Cursive

by Lethe Seraph

Four: Experimented

Lengthy Author's Notes that may be Skipped without Great Consequence

I was sidetracked by Life. I know, I know, how dare I! I'm a fanfiction author! I have no life! …But, what can you do? My sister acquired Dance Dance Revolution Max 2, and thus some time was taken. I got Sonic Heroes, and yet more went –

Then there were all of the projects and assignments that just happened to crop up …

And, after that, school ended, I found out that the TOKYOPOP deadline is in August, I got DDR Max 1 and Sonic Heroes for my birthday, went to Thailand for a month, and-

Excuses, Lethe! Bad!

I know. I'm bad.

But I have pretty italics.

I hope that you enjoy this chapter. Many thanks to everyone who has continued to stick with this. I love you all.

Oh em gee! (OMG!) Oh oh cee! (OOC!) It BURNS! Please tell me if it seems too out-of-character, while keeping the situation (which is probably very impossible) in consideration.

This chapter is a little bit different, in that the 'dialogue' sections of the last chapter are actually incorporated into the plot of this one. I'm not sure whether this is better, worse, or mediocre, so feedback is very much appreciated.

Hey, you knew it was Mokuba anyway.

After this chapter, I think that the perspective will probably shift again. Just to give y'all a heads up. (And maybe even the answer to the question that seems to have been bugging you all, heh heh.) This is for two main reasons:

Firstly, I have more fun writing Jou. He's not as serious, and events in his view tend to unfold (in my opinion) in a more humorous manner, what with the back-and-forth dialogue and the like. And this leads to the second reason:

When I try to write Seto's point of view, it feels like I'm going painfully out of character.

I'll give you two more hints:

It's not Anzu, and it's not Seto.

I'm sure you all know who it is now. ::evil chuckle::

Kaiba just couldn't get it out of his head. Mokuba's advice continued to echo in his mind.

It wasn't right, though. Besides – he had more important things to worry about. His company came first.

Think about business. Think about business.

Not that kind of business-!

He groaned softly and rubbed his forehead, eliciting a concerned "All you all right, sir?" from his chauffeur.

"Yes. I'm fine," Kaiba said brusquely. "Keep your eyes on the road."

He would have to be more careful. It wouldn't do well to have his employees think he was weakening. It wouldn't do well at all.

You know, you kind of have been flirting with him already…

When? When had he flirted with Jonouchi? His brother must have been mistaken.

Seto Kaiba did not flirt.

He hadn't winked, he hadn't smiled, and he had hardly touched Jonouchi at all.

"…Sir?"

"What is it?" snapped Kaiba.

"We're here."

He blinked and looked out of the window. They had indeed arrived. A blush threatened to creep up his cheeks. Unsure of how to respond to the driver, he instead opened the door and stepped out, reaching back for his suitcase-

His suitcase.

He cursed.

You're back already?

I don't have time to talk! Of all the things to happen-

Oh, that's right! I was going to call you. You left your suitcase by the stairs. Were you distracted thinking about-

No! No, I was not, and if you'll excuse me, I'll see you tonight.

Wait!

What now?!

You might want those papers, too. You took them out of your suitcase yesterday.

…Thank you.

No problem! Now you owe me, right?

I'll buy something for you on the way home. All right?

Just think about what I said. I'm serious!

Anything but that. I'm not about to sacrifice my rep-

But … but … please?

No! I'm going to be late-

Just agree! Then I'll let you go.

What do you mean, 'you'll let me go'? I can leave at any – don't give me that look!

Please? You just have to consider it …

Fine! I'll consider it. I'm going now.

Do you need your cell phone, too?

What?!

Heh. Kidding. It's on your belt. You're really out of it today, Seto.

…Goodbye.

He made it into the classroom with three and a half seconds to spare.

The teacher looked up at him, mild amazement written across her face. "Ah, Kaiba. You're here."

Kaiba gave her a small, curt nod before walking through the room to his desk.

After a moment of internal conflict – which was more important to him, his brother or his pride? – Kaiba made eye contact with Jonouchi as he passed by.

Jou grinned. "Mornin'."

"Good morning." Kaiba paused for a moment. "Jou," he added quietly.

He could hear a flurry of whispers begin behind him, the loudest being Hiroto Honda's. "What did he say?"

"I think he… said Jou…!"

"Jou! What happened?"

Kaiba sat, a small smirk lacing its way through his expression.

This could be fun.

Seto! You're home late! How did it go? Did you think about it? Did you do it? Did you and Jonouchi do it? Did you-

Calm down, Mokuba. What did you eat when you got home from school?

Um … five cookies, a glass of milk, and a Jolly Rancher. Why?

No reason.

Well? Well? Come on, I want to hear everything!

It wasn't that exciting. I did consider your advice, and decided to try it for a few days-

All right! You rock! I love you, big brother!

You didn't before?

Um … I mean … I love you more. Keep on going.

First, in the morning, I made eye contact with him and said his name.

Ooh, that's good. What was his reaction? Was he blushing or anything?

I don't know. I walked past him … although his friends certainly were talkative after that.

Perfect. They'll start commenting, and he'll deny everything really forcefully, but on the inside, he'll begin to question himself. Good plan.

Where do you learn these things?

You have your sources, I have mine. What did you do after that?

…After school, I went to his locker.

Score! …You knew where his locker was?

Don't read anything into that. I had seen him at it before. He was quite surprised to see me there…

Seto glanced around, smiling inwardly when he noticed Jonouchi's back. The boy was crouching in front of his locker, muttering to himself.

"Do I need this? No, I don't think so, there wasn't any homework – or was there? Dammit…"

Kaiba positioned himself directly behind Jonouchi and bent his knees until his head was level with Jou's own. He looked over Jou's shoulder. "Algebra? No, you don't have any homework in that class."

Jou jerked forward, hitting his head on the locker door. He cursed. "What the … Kaiba?!"

Don't comment negatively… "Seto. If I am to call you by your nickname, then you should return the favor." He raised an eyebrow. "Do you talk to yourself regularly, then?"

Jou's face reddened. "Why are you here?"

"I thought that you might need a ride." The two were really quite close. He was unable to tell whether Jonouchi had noticed.

The blonde returned the Algebra textbook to his locker and began struggling to zip his backpack. It was tattered and dusty; years old, by the look of it. When was the last time Jonouchi had purchased one? "Um … thanks. No homework?"

"No homework," affirmed Kaiba.

"Thanks," repeated Jonouchi awkwardly. He gave the backpack's zipper a final sharp yank and stood, closing his locker. He turned to Kaiba. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "You."

"It's an expression, smartass."

"It's not a very good one, then."

"Well, then, why do so many people use it?"

After a short moment of inner debate, in which Mokuba's pleading eyes continued to resurface in his visual memory, Kaiba smacked Jonouchi lightly upside the head. "Not a good question, Jou," said Kaiba. He began to walk away.

Jonouchi, rubbing the spot bemusedly, caught up to Kaiba with no trouble. "What was that for?"

"You asked me what I was waiting for, and it seemed like you were ready to go."

"No, the hit! Why'd you hit me?!"

"You thought that was a hit?"

"…No," said Jou petulantly. "But why'd you do it?"

"Honda's your friend, correct?"

Jou blinked. "Um, yeah."

"You two hit each other quite often."

Jou stared.

"I'm trying to be friendly." Kaiba smiled at him; all the while reminding himself that Mokuba would be happy, Mokuba would be happy. He had better appreciate this.

And I do. Very much. You're the best.

Thank you. I feel rather tainted, though.

You'll get used to it with practice!

"Welcome to hell, you'll get used to it with practice"?

Come on. It can't have been that bad. You sound like you kind of enjoyed yourself.

…Well.

You know you did. Admit it …

How do you know what I know?

I can tell.

I'm sure you can. All right, then, tell me what the mutt did next.

By 'the mutt' you mean Jonouchi, right?

Yes.

I'll guess that he blushed and was quiet while you both walked out to your car, like he was thinking about something really deep. And he wouldn't look at you, either.

…Mokuba?

Yess

That wasn't even close.

"Whoaaa!" said Jonouchi, shifting his backpack onto his shoulder and eyeing Kaiba. "Dude!"

Kaiba was nonplussed. "Dude?"

"Kai – Seto, you can smile!" Jonouchi leaned closer, tilting his head to one side. He moved to look at one side of Kaiba's face, and then around to the other. "Man, that's weird."

"I wasn't aware that it was uncommon."

"No, I mean, you've smiled before, but it was more of a smirky smile, right? Or an I'm-gonna-kick-your-ass smile. …Although that one's kinda smirky too. Dude, Seto, you really have to do that more often."

"You said 'dude' again," commented Kaiba.

"I'm serious. You look cu-" Jonouchi cut himself off and pulled his eyes away. "So, what about that ride?"

Was he about to call me 'cute'?

Wow! That's awesome! It started a lot quicker than I thought it would.

What started?

Don't you see? He's getting a crush on you!

Never. There was nothing more-than-friendly about that conversation.

Sure, right. What did he do after that?

…Not much.

He did what I said he would, didn't he?

No.

He did!

No, he didn't.

You wouldn't lie to me, would you?

Of course not, Mokuba.

So did he?

Perhaps. Not quite.

Ha! I was right!

I didn't say th-

Well, then, what did he do?

He blushed-

See?

-but he did try to start up a bit of a conversation. And mutts don't think deep thoughts.

Setoooo …

Fine. Jonouchi didn't seem to be thinking of anything deep. Although I suppose he may have been thinking about something. Perhaps.

Did he look at you?

Not when he thought I would notice.

A sure sign.

Where did you learn this sort of thing?

I told you. You have your sources, I have mine.

I'm going to start monitoring your Internet usage more closely. Just so you know.

Thanks. I love you too. You'll keep at it tomorrow, too, right?

What?!