Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Contrast: Blue ❯ Smack Talk ( Chapter 3 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

CHAPTER THREE: Smack Talk

"Hrm…too chunky…she's got no tits whatsoever…too pimply…too flaky-looking…the ladies of Class A are simply not suitable enough for me." Otogi shook his head disappointingly. "And what's worse, all of the decent ladies in class B are still fawning over that Seto Hitachi or whoever."

"Hirano," Honda corrected. "Maybe if you weren't so shallow, you might actually appreciate a girl for who she is."

Otogi glanced at Honda and arched a brow. "And you actually believe that?"

Honda nodded. "Of course."

Otogi puckered his lips for a moment then took a deep breath. "Bikini Bitches Mon-"

"That bastard Jounouchi is a dead man," Honda interrupted as he cracked his knuckles.

"What about Miho?" Otogi reminded.

"Shit!" Honda instantly turned on his heel and began dashing towards the library. Otogi sighed, shook his head, and began to scope out the rest of the girls as they passed him by.

At that moment, Jounouchi had entered the halls of Domino. His hands were tucked into his pockets as always, but his eyes remained focused on the linoleum floor rather than straight ahead, and his shoulders were noticeably lower. He trudged rather than walked, and the look on his face clearly showed that he was oblivious to the students' whisperings about his defeat at the hands of Seto Hirano.

Otogi noticed the dirty blond, and immediately walked away. He ddin't know how to handle the type of situation Jounouchi was in, and he didn't know Jounouchi well enough anyway so he decided those were good enough excuses to not ask what was bothering him.

Anzu too had noticed Jounouchi's more somber demeanor as he entered the classroom. Rather than make some sort of boisterous announcement, or sit in his chair and lean back, he slumped into the chair and instantly put his head down onto the desk. She hadn't bothered to ask Jounouchi what was bothering him, since she had made the assumption that it wasn't so much what was bothering him, so much as who it was.

As if on cue, Seto strode into the classroom, his right hand clutching his book, his left clutching his metallic briefcase. His school uniform remained unlawful as ever, but by now, his third day at the school, Anzu had already become accustomed to seeing him wearing the controversial garment.

She approached the boy as he was taking his seat. "Mr. Hirano?"

He did not even so much as glance at the girl.

Anzu kept her cool. "I know you're listening…this is about what happened yesterday with you and Jounouchi. I wasn't there, and I haven't asked-"

"We may discuss the matter of the puppy a little later. I'm busy," Seto coolly interrupted.

Anzu arched a brow. "His name is `Joe-no-chee'; not `puppy'. And if you can talk to me while reading that book, then you're not busy enough." She motioned to touch the book, but Seto's hand instantly whipped out, gently taking hold of her wrist.

"As I said, I am busy. If you really think what you have to say is important, then you can speak to me at my office." Seto released his hold on her.

"Excuse me…your…office?" Anzu was clearly puzzled.

"It's behind the main building. I'm there during gym class. Now go away." He made a rather haphazard "shoo" motion with his hand, his eyes never leaving his book through the entire conversation.

Anzu took a moment to shoot a glare at the insolent boy and was headed for her desk when she saw Honda enter the classroom, in which she then dashed up to him and began conversing with him about the current Jounouchi dilemma. Seto simply continued to read his book though for an instant, though his azure eyes took a moment to focus upon Jounouchi. He frowned.

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If there was one thing about Domino High that Anzu was thankful for, it was the fact that the teachers and administrative staff trusted her enough that they didn't put her under much scrutiny like they did the more delinquent students like Jounouchi and Honda. She was certainly thanking this fact as she snuck out of the gymnasium to find Seto's "office".

*Why would he have an office behind the school anyway?* She had asked herself as she approached the building. She suddenly realized that before she should turn the corner and enter this supposed "office", she should readjust her gym shorts as they were starting to bunch up at her rear, placing an unnecessary emphasis on her back end. She had hated those gym shorts and had a feeling that they gave her a pair that was one size too small on purpose. She wasn't sure why she should worry about this in front of him since he didn't seem to be interested in girls, or in anything that wasn't a book, anyway.

She turned the corner of the building and was met by the smell of burning tobacco and cloves. She immediately noticed Seto Hirano. He was sitting down, back leaning against the building, his nose buried in that same book he had been reading since he had arrived at the school. His lips were wrapped around a black cigarette, thus solving the mystery of the burning tobacco and cloves.

"So, you came after all," Seto stated.

Anzu placed her hands on her hips. "Some office."

"Yes; but this is only my third day here," Seto reminded.

Anzu cocked a brow. "I can see that sincerity isn't your best attribute."

"Said the pot to the kettle," Seto noted, closing his book shut. "Mazaki, perhaps you should get to the reason as to why you are here. This is about that puppy-"

Anzu leaned forward. "Jounouchi."

"Jooooeeee-noooo-cheeee." Seto smirked. "He's still upset over yesterday, isn't he? He really ought to get over that."

Anzu snorted. "You know, he already has enough shit going on in his life that he doesn't need you to go stirring trouble."

"Then he needs to get a better backbone. Life's a bitch, Mazaki-"

"And you are the biggest bitch of them all, Hirano," Anzu finished. "You see; that was my reason for talking to you. Whatever problem you have with Jounouchi, you can take it to him. But I'm here to tell you that you are the worst bitch I ever met."

Seto stared at her momentarily, before opening his book and placing most of his attention to it once more. "I've been called many things Mazaki, but I must admit that `bitch' is new to me."

Anzu had already begun to walk away, her hips slightly swinging as she walked. "Well maybe you should get accustomed to it, Hirano!"

Seto simply shrugged her words off; he had been called many things before so being insulted directly to his face was nothing new, but being called a bitch certainly was. But it was simply another word for him, and such words were meaningless. He was, however, thankful that she didn't feed him a speech about friendship.

He was barely starting on the thirteenth page he had been reading since arriving at his "office" when a shadow blocked his light.

His eyes remained on the book. "Please remove yourself from my light at once."

He heard the sound of someone sucking at their teeth. "I'll remove myself from your light when you remove that stick from yer ass."

Seto half-smiled; he knew immediately who the voice belonged to. He looked up. "So you did recover from your little depression after all, Jounouchi." That venomous smirk was on his face once again.

Jounouchi sneered at the mocking tone to which Seto took to his name. "What the hell are you talkin' about…I'm still feelin' rather shitty. I'm only here because I figured that the best thing to do was to confront you directly rather than sit on my ass and mope about it all day."

Seto closed his book once again. "So the puppy isn't entirely stupid after all. Heh; and here I thought there was nothing that this snake pit of a school could teach me." He paused. "By the way, when you say `confront', do you mean that you want me to hand you your ass again?"

Jounouchi snorted. "Nice one, wise-ass. I just want to know why you've been singling me out since you got here."

"Well, maybe it's because I find you loud. I don't like loud people," Kaiba dismissed.

"That's a really shitty reason."

Seto took a moment to take a rather long drag on his cigarette before returning his gaze to the blond. "You know something, don't you? I really have no tolerance for people that beat around the bush, so if you have something to say, say it."

It was then that Jounouchi smiled. "Yeah; I know something alright. I know that you're not all who you seem to be, Hirano."

Seto stared at Jounouchi rather blankly. "Is that all? You came here based on some hunch?" He paused. "If this is based on the fact that you're still upset because I handed you your ass yesterday, you're wasting your time."

Jounouchi nodded. "Actually, it DOES have something to do with yesterday."

Seto's azure eyes narrowed. Jounouchi's smile remained; that look almost seemed to trouble Seto. "I am gonna to tell you a little about myself, Hirano. I'm a fighter. I'm pretty damn good at it, especially when I'm really into it. And I make money doin' it `cause it pays real well, especially when yer good at it. You see, I was working the other night, and someone called me out. He had a stature that was very similar to yours and he used the same arm-lock maneuver that you used on me. Okay, so maybe his voice was deeper and he was taller, but I think I'm onto something with all this."

A hint of a scowl showed upon Seto's face upon hearing Jounouchi's testimony. He slowly rose to his feet, and stepped directly up to the blond, who was wearing a very smug expression.

Seto took a final drag from his cigarette before flicking it onto the ground. "Jounouchi, you simply have too much free time on your hands. Given my attitude, it is not unusual for people to try to attack me. Yes; I studied Aikido, but simply for self-defense and not for show. I can safely assume that you carry out your little fights during the nighttime, correct?" He mercilessly crushed the dying cigarette with his boot.

"…Yeah. We do our fights at night." Jounouchi's lips formed a line; he knew Seto was merely trying to turn this around on him.

"Okay, then!" Seto exclaimed, a raised index finger directing Jounouchi to remain silent for a moment longer. "Then perhaps you were unable to get a good enough look at this person. Better yet, perhaps you have been so angry and surprised lately, that it's fucking with your better judgment…if you had a better judgment to begin with anyway. And, your contradiction about this person's height and voice renders your suspicious questionable, at best."

Jounouchi threw his hands into the air. "Well I guess I give up, then. Shows what I know when it comes to followin' a hunch."

Seto smirked, though the smirk appeared to be more relieved than venomous. "I would give you a biscuit for the effort, but instead I shall return your precious lighter to you." He tossed the small shiny object back to Jounouchi, and immediately walked away.

Jounouchi stared at the lighter momentarily, the metal still warm from being on Seto for a prolonged amount of time. He then turned his attention towards the other teen, and smirked. It appeared that his hunch was a turn in a lucky direction, and that was precisely what the blond needed.

Seto on the other hand was less than satisfied. *He shouldn't have been able to figure me out so soon.I should have spent more time observing his behaviour before I carried this all out and now my carelessness has cost me. It's best that I take this to the next level.*

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Jounouchi entered his apartment, a bag labeled "Burger World" tucked underneath his arm. After kicking off his Air Muscle sneakers, he strolled past the kitchen but couldn't help to stop to take a peek inside to see why no beer bottles were hurled in his general direction. The youth could not help but grin at the sight that lay before him: his father was lying facedown on the table, a few beer cans apparently knocked over due to his standard act of passing out. He was snoring rather loudly.

*Man; he won't care where I'm goin' anyway. *

Jounouchi went into his room and closed the door shut. He tossed his briefcase into a corner of his disorderly room, tossed the bag of hamburgers onto his bed, and then removed his jacket and tossed it into the same general direction he had tossed his briefcase moments before. He opened a drawer in his wooden, graffito-tagged dresser and pulled out a pair of green military-style pants. He undid the belt to his school pants, removing and then tossing them onto the same pile his other school items were, and proceeded to put on the pants. He then went towards his bed and removed a large green coat that was lying atop of it.

After putting on the coat, he grabbed the Burger World bag and left his room. He slowly snuck into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, opening the vegetable crisper and pulling out two cans of Asahi brand beer. He glanced back at his father and grinned once again as he tossed one of the cans into the bag, and tucked the other underneath his armpit. He then hurried to the entryway of the apartment, grabbed a pair of dirty combat boots and gently shut the door behind him.

Jounouchi hopped over a wooden fence as he made his way towards his place of employment. The "place" was really an abandoned parking lot that was claimed by the local punks months ago when they needed a new locale to hold their weekly fighting tournaments.

Jounouchi enjoyed participating in the weekly fighting tournaments, not because it was his only way of earning any decent money but because of the simple fact that he loved to fight. The very reason he decided to fight had much to do with his past, but he never dared to elaborate about it to anyone. He never really had a reason as to why he would never talk about it; most would simply respect the fact that he didn't want to talk about it and the rest never bothered to ask in the first place.

"Hey fools!" Jounouchi held up his hand, making a slight waving gesture towards a group of young punks.

"Hey, `bout time you got yer mug here," one of the punks replied.

"Yeah; we wondered if you were gonna show up after that loss you took last week, man," another punk stated.

Jounouchi scoffed. "Shit; you know I bounce back quick. I need to talk to the Bank Teller; any of you know where he is?"

A headband-wearing punk pointed behind him with his thumb. Jounouchi nodded, and walked behind the damaged chain-link fence to see another young punk, seated on the underside of a milk crate and smoking a cigarette.

"Yo! Higashi!"

Higashi looked over his shoulder. "Well, if it ain't Jounouchi. I thought for a minute that you'd be in hiding or something after last week."

Jounouchi leaned against a lamppost. "Naw, dude. I just need to strike a proposition with you."

Higashi pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "You know I don't do propositions, man. Cigarette?"

Jounouchi pulled a cigarette from the offered package. "Yeah; but it's pretty important that I talk to ya."

Higashi looked over at Jounouchi. "Like I said; I don't do propositions…but I know you're also a persistent bastard, and you're decent. But this is a one-time offer, got it?"

Jounouchi nodded. "Yeah. I got it."

Higashi nodded. "Alright. So whatta we go?"

Jounouchi poured the contents of a water bottle over his head, and then briskly shook his head as the liquid cooled him down. He let out a deep sigh as he tossed the bottle aside.

*It's been two fights…surely he'd want to show up tonight; I practically called him out. If he's waitin' until I'm spent before challenging me, I'm gonna-*

"Yo, Jounouchi! You're up next!"

Jounouchi's train of thought was instantly derailed by the interrupting reminder. He looked over to his left. "Yeah; alright. I'll be there in a sec."

*He better get his ass over here, and fast.*

Jounouchi walked over to the "ring", cracking the vertebrae in his neck as he took his place. He glanced over at his next opponent, and appeared surprised, yet an amused grin appeared on his lips.

*This one will be nothin'…won't have to worry about breakin' a sweat.*

"Toyama…never thought you'd show your face here. How's Hirutani doin'?"

The punk sneered. "It'd be my ass if I said anythin' `bout him to YOU."

Jounouchi checked the dingy bandages that were wrapped about his knuckles. "I guess he's still bitter over the fact that I never sent him flowers to apologise for puttin' him in the ER."

Although verbal exchanges were typical in the underground fights, any that involved Jounouchi and his former gangmate Hirutani were followed very closely. If there was one detail about Jounouchi's past that was allowed to slip through, it was that he used to run with Hirutani's gang and that things between the two did not end on a pleasant note. The exact details as to how their alliance deteriorated, however, could only be interpreted through various rumours at best.

"I don't have time to deal with your shit, Jounouchi. If I knew I was gonna fight you, I'd have forfeit this match," Toyama replied.

"Then just forfeit already."

Before anyone-especially Toyama-had a chance to react to the mysterious voice, a sudden judo chop landed on the back of the punk's neck, instantly rendering him unconscious.

Jounouchi's attention was now focused on the interrupting challenger.

It was him.

Jounouchi grinned. "And here I thought you were gonna stand me up."

The leather-clad platinum blond pursed his lips for a moment. "I find that being late puts more attention to one's entrance. So then, are you more able to face me?"

Jounouchi shot a quick glance at Higashi before returning his gaze to his rival. "I'm definitely at my prime tonight. This should be a fair match."

`Platinum' nodded in response. "So, shall we get on with this already? I am confident that I can defeat you as easily as I did the last time."

Jounouchi grinned. "Careful, now. That overconfidence just might cost ya."

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THE RAMBLINGS OF A WRITER AS FOLLOWS...

Alright…I know what some of y'all must be thinking: there's no way that skinny-ass Kaiba could take Jounouchi in a fight. That's quite true. And if you're ready to send me e-mails about it-I'm already a step ahead of you. Just have faith, dear reader, for Kaiba can't win it all, and as you've read in this chapter Kaiba's downfall seems to be nearly concrete.

Regarding Jounouchi's mood swing: I personally found Jounouchi's sudden change in mood to be just that-sudden. I wanted to write out a scenario that would cause Jounouchi to be in a better mood by the time he confronted Seto, but I decided to simply leave it; mood swings tend to be spontaneous anyway, so I shall leave it as such. Perhaps this will foreshadow some future Jounouchi angst.

Also, take note: When a sentence starts with "*" (e.g. *That there Seto sure has some nice legs*), it denotes a thought. Just so y'all know.