Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Follow the Dragon ❯ Chapter Nine ( Chapter 9 )

“Follow the Dragon”

Written and edited by: JoeysGal and F_D_C2003

Rating: NC17

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Hentai/Romance/Shounen

Type: Continuation

Credits to: Various websites and books on China, Hong Kong and Japan.

 

DISCLAIMER: Anything you read about in this fic, I DO NOT OWN! I merely use real-life things to make the fic more realistic and believable. I also make no money off of writing this… imagine the possibilities if I was…

 

**

 

JoeysGal: Make-up, food, wine, cigarettes and sleep seem to have been taking up much of my time lately, so being that work has been quiet this week, I thought I'd sit my ass down (what's new) and get this done. Hope you all like the new installment!

 

F_D_C2003: I don't know what made me think of Borat… it kind of just seemed to fit, lol. As for Mako, well, he doesn't play a huge part, really, but it seemed to have worked out. Nyoko thought she'd throw in some randomness for good measure, so I guess some good things come from having an unpredictable yami, ne? ^^;;

 

Etsuyo: Hey! It's been so long that I have updated, so I will not contradict myself by telling you off for not updating yours, either XD hope you enjoy this one sweet heart! ^_^

 

 

 

 

Chapter Nine

 

**

 

It dawned upon Jounouchi that it had been two, almost three years since he had last seen the duelist who associated mainly with sea monster cards. Had it really been that long? The last time he had seen Mako Tsunami was at his duel against him at Sea World. It made Jou think of what he had accomplished in those three years - which was, in terms of dueling, quite a lot. At age fourteen he had been thrust into the deep end once the craze of Duel Monsters had begun, looking up to Yuugi - the boy who he once had bullied - and spending every waking moment with him to sculpt his dueling skills into a fine art. Many lost battles later, he finally reached the finals in Duelist Kingdom and came second, winning a hefty amount of money resulting in getting his sister's sight back. Then of course there was the incident of Noa's Virtual World and the Battle City Tournament. Winning three million dollars, saving his sister from blindness and helping Yuugi and Yami save the world from impending doom wouldn't look too bad on his curriculum vitae, he decided.

 

“Dude! It's that fish guy!” Honda boomed in realisation.

 

Jounouchi startled out of his reverie. “I wonder if he found his Dad, yet.”

 

“We should go and talk to him once we're finished with this tour!” Anzu cried as she spotted him. “I wonder what he's been doing since the tournament.”

 

“Probably jacking off to `Free Willy' reruns.” Jou muttered.

 

Honda snorted. “Dude! That's a good one.”

 

As the tour guide continued along the passageway, so did the students. They were almost at the end of the Shark Aquarium, where they would then carry on to the Ocean Theatre - where dolphin shows were performed. Jounouchi wasn't particularly enthralled about having to endure the rest of the tour. Sure the place was cool and all, but it was already almost 3.30pm and he would kill just to sit down and have a cold drink - a beer, preferably - for a while. Perhaps he would do just that when he returned to the hotel room. He was eighteen, after all.

 

“So, Ryou,” Malik began as he sidled up to the white-haired teen. “Did you have anything in mind for afterward?”

 

“What do you mean by that?”

 

“Well, I thought you and I could do a spot of shopping after dinner? Our hotel is right by Nathan Road, you know. And everything is open almost 24-hours around here.” Malik watched Ryou with glistening eyes, waiting for a response.

 

“Piss off, Ishtar.”

 

Malik was taken aback for a moment before he realized that Ryou was not the one who had spoken. “Bakura? Uh…”

 

“Lay off. Don't think that I haven't seen what you've been trying to do.” Bakura growled lowly through his hikari's body.

 

“I don't know… what you're talking about…”

 

Bakura grabbed Malik by his collar and slammed him up against the side of the glass aquarium. A school of fish floating nearby quickly darted away. “Don't fuck with me, Malik. If you keep this shit up, your head will be on a fucking platter. You got that, you little bitch?”

 

Not surprisingly, Malik smirked. “Jealous, are we?”

 

Bakura snarled and released him. “Just because you've fucked me doesn't give you the right to do so with my hikari.”

 

“I think Ryou has the right to make his own choices, don't you?” Malik countered. “And from what I can gather, it would seem that my advances might just be working.”

 

“We'll see about that.” Bakura grunted before finally letting Ryou have his own body back.

 

As per usual, whenever Bakura took over without warning, Ryou came back apparently not knowing what in the fresh Hell just happened. He looked around, somewhat disoriented, and turned to Malik. “Where are we?”

 

Malik sighed. “I'd better take you back to Yuugi, since he's your partner and all.”

 

“Hm? Oh, yes! Wait… Did Bakura just -”

 

“Yes.” Malik stated bluntly.

 

“But… Err, why?”

 

Malik stopped when he reached Yuugi and the others. “Why don't you ask him?” with that said, he paired up once again with Otogi.

 

Well, Ryou thought. That was… weird. /Bakura, do you mind telling me what just happened?/

 

//Yes.//

 

/Bakura./ Ryou said with emphasis. /Come on; why'd you do it?/

 

//None of your business.// Bakura didn't know why this came to his head when he knew fully well it was all of Ryou's business.

 

/Well that's rich, coming from you./ Ryou sighed, but decided to let it go. Obviously it was something to do with Malik and frankly he couldn't be bothered trying to pry out of Bakura what the problem was.

 

“As you can see here, people, our dolphin performance is about to commence! Please take your seats in the stadium and prepare to be amazed by these beautiful, intelligent creatures!”

 

Jounouchi was glad to be in the outside world again, the sky a riotous pattern of clouds intermixed with sunshine. Although the wind that had previously been a gentle breeze was now rather cool and blustery. I wonder why that wind has suddenly picked up, Jou wondered. The tour was due to end at around 4pm, which was in about twenty minutes or so. Jou sat down in the grandstand amongst his friends, with Kaiba to his left. Next to Kaiba was Alex.

 

“Hey, look! Mako's in there with those dolphins!” Anzu cried as she spotted one of the trainers from afar.

 

“You know Mako?” Alex, the guide whom everybody thought until now was bilingual, suddenly piped up in broken Japanese. “Mako one of our Marine Biologists!”

 

“Dude, that guy speaks like, every language there is!” Honda cried out of sheer bewilderment.

 

“Yeah, we know Mako!” Anzu replied, seemingly unfazed. “He's from Japan - he used to be a very good duelist.”

 

“Not that good.” Jou said with a feeling of slight déjavu, being that the last time he had seen Mako was at Sea World in Domino for their duel. “His Legendary Fisherman card was no match for me!”

 

“Mako came to us wanting to work with the animals,” Alex said. “He is good, you know. He has his way with the animals.”

 

Honda snorted. “I'm sure he does…”

 

“That sounded wrong…” Jou added.

 

“You sicko's!” Anzu shrieked.

 

Yuugi blushed at Honda's vulgar innuendo. “What else does he do here?”

 

“He feeds the sharks and researches them - that's his main thing. But he also helps the trainers with the dolphins and sea lions.”

 

The last fifteen minutes was spent watching the jaw-dropping displays of the dolphins and sea-lions leaping, jumping and performing in amazing routines. Most of the students were sopping wet by the end of the show due to the dolphins splashing them with water on purpose - it was all a part of the act. However it didn't seem to matter as it had started to rain again anyway.

 

“I don't like the look of those clouds,” Jou heard Matsuri-sensei say in the background as she turned her head to the sky. A fleeting look of worry crossed her features.

 

Alex announced that this was the end of the tour and that everyone could wander off to explore the rest of the park if they wished to. As the group congregated around the teachers, Jou, Anzu, Yuugi and Honda all wandered off to see if they could find the `fish guy', as Honda had started referring to him as.

 

“Hey Mako,” Yuugi stepped up to the dark-haired man, who was sitting on the edge of the pool in a wetsuit that had been zipped down around his waist. “Fancy seeing you here?”

 

Mako turned around and stared for a moment. “Yuugi Mutou? What in the seven seas are you doing here!?” Suddenly he jumped up.

 

Ryou oddly blanched and then coloured as he noticed the tanned, rippling abs that Mako boasted. If he wasn't such a bizarre personality, one might consider him to be a very attractive man. But perhaps he needed to invest in some cologne to stop that fishy smell hanging around…

 

“I never thought I'd see you little minnows again!” Mako exclaimed, obviously jubilant to see them.

 

Anzu sweat-dropped. “He still speaks in that `fish slang',” she muttered to Honda.

 

“Totally bogus, dude…”

 

“That's what you said the first time we saw that guy…” Anzu replied wryly.

 

“He attacked us with a harpoon!” Honda cried in his defense.

 

“Point taken.”

 

“We're on a school trip,” Yuugi said in reply to Mako's question. “What have you been doing since the Tournament?”

 

“Well, I didn't do so well in the Tournament,” Mako replied with his trademark hearty laugh. “so I decided to pursue my dream to become a marine biologist. I went to University in Domino and landed a job here. I've put my dueling days behind me, now that I have a career to concentrate on.”

 

“It's great to hear you're doing what you love, Mako.” Anzu said.

 

“But you were a good duelist, Mako!” Yuugi said with a little sadness in his voice.

 

“Dueling was a phase for me,” Mako said. “It was fun while I was doing it, but it wasn't what I was going to be doing for the rest of my life, and I knew that. But you, Yuugi… dueling is your life. You're still the reigning champion, aren't you?”

 

Yuugi nodded. It was no secret now that the Duel Monsters fad had somewhat faded after the Kaiba Corporation Grand Prix. Kaiba, of course, still worked on the technology and tributes to the game, but the hype of it all had died off considerably since its hey-day when Yuugi was merely a 14-year-old kid. He was 17 now, and still loved the game - he had no doubt that it would be in existence for years to come - but his friends seemed to have lost their passion for it. They still played every now and again, but Yuugi knew, deep down, that one day, nobody was going to have time for it anymore.

 

Especially next year, when they started college or work, or even travel. Anzu still had her dancing career firmly in mind, and could hardly wait to sit her exams and see if she could get into a dance academy. Honda had his sights set on becoming a mechanic, eventually opening his own shop specializing in building and fixing motorbikes. Jou, Yuugi knew, was never sure about anything he did, thus, he wasn't sure what he wanted to do after their final year of school, either.

 

With this in mind, Yuugi decided that the time was ripe to relish the little time he had left with his friends. This trip may be the last time they ever spent together as a group and Yuugi was determined that they would all have the time of their lives.

 

“I've got to get back to work, you guys.” Mako said. “There's another performance happening in ten minutes that I have to prepare for.”

 

When Yuugi didn't say anything, Anzu spoke up. “Alright, it was nice to see you again, Mako.”

 

“You too. Bye everyone!”

 

Everybody said their farewells to Mako and started off to find the rest of their group. Jounouchi and Anzu could tell something was up with Yuugi, but decided not to ask about it. Jou figured it was probably something to do with the fact that Mako said he had given up dueling, and the inevitable - and slightly taboo - subject that neither of them really practiced their dueling all that much anymore, either.

 

Suddenly a loud voice over the intercom of Ocean Park sounded: “Attention all visitors to Ocean Park. The Hong Kong Observatory has issued a warning of a T3 scale typhoon approximately 150km offshore of Hong Kong Island. Unfortunately Ocean Park will be closing in 15 minutes due to possible storm damage. We advise all visitors to leave the park immediately and find somewhere safe and indoors to remain until the storm passes. Thank you.”

 

“A typhoon?!” Anzu shrieked. “Are we in danger?”

 

“It's only a T3, at the moment.” Otogi spoke up. “I've been here when there's been a T8 and its way worse than this - roofs fly off and everything.”

 

“Is it possible that the typhoon could turn into a T8?” Ryou questioned.

 

The green-eyed boy shrugged. “It's possible. Depends whether the storm stays out at sea or moves further inland.”

 

Matsuri-sensei, along with Yamanaga-sensei and the other teacher, rounded up the class and ticked off the roll to make sure that everybody was there. Once assembled, Matsuri-sensei led them back to the entrance of the park, ushering them out from the rear like a flustered mother hen. Jou overheard the teachers saying that they had better call it a day once they got back to the hotel and that the rest of the evening was probably best spent indoors. Jounouchi felt a pang of disappointment; he was looking forward to browsing the shops and arcades once they were given free-time, and spending the rest of the evening with Kaiba didn't sound too thrilling.

 

“I was really looking forward to seeing the Giant Pandas,” Anzu mumbled disappointedly as she slumped down into her seat on the coach.

 

“Don't worry, Anzu-chan.” Yuugi said. “We're going to the Beijing Zoological Gardens too, so you'll get to see them there.”

 

“I wanted to go on the roller coaster!” Honda complained, sounding something like a cranky three-year-old that needed a lollipop.

 

“Listen up, class,” Matsuri-sensei spoke above the noise of complaints and anxious chatter of her students. “Since this storm come up completely out of the blue, our plans for this afternoon have been somewhat altered until further notice. When we get back to our hotel, I would like you to work on your first journal entries until six o'clock -”

 

There was a chorus of moans and objections.

 

“- and then - weather permitting - we will go somewhere for dinner.”

 

Malik hmphed. “I guess we won't be going shopping tonight, Ryou.”

 

Ryou shrugged. “Plenty of time for that to come yet, Malik.”

 

“I guess you're right,” he said. “Anyway, it's kind of nice to stay inside in the warmth when the weather is shitty outside, right?”

 

Ryou noticed the glow in Malik's smile. “Right.”

 

“Why don't you come to my room tonight so we can do our journals together?” Malik suddenly suggested, looking pleased with his own idea.

 

“Uh, well, that sounds good, but… I think Yuugi should come, too.” Ryou replied, a little apprehensive. They were supposed to work on their diaries in their pairs, after all. And since it was somewhat like a project while they were away, Ryou was determined to get good marks for it.

 

“Okay,” Malik agreed. “We can work on them all together.”

 

//You'll never have him.//

 

Malik went rigid. /Shut up! Like you've gotten very far with Otogi at this point./

 

//At least I know I might actually have a chance with him, unlike you.//

 

/Fuck off./ Malik replied, annoyed. /The game is just beginning./

 

**

 

Seto Kaiba clicked the save button and promptly closed the page in Microsoft Word. He wanted to get his journal entry out of the way so he could concentrate more so on getting some reports done and emailing them back to his PA. It had taken a lot of convincing to his PA that he would certainly not be able to attend any conference meetings while he was on this trip; it simply wasn't going to happen. As well as that, it was to some extent a valid excuse to be able to escape the constant hounding of clients and other businesspeople. His poor secretary would probably be in a straightjacket by the time he returned.

 

There was one more task Kaiba had to complete, however, before he began his work. He reached for his cell phone and pressed `1' once. Putting the phone to his ear, it took a few moments to connect before the ringing started. Almost straight away somebody picked up.

 

“Nii-san!!!”

 

“Ohayou, Mokuba.” Kaiba replied, trying to disguise the smile from his voice.

 

“I've been waiting for you to call! I'm so glad you got there alright!”

 

“I'm fine, Mokuba. How is everything at home?”

 

“Everything is under control!” Mokuba replied enthusiastically. “Running KC has been a piece of cake! I don't think your employees like taking orders from a 13 year old kid, though.”

 

Kaiba sniggered. “I'm sure they don't. Are you alright by yourself? When you're not at school or KaibaCorp. I mean.”

 

“Yeah, Seto, I'm doing fine. It's kinda lonely here without you, though.”

 

“I don't like much being away from home, either.” Kaiba said quietly.

 

“Don't worry about me, Seto. I can look after myself, ya know. If anyone I should be worried about you! You're the one stuck in a typhoon at the moment.”

 

“I was hoping you wouldn't find out about that.”

 

“Kinda hard not to. It's all over the news.” Mokuba said. “Just be careful, OK?”

 

“Same goes,” Kaiba replied. “Let me know if anything happens, alright?”

 

Mokuba knew that he was talking about his company. “Of course, big brother. Oh! I forgot to tell you, I got an A+ on my enterprise studies assignment at school!”

 

“I wouldn't expect anything less.” Kaiba said. “You'll make a good CEO one day.”

 

Mokuba giggled. “Not for a while though, right? You're not going anywhere anytime soon!”

 

Kaiba smiled inwardly. It was obvious that he wasn't going to be around forever to run KaibaCorp. Eventually he would turn the company over to Mokuba; most certainly before he died, anyway. But in the situation where he met his demise unexpectedly, Mokuba would have to be ready. His vice president would run the company until Mokuba was eighteen - if he wasn't already - but he needed to know how to run a company as well - if not better - as Seto did. It was no secret that Mokuba had the smarts and the attitude for it, but he also needed the maturity. Seto had learnt that from an early age. Adulthood had come disturbingly prematurely for him, due to the fact that Gozaburo damn-near beat it into him each day. Being forced to learn several different languages, advanced mathematics, science, economics and knowledge of the business world as a youngster had made him forget about having a childhood altogether.

 

Although he wanted Mokuba's adolescent years to be nothing like his own, Seto knew that Mokuba needed a basic understanding, at least, of how to run KaibaCorp if he was one day to become the Chief Executive. This was his first real test, and, to the best of Seto's knowledge, he was catching on quickly.

 

“I have to go,” Seto said. “I've got some reports I need to finish and send to Kasumi by tomorrow morning.”

 

“Alright. Kasumi is losing her mind, by the way.” Mokuba added with a snort. “I don't think she can handle the workload without you there.”

 

“Sucks to be her.” Kaiba muttered. “I'll talk to you tomorrow, Mokuba.”

 

“Mmhmm. Aishiteru, brother.”

 

“Love you too. Goodnight.”

 

“Night.”

 

As soon as the phone went dead Seto put his cell phone down and began the long, tedious task of typing up statistical reports. His mind drifted from the task at hand, however, thinking more along the lines of the events of the day, the upcoming days of his excursion and… Jounouchi. He was an enigma, really. He had been in Kaiba's life for more than four years - well, not so much in it as a part of it. They despised each other so, yet for some reason there was always some form of entwinement that fate had in store to get them once again to cross each other's paths. It had been something that Kaiba hadn't really cared about; come next year he'd probably have nothing to do with the mutt ever again. For some reason it had only just traversed through his mind that, in the past four years, there was always some situation in which he had been involved with the cocky, blonde-headed boy.

 

But why? He was merely a nuisance, and, in Kaiba's opinion, couldn't duel his way out of a paper bag. Was it some sort of divine intervention that was keeping Jounouchi hanging about? Or was it simply a coincidence that they happened to go to the same school, had a passion for duel monsters and were now bound for this entire overseas trip?

 

It was different with Yuugi, as he was Kaiba's main competition. At least that was a legitimate motive as to why Kaiba associated with him to some degree. Maybe it was just the fact that Jounouchi tagged along with Yuugi, but yet, here they were, sharing a hotel room, bound to each other for another three weeks. Kaiba didn't believe in fate, exactly. But it was plain that some unusual things had happened throughout his tournament, but nothing and nobody controlled Seto's life but himself.

 

Seto sighed quietly, deciding that he was probably letting this get the better of him. Come graduation at the end of March next year, he hoped not to see Jounouchi Katsuya ever again. He would be glad to see the ties finally severed - if they ever did.

 

**

 

Jounouchi was currently perched upon the broad windowsill of Malik's hotel room. He leant on his elbow, legs crossed, idly twirling a pen in his hand. His gaze was directed to the tempest outside; the rain battering the roof, wind whipping up the side of the building. Sixteen stories below there were people still trying to navigate their way home, their umbrellas being blown inside out and torn from their grip. Jou could partially see Victoria Harbour through the forest of skyscrapers and thick black clouds. Waves that had to be several metres high crashed ashore, swamping any unfortunate pedestrians who happened to be walking by. Above the velocity of the deluge, dull echoes of thunder could be heard every now and again.

 

“This weather blows,” Honda announced.

 

“Tell me about it,” Otogi agreed. “It would have been nice to do some shopping or something while we're here.”

 

“We probably won't get the chance, now.” Anzu said, leaning back comfortably in a recliner. “We're heading off to Guangzhou tomorrow, and then Guilin, in the same day.”

 

“At least we'll be out of this damned storm once we get into China,” Jou said. “And it won't be as hot and sticky.”

 

“Do you guys have any idea what to write for your journal entries?” Malik asked. “I mean, is there any, like, specific criteria that Matsuri-sensei told us about?”

 

“No profanity or plagiarism,” Ryou replied. “You can write whatever you want, as long as it's relevant to what we did on the day.”

 

Jounouchi wasn't really sure what to write, seeing as most of the events that had occurred that day couldn't really be put on paper without some form of bad language thrown in. Nevertheless, he set to writing.

 

Day 1 - Hong Kong

My first day in China definitely had its ups and downs. It was really cool knowing that I was finally here - I had actually accomplished something; that being that I had helped fundraise enough money to actually get here. Our first stop was the Hong Kong Museum of History. There sure was some pretty impressive stuff there - a lot on what I had studied at school, too. However, I had an unfortunate run-in with the janitor's closet, and Yuugi Mutou happened to stumble across a priceless vase that he accidentally broke. In the Sham Shui Po district, where we went for lunch, Otogi-san's wallet got stolen and a certain someone who oh-so-generously bought me my lunch decided to play a prank and give me dog-meat dumplings. Ocean Park was the highlight of the day, but it was cut short pretty quickly due to the typhoon closing in over Hong Kong. So, all in all, I guess my first day was down a bit on the scale. I still had fun, even if some of the things that happened weren't exactly amusing. If anything I have learnt to evade janitor's closets, step lightly around priceless vases and keep my belongings on me at all times! Maybe I shouldn't have done that rain dance, either…

 

J.K

 

Jounouchi wasn't terribly good in his Japanese class, but figured that since this wasn't Japanese, Matsuri-sensei might go lightly on him in her marking. He was, however, better in his Chinese class, excelling mainly in assignments on topics such as famous landmarks in China. The history side of it wasn't quite as riveting, but he figured that he if he surpassed well in one subject area then it wouldn't matter quite so much if he failed in another. After all, Jounouchi wasn't entirely the most academic student, and Matsuri-sensei knew this. He scored mediocre marks on most of his work, mostly B's and C's, but the important thing was that he passed. He'd be damned if he failed this class, as it was probably his favourite subject, after gym, that is. After this trip he knew he'd have to be ready for the final exam, which would be held in February next year.

 

Jounouchi had been pondering for a while now about what to do after his high school years were over. Jin had told him to write out two lists - one of all the things he liked doing and one of the subjects that he did well in at school. From those two lists he had had told Jounouchi to combine those things into a potential occupation and write down the type of jobs he could imagine himself doing for the rest of his life - happily.

 

“You've only got one shot at getting it right, son,” Jin had said. “I don't want to see you go down the same track that I did.”

 

Jou was particularly fond of Home Economics, so becoming a chef like his father was a possibility. He also liked Physical Education and Chinese, of course, so he thought he might be able to do some sort of degree or diploma in teaching either of the two. The thought of becoming a teacher was a little deterring, but there could be other outcomes, such as becoming a professional athlete or a translator.

 

Suddenly there was a knock at the hotel room door, and Yamanaga-sensei came striding through, holding a bag full of who-knows-what.

 

“Jounouchi-san?”

 

Ah, crap. Jou thought. I thought he'd forgotten about that…I wonder what's in the bag. “Hai, sensei?”

 

“If you are through with writing your journal entry, I'd like you to come with me.”

 

Jou sighed and closed his diary. “Coming.”

 

What's he going to make me do? Jou thought as he walked behind the graying man. Make me trim Kaiba's nasal hair? Make us sit and watch a sex-ed video for three hours straight about how women give birth? Make us dress in drag and stand on the corner? Hand-cuff us together so I don't get stuck in a closet again?! A fate worse than death!

 

Yamanaga-sensei stopped at Jounouchi's hotel room and opened the door. The two walked in to see Kaiba still glued to the screen of his laptop, typing furiously.

 

“Kaiba-san,”

 

“Yes, sensei?”

 

“Please, let us all sit down,” the teacher said, motioning the boys to take a seat on the small couch. “Matsuri-sensei and I have noticed obvious tension in your rapport, since we have been here in China.” He said.

 

“What makes you think that?” Kaiba asked, trying the play-dumb card.

 

“Well, Matsuri-sensei has been teaching the both of you and she knows that you don't exactly see eye-to-eye. She chose you two to be partners for this trip for exactly that reason. However, due to the incident at the museum today, we have decided that it is necessary for you to bond together properly,”

 

Jou swallowed. Oh, God…

 

“Is that so?” Kaiba stated, more than asked.

 

“Yes. Matsuri-sensei and I have decided to ask you two to cook for us teachers,”

 

Jou's head just about exploded. “Cook? With him?! Are you serious!?”

 

“Hai, Jounouchi-san.” Yamanaga replied sternly. “You'll find the ingredients and the recipe for what we want you to make all in this bag here. We expect in the time that you'll be making this food that you'll also be able to sort your differences. Am I clear?”

 

Jou and Kaiba glared at him stonily. “Crystal.”

 

“Good,” the teacher said, standing up and taking the bag of ingredients to the kitchen. “We expect our food to be ready by nine. That gives you two and a half hours of quality time together.”

 

Jou could almost swear the man was mocking them.

 

“We'll be waiting in Matsuri-sensei's hotel room. Have fun now!” Yamanaga said, and winked, then left.

 

A few moments of silence passed.

 

“This is your fault.” Kaiba immediately established.

 

“Shut up, bastard. If you weren't such a jerk then I wouldn't have to hate you and none of this would even have happened!”

 

“I can't help that you don't like me.”

 

Jou rolled his eyes. “There is totally no point arguing about this. Let's just get this over with.”

 

And then, for the first time in their lives, the boys got to work.

 

**

 

JoeysGal: Okay, so it might sound like a rather mild “punishment”, but you'll just have to wait and see what becomes of their situation… *runs off cackling like a madwoman* R&R! XD