Kaiba had always been an early riser, often finding himself awake even before the birds had the chance to sing their morning tunes. It was a habit he had formed early on in his childhood; he had always been awake before his parents stirred, roaming about house in the dim morning light in enjoyable solitude.
He had always relished his morning escapades through the quiet hallways as a child, and even to this day Kaiba found pleasure in it. It was a bit more difficult to do nowadays, what with Mokuba becoming quite the early riser as well, but nonetheless, Kaiba took advantage of the opportunity when it arose.
The sun was barely peeking over the horizon when Kaiba found himself lying awake in bed and for a while he remained still, eyes closed, listening to the silence that had overtaken his house during the hours of the night.
The morning was typical at best; Kaiba took his time in completing his morning rituals and set time aside to organize his belongings for the day of school ahead of him.
Not only was Kaiba early with his mornings, but he had made it a habit to be that way with just about everything else. This went in regard to his school work as well. He had formed the habit of being rather studious with his work, continuously completing each project well before its set deadline.
Consequently, there was a class project being assigned today. He remembered this from last week and had already appropriated a topic for said project, having spent time to plan it out over the last week. It was hardly difficult to execute a suitable topic for such an easy class: History.
The object of the upcoming project was to select a country of choice and research its history and culture. He had chosen Sweden, though not for any discernible reason. He simply felt that the country had stood out to him, as he knew very little about it.
As a result of Kaiba's previously mentioned habit, he often left for school at an early hour as well.
Today, he would spend his time before class researching the final details about his chosen country. He sat himself at a computer terminal and went to work.
The time ticked away efficiently and by the time Kaiba had added the final touches to his rough sketch of research, he had ten minutes to waste before needing to reach his first class. Diligently, he packed his things into his backpack and shut off the computer at his terminal, all before setting off for the classroom.
Bypassing his locker, he turned and ascended the stairs, moving up through the stairwell and to the second floor, parading down the hallway to his destination.
Kaiba peered in through the door, though he didn't particularly expect many of his classmates would have already arrived; it seemed to him that a majority of them found enjoyment in being late each and every day.
As he expected, only a handful of students were already seated; the rest would be in minutes after the bell for class had already rang. He strode in through the door and took his seat, setting his bag down on the floor next to his desk.
As predicted when the class bell rang, students began trickling in from the hallway. The teacher sat at his desk and watched the door intently, obviously accustomed to waiting for all the stragglers to finally find their way to the classroom.
Unlike Jonouchi, Kaiba never found his mind occupied that morning by the events of the previous day. His mind did not waver from the task he had set out for himself that morning; it had been perfectly focused.
That is until Jonouchi himself slipped through the classroom door, Yugi close behind him. It wasn't that Kaiba didn't remember what had occurred between them, he simply didn't care much for it, and so it wasn't something to think about or dwell on. He stared Jonouchi down and watched as the blonde shuffled his way between desks to reach his own, the corner of his mouth pulled back ever so slightly.
As Jonouchi maneuvered through the seats shot a glance back at Kaiba, firing off a playful wink at him before turning away to take his seat.
Kaiba had by his time been pretending not to not Jonouchi, his eyes focused on a focal point of the whiteboard at the front of the room. Though this reaction was hardly unexpected by Jonouchi.
Kaiba's attention immediately altered to his teacher upon seeing him stand to address the class.
The man was always well dressed, sharp, polished and clean. It seemed he owned a different tie for each new day, some flashier than others. His suits were well-kept and when at school one would never see him in anything else.
Teacher stood and observed the class for a moment, before clearing his throat in attempt to gather everyone's attention. Upon achieving this, he began, "I know I had promised to give you all your information regarding the class project. A vital piece of information you all may wish to know is that for this project in particular, I have assigned partners."
It was then that the entire class simultaneously gave a groan of disapproval, which ended abruptly once their teacher had held his hand up to them.
Kaiba in particular was displeased by this news. Having a partner to deal and work with on a project always proved to be too much of a hassle. Not only was his partner usually someone he would prefer not to associate with, but project partners also threatened his work being finished in a timely matter. However, at this point he had learned to simply work on the project alone, should his partner fail to deliver, and hand it in with only his name on its record.
Kaiba watched the teacher intently, listening to his rattle off the names of project partners. He reclined in his seat some and folded his arms, waiting to hear his own name called.
Though once he heard it, his heart sank further than it normally would have.
"Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jonouchi, you are paired for this assignment," is what he had heard fall from the teacher's mouth.
It hardly helped the matter to see Jonouchi swivel his head around to look at him with a large, dopey grin on his face.
Kaiba returned the favour by casting a mild glare in Jonouchi's directly, before averting his gaze to the front of the room once again.
It was obvious, the world was seeking to punish him.