Chapter Thirty-One
31
Friends Into Enemies, And The Other Way Around!
Chazz rose for early morning exercises to help pump his body into waking up for class. As he stood to stretch and prepared to take his leave for the day, a familiar and not much wanted phone call had reached him.
"What are you doing, Chazz!?"
It was his older brothers once again.
"What!?" he huffed as he plopped himself right back onto the couch,"Can you make this quick? I've got to get to class."
"We wouldn't even be calling had you taken the opportunity to take care of the situation that was practically dropped on your lap!" Slade huffed.
"Your brother is right!" said Jagger,"She was unconscious for crying out loud!" he huffed,"Had you just left her alone she would have had to be forced to be kicked out of school! it would have left a large tarnish on Kaiba's name! Why do you never think!?"
"Of course he doesn't think!" said Slade,"He never thinks! Instead he tries to play hero to the damsel in distress, bringing her notes and defending her right to stay in the school."
"It's none of your fucking bussiness what I do-" he finally snapped and soon gasped as he realized he let profanity slip from his lips to his brothers's ears.
"Ooh, Big balls for the big man who knows big boy words!" said Jagger tauntingly.
"Th-That was a medical emergency and-"
"Who cares!?" Slade snapped,"It could have worked in our favor!"
"...How did you even know about that...incident, anyway!?" he huffed,"It wasn;t supposed to be released to public records nothing is when it involves a big name Like Kaiba, let alone his own child!"
"Don't underestimate our abilities, little brother." said Slade.
"That's right, the Princeton Brothers have their ways of getting information they want." huffed Jagger.
Chazz huffed a long sigh and rested his forehead against his folded hands as he spoke.
"Look, do you ever think that maybe making nice with daddy's little girl might actually work better in our favor!?" said Chazz, quickly trying to change the subject
"We tried it the nice way, remember?' said Jagger,"And what did it get us? Not a damn thing no where!" he huffed.
"Now it's time we do things the hard way." said Slade,"The true Princeton way."
Chazz sat back on the sofa and glared at his brother on the video monitor.
"Yeah? Well I want no part of doing it that way!" Chazz huffed,"What do you take me for!?"
"Judging by the photos you keep on your boudoir of you two together," said Jagger," I'd say a love sick chump!"
"What!?" Chazz blinked as he quickly looked over at the mirror. He did have some old photos from Duel prep school, a few of which where he and Connar posed together. He blushed and let out an enraged growl while his brothers laughed as he slammed the framed photo face down on the flat top.
"It's nothing like that!" he snapped.
"Then prove it!" they snapped back,"Don't let us down Chazz!"
With that, the screen shut off as they hung up and Chazz let out another enraged cry of frustration. He began panting heavily with all sorts of complicated emotions winding around inside him like a tornado and took a swing at the framed photo, letting it slap against the floor as he stormed out and slammed the door.
xxxxx
"Jaden! Syrus!" Connar waved her arms as she ran to greet her friends and class mates before the morning rush and giggled as she practically tackled them in a hug. Chazz would watch the scene play out on his way to class every morning, when they weren't actually late.
It's been like that since that day of dueling that saved them from being expelled!
He grumped.
Connar jumps into his arms every day it seems like...
He huffed.
And clings closer to those losers than usual.
It's...so...irritating!
He let out a low growl and quickened his pace to the next class.
xxxxx
"I'm so glad you guys won your duel and get to stay here!" Connar beamed,"It was so hard not being able to hang out again and I almost thought I'd never get to again."
"Wow. Your duel with your uncle was that tough?" Jaden asked.
"Yeah, in fact, I seriously thought he was gonna steam roll me all the way to 0." she sighed," Yeah...my uncle's got mad game. Gotta say...I did not expect that."
"Man, that sounds sweet!" Jaden sighed,"Wish I could have seen it..."
"Believe me Jaden, My uncle is nothing compared to my father."
"Yeah?"
"You have no idea..." she chuckled awkwardly.
"Well the more important part is that you won!" said Syrus throwing his arms around his old friend,"And you're stuck with us~!" he teased.
"Oh no~ my worst nightmare." she giggled,"Sorry I couldn't make it to your duel, but I am really glad you won."
"Don't sweat it." said Jaden,"I'm sorry we couldn't make it to yours...but at least your dad finally eased up on the grounding."
"Yeah...he's a harsh one that's for sure." she mumbled,"Hell hath no fury like my father..." she blinked,"Say...does anyone know the lesson plan for today?"
"We're in P.E today." said Syrus.
"P.E!?" Connar blinked,"Oh noo..." she groaned,"...What sport...?"
"Baseball!" Jaden beamed as he swung his hands like a bat, which only worsened Connar's physical education nightmare. She and P.E were never good friends...she lacked upper body strength...
xxxxx
"Out!"
"Fail!"
"Strike One!"
"Try again!"
"Come on Rose! Get it together!"
"Auuuuugh, this is rediculous!" Connar huffed, panting after a few failed attempts at a swing of a bat that she swore weighed more than she did. And was more than half her size.
"Come on Connie...you totally got this!" said Jaden, calling cheeres in a wave of boos and grunts of frustration.
"No I don't, it's this stupid bat!" she mumbled as she could barely lift the bat to where she needed to hold it,"It's too heavy!"
"Sorry Rose but that's all they have." said one of her Slifer Class Mates,"They just don't have any made for girls of your stature it seems..."
She groaned once more.
"Easy out!" the pitcher laughed, which seemed to be the last straw for Syrus.
"Knock it off, it's not like that's gonna help her do any better!" he huffed in defense of his winded friend and she gave him a weak smile of gratitude,"Listen Connie, just don't even listen to those punks!" said Syrus,"You just keep your eye on the ball, and swing!"
after a few heated pants she huffed and gave him a determined smile.
"Right!" she grinned, and finally managed to get the bat into position.
"You sure you can take it little girl?"
"Shove it up your ass, or throw it!" she huffed which took Syrus by surprise but Jaden could be heard bursting out laughing in the peanut gallery.
My Dad didn't raise no push over!
She thought to herself.
"HAHAHAHAHA~! Yeah! You tell'em Connie! HAHAHA!"
The pitcher decided he was not amused by her comeback and so decided to throw a ringer, which Connar did greet with a loud smack of ball against bat, but the vibration of the impact was too much for her. It rang through her arms and knocked her off her footing, and she wound up twisting her ankle from the uneven footing in the sand.
"Ahhh!" She let out a pained cry and held her hand over it.
"Time out! Time out!" Syrus called out,"We need a batter change!"
"All right, fine, but that hit doesn't count!" huffed the pitcher.
"What!? She hit the ball! It wasn't out, so it should totally count!" said Syrus defensively as Jaden came to help her hobble off the batter's plate.
"If she can't run, it doesn't count!"
"She was injured upon making fair contact with the ball, you should walk her!"
"Fine, take first!"
"would someone mind standing in for Connar on first?" Syrus asked and a few of the other students raised a hand to volunteer.
"Man, Syrus is kind of protective of you, isn't he?" Jaden chuckled as he helped her sit,"I think he's been a little more so since the incident with the Abandoned Dorm."
Connar shrugged and gave a light chuckle.
"I think he's just acting on instinct at this point." she said,"Back when Zane used to babysit me, Syrus and I spent a lot of time together so you could say the three of us kind of grew up with that sibling relationship." she giggled,"They basically acted like my big brothers."
"Oof, Friend zoned." Jaden muttered between chuckles,"Sorry Syrus~"
"What was that?" Connar blinked curiously.
"Oh, nothing."Jaden laughed, "How's your ankle?"
"I think I'll be okay after I put some ice on it." she chuckled.
"All right, just hang tight then." said Jaden,"I'll take you to the infirmary after the game if you think you can wait."
"Oh I think I can manage." Connar chuckled as she waved him off.
"Great!" Jaden flashed her a grin and waved his arm to the rest of the team,"Hey I'll volunteer for the batter change!"
he called out.
"Yeah, Jaden!" The rest of the students cheered,"Hit a Homer!"
"Okay, Jaden!" said Syrus,"Keep your eye on the ball!"
"That could be tough!" Jaden stated as he took his batter's stance at the plate,"After all, the ball's gonna be going over the rafters!" he beamed,"He'll score, then he'll score, and then I'll score! We'll have a six run, lead!"
"Wooo, go Jaden!" Connar cheered through cupped hands as she elevated her ankle and one of her fellow Slifer class mates brought her an ice pack, to which she smiled and thanked politely.
"Hold on, Time out!" a male studen't voice called in from the corridor catching the attention of the waiting team mates. Connar blinked as she watched from her seat.
"Oh, hey...isn't that Misawa?"
"Sorry I'm late!" Bastion said as he met with the by standers,"I was deep into some theories and mechanics and lost track of time!"
"Can you throw?" the fellow student asked.
"Sure, I can." said Bastion.
"Well, we need a fresh arm!" stated the by standing team mate,"Our current pitcher was taunting Rose at the bat and she took a solid swing but she wound up hurting her ankle in the process."
"Oh dear, Connar?" Bastion blinked,"Is she all right?"
"Yeah she should be fine after some ice." said the other and he waved his arm to signal a time out,"Pitcher change!"
"OH!" Connar blinked with a bit of surprise on her face,"It looks like Misawa is going to pitch."
"This is no written exam, Bastion!" said Jaden as he pointed his bat at him," I hope you know what you're doing!"
"Trust me, I've done all the calcualtions!" said Bastion as he prepared to pitch,"Now get ready for some heat, Jaden!" he smirked,"This one will be coming in red hot!"
Connar blinked as she watched the scene play out. Jaden and Bastion seemed to have a friendly rivalary...it gave Connar a kind of exciting feeling watching the two of them interact. It even brought a bit of an impressed flush to her cheeks.
"Here comes something with some bite!" said Bastion and he thrusted the ball forward with fierce verocity. Before anyone realized what was going on, he managed to strike Jaden out.
"Nuts!"
The rest of the game seemed like a bit of a fumble when Jaden was pitching. And it concerned Syrus.
"Time!" Syrus called and went to meet with the powow on the field,"Jaden, what's going on?" he asked,"You got two outs and now you've walked the last three batters!"
"HaHaHa." Jaden's laughter threw everyone off,"Pretty slick, huh?"
"What do you mean, Slick?" Asked Connar from the otherside of the gate, sharing the confusion of the conversation.
"How else would I get the chance to pitch Bastion?"
"What!?" Syrus gasped slightly,"So you're telling me that you walked all those guys, just so you could get even with Bastion?"
"Nah, I don't wanna just 'get even'." Said Jaden,"I wanna get ahead!" he smirked as he saw Bastion walk his way to the batter's plate and he pointed him out while he spoke,"You hear that Buddy? You're going down!"
"Hmph. Down the base pads, perhaps." Bastion chuckled.
"I dunno Jaden..." Connar called out,"I mean we already saw that Misawa has a good arm...With that kind of force in his throw, I'd hate to see the wallop he packs in his hit!"
This comment of hers made Bastion laugh.
"A Wise observation, Connar." he chuckled,"It seems you have a good eye."
"Who's side are you on, Connie!?" Jaden huffed with a playful pout.
"The side that means I don't have to be the one batting." she huffed.
"Awe, come on, Connie...you didn't do that bad." Syrus chuckled.
"You know, Connar...with the right calculations I might be able to modify a bat for you to use for this game." Bastion said as he leaned against the gate to speak to her.
"No thank you!" she huffed,"I hate this stupid game!"
"Suit yourself." Bastion chuckled and made his way back to bat.
"Now give me your best shot Jaden!" he said,"I don't want to hear any excuses after I wallop it right out of the ball park." he chuckled,"That is of course if you can even get the ball over the plate~" he teased.
"Game ON!"
"Game over, soon enough!"
The fiery passion between the two male students was almost visibly clear. Within the instant the ball took flight, it was greeted with a loud smack that then made its way right over to a treading who took the ball right in the eye and went flying into the left over materials sending all of the students in a panic.
"Ahh! Heads up!" Jaden cried out as he and Syrus went to retrieve their fly away ball.
"YOU!?" huffed as he shot hiself out of the pile of fallen materials,"But of course...who ELSE could cause such intense pain!"
"I suppose that's...one way to keep your eye on the ball..." Syrus whimpered nervously.
"S-Sorry..." Jaden got down on his knees apologetically. Though this did not soothe the burning rage within thid effemenate teacher.
"It was my fault!" Bastion called out soon following the two students to the scene of the crime,"I was the one who hit the ball!"
"Huh?" blinked with his one good eye, as the other had a baseball stuck in the socket,"Bastion...?"
" , I am terribly sorry!" he aplogised profusely, which to Jaden and Syrus's confusion, responded too quite positively.
"Oh, Nonsense my boy!" he stated,"As for YOU TWO!" He whirled around with fierce intensity startling the two Slifer students," Leave now! You've caused enough trouble as it is!"
"Fiiine~!" Jaden huffed,"But that was foul Bastion!"
Remaining defiant, Syrus and Jaden took off back to the ball field and heaved out a heavy sigh.
"Never mind, those two." he stated,"Now come along with me a moment, would you, Bastion?" he asked,"There's a matter with you that I wish to discuss..."
To Be Continued...