Note: Wow, still going pretty strong, aye? My lovely reviewers and readers have popped up the hits count to 551- 162 on the last chap alone, which makes me happy. But please, it would make me a very happy camper if you took a couple seconds to review... please, from your loveable Kawaii-Kitty:3 And about the 'Yammete' in the last chap, apparently the male version is 'Yamero', according to one of my lovely reviewers- but I'm too lazy, so my excuse is that Kaiba is a femme inside. :P Ahehehe.

And 'Otou-san' and 'Okaa-sam' are, I am told by a Japanese transfer student, what you refer to your parents with when talking to them- 'Chi-chi' is apparently like 'my father' in conversation- the same goes with 'ha-ha' for mother. So no confusion with Dragon Ball, please.

I still don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, chickitas! Or The Hound Of The Baskervilles- I haven't even read it, but I've read some of Sherlock Holmes and I am aware that he and Jonouchi would probably have a bit in common in this. Hehe... poor Jonouchi. Oh, and the whole thing with Kaiba Seto being all freaked out because Jonouchi knows is partially because it could ruin his image totally, and this guy is one of the only people who would dare, and partially because he's a stubborn little bastard and he wants to know what odd talent Jonouchi's hiding from everyone- him, especially. He's just that kinda guy, eh? The kind that doesn't like things out of his hands.

And maybe he's using it as an excuse to stalk him, eh? ;3 Sadistic writer's urge... rising...

A Different Kind Of Genius

Kawaii Chibi Kitty Angel

Chapter Three

Jounouchi Katsuya sat curled comfortably on the well broken-in sofa-chair perched in his apartment- it was one of the only things he had from the days when his father and mother were a young and happy couple. Sometimes, even, he thought he could still smell the lingering flowery perfume of his mother's in the well-worn fabric. He tucked the huge woven blanket his mother had brought back from Mexico years before, faded but stillstriped with reds and yellows and greens, around him more tightly, gripping a copy of The Hound Of The Baskervilles tightly in one hand.

Despite the harrowing day, he found his shoulders unknotting, and himself relaxing, as he sipped at a mug of hot cocoa and read, absorbed by the neat observations of the half-mad Holmes- whom he sympathized with greatly.

Such absorption was possibly the reason he didn't he the click of the door unlocking, the tiny creak of hinges, and the soft, almost inaudible footsteps that padded up the hallway. He shivered uncontrollably, and without any real premise, and lifted his head, looking around. 'That was strange...' He thought uneasily, and marked his place in the book, throwing off the Mexican blanket. "Hello?" He queried warily, hearing his voice echo slightly in the apartment. "Otou-san, is that you?"

He rose quietly off the chair, feeling as though his skin was thin and papery and cold, palms clammy. "Katsuya, you're being a fool," he told himself strictly, feeling slightly better for it. The door was closed, he could see from where he was standing- the short-sightedness that poverty and vanity refused to correct didn't allow him to see much more.

Jonouchi, in fact, could not see anything clearly beyond about six feet. Shaking himself of the uneasy weight building in his stomach, he wandered into the kitchen with his empty mug, and began to scrub it in the sink, which was still full of luke-warm, dirty water from that afternoon.

An arm snaked around his throat and pulled back his head, causing the mug to drop from his hand into the sink, splashing him up the front with dirty water. He twisted and emmited an odd squeak as his assailant grabbed his right arm and twisted it behind his back. Lashing awkwardly backwards with his foot, he squirmed and fought as best he could against the unseen attacker- but when faced with a surprise attack, effectively immobilized, and with an attacker twice as strong as you, there's only so much you can do.

He did however, recognized the incredibly peeved voice that emanated from behind him.

"That was a nasty stunt you pulled earlier, Jonouchi," Kaiba Seto hissed coldly down into his ear, causing him to freeze. The thin, papery feeling returned. "It's not polite to leave people standing on your door-step."

He wrenched against the arms. "It's not polite to break into someone's house, either, Kaiba," He wheezed. Kaiba snorted- he could feel the breath against his scalp- and dropped him. Jonouchi's skull smacked against the edge of the counter on the way down, and he cradled it, groaning, as his vision swam. He felt a hand on his arm, and slapped away, only to have it return and pull him to his feet. Kaiba's face swam before his eyes.

Then nothing swam before his eyes. Jonouchi Katsuya fell unconscious, a small trickle of blood sliding down his temple.

- - - - -

Jonouchi woke to warmth against the skin of his forehead, and stirred, opening his eyes blearily. For a brief moment he believed he had gone blind- then he realised he couldn't see through a damp cloth.

He reached up blindly, and pulled it off- the sight he saw next disturbed him so much that he froze for a good five seconds.

He was naked down to his boxers, and wrapped in a quilt that he knew came from his bedroom, and laid out on the sofa. Given the fact that there could only be one other person here, and it wasn't his father, his cheeks heated with a blush he knew wouldn't show against his golden-toned skin.

He found that said person sitting on the coffee table, watching him, when he sat up. His mouth went dry, and he pulled the quilt around him more securely. "H-how did you get in here?" He asked, remembering belatedly that he had locked the door after his father had left.

The left corner of Kaiba's mouth twisted upwards, and he said nothing. Jonouchi tried to scoot back further on the couch, but found himself trapped between the overwhelming presence of a very displeased Kaiba Seto, and the cushiony back of the couch. He knew which he preferred.

And then, of course, that afore-mentioned Kaiba Seto, saw fit to rise and approach the couch. Jonouchi was not pleased. The millionaire straddled him, and he stiffened, unable to tear his eyes away from the boy's own dark, glittering ones. He noticed that Kaiba's pupils were dilated unusually despite the light in the room, and a passage from a book he read popped into his mind- "When an object of peculiar attraction to an individual is viewed by that individual, the pupils may contract or dilate. This can be used to gauge your standing in a situation- hold a bargaining chip, and you hold the upper hand." He swallowed- it was one thing to have something shiny- it was another to be the bargaining chip. And knowing Kaiba's preferences, and his personality...

He shifted back, trying to ease out from under him. Kaiba's hand rested on the pillow beside his head, and he leaned over until he was mere inches from his face, making the blonde yelp. "Do you feel like telling me yet, Jonouchi?" He purred, dark eyes gleaming, one large hand peeling the quilt from out of his fingers and off. His unfortunate victim pressed back into the pillow.

"I don't even know what you want to know!" Jonouchi said wildly, pressing up against his chest in a vague attempt to rid himself of the other boy's presence.

"Really?" The brunette queried, a small smirk creeping onto his lips, one brow arched. "How unfortunate." He slid a hand down under the quilt under Jonouchi's back, and grinned as he began to curl and uncurl his nails against the boy's side.

There was one thing to be said- Jonouchi was incredibly ticklish. He squirmed, and squeaked, trying to arch away from the questing fingers, gasping and snorting hysterically. Biting his lip and jerking sideways, he sent himself and Kaiba rocketing into the coffee table, which smashed against his ribs before he and the other bounced to the floor below.

"No," he commanded the startled, winded brunette shakily, and limped to the bathroom and locked himself in, brain slightly short-circuited. He sat down on the toilet, lid and all, and buried his face in his hands. 'What've I gotten myself into? I should've just kept my mouth shut.' He heard slow footsteps approach the door, and groaned.

"What the hell do you want from me, Kaiba?" He spat loudly, head aching, ribs aching, and temples pulsing dully. The blonde could hear a soft thump as a winded Kaiba leaned against the wood of the door.

"Answers," Came the breathy reply, and a tiny, painful groan. Jonouchi's lips pulled from his teeth in dissatisfaction.

He shot the door a purely unnecessary dirty look. "Too damn bad." With that, he slumped back against the back of the toilet and closed his eyes, feeling uncooperative.

Kaiba chuckled on the other side of the door, and the unhappy blonde could hear from his breathing that he was recovering very quickly from being winded by a large blonde puppy falling on him. "You have a choice?" He asked in a tone somewhat like cheekiness- the only problem was, Kaiba wasn't capable of 'cheeky' in Jonouchi's mind. "I can wait here for hours, Jonouchi," He said scathingly.

Jonouchi opened one eye slightly, watching the door. "So can I, Kaiba."

"Can you?"

The cold, quiet tone of the question sent a wary shiver down his spine, and both eyes came open. "Why the hell would I not be able-" the words died in his throat. "Chi-chi." Kaiba chuckle reverberated behind the door. "You wouldn't dare. Whatever you're planning, leave chi-chi out of this!"

"Then come out and answer my questions."

Jonouchi's fingers dug into his leg as he gripped it.

"Fine. But make this quick."

- - - - -