Authoress here.
I have no life without school. This I have decided. Man oh MAN do I have no life. The second chapter of Changes Made in two days, presented for your enjoyment, follows this brief message.
Jewel, darling, I shall not take off the 'damn question mark.' Do we know that Jou and Seto will get together in the end?
No. We do not. The question mark provides intrigue, no?
And, no, I do not own Great Expectations, which is the chapter title of tonight's chapter. Unfortunately, it belongs to a great dead writer. Or, if I did own it, I'd be so rich I wouldn't know what to do with myself. And seeing that I am exceedingly poor, we must conclude that I do not own that book. Thank you.
Onto the chappie.
Changes Made
Chapter Five: Great Expectations
Jou, do you mind if we do not meet tonight?
Scratch, scratch. Crease, fold, and throw.
Sure. Was going to ask same thing. Have appointment at work. You?
Fold, and throw.
Scratch, scratch. Crease, fold, and throw.
Me too, appt. for work. Tomorrow?
Fold, and throw.
Scratch. Crease, fold and throw.
OK.
Anzu leaned over to Honda, nudging him from his lecture-induced torpor. "Honda. Honda!"
"What?"
"I think Jou and Kaiba were just passing notes."
"What?-!"
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Anzu glanced at the back of Jou's sandy-blonde head. "Do you think he's been acting weirdly lately?"
"Yeah, but he's Jou, I get worried if he ain't acting weird."
"No, different-from-the-normal-Jou-weird weird."
"Anzu, you're acting weird right now."
Anzu rolled her eyes, dragging a hand through her hair. "Honda, I'm serious. I haven't heard him crack one joke at Kaiba's expense since they've started those tutoring sessions."
"Maybe they've buried the hatchet."
"Jou, bury the hatchetwith Kaiba?-! Honda, are you insane?-!"
Honda shrugged. "It's not totally impossible. Who knows, Kaiba might be some really nice guy deep down. Granted, you'd probably have to search for a few hundred years to get that deep down, but you know Jou; everybody likes him. Maybe Kaiba opened up to him."
"Kaiba has never liked Jou."
"Anzu, settle down. You're being paranoid. Jou says he's feeling better about math, meaning he'll pass his next test, and then we'll all be back to normal." Honda closed his eyes again, settling back to his nap.
"Fine, fine." Anzu sighed. She kept her eyes on Jou all the same. He was doodling on his paper, a glazed look over his face. Pretty normal, especially for the class they were in.
So instead Anzu studied Kaiba. He was writing, on actual paper (laptop being banned by most of the teachers) and his thick hair covered his eyes from Anzu's vantage point. He looked unchanged; as dark and foreboding as always.
So perhaps, Anzu pondered, the change was completely internal… and completely between the two, and them alone.
Shortly after school
Jou breezed into work after exchanging brief hellos with Natsunou, heading for the backroom. He was feeling particularly excited about the client he was to work with; Natsunou hadn't said much except that the client was referred to him by a regular, and that the client was someone famous.
Jou had splurged and had purchased a new tie, one he thought screamed 'professional hair stylist.' It was a deep green, with irregular lines of a very unobtrusive orange color, as well as flecks of peacock blue. All colors extenuated the natural shades in Jou's hair and skin, and it looked very suave against his black dress shirt. The formality was toned down by the jeans and black dress shoes.
This famous chick won't hardly be able t' keep her hands offa me, Jou grinned at his reflection after he had re-done his hair. He checked his teeth, and slipped a breath mint onto his tongue. The tip was going to be amazing, but the most exciting notion was having this famous woman become a regular of his!
I'll just do my absolute best, Jou promised his reflected face. And according t' popular vote, that's pretty damn good.
sc
The limo pulled smoothly up to the curb, and before the driver could hurry around to the passenger door, Seto had already opened it and exited.
"This is the salon?" Seto held the door open for his head of advertising. She scrambled out awkwardly in the suit skirt she wore, pulling out an umbrella for the light shower that still fell.
"This is it." She affirmed. "Now, we're already late to your appointment, and I want to talk to the stylist beforehand, too."
Seto stalked inside, immediately removing his trench coat. It wasn't a light jacket, and with the added weight of the fallen rain, it was almost uncomfortable. As he made to hang it up on the coat-rack by the counter, he felt strangely out of place in the fancy parlor.
It positively reeked of expensive hair product, and one wall was taken over by a long, gold-framed mirror. There were straight-backed chairs in the reception area, each one upholstered in a dreamy pink fabric, appliquéd with dusty-red roses. Vases of real-life roses adorned most flat surfaces, and on the pale gold walls, hung in ornate gilded frames, were large photos of men and women with stylish haircuts.
"Hatsume-san, are you sure this is a place to get an everyday-teen haircut?" Seto eyed a bottle of sample perfume on the counter in front of him.
"I was assured that the stylist was competent in the look we're going for."
"Remind me what look that is?"
Hatsume fiddled with the strap of her purse. "We were angling for a combination of star-athlete and sex-god."
"What?" Seto turned to face his guilty-looking advertising head. "All I was told was something 'less severe,' I believe it was."
"Well… we want to appeal to a wide variety of people, and my department feels confident that-"
Her explanation was cut off as a young, platinum-blonde woman hurried out of the door behind the reception desk. "Oh, you must be Kaiba-san, for two-thirty."
"Yes." Seto said smoothly. "I apologize if my tardiness has unconvinced the stylist's schedule."
The receptionist smiled brightly. "No problem, Kaiba-san. There's plenty of time between your appointment and the next Katsuya-san has scheduled."
The name Katsuya struck a chord in Seto's mind, but he brushed it aside. "Hatsume-san, I believe you wished to speak to the stylist before we got underway, correct?" He glanced at the nametag pinned to the receptionist's blouse. "Natsunou-san, where can we find the stylist?"
"He's got the second chair just around the corner, Kaiba-san."
Seto began to walk in the direction the receptionist pointed him in, but stopped as Hatsume spoke up.
"Pardon me, but is there a more private area in which we could have Kaiba-san's hair done?"
Natsunou smiled. "Of course. We already have set up a screen around Katsuya-san's chair. If any guest should bother you, we shall make further arrangements for privacy."
"Thank you." Hatsume hurried after Seto, who was rounding the corner quickly. Looking down briefly to adjust her purse-latch, she walked into Seto's back. He had stopped abruptly, and Hatsume peered around him to find the source of his astonishment.
Standing beside a gold-lavender screen was an attractive young man with sandy blonde hair, artfully messy and yet stylishly pleasing. He had a lean, strong frame, and his handsome face mirrored the shock on Seto's.
"Do…you know him?" Hatsume asked timidly. Seto sent her a startled look, as if he only just remembered she was there. He quickly regained his ice-like composure, brushing off her question.
"Hatsume-san, I believe you said you wished to speak with him before we began." Seto gave her a meaningful look when she didn't respond at first.
"Oh, right." Hatsume hurried foreword, shaking hands with the young man. "I am Hatsume Subutsu, Director of Advertising at KaibaCorp."
Jou didn't miss a beat, however unnerved by seeing Seto. He took her hand and actually brought it to his lips briefly. "Katsuya Jounouchi, Subutsu-san."
Seto was almost more surprised when his normally strictly-business employee giggled and blushed. "Oh please, Jounouchi-san, call me Hatsume."
Jou gave a half-smile, something Seto had come to associate with him after the tutoring sessions. "Thank you, Hatsume. Now, what is it that you wanted t' tell me?"
As Hatsume described the look she wanted for Seto, the CEO watched Jou carefully. Seto had noticed how his accent was nearly undetectable when he had addressed Hatsume, and he had noticed how sharp Jou looked. The teen actually looked like an artist for the socialite; someone who had as much class as the people he worked on.
His scrutiny was interrupted as Hatsume turned back to him. "Kaiba-san, I'll be in the reception area. Page me if you need anything."
Jou watched her walk away with a trace of amusement in his caramel-colored eyes. "She's charmen.'"
Seto felt a sudden urge to retort Not as charming as you come off as but stayed his tongue. He thought that provoking someone who was about to cut your hair was a rather foolish thing to do. "Let's get to it." He sat in the salon chair, distinctly uncomfortable.
Jou got out one of the hair salon bibs, and fastened it around the CEO's neck. His knuckle brushed the back of Seto's neck accidentally, and Jou waited for a reprimand. He continued when none came.
"C'mon, let's get you washed up."
Seto followed Jou wordlessly to the sinks, sitting down and leaning his head back. Jou turned on the taps, and gently massaged Seto's scalp, making sure to get all of his hair thoroughly wet. He was secretly delighted with the chance to see the strong CEO so vulnerable, but a strange sensation was slowly building in his lower stomach that made him more uncomfortable than amused. The feeling intensified as he worked shampoo into the thick hair and rinsed it.
They didn't talk until Seto was seated in the salon chair again, privacy screen covering them both from outside view. Then Seto's eyes found Jou's in the mirror.
"Tell me what you're going to do to my head."
He's just a regular customer, Jou told himself firmly. Keep it professional. Right. The feelingin his stomach protested; something squirmed and writhed. Jou banished the feeling as best he could, reciting his procedure.
"Well, from wha' your friend said, it should be sexy, but strong. So I thought I'd thin it out a bit on top, an' then I'm gonna add some real subtle highlights, finishing with a trim that'll look real masculine when it's done."
"Highlights? You're going to put blonde in my hair?-!"
"Naw, not blonde. A warmer tone den what's in your hair already, just a real soft reddish-walnut. You'll hardly even notice it, promise."
Slightly mollified, Seto studied Jou in the mirror. The accent was back, he noted, and Jou seemed to have gotten over his previous shock of seeing him as a customer. But why is Jou working here? He's never mentioned cosmetology before… only that he has a job.
Jou was busying himself mixing up the afore-mentioned color, heart hammering. Only Honda, Anzu, Yuugi and his father knew he worked here, and now Seto Kaiba was privy to the information. Jou flushed, thinking miserably of what Seto was going to say.
Might as well get it over with.
"Say, Kaiba?"
"Yes?"
"About, uh, my workin' here, I would, um, appreciate it if you, uh, didn't-"
Seto cut him off, however not unkindly. "You seem to have worked up quite a reputable name for yourself in this business. That's nothing to be ashamed of."
"I'm not ashamed!" Jou said hotly. "Jus- Just some other people jump t'conclusions abou' me when I tell 'em dat I work here, an' I'm sick an' tired of-"
"Katsuya, I'm not jumping to any conclusions. I… do not think that your… preferences are affected by where you choose to work. If you're good at this, and you enjoy it, then you shouldn't have to worry about what other people assume." Seto snapped.
Jou was silent for a moment. Then; "Thanks, Seto."
"Whatever. Get… doing whatever it is you said you were going to do. I can't pretend that I'm excited to have highlights and the rest."
Jou actually managed a grin at that. "Don' worry, it'll look great."
"It had better, or Hatsume may reevaluate her glowing opinion of you. Tell me, Katsuya, do you always kiss the hands of your clients?"
"She ain't my client; you are. Note how I didn' kiss your hand, Seto."
"Noted, and appreciated. Anyways, answer the question."
"Yeah. The ladies really love it, and tip like crazy. Now, obviously, I don' go kissin' my male customers, I don' think they'd like it much…"
As he talked on, applying the color and wrapping the tinfoil, Jou realized with a start that he and Seto were on first-name terms.
End Chapter
Authoress here.
Okay, so it's technically two chapters in three days, 'cause it's TWO O CLOCK in the morning. I'm so regretting this when I wake up.
Oh well. Please review. I appreciate it. I mean, I blushed right to my toes when the kind person said they liked the fic so much they believed it to be the best SetoJou fic out there. I 'squee'ed rather delightedly at that, so thank you.
Out and SLEEPING. I wasn't manufactured to be nocturnal.