Title: Twisted Love Letters (2/?)

Author: Chibi Wingzero

E-mail:

Rating: R

Pairing(s): Seto/Jou, Yami/Yugi, Bakura/Ryou, Marik/Malik, implied Hikari/Jou

Beta: MOFAF (MomOfFluffyAndFluffier)

Spoilers: If you haven't seen the Battle City Tournament, then yes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its characters.

Summary: Jou decides to write a love letter and confesses his love. Unfortunately, it ends up in the wrong hands. Now everyone is trying to find out who this mysterious person is and why they can't seem to find him/her. Among these people is one very possessive brunette. He doesn't like it when people take what is rightfully his.

Chapter Title: When Everything Goes Wrong II

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Looking up the stairs, Jou hesitated for a moment. Sure he had faced overwhelming obstacles and odds. He even visited the shadow realm more than once, and it was not a pretty sight. He had faced the Egyptian god card in a duel. So this should be a piece of cake, right? Well if he survived those events, then he sure as hell was not going to be intimidated by a building full of books. What was the worse they could do to him? Smack him over the head?

Jou trudge up the stairs determined to find a book and then leave as soon as possible. He had to start reading it and, with his job, he didn't have much time to spare. There were so many reasons to hate his father; yet, he didn't. For some reason he couldn't bring himself to hate the guy.

Strolling through the doors, Jou immediately became lost. He wasn't even sure where to start looking for these books. There were not many people on this floor to ask for directions. Besides they appeared to be busy or too preoccupied to help a lost boy. Now he really wished Anzu were there to help him or at least point him in the right direction. Maybe he should ask one of the library workers. That was part of their job, if he remembered correctly.

Jou stood there patiently waiting for one of the library workers to become available to help him find a book from his list. He figured he might as well look through the list of possible books. They were studying US writers. Anzu warned him not to read 'Grapes of Wrath' as it involved much of their history, and it was pretty long. The reason she knew this was because she wrote her report on this. Go figure, she was an overachiever when it came to school. Kaiba most likely did his report on the book

Then there were a couple by Mark Twain: 'Huckleberry Finn' and 'Tom Sawyer.' They seemed to be decent books, or at least they were not long. He recalled seeing a book with around a thousand pages, even if he could not remember the title.

"What brings you here?" a familiar voice inquired from behind him.

"Isis asked me to pick up a few books for her," Malik shrugged. His sister had reserved a few books, but she was unable to pick them up due to her meetings with museum personnel. "You never did answer my question. What are you here for?"

Grinning sheepishly, Jou replied, "I'm goin' ta barra a book for my book report." He hoped Malik would not tease him for waiting until almost the last minute. His day was already bad as it stood. "But I'm… How should I say this? Um …Lost."

Malik chuckled. "I figured that much when you were standing here doing nothing. The fiction books are located on the second story. They're organized by the author's last name, and if you can't find any, I'm sure I can borrow one of my sister's books for you. He did not even wait for Jou to ask the question. "She likes Mark Twain's writing so she bought a few books of his."

"Tanks a lot," Jou smiled and turned to head towards the fiction section when he remembered something. "Where's da stairs?"

The Egyptian sighed. This would take awhile if he tried to explain. "I'll show you where then." He motioned for Jou to follow him.

"Eh, you don't have ta," Jou said, suddenly feeling silly. "I mean ya can tell me where it's at, an' I'll find it." They had gone past the area of computers. Most of the terminals were in the stand-by mode as there were not many people to operate them. They were mainly used to locate books or go onto the Internet.

"It would take longer if I did," Malik waved off the idea. Even being new to the group, he knew Jou was not someone to remember details. "Besides, you'd probably get lost looking for the fiction section."

"Hey!" Jou practically shouted. He received a few reprimanding looks and a warning by one of the volunteers. "Have ya finished your book report?" Gods, he wanted to crawl into the nearest hole if the Egyptian had.

"I'm almost finished," Malik answered with a smirk, "unlike some people." He watched as Jou literally blew his top. It was easy to push his buttons. No wonder why Kaiba did it all the time. It was fun at times.

"Yeah, yeah," Jou mumbled, remembering to keep his voice down. He didn't have to be reminded twice, especially by the same person. It was rather embarrassing, since it was a complete stranger.

On the first floor, the library had the computers to access the Internet. They also had copying machines for copying papers or pages from books, especially reference books which were also located on that floor. The children's section was on the first floor for safety reasons as well as any rooms that held their activities. The stairs were located near the back of the reference area, and another set was on the opposite side.

Since he wasn't there to look up information for a research paper Jou did not bother paying attention to the reference section. He just wanted to get a copy of a book from the list, read it, and write that report. Hopefully, he could do the aforementioned tasks before the deadline. He didn't need another bad grade on his report card.

Not watching where he was going, the blond nearly bumped into the other one as they ascended the stairs. He mumbled an apology, but the Egyptian didn't mind the near accident, not after what his dark side had put Jou and the others through a few months ago. The stairs were surprisingly lit as the light poured through the clean windows. Well, they didn't want some poor guy to be falling down the stairs with an armful of books.

Once they reached the second floor entrance they both entered. It was a double door for some strange reason. Perhaps it was to allow large items to be carried into the room. Then again, they would have to bring it up the stairs and that was no easy task. Besides, they have an operational elevator. On second thought, it could be for safety reasons. If there was a fire, this place would no doubt go up in flames, since the books would provide a good source of fuel.

Without a word from either boy, Malik led the other to the fiction section. They had a few subcategories for the fiction section: historic, mystery, and science fiction. The books were sorted according to the last name of the author. This would make things easier for Jou to find the book he wanted or at least something that he could read in less than a couple days.

"Are they now allowing dogs in the library?" A cold voice inquired from behind them.

Jou clenched his hands in anger and just ignored the taunting voice behind him. It was the last thing he needed and wanted to hear that day. Why was Kaiba Seto in the library of all places? Did he not have a company to run or a brother to look after?

"Just ignore him," Malik whispered to the other blond. He knew Kaiba was only trying to rile Jou and was good at it, since he knew which buttons to push. "You still have that report to start."

"Figures you would wait until the last minute," Kaiba snorted. In truth, he didn't want to be at the library at all, but his brother wanted to borrow a few books. Naturally, he said he would buy them for Mokuba, but the younger brother only needed them for a few weeks, and they would be collecting dust afterwards. No need to buy them if they were going to be used as expensive decorations or paperweights.

Groaning Jou whispered back to the Egyptian, "Ya jus' had ta say it out loud, didn't ya?" He wasn't trying to sound accusing, but it sure sounded that way. Instead of some lame excuse, he received Malik's attempt to give him Yugi's version of the puppy eyes. It was not as effective as Yugi, but it was good enough to work on him. He sighed and wandered over to find a book.

"Ishtar, what are you doing here?" Kaiba inquired with a raised brow. He did not know much about the real Malik except that he had created Marik out of anger and that he was a good duelist if given the chance to prove himself.

"It's none of your concern," Malik muttered, still a bit annoyed at how Kaiba treated Jou. Sure they weren't the best of friends, but at least he knew where to draw the line. He knew Jou's limit. "Besides, it isn't as if you cared what happened to the rest of us."

For some reason Malik's comment struck a cord in him. He didn't know why, but he started feeling strange. Was it regret? Nah, that couldn't be the case. He promised himself that he would always make the right decisions especially when dealing with Mokuba. The little guy was his only family, and he intended to keep him safe.

"Do whatever you want," Kaiba managed to say without betraying his emotions. After all, why should he care what happened to them? They were merely obstacles in his path.

"I'm going to help Jou find a book," Malik said, wanting to get away from the bastard. Even though he was mean to them in the beginning, he changed once he began to interact with them and other people. His sister had once commented on his gradual change. She was beginning to see more of what he used to be as a child.

"Whatever," Kaiba replied with a bored voice. His little brother should be finished looking up whatever books he needed for his report. He had a company to run and all of his schoolwork to take care of.

"One a these days, ya goin' ta get what ya deserve," Jou mumbled to himself. He glared at the books innocently lying on the shelves, as if they were responsible for this mess. "Would it kill him to be nice? On second thought, the day he's nice ta anyone 'cept is brother is the day hell freezes ovah."

"Then maybe Satan can sue him," Malik quipped, having overheard the blonde's conversation with himself. "I'm sure that would put a dent in Kaiba Corps."

Needless to say Jou was shocked that someone had surprised him yet again that day. He would have to pay more attention to his surroundings. "Very funny, Malik." His eyes skimmed over the last names of the authors. They were supposed to be in alphabetical order according to his companion.

After finding a suitable book for Jou, the two of them were ready to head out of the library, when they both spotted Kaiba with his younger brother. They were both going over the books the younger was going to be using for his report. A large stack was situated between the two of them.

"Looks like the mutt finally found a book he can understand," Kaiba commented, being his usual bastard self. It didn't take him long to find out which buttons to push and as much as he hated to admit it, he kind of liked pushing those buttons to see what kind of reaction he would get from the blond.

Jou stormed over to where the brunette sat. "I may not use the fancy terms ya used to, but that doesn't mean I'm an idiot." He whirled away from the elder of the brothers, not trusting himself to refrain from punching Kaiba in front of his little brother. It would only make him lower than the brunette. He didn't need Kaiba using that against him when he already had more than enough artillery.

"Jou…" Malik spoke softly, only to be ignored by the other blond. He was about to ask him a question when Jou brushed past him. It didn't take a genius to tell that Jou was hiding his emotions; however, he wasn't as good as certain people. Calmly Malik walked over to where the brunette was standing. A noise from beneath his foot caught his attention. He bent over to pick it up, not caring if Kaiba was interested. Violet eyes widened.

True, Kaiba didn't care, but after seeing the Egyptian react that way, his curiosity was mildly peeked. Now the problem was procuring the piece of paper without appearing to be interested or curious. He could just demand Malik hand over the paper; however, this was a library. People were supposed to be quiet. If word ever got out, then his reputation may be slightly damaged.

"I didn't know he…" Malik's voice trailed off. He was in shock after reading the content of the paper. Even if he knew whose handwriting it was, there was no doubt who wrote the letter. The author of the love letter had left his signature. "He wrote a love letter."

"What's this nonsense you're babbling?" Kaiba inquired, grabbing the piece of paper out of the stunned Egyptian's hand. He then read it for himself and ended up shocked as well. Crumpling the piece of paper, he threw it down on the floor. "We're leaving, Mokuba."

Mokuba didn't understand what could upset his brother so much, but he knew this wasn't the time to ask questions. Instead he gathered his books and rushed after his brother. He figured it involved that paper lying on the ground, but there wasn't enough time to collect it. Besides, his hands were already full of books.

Malik blinked a few times before picking up the seemingly innocent piece of paper. He shoved it into one of his pockets. He still had to pick up the books his sister had reserved. She would no doubt be wondering what had taken him so long when it was just a simple task. Well, he could say that he was helping a friend. In any case, he had better be moving. The library was closing early that day.

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AN: I've currently halted any writing in this series so I can finish a fic for a contest. The fic will be posted after Christmas.