Cursive
by Lethe Seraph
Three: Seto
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Many thanks, as always, to everyone who has been reviewing! It makes me happy. ::grin grin::
Yes. Even the flames; it's so nice to know that there are people in the world more crude than I.
Let's see. What else is there for me to say? Um…
A lot of you are confused as to the voice Jou is talking to. ::grin:: I love reading all of the guesses made; Jou, Mai, Seto, Anzu, Ryou, Honda, Yami, Sugoroku, and even Jou's conscience. I'll give you a hint: One of them is right. The others aren't.
Ohohoho.
[plug!] If you like this, try reading some of my other stories! There are a few other Jou/Seto ones, Smile being the most… erm… lengthy.
Then, of course, there's a Malik/Bakura fic, and a Fruits Basket one that I threw in for the heck of it. ^_^;; Speaking of which, I should probably be working on it.
And then there's the random song parody… I was rather proud of that one. ::sweatdrops:: Okay, this is one heck of a long plug. I'll stop. [/plug!]
I hope you enjoy this chapter! Fear the sudden change of perspective! ::evil laughter:: …Kaiba's so hard to write. I've said it before, and I'm saying it again. My personality is just really different from his. I think that's the problem. (I didn't say 'intellect'. I said 'personality'. Take notes, all! ^_^;)
This one should be easier for y'all to figure out. ^_~ 'Easier' as in 'completely obvious'. If you miss it, you should get twenty whacks with a wet noodle.
I hope this turns out all right…
Urgh. Too … much … dialogue! I'm not liking how it's coming along. ::twitch::
Helpful feedback is much appreciated.
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…What's wrong?
Nothing. I'm fine.
No, you're not! I know you. What's wrong?
Hn. I should have known better than to lie to you.
Yeah, you should've. Come on, tell.
It's nothing… just my hormones acting up, I suppose.
You have hormones, Seto?
As a matter of fact, I do. Get over here!
Aah! Hey! Hey! Kyaaah!
Heh. You are so ticklish. Take that!
…I'm not getting distracted that easily. What do you take me for?
You're too smart for your own good.
Yup! Now tell me. It'll make you feel better, honest.
All right. Basically, I-
And no editing out the good bits, either.
What?!
You know what I mean.
It wasn't anything like that. And where did you get that sort of idea?
Nowhere…
Give it up.
You have to tell me first.
…Fine. You'll also have to tell me, though, just who bought five boxes of 'Caffeine Soap' online. They arrived today.
On second thought-
No. We had a deal. Now you sit down and listen to me.
Ack! I, um, have homework to do?
Too late.
Darn it.
Basically, what happened was this: today, I encountered Jonouchi alone-
And your hormones were acting up!? Have you told him how you feel? Have you ki-
No! Why do you look so happy?!
…Go on!
-and confronted him about what had happened earlier in the day – I'm about to explain that, so don't say anything. He had made a stand in class declaring that I was more attractive than the teacher was, in an attempt to explain why he had supposedly been paying attention while staring at me.
He was staring at you? Ooh, that's even better. Are you two-
No.
Awwww. But you'd look so cute-
No.
Aww!
He had been watching me write.
…That's kinda weird.
That was what I thought.
What happened when you confronted him?
In a nutshell? He told me to call him 'Jou' and I pretended to take that as an offer of friendship in order to get on his nerves. I offered him a ride home, as well.
You're friends with him now? All right! Was he really mad, though?
No. Just surprised. He was blushing…
Yep. He definitely likes you.
Think what you will, but he is quite straight. And why are you so obsessed with…?
No reason at all. Ha ha ha…
On the bright side, he might not be as irritating if he thinks we're friends.
Ah. Why did you look so upset when I came in, anyway?
I wouldn't say 'upset', per se… more 'contemplative'.
Whatever. Just go on.
Well…
-
"Hey, Kaiba?" said Jou as Kaiba sat back.
"Hn?"
"Why do you always cover your neck?"
Where had that come from?
After a moment of thought, Kaiba gave Jou a careful answer. "Personal preference. And before you think of anything perverted, I am not currently in a romantic or abusive relationship. All right?"
"Actually, I hadn't thought of that at all," said Jou. "I'd kinda figured you didn't have a girlfriend, what with being so busy and all."
Kaiba stared at him.
"What? I was right, right?"
This was just getting stranger and stranger. Kaiba hadn't thought that Jonouchi was capable of reasoning, and said as much.
"Yes. Apparently, you're able to reason now."
"You were only able to tell just now? Your reasoning skills aren't very good, are they?"
Kaiba responded with a small roll of the eyes. Jonouchi knew who was the smarter of the two, and to deny it was to prove it. "That's what you think."
"No, it's what you think I think."
"You're not going to win with that," he said matter-of-factly. Kaiba's opinions were as good as facts; he was hardly ever proven wrong.
"If you had to tell me, it means I've won."
…What?!
"The hell?!" said Kaiba, surprise showing in his expression. "Since when have you been like this?!"
"Huh? I'm just being me," said Jonouchi. "…Oh! We're here!"
For some reason, it disappointed him a bit. He pushed the feeling out, explaining it away as regret at having to stop the first lively banter he had shared with someone other than his brother in a very long time.
"You live here?"
A redundant question. He would have hit himself if he were less caring about his reputation; but, then, if he were less caring he wouldn't have wanted to hit himself at such an idiotic query. In any case, he wanted to hit himself.
Jou didn't comment on the idiocy of the question. By choice, or hadn't he noticed? "Yeah. So, thanks, Kaiba. And I guess I'll see you tomorrow in school." Jonouchi opened the car door and turned back to Kaiba.
Jonouchi, his … friend.
Choosing for once to steer clear of other, more biting replies, Kaiba nodded slightly. "Goodbye until then, Jou."
"Jeez! Smile a bit!" said Jonouchi. He grinned.
"Only in your dreams," responded Kaiba without thinking.
The door closed.
The car sped off.
It appears there's a side to Jonouchi that I hadn't been aware of, mused Kaiba. Who would have thought?
Ordinarily, Jonouchi was brash, preferring physical actions and direct statements to anything more intellectual. Kaiba had thought that wordplay was above the one he dubbed 'mutt'.
Of course, to be fair, the only side of Jonouchi he had ever seen was the one that flared up when provoked.
He couldn't help it. What else would break up the monotony of the school day?
The fangirls were too squealy, too quickly bored; Yugi too accepting. No, Jonouchi was the closest thing to a challenge Kaiba had in Domino High. How long could he push Jonouchi before making him snap? That was what the question had been. And then, somewhere along the line, his goal had changed oh-so-subtly.
How long could he be Jonouchi's 'friend' without snapping himself?
Could he be condescending enough, patient enough, to befriend this poor sap of a person?
And now he had seen that perhaps…
…perhaps Jonouchi wasn't such a mindless idiot after all.
He hadn't given the boy enough credit.
Underestimation was a weakness, Kaiba had learned a long time ago – the opponent could use that as an advantage, striking when least expected.
Jonouchi had actually taught Kaiba something today.
Perhaps this would be more interesting a challenge than he had thought.
-
Why do you always cover your neck? I hadn't noticed before.
As I told Jou – personal preference. It's more comfortable that way.
Why?
You might as well ask me why I wear the coat. I just feel more … secure … with routine, with these particular clothes.
Why not different clothes? You could wear a T-shirt every day.
I suppose I could. However, this cultivates a different appearance.
What, of a guy who puts too much starch in his laundry?
…You've got too smart a tongue for your own good.
I learned from the master. Heh. But what happened next?
I came home.
So that's it? You didn't turn back or anything? He didn't race after you into the sunset?
No. Why bother? We're going to see each other in school tomorrow.
You know what I think?
What?
A better challenge would be trying to make him love you.
What?!
Well, think about it! To get him to love you, or at least have a crush on you, would prove that you're better, right? I mean, especially if he thinks that he's straight right now. Not to mention it would be good for you. A real challenge-
You're insane.
Your fault.
It's not a good idea to toy with others' hearts, you know. Everyone reacts differently.
Well, you kind of already did.
I did?
Friends hold places in people's hearts too. Do you really think that didn't affect him at all?
…You may have a point. But I have a reputation to uphold. How odd would it be if the others suddenly saw me … flirting?
No, that's not it. Don't be too obvious. Just pick him up after school a bit more often, smile at him … do nice things. It would be interesting. You've never done it before, after all.
No. That's still going too far. Drop the subject now, if you will.
Fine… but, you know…
I said drop it.
You know, you kind of have been flirting with him already-
What?! No. I would never do such a thing.
He's probably questioned both himself and you a million times already.
Why?
You said he was blushing. And he noticed that you always cover up your neck. And there are probably a lot of other things, too, that you haven't told me. See?
I am straight. Why are you so obsessed with this idea?
You need someone to rip you away from the computer once in a while.
I thought that was why I had you. You do quite a good job of it.
Now you're blushing! You must be in love, Seto! How cute-
Get over here!
Kyaah!