DISCLAIMER! I DO NOT OWN Yu-Gi-Oh!, its characters, plots, or anything even remotely associated with it.

I don't know where this idea came from, but I liked it, and so I kept it (obviously.)

The only thing I do know about it is that it portrays a side of Joey we don't see at all in the English dub and that probably exists but is only hinted at (at best) in the original. This, of course, is me speaking only after seeing season zero, not the original Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters.

Enjoy!

EDIT: I looked over the original and found quite a few mistakes, so I fixed them (but there may still be more, so let's play a game: find a mistake and you get a cookie! :D). Plus, I didn't like how I cut it into four parts, and so I put it all in one like it should be (even though I'll probably regret it later, but I won't change it back then since interest seemed to wane after the second "chapter.")

Again:

Enjoy~! :)

Why are we sitting in the back of the class today? Not that I don't like being at the back of the class – it's so much easier to go to sleep – but I know Yuugi isn't like Hiroto or I, and neither is Anzu; they would much rather sit at the front of the class to avoid troublesome kids like us... why is Hiroto looking at me like that? Can he tell what I'm thinking? Katsuya wondered idly as he leaned back in his chair. Fine. Troublesome kids like me. That's right, Honda, pay attention to the teacher so I can copy your work later, he snickered.

"Jounouchi! What are you laughing at?" The teacher, a balding man with a belly bigger than his dad's called out, making him fall back in his chair.

The kids laughed, and the honey-eyed teen got mad.

"What do you want, you old bastard?" he snapped.

"Oh, I'm a bastard, now am I? Okay, Jounouchi. You have homework, then," he sneered. "You are to write one full page - a letter, if you will - to someone; anyone at all. There are no restrictions to this assignment, and I ask that it be given to me the second you walk through that door tomorrow," he explained calmly, pointing to the door.

What am I? A kid?

"And why is this such a bad assignment?" He found himself asking as he stood before he could close his mouth around the words, eliciting a small, almost inaudible gasp from his spiky-haired friend.

"Because you've failed my class all year, Jounouchi," the man stated indifferently. "You don't turn in a thing, and from that, I can only assume you have no idea what you're here for in the first place!"

The class laughed some more, but the sound was different this time; someone was laughing this time that hadn't before.

His gaze darted over the classroom and he found none other than Seto Kaiba snickering behind a pale hand.

"I know why I'm here! Just leave me the hell alone before I – "

"Jounouchi-kun!" Yuugi whispered. "Don't!"

The blonde growled and picked up his bag when the bell rang.

"And you have to read it to the class," the teacher called after him.

Another growl and a sigh.

"Fine."

XxXxXxXxX

He could feel the stares of his friends on his back as he trudged home ahead of them, kicking cans and rocks and whatever else was on his path.

"Jounouchi-kun," Yuugi spoke softly, jogging to keep up with the tall boy. "Jounouchi-kun? Would you like to come home with me? I can help you with your assignment if you want," the boy offered, looking up at him in earnest.

Katsuya lips twitched up slightly and he shook his head in the negative.

"No, I can do it. Thanks, though."

He looked forward and his smile grew.

And I know exactly who I'll write to.

XxXxXxXxX

When he got home, he sat down on his bed and fished out a sheet of paper and a pencil from his bag.

And began to write.

XxXxXxXxX

The next day he panicked.

He didn't lose his assignment; he had it in his hand.

It wasn't grammatically incorrect or poorly written; he was smarter than most thought.

He panicked because he had to read it in front of the class.

He scanned the room and wanted to scream.

Yuugi, Hiroto, and Anzu would never laugh at me, but I'm not so sure about anyone else, he thought, standing at the front of the class. Except Kaiba. He thinks he so good. That little -

"Are you ready, Jounouchi?" the balding man asked as he sat in his chair.

A sullen sigh as he looked at his shoes.

"Yeah."

"Then begin."

As he opened his mouth to speak, though, he was stopped.

"Does it have a title?"

"Huh?"

He looked up and found the teacher peering at him with wide eyes.

Amazed I can do something, I see.

"Your assignment – is it titled?"

"Uh..."

He felt a blush creep up his cheeks; he was never good at public speaking.

"Yeah."

"What is it?"

Katsuya looked around the room once more and found his three friends waiting eagerly to hear what he had written, four nodding heads, two bookworms, seven bored expressions, and one icy pair of eyes coupled with an arrogant smirk.

"The Writer," he replied, turning his gaze back to the teacher, who simply nodded and leaned back in his chair.

"Begin."

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

When he opened them, he began:

"I'm better than people give me credit for, and I'm better than the people that give me that bad credit; how long have you been judging people, wasting your life by criticizing and reprimanding others and their work – hurting them and their pride –when you could just as easily tell them what they can do to better themselves; when you could be doing something to better yourself?"

He looked up and found the same numbers: three friends waiting eagerly to hear what he had written, four nodding heads, two bookworms, seven bored expressions, and one icy pair of eyes coupled with an arrogant smirk.

He looked down, took a deep breath, and continued:

"You don't see the pain you cause until it comes back to you, so I guess it hasn't come back yet..."

A pause and he began again:

"I bettered myself...

You see me, right?

How much better I am when I'm not being poisoned?"

Pause.

"You see it."

Another pause.

"Do you want me to tell you how I did it?

I promise to tell you if you promise to listen."

He lowered his head and looked up at the class through his unruly blonde locks – still the same numbers, but some different descriptions: three eager friends, four bored expressions, two nodding heads, seven artists, and one icy pair of eyes coupled with an arrogant smirk.

"It wasn't actually me; I was saved... by someone I now consider family," he continued, ignoring the burning sensation in the back of his eyes as his gaze found Yuugi's.

Yuugi smiled, and he smiled back.

"And I'm glad he saved me... because I probably wouldn't be here if he hadn't."

A change up if he'd ever seen one: three eager friends, thirteen enraptured gazes, and one pair of curious eyes coupled with a pair of thin lips.

"And to make sure I stay, I found a hobby."

No change.

"I write."

Still no change.

"I sit down and write."

Nothing.

"I write about things I know and things I don't know.

I write about things I see.

I write about things I taste, things I hear, and things I feel."

Three, thirteen, one.

"I write about people I know."

Three.

Thirteen.

One.

"And I write about life."

No change.

"I am a writer."

He lifted his gaze from the paper and found another change, but not one he could have anticipated.

"I am the writer..."

Sixteen touched students and one pair of curious eyes coupled with a frown.

"that can change the course of a life."

He dropped his hand to his side and allowed himself to look up into what seemed to him like a vast ocean of faces, only recognizing four.

Seventeen people staring in awe, and one unreadable face.

When it was clear that was the end, the teacher congratulated him, saying, "Bravo, Jounouchi-kun!" and clapping a small hand on his shoulder, shaking his attention from the silent young man in the back of the class. "That was splendid! I'd like to have a word with you after class," he stated happily, giving him a light shove in the direction of his seat.

"Uhh.. Do you mind if I go get some water?"

"Huh? No! Of course not! Go right ahead!" He exclaimed, smiling warmly.

Katsuya gave a slight nod, flicking his gaze to the class and back to the teacher before he spun on his heel and high-tailed it out of the cursed classroom.

He slowly began on his way to the end of the hall for a drink, not hearing the sliding of the door or the crisp, hollow footsteps from someone that meant business.

It wasn't until a large, pale hand came down on his shoulder and spun him around that he realized he had been followed out of the classroom, and by then, there was nothing he could do but sputter in confusion and embarrassment as he looked up into the face that had haunted him for so long.

One pair of warm blue eyes coupled with a genuine smile?

That was odd.

"What do you want, Kaiba?" he sighed; he was too tired to deal with whatever insults the CEO had for him.

"To say that you won't be my target of ridicule anymore. Congratulations," he replied sarcastically.

Katsuya, skeptic that he was at Kaiba's change of heart, made a face and said, "Not that I don't like the idea, but why?"

The hand left his shoulder and he inwardly sighed with relief; he didn't know the brunette's strength, and he didn't care to find out.

"Because you proved you have enough brains to qualify as a human being and not a mutt, of course," he sated matter-of-factly, spinning on his heel and throwing an amused glance back at the blonde.

A tired sigh and a shrug.

"Okay. That all?"

Silence.

"No," he replied, drawing out the word. "No, it's not... I'd like to thank you."

"Eh? What for?"

A knowing smile.

"I thought you said you wrote about what you knew."

"Well I do, but – "

"Just think about it."

A good-bye wave thrown carelessly over a broad shoulder and a confused blonde.

Like I said; I don't know where this came from, but I liked it.

Kaiba's "Thank you:" take that however you want. I'd like to think it made him open his eyes to how much of a jerk he was to everyone (making this a real AU, but whatever), but take it however - even if my interpretation may be the only one.

...

I hope you liked it!