Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Check Yes or No ❯ Chapter 3

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Katsuya Jounouchi went to school the following Monday, not expecting anything out of the ordinary, as usual. School was hardly a place of fun and excitement, especially not first class, some natural science class that he could care less about. He almost always dozed off, it being early in the morning and incredibly boring.

So Jounouchi walked sleepily to his locker before his first class, rubbing the grains from his eyes, and hardly aware of anything around him at all. He reached into the locker and pulled out his science book, slammed the door as loud as he could, just to see what would happen, then walked down the hall to his first class. He was almost late, as the bell cried out shrilly in his ears before he sat down at his desk. He plopped down in his seat and got ready for another boring lecture with weird diagrams he could not decipher. Eventually, he realized that Kaiba was periodically looking over his shoulder at him.

Jounouchi frowned and leaned forward. "You want somethin'?" he whispered.

Kaiba seemed to shiver against his words. "Did you get it?" he whispered back.

"Get what?" Jounouchi inquired.

"Did you get it?" Kaiba's blue eyes shone with annoyance.

"Get what?"

Kaiba sighed heavily. "You dimwitted mutt," he mumbled before turning back around.

"What'd I do?" Jounouchi blinked, thoroughly confused, and tried to remember what it was he was supposed to have gotten. He could not think of anything, and the irritated looks Kaiba kept shooting him were angering him more than usual. He slumped back in his chair the way he knew Kaiba hated it, and stretched out his legs far enough that Kaiba accidentally kicked his shoe. The brunette turned around and scowled, but the blonde pretended not to notice. If he was going to be annoying to him, then Jounouchi might as well be annoying right back. Apparently it worked as after class, Kaiba made an obvious effort to avoid Jounouchi as the class filed out into the hall. The blonde shrugged and walked down the hall to his locker to return his science book before taking off to his P.E. class. When he opened his locker door, however, something caught his eye. It was a folded piece of paper laying on his economics book. He blinked confusedly at it and picked it up, unfolding it to read what it said.

Jounouchi,

As you can probably assume, this is not easy for me to write, nor bring to your attention. I have had this thought cycling through my mind for a while now, and I finally decided to investigate it further. I must know how you regard me. Indicate below if you by chance think of me as more than a friend.

[ ] Yes [ ] No

--Kaiba Seto

Jounouchi blinked, then read over the letter again. He could hardly believe what he was holding in his hand. So that's what he was talking about… he realized. He read over every word carefully once more before finally realizing exactly what it was. I just got a love letter from Kaiba? His mouth went dry and his heart leapt from his chest. Was Kaiba asking him out? He read it again and sure enough, it certainly looked like it. His mind went completely blank as he stared at the black marks on the page, trying to sort out his thoughts but to no avail. The only thing that brought him out of his trance was the tardy bell screaming in his ears, notifying him that he was late once again to P.E. He shoved the letter into his back pocket and dashed down the hall to the boy's locker room. He flung his gym clothes on in a hurry, stumbling as he struggled to put on his shoes, and raced out onto the gym floor. He stood beside Honda, panting and out of breath.

"What took you so long this time?" Honda inquired as the P.E. instructor barked something about dodge ball.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Jounouchi replied.

"Oh come on, tell me," Honda insisted. "I'm your best bud, right? You can tell me anything."

"I know, but now's not the time, man," Jounouchi said. "Wait till after class. I'll tell you then."

But after class, Jounouchi was no longer sure he wanted to tell Honda. Although they were very close friends, the whole concept of getting a love letter from another guy was just… embarrassing in a way. Especially if that other guy happened to be Seto Kaiba.

"You said you'd tell me!" Honda frowned after they had gotten dressed and were heading down the hall.

"I know, but…" Jounouchi said. "It's… awkward."

"Everything about you is awkward!" Honda shot back. "Come on man, just tell me!"

"I'll tell you," the blonde assured him, brushing his bangs out of his face. "Just not now." Before Honda could protest again, he slipped into his next class, an art class that he shared with Bakura. He sat down next to the pale-haired boy and lowered his forehead to the wooden table.

"Jounouchi, are you all right?" Bakura asked worriedly.

Jounouchi nodded, the stench of old paint and pastels engulfing his nose. "I'm okay. It's just… I got some things on my mind."

Bakura nodded and said nothing more. That was what Jounouchi liked about Bakura: He never delved into subjects he knew were sensitive. He was quiet and considerate, and kept to himself most of the time. He could be just the person Jounouchi was looking for to tell about the letter.

He lifted his head from the table and looked at the boy beside him. "Bakura, can I ask you something?"

"Anything," Bakura replied, his face concerned but cautious.

"Uh, okay. Say if like, a guy got a letter… from somebody… asking him out… and the guy wasn't sure if he liked the other person or not… but he thinks he does… How would he confront the other person?"

"Hmm," Bakura thought for a moment. "I suppose the guy could always write a letter back."

"Hey, that's a good idea," Jounouchi replied. "Thanks, Bakura."

"No problem," he responded, smiling sweetly.

Jounouchi then began writing Kaiba a letter. He avoided putting any names on it, in case anyone was watching him. He was not at all sure of what to put in the letter and refrained from asking Bakura such as the art teacher was very strict on quietly working alone. So he put together something rather quickly and stuffed it in his pocket, hoping to drop it into Kaiba's locker later that day.

Of course, it had not occurred to Jounouchi that his class after lunch was algebra and also was shared with Kaiba himself. Jounouchi abruptly stopped in the doorway, sending Otogi crashing into him from behind. Otogi probably said something to him about it, but Jounouchi's mind was so preoccupied and panicking that nothing else registered. He took a quick look around the room, found Yugi sitting in the front, and quickly joined him. There was no sign of Kaiba as of yet.

"Yug, I gotta problem," Jounouchi spat out.

"What is it, Jou?" Yugi inquired, setting down his pencil to look up at his friend.

"Okay, so Kaiba likes me and he wrote me a crazy letter, but I don't know what to say to him and I forgot I have this class with him and he'll be here any minute and he's gonna look at me and it's gonna be all awkward and I don't know what to do!" Jounouchi gasped for a breath.

"Um," Yugi said. "Well, just tell him how you feel. That should work." The whole concept of Kaiba liking Jounouchi seemed so natural to Yugi that Jounouchi could not help but feel a bit confused.

Jounouchi looked around, and saw Kaiba just walking in from the hall. The blonde panicked again, whipped out the letter from earlier and read it over again, just to make sure he had read it write the first dozen or so times he saw it. It a state of panic, he grabbed Yugi's pencil and checked a box quickly, then shoved the paper into Kaiba's hand without a word. Then he simply grabbed his book and left the classroom, not daring to look back.