Jounouchi woke up to see a giant spider on his bed. He let out a high pitched scream, then smacked the spider until it was flying in the sky. Once it landed, the frightened arachnid scattered to safety within the crevice of the apartment walls. Soon it was out of sight.

That was when the alarm started to beep. The blonde cringed at his misfortune. Now was not the time to go spider hunting. He would have to get rid of the damn thing later, he decided.

After getting dressed, Jounouchi grabbed himself some toast for breakfast. His father softly snored in the other room his ass firmly planted in that same spot that Jounouchi had seen him in since his divorce years ago. Beer bottles littered the floor, causing the entire place to be a death trap. Jounouchi nearly tripped over them more times than he could count. It was only a matter of time before he would bust his head wide open.

Jounouchi rushed out the door with breakfast in one hand and his backpack in the other. He decided he would take a shortcut. It was a gamble, since he had never been this way before. Fuck his need to constantly press the snooze button.

A strange sight made Jounouchi pause. There was a single building in the alley that stood out from all the rest. Its stone walls were painted a bright red color and a sign had golden letters plastered above it. What was most curious was the vague title this place decided to call itself. Magic was all it said. No description on what this place did, what it sold, or why it was stationed in the middle of nowhere. The confused blonde took just a second to look through the window. It seemed like this place sold a bunch of stuff with cheap parlor tricks and things like that. Jounouchi wondered if they had any games.

A sorry looking scroll was on display. Ironically enough, it stood right in front of a beautiful seal that you would expect to see during the time of the emperors. But like the sign, there was hardly any information on what it was or what it was supposed to do. Jounouchi stared at it for a long while, trying to figure out what the purpose of such a scroll was.

The blonde snapped back to reality. Shit, he was still running late. What the fuck was he doing just hanging out here? He arrived to class just before the first bell rang. He had to stop himself from doing a little victory dance. On time once again. Nothing could outmatched Kastuya Jounouchi.

Jounouchi congratulated himself until lunch, where he stuffed his face with a rice. Honda ate just as quickly while the rest of the group watched. They stared in disguise while their two friends had their feeding frenzy.

"It's not a race," Anzu mumbled, her eyes narrowing in annoyance.

"She's right. You should slow down," Yugi chuckled. He clearly saw humor in this. Unlike the big sisterly Anzu.

Jounouchi didn't stop until he was all out of food. Then he decided to act like a normal human being. The blonde took out a napkin and wiped himself with it. You would've hardly guessed that he just ate like a pig half a second ago. The gang laughed outloud. Even Anzu cracked a smile.

Suddenly, Jounouchi felt a presence behind him. His good humor vanished. He had a bad feeling about this.

Jounouchi turned to look at Kaiba looming over him. Those icy blue eyes stared right through him, as if Kaiba was trying to read his mind. The billionaire continued to stare at him in silence until Jounouchi finally caved in.

"What do you want?" the confused blonde arched a brow. He felt his cheeks warming and prayed to God that he wasn't blushing. Something about having Kaiba stare at him sent his heart fluttering.

A smirk slowly formed its way onto Kaiba's lips. That wasn't a good sign. Jounouchi braced himself for the insult he knew was coming.

"I just came to get a better look at the animals. From how you were eating, I thought this was more of a zoo than a school."

Jounouchi shot out of his seat with his fist raised. It didn't matter how many times they bickered back and forward. The end result was always the same. Kaiba would always be smug and Jounouchi would always be ready to punch his lights out.

Yugi had already come up behind Jounouchi to stop his brash friend. He was used to Jounouchi being quick to anger. The small teen grabbed Jounouchi's shirt to keep him from attacking Kaiba in front of the entire school. Jounouchi continued to glare at Kaiba, and the billionaire grinned in amusement. No doubt it looked like Yugi was keeping his dog on a leash to him. This thought humiliated Jounouchi.

"What did ya say to me? You wanna start a fight?" Jounouchi growled. He didn't blame Yugi for trying to stop him. His friend didn't deserve his wrath. Besides, he would rather reserve all his anger for Kaiba. He couldn't wait to wring his neck.

"Please," Kaiba smirked, "How many times have you tried to use your fists against me? You fight as well as you duel, mutt."

"Don't call me a-"

"Kaiba. What do you want?" Yugi asked, effectively cutting Jounouchi off. The brunette studied the much smaller boy with an unreadable expression.

"I wanted to make sure you haven't chicken out yet. Are we still on?"

The rest of the group looked at Yugi in confusion. But the small teen didn't turn their direction. With a solemn look, Yugi nodded his head at the brunette.

"Yes, Kaiba. I promised you I would be there and I meant it. Now can you let us eat in peace, please? I don't want to make a scene."

Kaiba scoffed, "Then put that dog on a leash. He's the one making a fool of himself."

Jounouchi reacted before thinking. Yugi had no chance of holding him back now. Jounouchi ran out of his grip, his fist raised up high. He threw the hardest punch he could muster.

But Kaiba upperhanded him. Grabbing onto his arm, Kaiba threw Jounouchi onto the floor. This was usually the part where Jounouchi gave up.

But day after day this same thing happened. Kaiba would provoke Jounouchi, Jounouchi would retaliate, and then Kaiba would come out the victor. Frankly Jounouchi was sick of it.

To everyone's shock, Jounouchi recovered. Not even Kaiba had expected him to get up so quickly. Jounouchi surprised him by punching him square in the jaw. Jounouchi grinned, but his victory was short lived. Blue eyes turned to fire, then Kaiba's fist came barrelling twice as hard.

"Jounouchi!" Yugi cried.

The blonde landed hard on the stone cold floor, jaw first. He nearly bit his tongue his half from the impact.

"You goddamn-" but Kaiba was cut off by an angry voice.

"Jounouchi! Kaiba! Stop."

Mr. Suzuki, a teacher, rushed into the room when he heard the commotion. He looked at both fighters with a scowl.

"You boys both come with me."

Jounouchi spat out the blood from his mouth. He and Kaiba gave each other one last glare before following him out the door.

"Why does he get to leave but I have to stay?" Jounouchi demanded angrily. He looked out the window to see his rival walking freely to meet his little brother. Mokuba smiled when he approached Kaiba. He showed some kind of paper to him, and Kaiba smiled and rubbed his head.

Watching the two brothers almost made Jounouchi sour. Mokuba didn't realize how lucky he was. He was the only one that Kaiba ever treated with kindness.

"Mr. Kaiba has a company to run. You on the other hand, can serve detention here," Mr. Suzuki stated. He looked all high and mighty standing behind his podium like he ruled the world.

Jounouchi gritted his teeth, "But he started it!"

"Jounouchi. You are 16 years old. You need to start acting like it. And the longer you talk back to me, the longer your detention will be."

Frowning, Jounouchi sat down at his desk and sulked. He could've been hanging out with his friends right now if it hadn't been for that asshole.

What did Jounouchi do to make Kaiba hate him so much? Kaiba might hate Yugi too, but at least he respected Yugi as a duelist. Jounouchi didn't even get that much. All he got from Kaiba was scorn, hate and ridicule. Why did it have to be Kaiba of all people that Jounouchi decided to get a crush on?

No. The blonde didn't like him. What was he thinking? He hated Kaiba...right?

An hour later, Jounouchi was finally able to leave. He called up his best friend using his ten-year-old razor phone.

"Jounouchi-kun. Did they let you go?" Yugi asked. He sounded worried. Jounouchi smiled appreciatively. He might not have all the fancy things Kaiba had, but he had something Kaiba could never buy. True friends.

"Yeah. I just had to threaten Mr. Suzuki once and he let me go," he joked, "Hey, what were you guys talking about earlier? About you chickening out?"

Yugi paused. He suddenly sounded a little guilty, "Well...Kaiba challenged me agaain."

"I figured...But why didn't you tell us?" Jounouchi asked. It didn't seem very Yugi-like to keep things like this from him.

"Well, it's just that...Kaiba challenges me a lot. And I figured that...well, it didn't need to be mentioned. How's your mouth, by the way?"

Jounouchi rubbed his jaw. Yugi was hiding something. However, instead of calling him out on it, Jounouchi decided to let him change the subject. He figured the little guy would come clean when he was ready.

"It's not bleeding anymore. Guess that's something to be grateful about," Jounouchi let out a little sigh, "Still hurts like hell though. I wish I could sue that creep."

"But you threw the first punch."

"I know," Jounouchi grumbled. He inhaled sharply, "What the hell is his deal anyway? What did I do to him that makes him hate me so much?"

"I don't think he's a fan of any of us, Jounouchi-kun."

"Yeah. But it always seems like he has it out for me personally. Like he hates me more than he hates you. And you actually beat him at Duel Monsters, so he has more of a reason to hate you."

"Thanks, Jounouchi," Yugi said sarcastically.

"I'm just saying that I haven't done a damn thing to him. And he's always insulting me and calling me a dog. I mean, what the fuck? I wish...man. I don't know..."

There was a momentary pause on the phone. Jounouchi scolded himself. He realized that he had given away too much. Now Yugi knew that Jounouchi was more upset than usual, and he couldn't take his words back.

"What do you wish?" Yugi pressed.

That was the million dollar question, wasn't it? Jounouchi rubbed his temples. What he would do for a long soak in the bathtub right about now. All he wanted was to relax and forget this whole day ever happened.

Jounouchi spoke without thinking, "I wish the spirit was back. Then he could give Kaiba an ass whooping."

The silence was so tense that Jounouchi realized immediately that he had screwed up. He could practically hear Yugi stewing over the phone.

"I mean...uh...I'm sure you can take care of him without his help."

"...I miss him too, Jounouchi," Yugi sounded upset. Jounouchi cursed himself for reminding Yugi of his other half. It had taken Yugi a long time to get over Yami leaving to the afterlife, and since then the tri-haired teen had grown a little more reclusive. Yugi had only recently started acting like his old self again.

So mentioning Yami was quite possibly the worst thing Jounouchi done all week.

"Yugi, look..." he trailed off, uncertain of how to proceed.

"I gotta help Grandpa with something. I'll talk to you later, okay?" Yugi hung up before Jounouuchi could respond. The blonde kicked himself mentally. Now Yugi was upset with him. Fuck his life. This had been a terrible day all around.

Jounouchi took a moment to think What did he really wish? He thought back to all the times he had ever seen a shred of human decency in Kaiba. The only person Kaiba was ever kind to was Mokuba. And honestly, who could blame him? Jounouchi himself was guilty of having big brother bias. A sibling that you needed to protect was always the apple of your eye.

Still, he wished that Kaiba treated him with half as much kindness as he treated Mokuba. Despite all their fighting, Jounouchi really wanted to be Kaiba's friend.

And if he was being a hundred percent honest with himself, maybe Jounouchi had some other desires that he dared not to speak outloud. He could only imagine the slew of insults he would receive if people found out how he felt. They would call him gay, a gold digger, or a Kaiba fanboy. Would his friends look at him the same way if they found out? And worse, what would Kaiba say?

Jounouchi shuddered at the thought. No matter what, he could never let Kaiba find out. The heartless man would rip his ego to shreds. That was something Jounouchi could never, ever let him do.

The blonde sulked his way back home. What a rotten day. Kaiba embarrassed him, Yugi was mad at him, and his father was probably going to be in the same damn place when he got home, drunk off his ass and not getting a single bit of work done. And the old man wondered why Jounouchi avoided him.

Jounouchi happened across the magic store for the second time that day. Looking at it again made him pause and think. Now that he had some spare time, he could check out what this place was. Maybe if it turned out to be cool, he could tell his friends about it.

The boy decided to go inside. Goosebumps immediately crawled through his chest and his nose began to drip. He wrapped his arms around himself while shivering. Did this store have its A/C all the way on? It was like a freezer in here.

Jounouchi had the urge to go back when the lights above him suddenly flashed on. Confused, Jounouchi adjusted himself to the sights. Cauldrons, wands, and mysterious objects scattered around the room without any rhyme or reason. It looked more like a witch's closet than a store.

Jounouchi happened to remember that scroll, so he went to get a better look. There it was, the brittle paper and brilliant seal. Jounouchi noticed that nothing was tying the paper in place. He let curiousity get the better of him and unrolled it. To his disappointment, it was blank.

"Can I help you?" a dark voice murmured behind him.

Jounouchi cried out in shock. He turned around to see a woman dressed in a kimono, quite an odd choice considering a lot of her wares had European themes. She had a beaautiful face but a scary expression. It wasn't scary in the sense that she looked angry. As a matter of fact, she didn't look like she was feeling any sort of emotion. If she hadn't had spoken, Jounouchi would've assumed she was a statue. It was the blank stare that gave Jounouchi the creeps.

Her blue eyes continued to stare at him for a long time. She leaned her head in closer.

"Can I help you?" she asked again, still sounding emotionless.

Jounouchi gulped as his heart raced a million miles an hour. Where did this woman even come from? He was sure he hadn't seen her before.

The woman spread her lips in the softest of smiles. She reached behind Jounouchi and grabbed the paper and seal.

"If you write down your wish on this, it will come true. You can have as many wishes as you can fit on the paper."

Jounouchi trembled. He wanted to excuse himself and rush out of there, but neither his mouth nor his feet would work properly. The woman held out the paper for him to take. He was careful not to grip at it too hard for fear of destroying it.

He wasn't sure how much this thing was, but he had a feeling the woman was asking for a hefty price.

She pulled out a pen from the sleeve of her kimono.

"You may have one."

She gave it to Jounouchi, who only arched a brow.

"Um...thanks...but I don't need a pen."

"Not the pen," she answered with the upmost patience, "You may write down one wish. Any wish that you desire. Then you will see that my magic is true. I believe you'll want to come back and purchase it."

"And...if I don't?"

"That's a gamble I'm willing to risk."

Jounouchi found himself smiling. She might have creeped him out, but he appreciated her faith in him. She was going to let him scribble all over her ancient scroll just to prove a point.

Jounouchi didn't believe her magic, but he wanted an excuse to get out of there. He wrote out the first thing he could think of.

I wish that Kaiba would-

Would what? Burn in hell? Probably a little extreme, even for a fake wish.

Treat me better-

Jounouchi thought back to all the times Kaiba acted like a human being. He finished his wish with this.

Like he treats Mokuba.

Placing in the dot to complete his sentence, Jounouchi handed it back to the woman. She looked at it.

"Once I seal this wish, it will be in full effect."

"Um...thanks," Jounouchi said sheepishly. He took that opportunity to get the hell out of there. Only when he was out of the store did he allow himself to breath out a sigh of relief. That was the creepist situation he had ever been in.

Jounouchi dug his hands into his pocket and walked away. He didn't notice the woman sealing his wish with blood red ink.