairings. And I'll have to remember that…
To Katmon: I know Katsuya's his name… but I've gotten so used to Jounouchi. Mostly because that's what they call him in the manga all the time. And you were right, if you dug right through the ocean you'd wind up in the Atlantic… I mainly said Canada because I'm more partial to it since I live there. ;;
Warning: shonen-ai/yaoi, cursing.
Paiirngs: Seto/Jounouchi, Ryuji/Jounouchi, mild Seto/Ryuji
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, credit for the title goes to my online onee-chan hotaruchan27.
(and a final note, since ff.n is screwy, the scene changes SHOULD be marked by a --- instead of my regular )
Chapter 4: Working for Vacation
Ryuji stared at the clock. He had been watching it ever since he had shown up 47 minutes and 54 seconds ago. 'How can 1 hour take so long to pass? And to think, I have to sit through this for the next month.' He looked back up 48 minutes 39 seconds. He drummed his fingers on his desk but when he got an annoyed look from the teacher he stopped.
He sighed and glanced to his left where Seto sat. He was sleeping… 'That's odd, I don't think I've ever seen Seto sleep in school before. I guess he must tire himself out working so much. He is rather cute though when he's sleeping… yet not nearly as adorable as my precious inu.'
Feeling eyes on him Seto opened his and gave Ryuji a bemused smirk. Sweatdropping Ryuji smiled back and then turned to stare off in the other direction.
'Yah, I almost forgot he's trying to seduce me… I wonder when this game got so screwed up. If Seto wasn't so selfish, then I could have claimed Jou for myself last weekend. Stupid git…'
'50 minutes, 14 seconds.'
---
Jou flopped on the bed. It was nearly 8:00 and he was bored out of his mind. His room was spotless and his homework was done.
'I can't stand being here. The tv's been busted since last month, and dad's not doing anything to fix it. I don't have a computer either. I don't even have a fucking library card anymore. I guess I could just sit here and stare at the ceiling…'
There was a crash from the other room. It didn't even phase Jou, he just continued to stare at the ceiling. Moments later loud cursing erupted and thunderous footsteps stormed their way to Jou's door.
"DAMMIT KID! Didn't I tell you to not leave your shit lying around?"
"Dad, anything that's mine is in my room," Jou shot back. He rolled over so that his back was facing the door and he proceeded to study the wall.
"Don't you dismiss me! Get your punk ass out here!" The elder Katsuya banged on the door a couple of times.
Jou sighed. He slowly got up from his bed and trudged to the door. Lazily he slid the door open and found himself face-to-face with his father. The elder Katsuya was red-faced and drunk as an Irishman on St. Patty's day.
"Listen dad, I didn't leave anything lying around. You must have put it there and then forgotten about it."
"It aint my shit." He shoved a parcel into Jou's chest. Now keep your stuff clean, or I'll kick you out." He stumbled off down the hall and muttered something along the lines of "rotten kid, can't do anything for himself. All he does is suck 'way my money."
Jou sighed and slipped his door shut. He trudged over to his bed and sank onto the mattress. The parcel was battered and looked like it had had coffee or some other liquid spilled on it, an indicator that it had maybe been sitting around the house for a while.
Slowly Jou opened the parcel, inside was a box, and a letter. It was from Shizuka
'Dearest Jounouchi,
I know we haven't seen each other for a while, and I miss you. Mom won't let me come visit, she says it's because of dad. Is he any better? Mom still won't tell me why she left, she just says it was dad's fault. Is he… is dad an alcoholic? I haven't seen him in years, and I don't remember him well.'
Jou sighed, she could be so naive… but that was one of the things he loved about his younger sister.
'Right, well a friend of mine took this picture of me and I really liked it so I thought I'd send it to you. I don't think I've sent you a picture in a few years. I hope that we can see each other soon.
Love, Shizuka
Ps: mom says you can visit any time, but you have to find your own way here.
Pps: There'll be a surprise for you in November.'
Jou blinked at the last post script. He shrugged though, and opened the parcel. Inside was a framed photograph of Shizuka standing in front of a Sakura tree with blossoms floating down around her. Unfortunately, the glass on the frame was shattered, most likely from Jounouchi's father dropping it.
'Shizuka, some day I'll come visit you… first I need money though. Jou sighed. That means one thing, I need a job.'
Jou was suddenly struck by the brilliance fairy [1] "I'll start looking for one tomorrow. And I can write a resume up tonight. Not like I got anything better to do."
---
He slowly moved around the towering shelves. He was a master of stealth, nobody saw him coming and he could disappear like a phantom in the night.
His victim was sitting, peering at a small screen, his nose no more than 10 centimetres from the screen. Long fingers brushed through blonde hair.
The predator smiled slyly as he came up behind his prey. He lightly touched the blonde's shoulder and exclaimed, "Good morning Jou-kun!"
Jounouchi shot out of the computer chair like a cat with his tail on fire. He spun around and glared at the other boy. "RYUJI! Why da hell did you do that? You scared the bejeezus out of me!"
Ryuji dropped into a nearby chair and began laughing. "Oh that was priceless!"
"You two!" Hissed the librarian from Hades.
Both boys blinked and became stalk still. The librarian stormed over to where Jou had been using a computer. She was glaring like she was out for blood.
"This is a library! I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you two to leave. You can't be making noise like that!"
Ryuji was the first to recover. "But Miss. Grant," He batted his eyelashes, "We'll be quiet as mice. I just accidentally scared my friend here." He twirled some of his long black hair around a finger.
The teacher seemed to be drawn in by Ryuji's charm. Her glare softened to a look of adoration and she smiled. "Of course, but please be quiet, this is a library after all." She wandered off to go yell at other unfortunate students.
"That was kind of cool… and extremely disturbing." Jou said.
Ryuji sweatdropped. "She's been semi hitting on me since I came here… at least we're not in trouble anymore."
Jou sunk back down onto the chair and looked up at Ryuji. "So is dere some reason why you snuck up on me?"
"No particular reason, I just wanted to see what you were up to. By the way, what are you doing?"
"Typing up resumes."
"You need a job?"
"No really." Jou rolled his eyes.
Ryuji was un-phased by the sarcasm. "When can you start?"
"Pretty much anytime, why you asking?"
"One of my employees is moving out of the city, I was worried I was going to have to go through the horror of job interviews again."
Jou blinked. "You mean come work for you."
Ryuji shook his head. "I'm not asking you binder to come work for me."
"Well, dat's great." Jou smiled
"I thought you might like that…" Ryuji sat on the chair next to Jou's and leaned in for a kiss…
A hand came between their lips and both pairs connected with it. In shock both boys looked up into the icy orbs of none other than Seto Kaiba.
"I don't think that's school appropriate conduct." The brunette said, scowling down at the two of them.
"Aww, is Icy a widdle tired today?"
"Icy?" Seto inquired
"You need a nickname Seto. Or would you prefer Kaiba-boy?" Ryuji's question was answered by a swift blow to the head from a history text book. Ryuji smiled "Oh look! I've been hit!" [2]
Seto merely cringed at the apparent stupidity of the other teen while Jou smiled. "No wonder you two get along so well, you're both so stupid." Seto muttered.
"I resent that." Both Ryuji and Jou said in unison then burst out laughing.
Seto backed up a couple steps. "Exactly HOW many cups of coffee did you two have this morning."
"Apparently more than you." Ryuji replied. "You're extremely snarky this morning."
"At least I'm not giggling like a school girl." Seto shot back.
Ryuji stopped laughing and pouted. "But aren't I a cute little school girl?" He twirled some of his hair around a finger and trailed his other hand down his chest seductively. Both Seto and Jounouchi were momentarily transfixed.
"Morning all." Ryou sauntered over and dropped onto a nearby chair. "Ryuji, if you keep doing that people are going to know you are a girl opposed to just thinking you are."
Ryuji looked over to the albino and shot him a foul look. "That's not funny. I'm a guy and you know it."
"You may have the genitalia of one, but you sure don't act like one." Ryou smiled. Seconds later a die collided with his forehead. "Hey, you could take someone's eye out with one of those!"
Seto just shook his head. "So, what were you two doing before I interrupted your attempted make-out session in the middle of the library?"
"Ryuji offered me a job." Jou smiled.
Seto's eyes widened. "You needed one? How long were you looking, you could have come to me you know."
"Well, I didn't know so many people were hirin', or I wouldda started lookin' earlier."
"Looks like someone's jealous." Ryou cooed.
Seto looked about ready to hit Ryou with something. "Do you have a death wish today Ryou?"
Ryou blinked. "Uh… no Seto. Well, no more than usually you know."
The taller teen shook his head and looked back at Ryuji with a scowl. "But don't you think you're being selfish? And besides, you still have detention for the rest of the month."
"Ugh… don't remind me of detention."
The bell rang and people started filing out of the library in crazed mobs.
Ryuji took Jou by the arm. "Come on, let's sign you out of the computer, then get you to class." He grinned and winked at Seto, "Meet you there"
---
Right after the bell for the final period went Ryuji was on Jounouchi. "Ok, so you ready to start work?"
Jounouchi sweatdropped. "I didn't know you were that impatient to get a new employee."
"Well… if I hang around here too long the principal might think I was just trying to get out of detention for no reason. And yes I'm impatient to get an employee as gorgeous as you."
Jounouchi blushed. "Thanks… I think? What do ye mean get out of detention?"
"I cut a deal with the principal so that I could serve my detention at lunch. I explained to him that I had to train my new employee."
"I'm guessing, that'd be me."
"Right, now let's go for the $2,000 question."
"Ha, ha, very funny." Jounouchi rolled his eyes. 'I guess Ryuji's been watching more of those American game shows. Was it just me, or did that host of that Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Show have REALLY white teeth?'
The two boys headed out of the class and headed to their respective lockers. Jounouchi took 3 minutes just to open his. 'I don't know what it is about this lock, but it really doesn't like me anymore. Maybe I've dropped it on the floor a few too many times. Or maybe the lock god hates me for some reason. I'm going with option a.' After finally getting in, he grabbed his books.
"Yeesh, you take a long time." Ryuji grinned as Jounouchi jumped nearly half a foot in the air. He winked at the blond and leaned against the locker next to Jou's.
"Sorry, damn lock doesn't like to open some days." He continued rifting through the messy locker until he found all the books he needed to bring home. He shoved everything hastily into his backpack and slammed the locker shut.
"Ready to go pup?" Ryuji grinned and slid an arm around Jou's waist. The two boys headed out of the school and began walking to the game shop. "So…" Ryuji began to try to break the silence. "What did you do at lunch without me there?"
Jou sweatdropped. "Well, I had lunch with Seto…"
Ryuji sighed. "I guess that's to be expected since I wasn't there to sweep you off your feet." Jounouchi blushed slightly. "But instead I spent my lunch hour staring at a classroom wall. I wonder why teachers have it out to get me."
"Maybe it's the hair?" Jou offered.
Ryuji stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and grabbed Jou by the arm. "You don't like my hair?"
'Oh shit… he looks fricken scary!' Jou trembled slightly. "No, I love da hair, it's just that… well…"
"Well what?" Ryuji released the blonde and put a hand on his hip.
"Well, most guys don't have hair that long… it makes ya look a bit… different. But, the strikin' green eyes and eyeliner did set you apart anyways." Ryuji's eyes became slits, almost like a cat's. "But, that's what makes you, you! You shouldn't let them teachers take away yer freedom. I think you look good with the hair and I always liked yer eyes, even if I didn't like you at first."
Ryuji seemed to calm at this and began chewing on his lower lip. "Maybe they're jealous. None of the teachers are nearly as pretty as I am."
The blonde resisted the urge to sweatdrop and call Ryuji Legolas. [3] "Yah, that's it Ryuji."
The cat smiled and took the dog by the arm and began leading him down the street again. "Would you like to know what you'll be doing?" Jounouchi nodded. "Mostly you'll be manning the front counter or putting stock in the game shop. I'm supposed to be working up front today, so it'll work out good for the training."
'Sounds simple enough. I think I can handle this… unless Ryuji and are left alone for too long. He might try to put the moves on me then. Not that that would really be a bad thing, but what if somebody walked in? Sure most girls would go giddy over the fanservice, but what about the children, elderly people and homophobes?'
"Jounouchi-kun, we're here." Ryuji pushed through the front doors of his game shop. The front was bustling with people buying Dungeon Dice Monsters merchandise and trying to reserve a time to have a match in one of the many arenas.
"You can't work in your uniform, it'd just look odd." Ryuji took Jou by the arm. "You can borrow something for today. My room is upstairs off of my office, I'll show you there then you can come down once you've changed."
Jounouchi nodded and let himself be led by the raven haired teen. They entered a cluttered office, which was strewn with papers and electronic parts. There was a door to one side, Ryuji headed to it and unlocked it with his key.
"Sorry about the mess, things have been a bit chaotic around here lately."
Jou nodded and took in the sites around him. Clothes littered the floor, the bed was messy and the desk in the one corner could not even be seen through a mound of papers.
"Mr. Otogi!" A woman yelled from the other room. "There is an important phone call you must respond to immediately!"
He sighed and looked to the blonde. "I'm being summoned. Wear whatever looks clean." And with that he sauntered out of the room warily to attend to business.
'I wonder how someone can live with this much mess. It looks like it hasn't been cleaned in years, other than there isn't dust covering everything.'
He sighed and started rifting through the closet. Sure he and Ryuji were about the same height, but Ryuji was a lot slimmer. "Jeeze Ryuji… how can you be so frickin skinny?" He held up a pair of pants to his waist. They were long enough, but the waistband seemed to be a good 5 centimetres too small. Putting the pants back he continued on his search. After moving aside several pairs of leather pants, something fell to the ground. Jounouchi bent to pick it up and froze once he realized what he was holding. "A… he uh… Ryuji…" The blonde's mouth made a little o and he stood frozen, unable to process a coherent thought.
"Sorry about that Jou-kun, have you found…" Ryuji froze as he saw Jounouchi and what the blonde was wearing.
Jou snapped out of his trance and turned to Ryuji. He held up the black mini skirt and gave the other teen a questioning look.
"I…" Ryuji was at a loss for words. He began to absently twirl some hair around his finger. "Well… you see-"
"Mr. Otogi! We're having troubles in arena 1 again; you must get down there as soon as possible." The same woman as before yelled.
Without a second thought Ryuji bounded out of the room.
'I thought he was feminine… but a cross dresser?'
---
AN: yays, done for now. I just felt I had to leave it there. That little thing about the skirt sparked from a conversation I had with Yami-no-Yugi last night. We were discussing the Seto/Ryuji pairing and she was asking me why I liked it so much. I made a comment that Seto doesn't seem like the type to date girls, so Ryuji would be the closest he'd ever get to dating a girl. Then I naturally thought of how Ryuji would really look like a girl if you put him in a skirt and padded bra… Ooo, and to prove my dorkishness, I now own a pair of dice earrings that look rather like Ryuji's earring. I practically died when I saw them in Claires yesterday.
I'll stop babbling now. The chapter title is a song from one of my favourite groups. Cyber cookie to anyone who can guess the group that sings it. Now please review if you have the time. No flames though please since they will be given to Yami no Bakura so he can do with them as he pleases. I don't know about you, but I don't want a psychopath like him running about with fire.
---
[1] Who, since Jounouchi was 5, had forgotten about his existence. (Except for that one time in grade 4 that she had told Jou not to stick a fork in a light socket and instead dare another kid in his class to.)
[2] I was just thinking of a scene in Fruits Basket in which Yuki hits Ayame on the head and Aya just stands there with a smile on his face and says "Wow! I've been hit!" one of my favourite Aya scenes…
[3] Who doesn't love all the jokes about Legolas thinking he's prettier than everyone else?