Desperate Rivals

[High Priest Ali]

(I'm on a KK kick! ;D I miss my Kaiba-kun SO much! Me and Kris are gonna resurrect this site!)

click clickclick
Mr. Owen (XP) paused in writing the equation on the board, interrupted by the sound of keys clicking in the background, again.
click click click
Mr. Owen raised the chalk again-
clickclick click clickclick
-he waited, raised the chalk again-
clickclickclick clickclick click click
Mr. Owen sighed heavily. "Mr. Kaiba," he turned to the class.
Seto didn't look up from his laptop. He was at the back of the class, as usual, paying as little attention as physically possible, and continuing to type even as the rest of the class turned to stare.
"Seto!" Mr. Owen snapped.
"Huh?" Seto dully acknowledged his teacher's calling, eyes still scanning the computer screen.
"Look at me, please." Mr Owen commanded.
Seto glanced up, but turned away again just before Mr. Owen could speak.
"Seto, what've you got there that's more important than my algebra class?" Mr. Owen asked.
"I'm restoring my old laptop..." Seto said distractedly, still typing, "I have to move all the files from my new one to the drive on here."
"Ah," Mr. Owen nodded, "What kind of files?"
"iTunes, duh..." Seto muttered. The class laughed.
"Seto you do realize that you're barely passing this class?" Mr. Owen said.
"Yes, sir," Kaiba answered quietly.
"And if you don't pass the next test, you will probably be failing?" Mr. Owen told him.
"...yes, sir..." Seto felt his ears get hot with embarassment. He never failed any class. Why'd Owen have to tell the whole class about his one flaw?
"You don't care, do you?" Mr. Owen sighed.
"Nope..." Seto continued typing.
Mr. Owen sighed, the bell rang, and they all left.

=================

"Freaking jerk..." Kaiba growled quietly, tossing his algebra book in his locker. He smiled at the loud PANG it made when it hit the bottom.
Anyway, who cared if he failed algebra? It was just math. It's not like it was important or anything...
"K, come on!" Andy called from down the hall.
Seto flipped his laptop closed to finish importing files on a later day and followed Andy out of school for the day.

=================

"You think Owen was serious about what he said in class today?"
"What'd Owen say in class today?"
Yugi and his friends walked down the streets from school toward their respective homes when Tristan suddenly voiced this small concern.
"He said Kaiba's failin his class!" Joey grinned.
"Kaiba?" Tea asked, "Our Kaiba? He's too smart to fail math."
"Owen said if he didn't pass the test this quarter, he'd fail the class." Tristan said.
"Come on!" Yugi said skeptically.
"No, I'm serious! Ask Owen!" Tristan said.
"I think he deserves it," Joey said.
"Joey!" Tea snapped.
"Nobody's good at ev'rythin'! Dis is was Kaiba's not good at." Joey said.

(OK, change in plans. Alex will not be in this one. This is our tutoring thing instead, OK Kris? I finally got it all typed without any com problems! XP *is dead*)

[Royal Vizier Kris]

THE NEXT DAY

"You know..."

Kris commented as she followed behind all of the others, still half thinking about what she was going to say before she started saying anything. The last thing she needed was Kaiba or any of the others to yell at her, as though she was about to say something wrong. Which, she didn't think she was...If anything it was just a friendly suggestion, though as he had never really taken her suggestions in the passed, she doubted whether he would do so now. But it made more sense to her that she suggest it now instead of later on when he would have failed the class and have to make it up in summer school, or the next school year. Though, she doubted very much whether he would really want to take either of the lesser evils. It did make sense to her that she would suggest it now and not wait until later on.

"You could always try paying attention during class," she stated matter-of-factly. "I mean Owen yelled at you for that exact thing is not paying attention...It's not wonder you're going to fail his class, you rarely pay attention when he's trying to teach something. And you don't bother in the least bit to ask for help after class..." she trailed off for a moment, continuing to think about this, and allow a brief moment in which he would think about this. "I mean, that's not like you in the least bit...Usually you at least care about school and do your best to make the top grades....But Algebra is just something you're not good at, which means you don't care so much about it..."

"You know..." Kris said now after a moment of pause, "Out of all of us, and as much as it surprises me to say it, but Joey's doing a whole hell of a lot better with Algebra then any of us is..."

Ryou let out a soft moan, as though he knew what was coming. For a moment he opened his mouth to argue against the suggestion Kris was going to make...And then he fell silent as Joey seemed to catch on to this idea as well.

"No!" he snapped instantly, "Don't say it...Don't even think it..."

"Let Joey tutor you this time, Kaiba..." Kris said, ignoring Joey's remarks. "I mean we all know since you just don't give a crap about Algebray that you won't study on your own accord. At least if Joey is tutoring you, you can help each other. I know for a fact Joey's having trouble with Chemistry, and you're doing exceptional...He could help you with Algebra, and you could help him with Chemistry."

"Don't I have a say in this?" Joey asked.

"Do you want to take summer school?" Kris retorted.

"No..." Joey trailed off.

"Okay then..." With this, Kris turned back to Kaiba. She let him think about this for a moment before throwing in, "I mean givin the two...Which of the lesser evils would you want? Taking summer school and missing out on just about anything that has to do with your brother or your company for a few months. Or having Joey tutor you a few times a week so you can pass Algebra and pass school."


(Let the record show this is my shortest post in the longest of times...I'm stuck T.T)

[High Priest Ali]

(OK...hmm...well...uh...um...yeah...OK...uh...yeah...XD)

Kaiba was quiet after Kris' suggestion. He could feel the others staring at him, waiting for an answer, and his ears got hot. She wasn't serious? She couldn't be? Him take lessons from Joey?! She was insane.
Do you want to take summer school?
Her threat rang in his head. Summer school...every high schooler's worst fear...
It wouldn't be so bad. Maybe he can help. We'll be teaching each other. he thought, He's better at math than me, and I'm better at chemistry. If we both pass, won't we both be happy?
"OK." he finally said, "But we do lessons at my place, and remember, I have to be able to pass the test this quarter."
"Same here." Joey nodded, "I'll do dis if you will."
Kris smiled. Her plan was working!

(That makes her sound evil, but it's all I got. XD)

[Royal Vizier Kris]

(She is evil...)

"My plan is working..." Kris said manically, forgetting everyone else was there - or at least pretending to forget everyone else was there - "Soon...they'll both bow before me, realizing that I had the greatest idea that could have possibly saved them from the rest of their lives...And once they start bowing down to me, everyone else will follow suit. Soon I'll be ruler of Domino City, and eventually ruler of entire world!" with this, she cued her rather evil laugh (*Clears throat* MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!) before her face cleared again, to an almost blank slate as she turned back to the others. "Did I say that out loud?" she asked.

Ryou smiled and nodded, "Sadly..."

Kris smiled and turned back to the boys, who seemed now afraid of her, as though she had been serious for a moment. She couldn't help but grin at her friends, thinking it would have been believeable if she wouldn't have interrupted herselfand realized the others were there. But all the same, she hadn't meant for it to be that much of a joke.

"Fine," Joey said to Kaiba seemingly one request, "We'll do it at your house...Tonight okay for ya?"

"You could always alternate," Kris suggested, "I mean one night one of you will tutor the other, then the next night the other will tutor the other...Or something like that..."

Ryou sighed, "Are you done offering suggestions?" he asked almost tugging on her arm, "Come on! I wanna go get some ice cream on the way home..."

Kris smiled and nodded, "Yeah...Unless either of them have anything to ask..." when she didn't get a response from either of them, Kris turned and begun to follow Ryou, "Call me if you guys start a World War III!" she called over her shoulder.

[High Priest Ali]

(roflmfao ;D)

They watched Kris leave.
"She scares me sometimes..." Kaiba said quietly.
"Amen..." Joey shook his head after the girl.
"So, you can come to my place tonight. You can walk with me after school if you want." Kaiba said.
"'k." Joey shrugged. "Later."
"Yeah..." Kaiba muttered.
He hated this already. -_-;

[Royal Vizier Kris]

As much as he hated to admit it, Joey had been hoping school would last longer then it really was at the moment. And with his luck as it was, the day seemed to be zooming by quicker then he really wanted it to. It was always his luck, any chance he wanted the day to go by fast, it went by slower then usual, as though every minute was really an hour. And anytime he wanted the day to go by slow, it went by at the speed of light. Within seconds - or as it seemed - Joey was sitting in his last class of the day which happened to be Algebra. Half listening now, Joey looked up at the clock to find the bell would ring in only a minute. Damn...His luck couldn't get any worse then it already was. There was no way in hell his luck would get worse. Surely he was bound to have some good luck. Yep, that was it...Within moments he would have some sort of good luck that would turn his mood around and make him happy that it was the last hour of the day. He couldn't have luck worse then what it was already.

Riiiiiiiiinnnnnnggggg!

So much for good luck...

As the teacher called out the nights assignment, Joey grabbed his stuff and seemed to sprint out of the room before anyone in the class could gather up their things. It wasn't as though he wanted to run away before meeting Kaiba just outside the school. It was the fact that the one he had loathed for s many years was the one he was expected to tutor and help pass the class. And if he didn't pass the class, well that wouldn't exactly be Joey's fault..Would it? He would have done everything within his power to get Kaiba to understand the tricks iof Algebtra, but what if that wasn't even enough? What if by some chance Kaiba did fail the test? It would be Joey's head on the chopping block. As if he wasn't already use to that...

Once safely out of the room, Joey skidded to a halt, slowing his pace slightly, not trying to rush in the slightest bit in meeting Kaiba outside the school. For a moment, coming to the turn off to the entrance of the school, Joey couldn't help but think it would be better to take the longer way around. It wouldn't take but five minutes...Turning down the opposite hallway, Joey made his slow decent toward the furthest exit of the school. Within moments he would have to face his own doom, that would be of admitting he needed to help tutor Kaiba. Of course, this could have it's upsides, occasionally at least.

Forcing the thoughts to the futhest corner of his mind, and taking a quick glance at his watch, Joey turned and exited the school, realizing he still had to meet Kaiba at the front entrance...Which wasn't but a few yards if not feet away from the door he came out of. Letting out a sigh, Joey made his way toward Kaiba, who seemed to be impatiently waiting for him at the corner.

"Sorry," he muttered once he'd reached Kaiba. "I had to stop at my locker..." he lied.

[High Priest Ali]

"Sorry..." Joey said, "I was-..."
Joey stopped when he came up beside Kaiba. The boy was waiting for him in front of the school, leaning agains the brick wall, one arm supporting his laptop, and the other hand typing yet again.
Joey couldn't believe it! He was still jacking with that stupid computer! No wonder Mr. Owen was failing him.
"Hey," Joey snapped.
"Yeah?" Kaiba said without looking up, "You ready?"
"Yes..." Joey muttered.
"'k..." Kaiba flipped the laptop closed and slid it into his bag. "Come on."
-_-;
Joey could only follow.

[Royal Vizier Kris]

(*Headdesk*)

"For someone as smart as you," Joey started to say - breaking through the silence that had followed the two teens since they left school - "I dont' see hwo you can be so stupid during class sometimes...I mean you're screwing with that damned computer all the time now. You're even doing it in class, in the class that you're failing at that!"

Sighing, Joey continued to follow Kaiba, now keeping all of his other thoughts that he had managed to collect on the walk over to himself. The fact that he had offered even that much to Kaiba wasn't likely to help him in any way, but it was the truth whether he wanted to realize it or not. If he would just drop the laptop for a few short minutes and take the time to pay attention he wouldn't be falling behind and he would be doing at least better then now. he would at least be passing, even if it was in the slightest bit. It pissed Joey off to no end to realize that out of the two of them, he seemed to be the only one who seemed to care about his grade in Algebra. And the fact that Joey was actually paying attention and doing a good job in that class said a lot. Listening did help above everytring else.

"And if you're not willing to put that thing down for more then two seconds I don't see how I'll be able to help you..." Joey muttered, still a big angry with Kaiba.

But who was he to tell him to not do something? It wasn't his place. If Kaiba wanted to fail and be sent to summer school for eight weeks, that was his problem. There wouldn't be much Joey could do for him then, but he wouldn't let it be his fault.

Sighing almost in defeat, Joey stated, "This isn't like you...I mean I know you're obsessed with your computer, but you're usually way better then this, K."

[High Priest Ali]

"Did I ask you?" Kaiba snapped at him finally. "You're not my mom, Joey, so shut up..."
No one is... he wanted to say.

=================

"Try not to break anything, OK?" Kaiba said as they walked into his mansion. "But you can do whatever you want in my room or Mokuba's, I guess."
"Wouldn' Mokuba get mad?"
"Nah," Seto shook his head, starting upstairs, "We're hardly ever in 'em anyway."
"Why?" Joey asked.
"Well, I'm at work a lot, and Mokuba's almost 13. He's got better stuff to do than hang around here."
Joey thought about this for a second. Kaiba let Mokuba do whatever he wanted? Wasn't that kinda irresponsible? He didn't say anything, but now he wondered if maybe Mokuba was failing any of his classes too.

[Royal Vizier Kris]

Thinking about what Kaiba had just said, Joey felt sorry for Mokuba. The fact that his older brother was always busy messing around with work and other such things, leaving Mokuba to do whatever he pleased. The scary thing about that could have been the fact that Mokuba could have been locked away in some jail or the fact that he could have gotten kidnapped and it would have taken Kaiba at least a day or two before he realized this fact and decided he needed to do something about it. And if such a thing were to happen and Mokuba came back unharmed, Kaiba would have just returned to things as usual, as though nothing had ever happened and his brother could take care of any problems he had from now on. He was only thirteen, barely old enough to be going off without anyone realizing that he was gone. Joey couldn't decide out of all of that which was the more scary to him, and he doubted very much whether Kaiba had paid any mind to these facts in the slightest bit.

"And what if something had happened to him while you were away busy with work?" Joey asked, though he left it at that, not really meaning to upset Kaiba any further. He was perhaps pushing his luck as it was, trying to questions Kaiba's authority over his brother. The fact that he was so close to pissing the other off said quite a bit. They were not going to survive the night...

"Anyways," Joey said, now trying to change the subject, "I don't suppose you remember the assignment from Algebra for tonight, do you? We can start on that at least...If that doesn't help then..." he trailed off, realizing this had actually been the first time he'd been forced to tutor anyone, and he had no clue how to begin it in the first place.

[High Priest Ali]

(Remember though, Kaiba wouldn't think Mokuba's too young. He was running things when he was 10. He's not like the other kids.)

"Uh, no..." Kaiba said, sitting on his bed and digging through his bag.
Don't you dare... Joey thought even as he watched Kaiba slip the laptop out.
Don't you open that...
Kaiba flipped the laptop open.
Don't you turn it on...
Kaiba flicked the power switch.
You so much as touch one key...
Joey ground his teeth and watched Kaiba start working on the laptop again.
That's it!
Joey dug out the homework from his own bag, spread it on the floor, then strode over to Kaiba, put his hand on the back of the laptop, and snapped it closed.
"Hey!" Kaiba snapped, drawing his fingers back at the last minute. "What the fu-"
"Now that I got yer attention," Joey smiled.
Kaiba glared at him savagely.
"You can ignore Owen all ya wan, but not me." Joey said, "W'ere gonna get through dis if it kills us both."
"That can be arranged..." Kaiba growled.

[Royal Vizier Kris]

Joey found himself glaring pure daggers at Kaiba, if for no other reason then the fact that if he so much as let Kaiba fail the test and the class, Kaiba would blame Joey for that one fact even though it would have been his own wrong doing. The fact that he was even contemplating helping Kaiba was enough to say he wasn't at all going to tolerate Kaiba ignoring him. He would kill Kaiba before he allowed himself to be ignored. Just because he got away with it...every...frickin...day...in class didn't mean he would get away with it now. That was just one thing Joey couldn't stand, and he couldn't explain why that why.

"You can mess with it after you've finished your homework...Which for you might just take a while..." he muttered the last part as he took his place on the floor again where the homework lay before him. There were quite a few other thoughts that came to Joey's mind, but he had to force them away, as if afraid if he said anything else it would tick Kaiba off and they would be doing exactly what Kris said. Starting a World War III. For once, Joey wasn't in the mood to fight with Kaiba. The fact that he just wanted to get this over with as painful as possible said quite a bit for him and did give him a great deal of credit.

"All we have to do is problems one through twenty on page three-hundred and ninty-four. It won't take us too long to do..." Joey said as he looked back up at Kaiba, who he had half expected to turn be messing around with his laptop again.

(I just realized I can have so much fun with this *Smirks evily*)

[High Priest Ali]

(How? ...)

"Good luck with that..." Kaiba said, laying on his back and staring at the ceiling.
"Hey!" Joey said, and Kaiba tilted his head back, staring at Joey upside down. "I ain't puttin up with yer attitude! Either you pay the hell attention, or you can fail that damn test on yer own!"
"Well, then have fun in chemistry this summer." Kaiba said, "I haven't forgotten my end of this. It works both ways, you know!"
Joey ground his teeth. He'd forgotten that part. He was supposed to help Kaiba in algebra while getting help in chemistry from him.
"So, now that we're at an impasse," Kaiba said, "Here's the deal. You do my algebra, I'll do your chemistry. We'll take our chances on the test and then we're both happy. Got it?"
"But-" Joey started to protest.
"Got it?" Kaiba asked again, turning over to face Joey with those icy blue eyes.
"Got it..." Joey conceded.
"Good."

[Royal Vizier Kris]

(You'll see later on...)

It wasn't long after there 'agreement' and Joey being halfway through with the assignment already before the two boys heard a ringing by the way of 'Far Away' going off. Setting his notebook and pencil down, Joey pulled his cellphone out of his pocket, flpping it open. "Why is there a teddy bear by her name...?" he muttered as was left staring on confusion. Still, the music echoed throughout the room and so Joey blinked his way out of the confusion before finally answering.

"Joey here!"

"Hey Joey!" Kris came from the other end of the phone, "Ryou's making me do this...I just wanted to check and make sure you guys haven't had a World War III yet..." she said.

Absent-mindedly, Joey picked up his notebook and pencil and continued writing. "Of course not...In fact we're almost done with the homework right now...." his voice trailed off, though whether this was due to his bad lying abilities, or the fact that he was sidetracked by trying to multi-task, it wasn't quite clear. "No...We're doing fine over here..."

"Really?" Kris asked, a hint of surprise trickling into her words. "So if I wanted to stop by, I wouldn't see the two or you at each others throats?"

Joey thought about this for a moment before answering, "Of course not! We wouldnt' do that..."

"Uh-huh..." Kris muttered, "Well I have to stop by anyways...I'll be over in a bit..."

Without so much as a good-bye, she hung up, leaving Joey to listen to the dial tone. Finally, he pressed end on the phone, but was left staring at the Teddy Bear that had appeared next to her name. "For some reason when Kris calls I see a teddy bear next to the name..." he muttered as he pocketed the phone.

He was silent for a bit longer, getting through a few more problems before tossing the notebook to Kaiba, "Copy that down. We'll-I'll..." he corrected himself, "Work on the rest in a little bit, but Kris is coming over in a few minutes..."

With this, her lay back on the carpet, now staring up at the cieling and waiting for Kaiba to finish copying down the problems that Joey had finished.

[High Priest Ali]

"What?" Kaiba looked up. "Wait, when did I invite her over?"
"She invited herself." Joey said.
Kaiba sighed, "Great..."
"Pretend like you're doing that, OK?" Joey said, "She'll kill us if we ruin 'her plan'."
"Whatever..." Kaiba muttered, glancing from his notebook to Joey's. "By the way, you can change the teddy bear."
"Huh?" Joey looked up at him.
"Caller groups. Images. It's all customizable..." Joey was staring at him blankly. "Oh, give me the damn phone!" Kaiba snapped. Joey complied. "Look," he held the phone where Joey could see the screen, "Menu. Contacts. Caller groups. Where's she at?"
"I...don't think my phone's that organized..." Joey said.
Kaiba pressed a few more buttons and returned the phone. "There."
Joey went through the list of people until he found Kris. She had a little K by her name now.
-_-;

(XD Well there is!)