Twelve signs

Hmmph,
everytime I think ‘this will be a short chappie’ I end up with those long, endless monsters..Sigh oh well, at least the story keeps moving, ne? Have fun
and please review.

Arigato!^^

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He hated festivities, even small partys were a gruel to him.

But since
Mokuba had insisted on going, he let himself be talked into it.

Besides, it
was not like he needed an excuse to be here, seeing as the town major had sent him a personal invitation.

The problem
was, that, between discussing politics and wealth funds with the upper crust, Seto was forced to watch his little brother aswell.

Which was
why he was now standing in a corner of the dancehall, watching the people, particularly Mokuba, swaying to the music.

Blue eyes
roamed the crowd, coming to rest on a small, familiar group of teens.

Otogi had
replaced his headband with a red leather cap. A red, sleeveless leather vest, which was adorned with gold chains, was stretched taut over his torso.
Skintight, tie-up black leather pants, which were at least two sizes two tight, clung to his legs. Biker boots completed the outfit.

Disgustedly,
Seto sneered at how the dice duelist simultanously ground his hips against two random girls’ loins.

His glance
moved over to Yugi and Anzu, and his heart nearly stopped at the brunette’s loud choice of clothes:

The
neon-pink halter top clashed horribly with the bright, orange plastic mini, and the green high heels weren’t helping any.

Not that it
really mattered, since her dancing style consisted mostly of bouncing, which was still classes better than what Yugi did.

Seto
winced, when the short duelist stomped on Anzu’s left foot in a desperate attempt to keep his balance. Obviously, the king of games was also the clumsiest dancer to ever grace the earth. Even his elegant attire, a short-sleeved, pale blue shirt and purple jeans with silver studs and ankle-high
boots couldn’t disguise his complete lack of talent.

Diverting
his eyes from the pitiful sight, Kaiba instead turned his gaze on Shizuka.

The young
girl sported a cute, fluffy summer dress with large flower print, her sandal-covered feet moving uncertainly to the rhythm, following Honda’s
busterous lead.

Hiroto’s
usually pointy hair was slightly softened down, a few accurately placed strands of hair falling onto his forehead.

Velvet, deep green and shining, the blazer flirted with his lean figure, his seemingly endless legs appearing even longer dressed in smooth, dark blue cotton, Honda’s
body twisting in perfect sync to the music.

But the
undisputed lord of the dance that night was Jounouchi Katsuya.

The blond
moved in almost hypnotizing ways, restoring dance to what it was: an art.

An expensive white shirt, only halfway buttoned, revealing his well-toned chest, silk black pants and black dress shoes, the only accessory item his ever-present dogtags: the simple, yet beautous style only managed to highlight
his good looks and unruly golden hair.

Kaiba
tilted a brow at Jou’s graceful motions.

So the mutt
did have a talent, even if wasn’t one of any real use.

Otogi chose
that particular moment, to unravel himself from his female...attachments and draw Jounouchi’s attention to him.

A few
moments, the two guys talked quietly, then a short but heated argument erupted, which was ended by Jou crossing his arms and giving the creator of Dungeon Dice Monsters an angry glare.

This one
tried a different approach, green eyes always flitting over to Kaiba, who watched the scene with dull interest. Finally, Jou threw his hands in the
air, exclaiming his dislike and defeat, then nodded hesitantly.

With a
friendly pat on the back, he was pushed direction Kaiba, uncertanity, annoyance and discomfort showing on his face.

Sighing, he
came to stand before the taller brunet and, crossing his arms anew, he muttered:

“So?”

Kaiba just
turned his head the other way, attempting to ignore the younger one.

Growling,
Jounouchi tried to keep his cool, before asking:

“Care to
dance?”

Kaiba’s head
whipped around, as he snarled:

“Pardon me?”

Shifting
uncomfortably from one foot to the next, Jou huffed:

“Listen,
this isn’t my idea, ‘kay? Otogi put up this insane bet to see, who’s the better dancer, you or me. And since there’s a five grand in the pot, plus a free,
limited version of ‘Dungeon Dice Monsters: Golden Era’, I took the bait. So, what’cha say, you up to the challenge?”

Kaiba considered this a few moments. As much as he hated making a spectacle out of himself, he just couldn’t turn down the opportunity, to put the mutt in his place. Besides, he could use the practive.

“Fine,
welp. But no closed dances.”
Jou made a face, as if just having been ordered to clean a garbage can with his tongue.

“Like, duh,
it’s not that I’d wanted to touch you in the first place, except perhaps, to punch in your nose!” he roared, which made Kaiba chuckle.

“As if you
would ever stand a chance against me, pup. Now, are you ready to face defeat-yet again?”

If looks
could kill, Jounouchi would have faced a triple death sentence. But this way, all he could do, was to follow the CEO to the center of the hall, where this one
immediately began moving in sync to the rhythm.

Their old
rivalry had come alive once again.

Sweatdrops
formed his brow, but he never once took his eyes off his opponent.

They had
been dancing for nigh on two hours and, one by one, a crowd had gathered around them, encouraging both him and the welp.

Blue eyes
narrowed in anger and grudged, unwilling respect. Jou was an excellent dancer, even he had to admit that.

‘If his dueling skills were anywhere the level of his dancing abilites, he might even be a challenge. But then again, he’ll never reach my height. Time to end this posse, and show this inu, that I’ll always best him.”

With that
thought, Kaiba performed a combo of several very accurate, difficult flamenco steps, then paused in an elegant pose to see, what Jou had to offer.

Nothing
could have prepared him for Katsuya’s counter; the blond dove into a split, pirouetted back into an upright position, rolled his slim hips in ways, Kaiba
had thought anatomically impossible, threw in a little moonwalking, somersaulted and came to land gracefully on his feet, arms stretched wide, his
now open shirt billowing around his sweat-covered body, head thrown back in triumph, amber eyes shining passionately from underneath wild, golden tresses.

For three seconds,
all was silent, and then the audience roared in awe, even as the two opponents shook off their trance and relaxed enough to resume normal positions.

Closing the
distance between them, Jou offered a hand, and Kaiba had no other choice, than to accept it, although his other fist shook in rage. The other one gave a
friendly half-smile, obviously blind to the brunet’s rage.

“Hey, you’re pretty good, I’ll give ya that, Kaiba. Think, we’ll be seeing each other again on the dancefloor, perhaps even for another..challenge?” he mused, just to grit his teeth in pain, when Seto squeezed his hand rather hard.

“Not in
this lifetime, mutt. And don’t think, just because you won this one little struggle, I’ll ever respect you in any way!”

Rolling his
eyes, Jou twisted his fingers out of Kaiba’s steel-like grip, mumbling:

“Sheesh, I
knew you’re a sore loser, just never thought, you’d be that bitter about it. Ya stuck-up bastard”, he added under his breath, flexing his throbbing hand. Kaiba only cast him his infamous cold glare, which didn’t impress Jou.

With a
shrug, Jounouchi turned to face the audience to collect his well-earned applause and praise, when, suddenly, he caught sight of a pair of green eyes and black hair. Immediately, his temper got the better of him and, pushing through the people, he called after the other teen:

“Otogi Ryuuji, come back here! You’re the one, who caused this whole trouble! I swear, if I get my hands on you, you’ll wish, you’d never been born. I’ll make ya regret
that haire-brained idea of yours for sure, just
wait-hey, hey, where d’ya think, you’re-hey come back here, ya little-“

His voice was lost in the babbling and cheering of the crowd, as he took after Otogi.

No one ever
noticed Kaiba heading for the exit, Mokuba in tow.

He really
didn’t needed this now.

Sitting at
his desk, Kaiba contemplated if wether or not to open the newest letter, then decided to read it anyway, knowing the thought of it, or rather, the
curiousity, would keep nagging him.

With a
furrowed brow, Seto read the carefully penned lines, before shaking his head and tossing the sheet into a drawer.

“Asinie
poetry!” he hissed, as he returned to the matters at hand, creating the next generation of duel disc.

Inside his
head, the words kept turning over and over again, like an endless caroussel.

Unthrifty
loveliness why dost thou spend

Upon thy
self thy beauty’s legacy?

Nature’s
bequest gives nothing but doth lend,

And
being frank she lends to those are free:

Then
beautous niggard why dost thou abuse,

Then
bounteous largess given thee to give?

Profitless
usurer why dost thou use

Soat
at
a sum of sums yet canst not live?

For
haffing traffic only with thy self alone,

Thou of
thy self thy sweet self dost deceive,

Then how
when nature calls thee to be gone,

What
acceptable audit canst thou leave?

Thy
unused beauty must be tombed with thee,

Wich
uséd lives th’ executor to be.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++o:p>

Yeshh, it
shucks, I know, but it’s fluff, right? Or..?°~°