Chapter 20: Brief Diversion
Seto shook his head. "This simply can't be possible...who are you? Really?"
Noa sighed. "Didn't I just tell you? My name is Noa Kaiba."
"Bullshit!" Seto held up two fingers. "There are only two living Kaibas and that's myself and Mokuba."
Noa shook his head as he waggled his index finger at Seto. "Wrong. There are three Kaibas. However, your surprise is expected. I mean, we've never met before! Why, you didn't even know that I existed, but I knew about you. I've known about you for a very long time now."
Seto gradually stepped forward. "How could you have possibly known about me?"
Noa arched a brow. "You're kidding me, right? Seto Kaiba, the little genius brat who replaced me is asking how I could have known." He rested his hands on his hips. "Ever heard of a computer?"
Seto could feel himself trembling. "Okay; now you're just mocking me. And just what is this babbling about me replacing you?"
Noa shook his head. "Oh; I guess daddy didn't tell you anything after all."
Seto grabbed Noa's hoodie. "If you had no inkling that there existed another person with your face running around, and you suddenly meet him for the first time, you'd have little understanding of what the fuck is going on. I want to know who you really are, why you look like me, and just what your purpose is."
Noa's sapphire eyes gazed into Seto's azure pair.
"You're not ready."
Seto scowled. "What are you talking about?"
"It's the shock of having seen me for the first time—which as I said is understandable. It's clouding your better judgment." Noa smirked. "Tell you what; I'll let this introduction sink in with you for a little while longer, and when you've cooled down, I'll pay you another visit." He suddenly thrust his fist outwards, the blow connecting onto Seto's midriff.
"Hnngh?!" Seto gasped as he hunched over.
"It's better this way. You're way too pissed off to think rationally." Noa stood as he felt Seto's grip loosening its hold on his hoodie. Seto soon began to drop.
"Kaiba!" Jounouchi moved quickly to catch Seto before he fell onto the hard surface of the rooftop.
Noa applauded. "Timely catch there, Jounouchi."
"Fuck you," Jounouchi snarled. "I don't get what the hell is goin' on here, but I know enough to know that yer a real piece o' work."
Noa smiled modestly. "Yeah; I know I'm not exactly a model brother. He does look a lot like me ...well; he doesn't have that roughness that I've got...kinda frail, like mother was." He looked up at Jounouchi; the dirty blond remained stationary as he continued to scowl at Noa.
"Ya better leave; now, before I get violent on ya," Jounouchi warned as he clutched Seto closer to himself. "You've done enough damage 'ere tonight."
"I understand that you have to defend Seto." Noa paused. "Actually, I'm surprised that he's got someone that's willing to defend him at all. I guess my studies were a tad outdated. Anyway, I bid you all a good night. Make sure you take good care of my baby bro', okay?" He smiled as he pulled the hood back over his head.
"Hey; wait! What about my answers?" Amelda demanded as he dashed forward.
Noa glanced over his shoulder. He stifled a laugh and shook his head before leaping over the edge of the building.
"Dammit!" Amelda snatched his knife up from the ground. "That deceitful, lying son-of-a-bitch!"
Jounouchi glanced up at Amelda, unsure as to what exactly the assassin was ranting about. He shook his head, instead looking down at the unconscious Seto.
"Shit...I can't believe that I was fooled too. I had no idea that Seto had another brother out there, and that apparently I was a mere tool in all of this. Tch, it's all starting to make sense." He tossed the blade into the air. "It seems I have some extra work to do." Amelda turned and departed in the opposite direction from which Noa had exited.
Jounouchi slowly stood up, hoisting Seto up in his arms.
Damn, this wasn't the kind of action I expected tonight...
"Hhhhh!"
With a sharp gasp, Seto bolted upright from his slumber, his brow covered in cold sweat. The heavy sound of his breathing drowned out the beating of his heart, though the brunet could feel the muscle's rapid pounding in his chest. He glanced down, his hands releasing its hold on the sheets and revealing what appeared to be small tears. His eyes widened as he stared at the small slashes.
"Hey...wha's wrong, blue-eyes?"
Seto jolted and quickly looked over across from him and noticed that Jounouchi was residing on the sofa.
He sighed a breath of relief. "Jounouchi; it's only you."
"Huh? Ya disappointed by that?" Jounouchi stretched.
"No, I'm not disappointed or anything," Seto denied. "How...how long have I been out? All I remember is that Noa punched me and then I blacked out. "
Jounouchi glanced over at the clock, and frowned. "It's 'bout a quarter 'til seven. We got back here at 'bout twelve-thirty...mm, maybe seven or eight hours. Too early fer me to figure any math shit out. Pro'ly best that he knocked ya out before ya overdid it anyway."
Seto nodded as he slowly swung his legs over the bed. He suddenly let out a wince as he started to walk.
Jounouchi slowly sat up. "Ya alright there?"
Seto nodded as he gently rubbed his right calf. "I'm just really sore from that battle last night."
Jounouchi nodded. "Hey...Seto?"
Seto drummed his fingers on the doorjamb. "Yes?"
"Are ya gonna be okay?"
"Of course. I'm not going to overreact the next time that we meet."
"Okay. I just worry that ya might do somethin' yer gonna later regret." He reached for his lighter.
"I know." Seto looked up at the ceiling.
Jounouchi flipped the lighter open. "Are ya as confused about that Noa guy as I am?"
"I think in this case I'm much more confused than you are."
Jounouchi flipped the lighter shut. "Huh. So ya really didn't know that ya had another brother..."
"Excuse me? Brother?"
"Uh, yeah. He referred to you as his brother."
"Tch! There's a word I'll never use for him," Seto spat.
Jounouchi nimbly shuffled his lighter between his fingers. "So uh, what do we do now? Do we try to find out more about him?"
Seto shook his head. "We're not going to do anything. I'm going to let him make the first move—mainly because I don't know enough about him to simply confront him outright. Besides, it would be more sensible this way so that I may plan a better strategy."
Jounouchi leaned back. "A'ight. I'll trust yer judgment, but just so ya know—if he does anything, and I mean anything to threaten ya, I'll go after 'im."
Seto smiled wryly. "I have no doubt about that. Anyway, we have to get ready for school. I have to broadcast the latest match in that tournament today..." He rolled his eyes. "I'll be taking a brief shower."
Jounouchi sprung to his feet. "Oh hey; I need one too, and since we're in a hurry—"
"You can use the one in the guest room."
"Damn it."
Seto smirked as he shut the door.
It was time for recess, but the majority of the Junior Class B—and Otogi—were all gathered around Seto and his laptop in the classroom, which was broadcasting the webcast of the current match in the popular King of Iron Fist tournament.
"Man; I've been dyin' to catch this one since Sunday's battle," Jounouchi stated as he stretched.
"I was so glad that Hwoarang won that match. I swear; I'm one of the only girls that supports him. Everyone else is all about Jin Kazama—and for the wrong reasons! They're all 'Oh; Jin Kazama is so cute!' and 'I'm gonna be Jin's girlfriend!'—they're so clueless. Even if they could meet him, he's too busy training to give a damn about them," Anzu ranted.
All eyes, except for Seto's, were on Anzu.
Anzu frowned. "What?! I'm just really into this tournament thing." She turned her gaze back to the screen.
"Then could ya tell us who's in the next match an' when?" Jounouchi challeneged.
"Nina Williams against Julia Chang," Anzu muttered.
"Dude; chick fight." Jounouchi nodded with a sly smirk. Anzu frowned and looked the other way.
"Hey; isn't that Wulong guy like fifty or something?" One of the students inquired.
"Naw; he's like forty-somethin'," Honda answered.
"'Forty-something'? Amazing how that's not an age," Seto muttered, making no effort to hide his sarcasm.
Honda scowled at Seto. "Hey; I know he was twenty-six in the second tournament!"
"Forty-five," Seto concluded. "Now shut up; they're about to start this thing."
"Man; we're watching this offa his laptop why?" Honda whispered to Jounouchi.
"It's his good deed for the decade," Jounouchi whispered back.
[The two fighters stood across from each other in the crowded arena. The fighter on the left was a tall dark-skinned Brazilian man. His dark umber hair was styled in dreadlocks and tied back, save for a few errant locks that hung over his forehead. He wore a gaudy green and yellow outfit—a skintight sleeveless top that stopped short of his muscular midriff, and a matching pair of pants that flared at the cuffs.
The opposing fighter was a Chinese man of average height. His long charcoal hair was pulled back in a ponytail hairstyle with his bangs hanging at the sides of his face. He wore a very elaborate Chinese-style outfit; a shimmering emerald green top with the sleeves rolled an inch past the wrists, and a pair of silk fuchsia pants, also displaying intricate patterns that could only be revealed in certain lighting. ]
"I don't' know about you guys, but I've been wanting to see Lei Wulong fight since forever, man!" Honda exclaimed. "Five different martial arts...man; you just can't beat that."
"Hey, didn't he compete in the second tournament?" Jounouchi asked.
"Damn skippy! It's experience that's gonna win it for him."
"He looks a little like Jackie Chan," Anzu observed.
"Dude; he's way cooler than Jackie Chan," Honda retorted.
Seto cleared his throat. "The fight is about to begin, so everybody, please shut up. Don't forget who's being generous enough to share this experience with you."
["...FIGHT!"]
"If Wulong loses this, I swear that I'm gonna boycott the King of Iron Fist Tournament forever," Honda declared.
"Yeah; that's great Honda," Otogi drawled as he watched the screen.
"I mean, come on: Wulong has experience. And I don't care what anyone says, Capoeira is not a real style," Honda ranted.
"Shh!" Anzu hissed as her eyes remained glued on the laptop screen.
[Eddy had made the first move. He had attempted to knock Lei down with a series of sweeping strikes by propping himself on his hands and singing his lengthy legs around as if he were break dancing, moving swiftly and skillfully. However, Lei managed to parry the oncoming attack and countered with a low sweep of his own, sweeping the Brazilian off of his feet and striking him with a rising roundhouse strike as Eddy fell. The crowd was ecstatic once again.]
"Hey, did you hear about Kokurano from Class A? He claims that he knows who's going to win the tournament," A student mentioned in a hushed tone.
[Eddy ran up to Lei and performed a mid-air backflip , thrusting his feet forward and striking Lei on his chest. Lei crashed onto the ground, though he kicked up into the air and sprung back onto his feet.]
"Kokurano? Who's that?" Jounouchi murmured quizzically as he continued to watch the screen.
[Lei thrust his hands forward in two successful Snake-style strikes to Eddy's chest, stunning the Brazilian fighter long enough to raise his arms high above his head as if they were outstretched wings. He lifted his right leg to complete the transition from his regular fighting stance into Crane Stance.]
"Oh, he's that psychic that claims that he can see the future. People are always lining up to get their futures foreseen during recess," another student answered.
[Lei thrust his fist forward in one swift yet powerful motion, attempting to strike at Eddy with the Crane punch. Eddy slipped under the punch and, using his hands, spun around on the ground, his protruding legs sweeping Lei off of his feet and knocking him down to the ground. Some of the crowd jeered.]
"Damnit!" Honda cursed through his teeth.
Seto snorted. "You mean people actually believe in that bullshit? I thought there were some morons in this school, but god-damn..."
"What? You don't think that there are people that have a sixth sense?" Otogi asked.
"Sixth sense? If anyone claims to be able to predict things, 'see things', they're scamming you. There's no such thing as supernatural abilities, period."
Otogi twirled some of his hair around his finger in a habitual manner. "So what DO you believe?"
Seto moistened his lips as he continued to watch the screen. "I believe that I'm watching the match, so you better be quiet."
[Lei brushed a hand across his mouth; the Capoeira fighter's consistent speed and varied movements proved difficult for the multi-styled martial artist to discern. Lei shook his head and raised his fists once again, a look of sheer determination on his face.
Eddy pointed at Lei in a rather arrogant gesture, and resumed his rhythmic stance. Lei remained stationary.
Eddy slowly approached Lei with caution in each step.]
"God; I hope Eddy loses for the simple fact that he's makin' me fucking dizzy with them breakdance-lookin' moves," Jounouchi muttered as he rubbed his temples.
"That would be your brain cells trying to comprehend what's happening in the fight," Seto murmured.
"Say what?!" Jounouchi glowered at the brunet.
"I said shut the hell up and watch the damn fight."
[Eddy began shifting towards Lei's left. Lei, remaining unmoving, continued to keep a cautious and observant eye on the Brazilian fighter.
Suddenly, Eddy sharply stepped to his left; Lei's left foot slightly scooted over in response. Without pause, Eddy performed a handless cartwheel kick--shifting his direction to his right in the process--with the intention that the double-striking attack would successfully connect against Lei's head, knocking the Chinese fighter out of the tournament.
However, Wulong had his own strategy in mind. Just as Eddy's legs swung over, Lei suddenly dropped to the ground and lay down on his back, causing Eddy to completely whiff his attack. He landed on the ground, his back facing his downed opponent—a dangerously vulnerable position. The crowd was rendered silent by the shocking development.
Lei first placed his weight first on his feet, transferring the pressure to his hands as soon as he lifted his feet from the ground and propelled himself into a rising spring kick, striking the vulnerable Eddy Gordo, and launching him into the air. Lei instantly took two steps forward and then performed a high roundhouse kick that struck Eddy on his side—Eddy's face contorted due to the severe pain of the blow as he came crashing onto the ground.
The crowd roared with excitement.
The winner was declared.]
"Yes!!" Honda exclaimed as he leapt up into the air. "I knew he'd win!"
"Geez; I bet he broke a few ribs with that blow," Anzu observed.
"I bet if we had surround sound, we could totally hear them crack!" A student exclaimed excitedly.
"You're sick," another student affirmed with a hint of disgust in her voice as she glanced down at her watch. "It ended just in time--Chono's gonna be back any minute, and you know we'd catch holy hell if she had caught us."
"Then that's my cue to exit," Otogi declared. "I honestly don't understand the appeal of these televised blood matches."
"Then stop botherin' us and get out, huh?" Jounouchi shooed as Otogi slid the door open and stepped out of the classroom.
Seto suddenly stood, briefcase held in his left hand, and his novel clutched in the other. "I hope you all enjoyed the show. I too shall be taking my leave. If you need me, I will be in my office, but you better have a damn good reason because I will beat you with my briefcase." He promptly departed from the classroom.
"Yeah; now that Hirano's done wit' his 'good deed o' the decade', he can go back to bein' a complete asshole," Jounouchi declared. Some of the students giggled, and Seto turned around, shooting an angry glare at Jounouchi.
"What?" Jounouchi challenged. "Ya got somethin' to say?"
"No; you'd need a dictionary to comprehend at least seventy-five percent of it." Seto immediately continued on his way as Jounouchi growled at the brunet's retreating form.
A figure's shadow blocked Seto's light.
"Hey there, blue-eyes."
Slowly, Seto looked up from his novel. "Jounouchi, did you miss me so much that you're skipping gym of all classes?"
"Coach Karita can kiss my ass," Jounouchi scoffed with a sneer.
Seto sneered. "Like I would allow anyone to get near your ass."
"Dude, it's just a figure o' speech."
Seto shut his eyes in a rather haughty manner. "I know."
Jounouchi sat down beside Seto. "Well, ya may be able to fool the class that yer the same ol' SOB Hirano, but not me."
"Of course you could see through my acting this time. After all, you were right in the middle of that mess last night."
Jounouchi looked over at Seto. "Seto..."
Seto slammed his book shut. "I told you; repeatedly—I'm fine. A little disturbed by last night's revelation, but I'm okay."
Jounouchi stared up towards the azure sky above him. "I want to believe ya. I really do."
"So what's holding you back?"
Jounouchi turned his gaze to the dead grass below him.
"Ya almost got killed durin' that whole Amelda episode, and I have a bad feelin' that Noa's lookin' to kill you too. He seems to be a much stronger person than you can handle alone."
"So you're saying that I should just depend on someone to help me?" Seto's eyes narrowed dangerously.
Jounouchi flinched at the sight of Seto's anger. "Yeah; maybe that's what I'm gettin' at. I understand that you prefer bein' alone, but in this case ya may need some support to fall back on. This isn't gonna be an easy battle, especially with that weird condition of yours where ya pass out after fightin' fer too long. That's what I'm scared of the most. I'm afraid yer gonna overdo it and then Noa—or whoever else is gonna come after you—will take advantage of that and kill you right there an' then. I just got this bad feelin' that the fightin' won't be done before you wind up blackin' out. That's why I think you need someone to have yer back, so to speak, so that someone won't let them take you out fer good when it does happen."
Seto looked down at his lengthy legs as he absorbed Jounouchi's concerning words. His sienna hair spilled over his eyes, masking his complete expression from Jounouchi.
Jounouchi swallowed. "Seto?"
"I can't."
"What?"
Seto began to gather his things. "I can't give a proper reply to this. This is on the verge of overwhelming me; I'll need to think it over."
"Wait; where're ya goin'?"
Seto quickly stood to his feet. "I don't know. Maybe back to class or something."
"Seto, wait!" Jounouchi reached out and grasped Seto's left wrist. "Look at me. Please."
Seto slowly complied with Jounouchi's request; his azure eyes displayed a look that was unfamiliar to the dirty blond.
"I know I can't make ya promise to not get yerself killed. I mean hell; yer gettin' a lecture on bein' careful from one of the most reckless people at this school! Anyway, I understand that this is all just so much fer ya right now and that it's hard fer ya to express yerself and all that. I...shit; I don't know what more to say without repeatin' myself."
"You don't really need to say anything else. I just have a lot to think about. It's not easy for me to maintain my demeanour when I have a lot on my plate."
Which is why you shouldn't have to do this alone. Jounouchi bit his lip in frustration; of all the times not to speak what was on his mind, why now?
Seto blinked. "Katsuya, is something wrong?"
Jounouchi sighed. "No...nothin's wrong. I'm just upset that ya gotta deal with this."
"It's just another hardship. 'So what' I say. I'll manage. I always do."
Jounouchi slowly pulled the brunet towards him until their hips were almost touching. "Just so long as ya mean that." He gently brushed his lips against Seto's own, coercing him into a kiss.
As they kissed, Jounouchi's eyes slightly opened to observe the brunet that stood in front of him.
Yer just too frail to be dealin' with all this...
He slowly shut his amber eyes.
"Oh my God..."
Azure and amber eyes snapped open alike as the sudden cry forced the two apart. The duo rotated their heads to face the person that had discovered them in the midst of their act.
It was Anzu. She appeared as though she were an animal caught within the headlights of a car. Her eyes darted back and forth between Seto and Jounouchi, her mouth agape from the shock, and her arms remaining at her sides.
Neither teen knew what to make of their predicament. Seto suddenly decided to speak up.
"Uh...hi, Anzu."
Jounouchi shot a glare at Seto before turning his gaze to Anzu. "Uh...hey Anzu! Uh, I dunno what you think this is—"
"Stuff it," Anzu interrupted. Despite her tone, there wasn't a single trace of anger upon her features. "This...this is one hell of a sight to walk in on. Jounouchi, Hirano... If I recall correctly, you two hated each other...unless that was just some façade or whatever. So, how long has this been going on? Since Hirano started attending here? Is that why he started going—"
Seto and Jounouchi rushed towards Anzu, each of them clasping a hand over her mouth, cutting her words off.
"Uh, this has kinda been goin' on fer about two months now," Jounouchi admitted. "At first? Hell yeah; we hated each other. But ya remember how I 'suddenly' became less and less interested in my pornos?"
Anzu nodded.
"Well, it's 'cause o' him." Jounouchi briefly leaned his head towards Seto. "Ya see, we would wind up fightin' on occasion after school hours, but it just kinda escalated from there. I started gettin' dreams about Seto and...well, ya know how that tends to end up."
"We didn't want anyone here to know that we're an item, so we continue to carry on our façade in front of you and everyone else in the school. We really didn't want anybody having knowledge of this because it was a private affair," Seto added. He suddenly became expressionless. "Just what are you doing here anyway?"
Anzu arched a sardonic brow gesturing to her mouth that she wanted the boys' hands removed from it. Seto and Jounouchi looked at each other and nodded. They slowly removed their hands from the girl's mouth.
"I was gonna come by to see if you had any of Naoki's music on MP3, since you're the resident cyber-punk around here."
Seto cocked his head to the side. "'Cyberpunk'? So I'm a genre now?"
"No; not cyberpunk; cyber-punk. Two words. It's the handsomer, sleeker version of the computer geek," Anzu explained.
"Your words or someone else's?"
"Confidential information."
"Hn." Seto crossed his arms.
Anzu gazed over at Jounouchi. "Now then, where were we before—oh, right. You and Jounouchi--who really surprises me seeing as how he's super- straight and all--totally making out. Seriously Jounouchi, this is definitely a shocker," Anzu trailed as she looked over at Seto again. "Though Hirano, no offense--but I always thought that you were a bit on the gay side from the start."
"Thanks, Anzu," Seto replied coldly.
Anzu shrugged her shoulders. "Come on; you're just too pretty."
"So was that Benimaru Nikaido from the old King of Fighters competitions, but he's heterosexual," Seto reminded.
"Hey; I don't consider myself queer or nothin'...I'm more like bi," Jounouchi muttered in the background as he scratched his chin.
Anzu ignored Jounouchi. "So Hirano, does that mean you're bi too?"
Seto looked away. "I think even you are smart enough to figure that out."
Anzu gently punched Seto on his shoulder. "Then don't take offense when I say that you're gay, huh? Because if you are, you are, and you shouldn't worry about it."
"So yer cool with this?" Jounouchi raised a puzzled brow.
Anzu shrugged her shoulders. "Well; yeah. I mean, I look at yaoi all the time, so I would certainly hope that I have a tolerance for this sort of thing."
Jounouchi clasped Anzu's hands. "Ohhh, I will pay you back very much for this, mark my words."
Anzu appeared unimpressed. "You're lucky I'm so easy to please. Just bring the Asahi over to my house sometime before next Tuesday, huh?"
Seto's eyebrows shot up at Anzu.
Anzu smiled at Seto. "Hey; I didn't get to hang out with these guys because I was so ladylike. Anyway, I better get back to class...I told coach that I needed to change my tampon out."
Seto and Jounouchi both glared at the girl.
"Anzu, I don't care how unladylike you claim yourself to be; mention anything about your...womanly functions...ever again, and I will hit you with my book," Seto warned as he cringed.
"Just don't kill me with it. 'Girls number one Mazaki Anzu: death by novel'," Anzu joked as she waved and walked off.
Seto sighed as he leaned his head back against the brick wall. Jounouchi too, sighed and slumped down against the brick wall.
"Busted," Jounouchi stated out of the blue.
"No kidding."
"Then again, I guess it was a matter o' time before someone caught us doin' the P.D.A."
"Well, it's not like we're the first. I'm sure Honda could recount some horror stories."
Jounouchi's eyes widened. "You heard about what happened between Honda and Emi back in first year?"
"There's literature about it on the walls in Class D's area."
Jounouchi whistled. "Well, we'll just not mention that around him."
"Yeah..."
Jounouchi shifted, leaning against the brick wall with his right shoulder so that he could face Seto easily. "Hey..."
Seto looked over at Jounouchi. "Hn?"
Jounouchi's eyes narrowed, but in a more affectionate manner. "It's gonna be alright."
"I'm not worried about him in the least."
"I know. But I'm just sayin' that it'll be okay in the end—"
"Sure. Yeah..." Seto clutched his arms around himself tightly. "As I said, it's just another hardship. So what?"
"So what are you going to do, hrm?"
Jounouchi was the first to react by raising his fists in a boxing stance. Seto turned around, soon discovering the newest intruder.
Noa.
He was dressed in the same attire that he had worn the previous night, albeit he wore a long-sleeved mesh shirt beneath the sleeveless hoodie.
"What are you doing here in the middle of school?" Seto demanded.
"School? You're kidding me, right?" Noa snorted. "This place doesn't look like it has much to offer in the ways of education. But I guess we're lucky to have been given such an advanced education, eh, Seto? I guess this is where you go for free time, huh?"
"Cut it out with the damn digressions," Seto growled. Jounouchi crept closer to Seto, his sights remaining on the other Kaiba.
"Fine. Sounds like you're more eager to listen than to beat me to a pulp this time anyway." Noa reached into the pocket of his jeans, pulling out a folded slip of paper. "Here you go." He flicked his wrist, sending the note flying towards Seto.
Seto caught the note with ease, hastily unfolding it to examine its contents.
"So...is that convenient?" Noa inquired as he casually nested his hands inside of the pockets of his jeans. "I wouldn't want to disrupt your 'learning' or anything."
"It'll do," Seto replied. "When--?"
"What's today? Tuesday?" Noa tapped his foot. "How does Thursday sound? That way you could use Wednesday to prepare."
Seto narrowed his eyes. "Prepare for what?"
"I have as much of an intention to fight you as I do to talk to you—I'll explain it to you Thursday. Just be prepared in case I suddenly lunge out at you or something."
"I'll be sure to smash my heel onto your face if you do that," Seto assured.
Noa saluted the duo as he turned around, slowly walking away. "Anyway, see you in a couple of days. Feel free to show up whenever you feel like it; if I'm asleep just poke me or something."
"Then I'll have to remember to bring sharp objects and arrive at four in the morning," Seto muttered.
Noah laughed. "Oh, you're quite a card, little Seto. Save some of that charm for when we meet on Thursday, because it may be the only thing you'll have going for you."
AUTHOR'S NOTES
This chapter was extremely difficult for me to write for—I needed an extra day to proofread it as I didn't want to post a bad chapter. I consider this to be more of a diversion from the current situations at hand, with the Iron Fist Tournament screening in the classroom (hence the title of the chapter). But if you picked up on Seto and Jounouchi's conversation and Anzu's discovery—take note.
And next chapter, Noa will be revealing a little bit of information about himself...and maybe a thing or two about Seto that Seto didn't even know about himself.
RANDOM REFERENCES NOTES:
(I've decided to implement these since there are references that may go over readers' heads. Hope this helps!)
Benimaru Nikaido is a character in SNK/Playmore's King of Fighters game series. He often dresses and acts in a way that would be considered to be a little effeminate, but in fact he is indeed canonically heterosexual.
"Asahi" is a brand of Japanese beer. There will be more details as to why Anzu drinks it in future chapters.
Naoki (aka Naoki Maeda) may be best known amongst Dance Dance Revolution fans for the various songs and mixes he makes for the famous game series. Some of his songs include Dynamite Rave, Brilliant 2 U, Luv to Me (AMD Mix), Matsuri Japan, and Healing Vision, among others.
Anzu's line of "Girls number one: Mazaki Anzu, death by novel" alludes to the movie Battle Royale. This could be the novel that Seto is currently reading, hence the reference Anzu makes.
The brief conversation about Tekken's Lei Wulong bearing resemblance to Martial Arts superstar Jackie Chan is a reference to the Tekken 2/Mortal Kombat crossover fan fiction "Ashes of the Phoenix", by Victar, where Lei Wulong is often confused for said Jackie Chan. You can check it out at but be warned—it's a very long read.