A/N- Wow! My longest chapter yet! I hope you enjoy this one too - it's another one I had planned from the very beginning.
Thanks to WoNdY Alice for reviewing and sticking by this story since day 1! I owe you!
Really, please review, otherwise I don't know what yu think, or if you like the fic, or eevn if it is worth contining. If I'm that bad at writing, it is only polite to tell me m faults so I can corret them.
Oh well, ENJOY!
CHAPTER 7.
Upon his return to the group, Jou was immediately assaulted with questions from all sides.
"How'd it go with your brother?"
"Did you know he wasn't really employed here?"
"Why the heck was he wearing that...'outfit'?"
"Where's he gone now?"
"Can we go to his party?"
"Why didn't you tell me you had a brother?"
"I thought he was funny, will we see him again?"
Jou took in a deep breath as the questions stopped almost as quickly as they started.
"In order? Fine. Wouldn't surprise me, he's always doing crazy stuff. Again, he's crazy. Dunno. Not if I've anything to say about it. Would you tell people about him? And finally, probably not." Jou sighed in exhaustion, this whole day was tiring, and then he saw Sugoroku and Yoshimori-Sensei – Jou cringed as he remembered how he was the one to knock out his teeth – though if asked, it was all Anzu's fault.
"Oh hey, Jii, how ya' doing?"
Yugi's grandfather looked definitely amused at what he had just seen.
"I'm doing well. Thank you, Jounouchi-kun. Actually, before all this fuss over you brother,"
"Half-brother"
"Yoshimori-san had just invited me, and you kids, down to the basement – where the real project was going on."
All the gang looked at him in excitement, of course they were going to go!
"Ne, Jii-chan, what do you mean by 'real' project, I thought this was it?" asked Yugi tilting his head in curiosity.
'So did I ... Dang, there goes my hope for a harmless trip. Hey wait minute...'
Yoshimori-Sensei laughed a throaty chuckle that seemed to resonate the museum over.
"No, no, no, no, no! Come on, I'll tell you about it as we walk down to the basement where it's kept. Follow me,"
They started to make their way, but something was troubling Jou.
"... Hey guys, where's Kaiba and Otogi gone?"
Yugi was the one to answer him.
"Wow Jou, you're really spacey this week! Kaiba left soon after we arrived for a business meeting – I thought he actually looked pleased for once – and Otogi couldn't make it at all for the same reason. It must be hard for both of them to go to school and keep a business running. I hold a lot of respect for them."
"Yeah, I s'pose." Jou stuck his hands in his pockets as he walked alongside Honda, "But it don't mean he can act so high-n-mighty, I mean if 'Togi can act ... human, so can Kaiba."
Honda slung his arm around his friend, and smile cheekily at him.
"Ah, but Jou, we all know Kaiba isn't human."
'What?'
"He isn't?" Ryou looked over his shoulder at the conversation, looking very nonplussed.
"Oh, no! To the experienced eye, one can tell that Kaiba Seto is in fact a robot."
"What!" Now every body had stopped and turned to look at Honda, incredulous.
"Seriously, Honda," Jou took the arm off his shoulder and continued walking with a grin on his face, everybody else soon following his lead, leaving Honda behind, "Ya' nuts!"
That brought a laugh from everyone.
"Well, I'm glad you kids have settled our problems. Ah! To be young again!" Sugoroku seemed to have dived into his own world, which left the job of explaining why they were still heading to the basement to Yoshimori-Sensei.
"Well, the thing is, as you can probably tell, Domino museum has a relatively low budget. Which means we could have blown it all on the more impressive stuff, like statues and the more famous and artistic vases – possibly even borrowed parts of a temple from other museums, but we decided to do something different. We decided to spend our budget on researching something very new, something only recently discovered in a Japanese excavation of Antissa, Lesbos. That's a Greek Island in the Aegean Sea. Anyway, while there, the archaeologists found a podium after much digging of the back of the cave. And well, you'll see for yourself what they found. It's... it's... it could change the way we think about the Ancient Greeks forever. And that is what makes it so special. And expensive!"
Most of the gang were stunned by the sheer passion in his voice at the prospect of this find. But Jou was nervous. He could swear, he'd heard of Antissa before, and not just as a passing comment.
No.
Something was there, something important, to him especially. Just thinking about it gave a strange sense of melancholy and fondness.
Now, if only he could remember it.
Finally! They had reached the door of the basement research area.
Who knew that it would be such a long trek? Obviously Yugi and Yami had forgotten to mention it, and judging by their relieved expressions, it looks like they had forgotten it too.
"Oh, my God! I never want to see another stair – EVER – again." Anzu was the one who seemed the most distressed as she flopped to the floor, however Ryou and Honda soon followed after.
"Yoshimori-Sensei, please don't take this as an insult, but how are you not out of breath? What are you some kind of super hero?"
Yoshimori-Sensei chuckled again, it seemed he was in too good of a mood to be anything but cheerful.
"Oh, I suppose when you've worked here long enough, you get used to it. Besides, it's good exercise! Keeps me fit for all those expeditions I have to go on."
"Well, old friend, it was too much for me! I'm going to sit down for a while. Maybe rest my eyes a bit." And then he too, slumped to the ground in exhaustion.
"Oh, Jii-chan, now's not the time for sleeping!" Yugi sighed exasperated, but it was too late, as proved by the loud snores, now coming from Sugoroku's body.
"He'll be fine there, don't worry, only myself and a few other researchers have a pass into this area, and they all know and respect your grandfather."
Yoshimori-Sensei swiped his card through the nearby machine and the door licked open with a flicker of a green lamp.
"Security's tight, as we don't want other archaeologists to steal our findings! But, it's nothing to worry about,"
He pushed the open, almost agonisingly slowly, and revealed... a lot of boxes and shelves.
It was actually quite plain.
There were no giant glass cases, like Yugi and Yami saw the stone tablets in, no visible splendour.
Just row, upon row of shelves with brown boxes. With the odd metal table in random clear spaces, and even they seemed to be covered with boxes.
It was even more boring than the exhibit upstairs. That was saying something.
However, Yoshimori-Sensei, didn't seem to think so.
He herded the excitably through the maze-like room to one of the tables where he arranged them, like furniture, around it.
"Stay right here," He held his hands up, as if he were training an animal, "I'll be right back, I'm just going to get the finds."
He then, instantaneously, fell back into the jungle that was the research room.
Yugi looked at Yami, he looked back. Anzu looked at Honda, he looked back. Ryou looked at Anzu, she looked back. In effect they all looked at each other. It was a very awkward atmosphere.
"Well," It was of course Yugi who tried to break the tension, "This isn't what I expected at all."
"I agree Aibou, this is actually quite dull."
"Dull?" The whispered voice right by Bakura's ear caused him to uncharacteristically squeal and jump backwards in surprise, Yoshimori-Sensei was back with a medium-sized box within his hands, "I don't think so. Here is the remains of one of the most important figures in history, or well so we think."
He placed the box onto the table and carefully opened it. Removing all sorts of packaging like bubble wrap and soft paper tissues.
And very slowly, Jou believed Yoshimori-Sensei had too much of a liking for dramatics and tension, he revealed the human skull that lay inside.
"We have reason to believe, that this, is the skull of Orpheus. The most famous and talented musician the world has ever seen.
'Oh, well, that explains the nostalgia.'
A/N2 Reviews will let you out of the maze that is museum storage! :)