The Edumacation of Katsuya Jounouchi

3/4/10

Disclaimer: About three things I was absolutely positive: First, I don't like glittery vampires. Second, I didn't feel like coming up with an original disclaimer, so I copied the quote from google. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in no ownership of Yu-gi-oh.

Please treat disclaimer with a sense of humor. Please forgive authoress if this fic fails in that department. Check other stories if looking for something deeper.

"Hey, how was the exam?" An enthusiastic smile greeted Jounouchi as he opened the door against his back. The recipient of this cheerful welcoming after his tousle with academics was his sister Shizuka. Her hazel eyes shined with happiness, while she gave him a quick hug.

"I didn't think you were coming till five." He pocketed a pair of keys into his jeans jacket. His sister wore a yellow t-shirt and a white flounce skirt, a bit short in his opinion.

The last thing his sister needed was the stares of ravenous, hormone-driven men. It was a topic that he should discuss with her. Again.

"Well, I wasn't doing anything, so I took the train earlier. I'm so glad that I had the key that you gave me. So, did you ace your exam?"

His lips upturned to a goofy grin, with his back suddenly outstretched. "Come on sis, you know me." He rubbed his nose, cocking it proudly towards the air. "Hey, I made your favorite meal, so check the stove."

As Shizuka headed his kitchen, he plopped onto the cheap sofabed. Across the small living room of the two-room apartment, a small television set on a chipped wooden TV stand. Several cans of beer were thrown on the wooden floor, and Jounouchi kicked them till they were underneath the sofa and no longer visible. A pang of guilt etched in him. His sister, sweet and the very basis of purity, was forced to put up with this mess; even though he didn't particularly care for cleaning, he always brought himself to vacuum the apartment before she visited. His backpack, carelessly tossed on the floor, held all of those stupid flashcards and notes that Anzu had helped him make for the exam. For hours, he pored over flashcard after flashcard, even if he'd rather be playing duel monsters with Yugi or watching wrestling with Honda.

Wrestling. A most manly sport that Yugi did not choose to watch.

In the end, none of it probably mattered. Yugi had assured him that exams weren't a real measure of anything. Those stupid analogies that related ambivalence and doubt were the torture child of the college boards that were created during one of their long and boring meetings. There must have been something wrong with the administrator and the way he kept time. Jounouchi was on the fifteenth of thirty questions when that snotty middle-aged man announced them that they had five minutes left. After that, a favorite test game called Eeny Meeny Miny Moe pushed ahead with great speed in filling those empty bubbles on the scantron with those always requested Number 2 pencils.

And who decided to call those pencils number 2? Did some pencil company have a stick up theirs (like that stupid Kaiba) and feel they were morally superior?

Alas, tests were not based on such impressive tactics or thought-provoking pondering. The educational system was more concerned with the actual answers.

He sighed. He might not have been book smart like Anzu or Shizuka, but he had aspirations for himself. One of them involved going to a university or college. His grades were average, but he never had much skill with standardized exams.

"Hey, Katsuya, I got you lunch." With two plastic bowls of steaming ramen in both hands, Shizuka sat next to him and placed his bowl on the soft coffee table.

It was a rarely known fact that Shizuka's appetite was just as big as his own. She was much pickier on what she liked, but, provided with a delicious dish, she chomped with equal stomach as the blond, though infinitely more grace.

"Shizuka," Jounouchi started, "what if someone I know did badly? What should they do?"

"What happened?"

"It's not me, but I was talkin' to this guy at the exam, and he was freakin' out about it. He's an awesome guy. Really, you can't find anyone cooler and handsome too, but he didn't get time to finish it. You see, he's got this sibling that looks up to him, and he doesn't wanna disappoint her. He must have studied for hours from what he told me."

Shizuka chewed thoughtfully before speaking. "Take it again."

"What? You can do that?"

"They hold this exam every month. Your friend can sign up, if he wants to, and pay the fee."

"Hey, what if he doesn't do well on tests?"

"When I was in the hospital, mom home schooled me. Most people waste time trying to memorize things without truly understanding it. I bet he just made flashcards and tried to look back and forth the whole time. Sometimes, it helps to create a mnemonic."

"A what?"

"Just some ridiculous saying that I use to remember stuff. Suppose I wanted to remember a word like inured. Inured means accustomed to accepting something unacceptable, but, if I wanted to study it, I'd think bad sex or rape. In yours but don't really want it. It really helps things to stick out in my mind."

All of this was said with no embarrassment, and Jounouchi's jaw dropped. His innocent sister, his dear soft-spoken cheerleader, proper and darling angel, the prime caricature of the innocence...

It was that Otogi's fault. As soon as he found that dice-obsessed freak, he'd get his claws around that pretty boy's neck.

"Hey, I go to school now, Katsuya. You should hear about some of outrageous things that girls say in the locker room." Jounouchi could still not remove himself from the stupor. His sister knew about sex. Next thing he knew, her chastity belt would be gone, and she'd be some stripper at club with two kids and dating a member of the mafia that she met at previously mentioned strip club.

Did she have a chastity belt to begin with?

"Anyway, tell your friend to cheer up. I'm sure he will do better next time, and I'm sure his sibling still worships him."

She pulled a strand of auburn hair away from her face and picked up ramen noodles with her chopsticks. Somehow, his sister always knew exactly what to say to him. Even she hadn't seen behind his brilliantly put together excuse (look out James Bond, Katsuya is in the house), she always believed in him.

That reminded him.

The next topic of conversation was a proposal for a purity ring.

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