The Assignment

SMACK!

The ball flew over the net in the school yard, those on the other side merely watching as it sailed past the boundary as they groaned. "Mannnn," one of the students, a clearly 'foreign' blond whined. "Again?" The others turned as the tall, if not currently the tallest student on the field merely smirked, having defeated the opposing team yet again with that same move.

One of the other students scowled at the cold and impersonal smirk, gritting their teeth. "How the hell do we beat someone half a foot taller than us, I mean, look at his reach..." The student he was talking about merely rolled his eyes as the opposite team continued to complain. After all, the teen appeared to think to himself, it wasn't as though they had been outmatched- the game had been tied for most of the class, and it was that single move that had won each game it seemed.

Nonetheless as the bell rang said student found himself heading to the change room with another smug smirk on his face, leaving the sour expressions of a majority of his classmates to fester. 'Seto Kaiba' always got the last word after all, be it in a meeting or simply the school's gym class. Team sports, as much as he quite obviously loathed them, were not exception. However it appeared that he was still surprised when, moments afterward, the same blond that had cried out during the class approached him with a slightly forced look of cheer. The shorter one beside him Seto noted, had a genuine expression of positivity in contrast to his friend's forced grin, and for a brief moment the teen wondered just what was running through their heads. For a few seconds, the two merely stood there, coming dangerously close to receiving an aggravated 'move' from the teen. Eventually, however, it was the shorter (What was his name... 'Mutou'? Something like that) who spoke first. "That was a good game," he said with a smile, looking up from his almost two-feet-shorter position. "Do you have any tips? It's a new unit, but you seemed really good at it!"

The blond nodded, smile seeming somewhat less forced now that his friend had spoken up. "Yea, I mean... You killed us out there!" Hnn... Yes... Who was this one again? Right. 'Jonouchi'. The delinquent that managed to never miss a class. However that worked.

Seto scoffed, going back to grabbing his clothes. "If you want to succeed in something as menial as a gym class game," he said rather bluntly, "I suggest either doing something other than playing around inside all the time, or just facing up to the fact that midgets don't do well in sports like volleyball." The boy he addressed froze, looking slightly taken aback for a moment before watching the teen shove past. "If you excuse me, I'd rather not change in a room full of sore losers." Regardless of if that was the reason, a majority of the boys in the room were indeed sending glares at Kaiba from afar... Though it was questionable that this had anything to do with the fact that they lost, as even the people who had been on Kaiba's team were sending him those looks.

As the teen left Yugi looked down at the floor with an odd look on his face, looking decidedly upset about the blunt rejection before his friend patted him on the shoulder. "Ahhh don' worry about it Yug'. We should've figured that he'd be a jerk in person if he was a jerk in class." While the taller appeared to get over it well enough however his friend merely sighed, shaking his head.

"Yea... I guess..." That would be the first time they spoke to Seto Kaiba. It would be two days later that they would meet again, in the game shop Yugi's grandfather owned. There, where they would find out about Kaiba's large interest in Duel Monsters cards, along with the fact that yes, outside of school, he was still a jerk. And shortly after that...

Kaiba wouldn't be seen in class for two days, a rare occurrence that for once had even the teachers confused.

He supposed that it was then, when Kaiba returned only to retain 'neutral' actions rather than acting like the usual jackass he was. It was then, that he acknowledged his curiosity on the teen. Though he decided it had a bit to do with the project he'd been assigned in Japanese for missing those few days of class before as well.

Katsuya, not that anyone called him by his given name, balked at the paper he was given before looking at the teacher over the pages. "Awww... Are you serious?"

The man merely frowned, crossing his arms with a stern nod. "Quite frankly Jonouchi-kun, you should be glad I haven't simply taken the marks off. This make-up assignment is only because you attended all my classes." His frown became more of an unimpressed, blank and half-lidded stare however as his student groaned, and he continued. "Though I do often wonder how much you pay attention, so if you're really so intent on throwing this assignment away..."

Katsuya quickly paled, clutching the papers and rubric close with a shout. "Ah! 'M fine! Really, I'll get it done!"

"Good," the teacher said with a nod. He then moved to show different points of the assignment to his student, gesturing over each point on the rubric. "Now then, this shouldn't be too difficult, but it's enough that you'll certainly need to do more than a single night's work... Which," he added with another half-lidded stare, "I know you have more than enough time to handle, regardless of your part-time jobs..." Katsuya laughed nervously, before listening to what else the teacher had to say with a swallow. "What I'm asking you to do is pick a person in your life, other than yourself, and write an 'analysis' on them. A study of sorts, if you will, before forming it into the style of a research article. This article will be from your point of view, dealing with yourviews on that person; there will be no influence from other students or parents."

The blond blinked, digesting the information for a moment. "Ah... 'N article," he repeated.

The teacher nodded. "Precisely. I expect it to be at least two pages, though if you write it well enough I'll accept one and a half." He then smiled, stepping aside as the teen continued looking over the papers in confusion. "Good luck- I expect it within a month."

Katsuya jumped at that, looking back to the teacher with wide eyes. "A- A month? I though' th's was f'r those two days I miss'd!"

The outburst gained a laugh from the teacher, and he shook his head. "Consider it a large amount of preparation time given your experience with free-range projects in the past... Also," he added dryly, "I would rather it not get in the way of future assignments..."

"Hey, hey," the blond muttered, "I'm not tha' bad..." The teacher appeared to pointedly ignore him, waving him off with a smile.

"Yes yes... Get moving now," his teacher sighed, "You have work I imagine." At this, Katsuya blinked before tensing considerably as he caught sight of the clock. That was right! If he didn't hurry, he was...

"AAAH! See yah sensei," he shouted in panic, running out of the room to leave a laughing teacher behind. This. This right here... Was probably why his teacher put up with everything.

He didn't want to do his report on Yugi, because that would probably be a little invasive. And doing it on his relatives was either too hard or too... Well... Hard, to tell the truth. And the further he went down the list, the more he was dreading this stupid report. Katsuya frowned, sitting at his desk at lunch that next day as he tried to figure out who to do his paper on. So far, he managed to cross off about everyone he knew, much to his distaste. "Ahhhhh damn it..." He grabbed his head, before standing up with grit teeth. "I gotta figure this out..."

Katsuya left the room, heading into the washrooms with a scowl. He needed to think of someone, anyone, but damn it, he had nothing! Honda had just as many (Well, almost as many) issues as he did, Yugi was too close of a friend, Shizuka too far away, his dad too private a subject (In terms of his own problems), and Anzu was... Well Anzu was a girl, and that'd be weird given the blatant crush his best friend had on the woman. Plus, everyone was kinda recovering from that hellish, twisted night at that American professor's house...

Zombies. Yikes.

Splashing his face with a bunch of water from the sink as these thoughts ran through his head, he groaned. "Mannnn what 'm I gonna do..."

"What you could do Jonouchi," a voice from the room said, "Is listen to what I say, right now." Katsuya jumped, pulling back from the sink as Kaiba's voice floated out from one of the stalls. "Got it?"

He blinked, before frowning. "Hehh? What the heck are you talkin' about?" Besides how creepy the request sounded in any context... "What do you want with me, I thought you were done after Yug' showed you that card before!" Come to think, he never found out what happened after that, though when Kaiba hadn't shown up the next day for school, Yugi looked a little worried. Not that he'd said anything but... Well, there had been rumors of screaming in the classroom that evening.

There was a scoffing noise, which seemed to be laced with either disgust (more likely) or possibly fear (not likely in any way). "Please... As if I sought you out, you mutt," the teen said, Katsuya growling at the 'mutt' comment. "Just listen, and maybe if you're lucky you'll get a treat."

"Ngggg... Why the hell would I listen to you yah ass?" And what was with the dog comments, he added mentally, he didn't even have anything to do with dogs!

To Katsuya's surprise, Kaiba fell silent for a short moment. Actually, it was a little creepy... What the hell was going on in that stall that was so important? "Just. Do it. Mutt."

He tensed, but, curiosity aroused, scowled and agreed nonetheless. "Yea yea, I'll do what yah want... But it better not have anythin' to do with my friends!"

Another scoff, and Katsuya imagined that the teen was currently rolling his eyes. "Hn! As if I want anything to do with them..! Just grab my bag and send it under the door, alright?"

The blond raised a suspicious eyebrow at that, before blinking a few times. "Your... Bag? Wait, you mean that briefcase you carry around," he asked, shaking his head. "What, don't have it on you?"

"Just get it Jonouchi!" He jumped as Kaiba's typically high temper came into play, a snarl echoing through the largely empty room for a few seconds following. It seemed a little more extreme this time around; but then again, the jerk was probably paranoid about something in the bathroom. Or something. (What the hell was he worrying about..?)

Katsuya smirked at the thought of whatever it was the teen needed, chuckling quietly to himself for a moment. Yeaaaaa... There was probably all sorts of stuff in there... "Alright, alright," he decided with a shrug. It wasn't like anyone was in the classroom right now anyways, what with it being sunny for once that month; everyone was on the roof... That or in the schoolyard. "I'll get your stupid briefcase, sheesh..."

He was answered with silence, and the teen shrugged before walking out of the room to do as requested when it seemed there would be no snarky response. Ordinarily he wouldn't do this but... A thought entered his head as he grabbed the case in the room, before grinning. "Nyhhhhh... Wonder what's in here that he wants so bad..." Looking around the classroom, he turned back to the briefcase, a somewhat crafty grin still on his face. It looked simple enough... And of course, it was also locked. "...Hrnnnn..." He could pick locks... Katsuya looked up at the clock, idly weighing his options. Lets see... There was possibly getting caught by another classmate (Easy enough to handle), a teacher (Not so much), and then likely facing Kaiba's wrath in whatever form that would be... And... Um...

In the end, he ended up sliding it under the door as requested, completely untouched otherwise, and leaning against the stall as Kaiba managed to turn an act of gratitude into yet another insult. "I guess you can teach even the stupidest of mutts tricks," he said, ignoring the sputtering from Katsuya that he received in response. "Now then," he continued as he left the stall, giving the other teen a curt nod. "I keep my word Jonouchi. And something tells me that this 'reward' won't be refused." Aha- Wait what? What kind of reward... Eh...

Apparently despite the offer given, Kaiba didn't expect it to be taken... As his expression didn't change one bit when Katsuya snorted and moved to leave the room. "Feh, keep whatever yer 'reward is', I don't need it..." The emphasis on 'reward' was a little too chilling for his tastes.

"Hn." As the teen left the room, Kaiba smirked. "You'll regret that someday mutt. As it is," he said as he crossed his arms, "Stop by my mansion someday if you change your mind."

Yea yea yea, whate- Hang on mansion? For a brief moment, Katsuya found himself looking back, eyes narrowed with suspicion and confusion before he finally moved to return to the classroom. "Whatever," he muttered to himself. Kaiba was just an asshole anyways... And he'd have plenty of time to vent at him, or at least attempt to, during gym next class. Mansions and 'rewards' were really... Nothing he should be thinking about right now.

AN: Welcome to the first chapter of Skin- it can only get worse from here!

So... You've gained Katsuya's curiosity... What should you do? To clarify on that, at this moment not much was known about Kaiba; in fact, you don't find out until much later that Seto Kaiba is indeed the 'Kaiba' of 'KaibaCorp'. So essentially, he was just 'that jerk in the back of the room'.

And for those wondering specifically what 'timeline' this is right now, if you haven't guessed from the chapter, this exact moment of reading is just a little bit after the 'Man from Egypt' arc. The one where Shadi appears... And messes with people's heads.

Zommmmmmbieeeeees~

On another note, as promised, I have a 'legend' for the names that were changed in the dub... At least for the names of people showing up thus far.

Katsuya Jonouchi (As it would appear written the 'western' way) - Joey Wheeler. There's some irony in this name that you'll catch much much later in this fanfic.

Hiroto Honda - Tristan Taylor. Oddly enough, much cooler before Duelist Arc... At which point he slowly faded into cheerleader-dom... Hopefully the style of this fanfic brings more people to the spotlight though.

Anzu Mazaki - Tea Gardner. A lot cooler in Japanese than English; let me tell you that. Oddly enough, I actually support Peachshipping for that reason...

Shizuka Kawai – Serenity Wheeler. That's right! Shizuka took her mother's name in the original!

Annnnnnd that's it for now. What with Seto and Yugi's names remaining unchanged... Mostly. (Yugi's last name is 'Mutou' rather than 'Muto') See you in the next chapter.