34Hello! Wow, what's this? Something that isn't part of a collection?! Wow, this is my first Yuugiou story on here that isn't part of either 100 ways or IYIYA. It's also the longest piece I've ever written that wasn't a multi-chapter story. I mean, it's freaking 10K words! o.O
Oh, and I don't really like fem!Yuugi, but I found a way for this to work and I LOVE IT. If you guys, like me, cringe at the thought of Yuugi being a girl... It's fine, so do I! And if Icould ramble on like this in a story and still want to write more... Well, I just hope you'll give it a chance. ^^
It's also in a season 0 AU, and is sorta like the very beginning of a season 0 rewrite.
Less talking from me, I guess, and I hope you all enjoy it! ^.^
Make A Wish - Commssion for Sissie131 on deviantART
Rating: T
Pairing/s: Puzzleshipping, hinted Monarchshipping, Blindshipping, Tieshipping and HanasakixMayumi (Shipping name unknown)
Categories: Romance, Humor, Friendship
Setting: AU (Season 0 AU)
Words: 10,019
Summary: After losing a bet to her best friend, Anzu, Yuugi is forced to pretend to be a boy for a whole year. Problems arise when her rush and her crush's supposed ex take an interest in her... When she's not told either the truth about who she is.
Warning/s: Fem!Yuugi, swearing, pro!Anzu.
Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh does not belong to me, but to Kazuki Takahashi.
Additional Note/s: Also, there is a character named Mayumi is this story. I just wanted you guys to know that she ISN'T an OC, she's just a very obscure side-character who only appears in the Season 0 anime. She's the girl who has a crush on Jounouchi in the episode with Miss Chouno (Episode 10). Therefore Mayumi also doesn't belong to me, but whoever decided to add her to the anime version of season 0. And for those who haven't read the manga, Hanasaki Tomoya is a side character who appears several times in the season 0 manga, and is really good friends with them, but disappears completely as soon as the Duelist Kingdom arc begins for some reason.
"Three..."
"Two..."
"One..."
"GO!"
Two girls burst into giggles, one, a girl with medium length brunette hair and sapphire eyes holding a bottle of shampoo, and the other girl, with long black hair that changed to amethyst about two thirds down, matching amethyst eyes and golden bangs, holding a tube of toothpaste. Both watched intently as a drop of each spiraled down the sink towards the plug.
"Come on, shampoo! Almost there!"
"Toothpaste, do something! Oh, no, this was a bad idea..."
"Well, you chose toothpaste, it's your fault, Yuugi! I've won!"
"The shampoo isn't down the sink yet, Anzu! Toothpaste might just be a late starter!"
The girl's pitiful protests fell flat as the quicker paced, strawberry-scented liquid trickled down the sink, and Anzu grinned. The toothpaste, however, had done nothing. Yuugi groaned.
"No! I can't believe I lost that bet!"
The blue-eyed girl cheered, thrusting her fist into the air in a celebratory way. Finally, she'd won a game against her friend! "Hey, does that make me Queen Of Games, now?" She teased.
"Of course not! I haven't even gone for that title, yet"
"But you will... I know you, Yuugi, and I know you'll win that tournament."
"Aww, thanks!" She pulled her friend into a huge hug. Anzu and Yuugi had been close friends ever since they were children, and Anzu always knew what to say to make Yuugi feel better. "You're the best, Anzu! You're always there for me!"
"Yeah, well..." Her grin turned suddenly mischievous. The shorter teen groaned at the look on her face. "You'd better give me some of that prize money, eh? Duel Monsters World Champion! You'll be rich! Think of all the cute outfits we'll be able to buy! Miho's gonna be so jealous!"
"You're not honestly thinking about leaving Miho-Chan and Mayumi-Chan out... Are you?" Yuugi asked, suddenly concerned. The four of them had been best friends for a good while, now. The duo had met Miho at the start of junior high, and they'd met Mayumi after she'd told them that she wanted advice on how to woo a boy in their class that she had a crush on. Since Yuugi lived in a game shop, she was easily able to ask her grandpa for a good gift, a blank puzzle on which the gift-giver writes a love confession and gives it to the object of their affections to solve, piece by piece. It had been a perfect plan, until their teacher had stolen it and thrown it away, almost getting her expelled.
Thankfully, the head teacher had announced that there was no reason why she should lose her placement at school. The poor girl was too nervous to try asking him out again, so the other girls consoled her, and had been friends ever since.
"Of course not! I was kidding about the prize money anyway; any money you win is yours and yours only. You deserve it." She winked. "Anyway, those cute outfits will have to wait. You lost the bet, and you know what that means..." Yuugi groaned, and Anzu burst out laughing.
"Please, Anzu!" She pouted. "I can't do that! It's too cruel!"
"So? You'd have still made me do it if I'd lost!"
"But it's mean! People will know who I really am, anyway!"
"Not many people will! We're about to start high school! We won't know a lot of the people there!" Anzu protested.
"...I can't believe you..." The amethyst-eyed female muttered, making Anzu giggle.
"Come on then, Yuugi! I'll go and call Miho, and then we'll all go shopping for our school uniforms!"
"This is going to be humiliating!"
Several painfully long minutes later, the two girls stood outside of the shopping mall, waiting for their friends. It wasn't long before a taxi appeared from around the corner, and a cheerful plum-eyed girl dressed in light-blue jeans, decorated with a rhinestone butterfly, and a black tank top with a tribal mockingbird design in various colors, ran out to meet them, almost tripping on her platform shoes. She had long purple hair, tied back with a huge yellow bow in a high-tail cascading down her back, and was none other than Nosaka Miho. "Ohayo!" She yelled cheerfully. Panting, she rested her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath as she caught up with them. "I... Managed to call... Mayumi... She's... On her way."
"Great!" Anzu smiled. "So... Where are we meeting her?"
"She wants to meet at the Red Bubble Teashop," Miho grinned. "And boy, is Miho glad! Miho could really do with a milkshake!"
"Why is it that we only seem to order milkshake even though it's a teashop..?" Anzu wondered aloud, looking at the other two as they set off walking. Miho shrugged, while Yuugi folded her arms, saying nothing.
"Umm... Anzu-Chan?"
"What is it, Miho?" The purplenette gestured to their sulking friend with a frown.
"What's up with Yuugi-Chan? She seems quiet..."
Anzu rolled her eyes at the annoyed tricolor-haired girl and smirked slightly. "Yuugi lost a bet. I'll explain when Mayumi gets here..." They blinked; they were already outside the shop!
"Yuugi-Chan! Anzu-Chan! Miho-Chan!"
Speak of the devil. The three girls spun around at the new voice. "You're here already?! It's me!"
A girl with medium length, slightly wavy and messy dark green hair, wearing a brown, long-sleeved shirt and a green skirt walked towards them, stuffing a pink flip phone back into her handbag. She waved cheerily, coming to stand before them.
"Ohayo, Mayumi-Chan!~" Miho yanked on the other's arm and gave her a bear hug, again almost tripping on her heels. Mayumi struggled to stand, slightly dizzy, but managed to crack a smile.
"Ohayo, everyone. Are we going into the teashop?"
"We were just about to," Anzu said with a smile. "Shall we..?"
The four girls all turned towards the door, but just as they were about to walk in, Anzu, Yuugi and Miho yelped as they were dragged back.
"No, wait!" Mayumi said, stricken. "I've just realized... We can't go in, yet. Maybe after we've been shopping..?"
"This isn't like you.." Anzu said slowly. "What's wrong?"
"Look," The green haired girl gestured to the window, and then hissed out the next part of her sentence. "But don't stand too close to the window!"
Curiously, the other three peered in, only to see a large group consisting of six boys and one girl sat at the booth in the far left corner. One of the boys, a blonde with copper eyes, was Mayumi's former crush, Jounouchi Katsuya.
"Jounouchi-Kun..?" Yuugi questioned in a whisper, speaking for the first time since they left Anzu's house.
"Exactly..." Mayumi nodded. "I'm too nervous to want to be seen by him..!"
"We'll come back after they've gone," Anzu declared. Mayumi nodded gratefully, relief evident on her face.
"But Miho is thirsty!" said girl protested.
"We'll get a soda while we're in the mall," Anzu snapped, walking and hearing footsteps behind her as her friends followed. "You're okay with that, right, Yuugi?"
Silence.
"Umm... Yuugi?"
Turning around, she blinked in surprise; Yuugi was still looking through the window. Her eyes, however, were not looking towards Jounouchi. She was staring at another boy at the table.
"Is that... Sennen Yami..?" Miho asked the other two quietly.
"Yeah, he's one of Jounouchi-Kun's friends," Mayumi whispered with a nod. "Although I don't think he'd be interested in her... Ever heard of Atem Kanika?"
"You mean that Egyptian kid who looks almost exactly like Sennen..?"
"Yeah... I heard that they were dating a few months ago. They broke up for one reason or another, though..."
"Oh... So he's-"
"Be quiet, you two, or Yuugi will hear you!" Anzu mouthed angrily. The other two immediately shut up.
Yuugi, however, had apparently not heard, because she was still gazing at the boy, transfixed.
The other teen had, like her, tricolor hair, but while hers was long and fell to her waist, his was spiked up and gravity-defying. His golden bangs hung around his face, with a few shooting upwards, and instead of amethyst tips, his hair had crimson, to match his narrow, confident-looking eyes. He was laughing, presumably at a joke that the girl at the table had made, in between sipping a chocolate milkshake.
"Come on, Yuugi! We have to go! Or I'm making your punishment for losing the bet last longer!"
Immediately, she tore her eyes from the window and glared at Anzu. Unfortunately for her, her huge, oddly-chibi eyes made it seem less threatening, and more along the lines of adorable.
"Hey! You can't do that! The bet is already over! You can't increase the stakes afterward!" She shrieked. The other three covered the ears.
"So loud..." Miho muttered, and Anzu grinned.
"It got your attention, though, didn't it? Stop fawning over Sennen and come on!"
Yuugi blushed slightly, and pouted. "I was NOT fawning..." She folded her arms with a huff, and then gestured for them to go. "Come on, then, let's get this over with... You're mean, Anzu!"
"What's up with her?" Mayumi asked Anzu quietly.
"She lost a bet... I'll explain later," Anzu replied.
Yuugi had finally decided to start talking and was getting comfortable once more, when they found their way to the uniform shop.
"Oh, no... Please, don't make me do this..." Yuugi begged frantically. Anzu grinned.
"You have to honor the bet, Yuugi!" She winked. "Remember to get a shirt the size smaller though, you'll still have to flatten those out." Yuugi's expression soured even more.
"You're really making me go through with this..?"
"Yes."
"Miho wants to know what's going on!" Miho complained. "You told us you'd explain, Anzu-Chan!"
"Okay," She said, smile still frozen on her face as she took a Domino High girls' uniform off the railing and compared it against herself for size. Satisfied, she draped it over her shoulder. "Me and Yuugi made a bet about what would go down the sink faster out of toothpaste and shampoo. Well, she didn't really have many options; we randomly picked things from the bathroom and I beat her to the shampoo. She was fresh out of mouthwash and I spilled the conditioner by mistake. I won the bet, so... As punishment..." She giggled. "Yuugi has to dress as a boy for a whole year!"
Everyone but Yuugi burst into a fit of giggles, and Yuugi glared again.
"Stop it, you guys! It's not funny!" She yelped, trying to reach up for a girl's uniform. 'I wish I wasn't so short! Almost got it..!'
"Not so fast!" Anzu, the tallest in their group, snatched the uniform away from her as soon as the shorter had managed to grab it. She tutted, shaking her head. "We'll get our uniforms first, and then it's off to the boys' section with you." For what felt like the billionth time that day, Yuugi voiced her irritation.
"Anzu-Chan..." Miho pointed upwards with a slight frown pulling at the corner of her mouth. "Can you get that uniform for me..? Miho can't reach!"
"I'm trying to balance mine, Miho," The girl pointed out, gesturing to the uniform currently slung over her shoulder.
"There's some in that size lower down on the rail over here, Miho-Chan," Mayumi said with a smile. "We're in the same size, so I grabbed two."
"Perfect," Anzu smiled. "Now we can go and get Yuugi's new uniform."
Miho grabbed the flustered girl's hand and yanked her to the other side of the store as they searched for the male Domino High uniform, to the humiliation of the youngest teen.
"Try it on!" Anzu encouraged, pushing Yuugi into the changing room. "We'll try ours on, too. I wanna see how these look!"
Shooting her friend another glare, she stepped into the changing room and drew the curtain.
'I can't believe she beat me to the shampoo...' Yuugi thought bitterly. 'Everybody knows that toothpaste is thicker than shampoo, but if I didn't find something, I'd have lost by forfeit. If only she hadn't knocked the conditioner over, I might have had a chance...' She put on the blue jacket that came with the uniform, and, to her surprise, discovered it was actually quite comfortable. 'The jacket looks nice, actually... But the shirt's too tight on my chest..!'
Moments later, she stepped out of the cubicle, to see Miho stood, waiting. The girls' uniform consisted of an orange blazer, a white blouse, and a skirt and neck bow in mint-green. Miho giggled seeing the other.
"That outfit suits you, somehow. But it's a little-"
"-Too big?" Anzu peeped out of the curtains, now fully-dressed in her own uniform. "The pants and jacket look too big, and the shirt is too long," she pointed out. "Don't you think you should get a smaller size?"
"This was the smallest one they had..." she muttered. The boys' uniform consisted of a pair of blue pants with a matching jacket, and a white blouse. On Yuugi, the pants were slightly baggy and the jacket a little too long, whereas the shirt was too tight.
"We'll be able to fix it when we get to Yuugi-Chan's house, right?" Mayumi asked.
"Ooh! We can give her a makeover!" Miho squealed excitedly, twirling on the spot.
"Fine..." Yuugi mumbled in agreement. "So what's next?"
"Hmm... What do you want to do?" Anzu asked. "We're making you go through this, it's only fair that you get to choose how we spend today..."
She paused for a moment, thinking. Her eyes shone with excitement as she made her decision. "Didn't a new arcade game arrive at the arcade across from Burger World this morning?" she asked with a smile. "I want to try and get the high score, Kaiba-Kun always gets it!"
"You mean Kaiba Mokuba?" Miho asked. "Isn't his brother the current King of Games?"
"Yup! I want to beat him, someday... And then I'll be the Queen of Games!" She smiled dreamily, and Anzu grinned.
"That depends on when you beat him, Yuugi. You might end up as the King of Games, instead!"
"Oh, yeah... I forgot..." She looked down at her feet sadly.
This bet was going to be very frustrating, indeed.
"So after we go and buy some more clothes, we'll go to the arcade!" Anzu announced. "Yuugi, I'm sorry that you have to go through with it-"
"But I will," she said fiercely. "This bet may be the meanest thing you've made me do, Anzu. But on my honor as a gamer, I won't back down!"
"That's the Yuugi I know!" Anzu praised. "So, do you want to pick the stores we go to?"
"Okay!" She smiled. "Thanks, you guys! You're the best!"
"No taste at all..." Miho muttered, eyeing Yuugi's new clothes. The girl had gone with a short-sleeved white shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants.
"That shop was no good..." Anzu agreed quietly. She was wearing the same thing she'd worn all day; a pink shirt with a short white blazer, along with a black skirt and pink wedges.
"Well, I don't want to wear clothing meant for boys!" Yuugi snapped with another unintentionally cute glare. "So I'll just get girl's clothes that don't look too girly!"
"She needs serious fashion help..." Miho muttered.
"Yup..." Mayumi whispered, nodding.
The group continued to walk though Domino, stopping as they reached a store with red-painted doorways and a bubble machine happily whirring outside the window.
"The Red Bubble Teashop...' Mayumi said quietly, peering in. A moment's pause. "I don't see Jounouchi-Kun anywhere. I think it's safe."
"Finally!" Miho cried in relief. "Miho never got that drink!"
Pushing the door open, the teens entered, sitting in an empty booth on the back right of the teashop. Sure enough, there was no sign of a familiar mop of unruly golden hair anywhere. Mayumi relaxed, smiling as she ordered a mocha frappe milkshake. Miho eagerly ordered strawberry, the same as Anzu, while Yuugi ordered vanilla.
"How is Miho-Chan doing?" the green-haired girl suddenly asked. "I hear that Honda-Kun from our class in Junior High likes you..."
Miho blushed. "Don't say such silly things, Mayumi-Chan!" She smiled softly. "Although I heard he does anything for those he likes..." She leaned her chin on her palm and sighed dreamily.
"I think someone has a crush..." Yuugi whispered. Anzu gave a small smile while shaking her head.
"More like a crush on the servitude than Honda-Kun..."
"True... I can imagine that..."
"But what about Bakura-Kun, huh, Mayumi-Chan? He's so handsome!"
"Oh? Who's that?"
"He went to another school... But he's friends with Honda-Kun, I hear!"
The girls began to giggle, talking excitedly, and Anzu rolled her eyes with a smile, and took a book out of her bag. Yuugi peered at it closely, and noticed it was a manga, entitled 'Grey Is...'. The cover showed two boys, one with black hair and one with white hair, leaning on each other, back-to-back.
Seeing Anzu was immersed in the volume, the other girl allowed her eyes to wander through the shop. To her surprise, the group from before were still there, at the booth across from them. Even after their shopping trip, the group of boys (and girl) had stayed in their seats. But then where was.?
'Ah! It's Jounouchi-Kun!' she mentally panicked, seeing said boy walk out of the boys' toilets.. If Mayumi noticed, they'd have to leave. But she wanted to see more of Yami...
"I'm sorry about him..." The girl on their table spoke. She was facing away, so Yuugi didn't get a good luck at her, but noted that she had slightly messy, dark-brown hair that seemed to form a mane of spikes that went down, slightly past her shoulders.
"It's okay." Yuugi practically melted at Yami's voice. It was smooth, confident, but not too deep while somehow not too feminine. It was one of those voices that could make a girl swoon, and Yuugi was struggling to resist such an urge herself. "That guy..." He sighed, and Yuugi found herself sighing with him. It was unfair for someone like that to be feeling down. "I know he's your brother, but... Mana-San, how do you cope with him?" The girl whacked him on the head.
"Stop with the formality, Yami! I already told you, call me Mana, douchebag."
"Okay, Mana-Douchebag." He smirked playfully, earning another whack.
"YAMI!"
"It was too hard to resist..." He giggled. "I'm just glad that you've stayed friends with me... I thought you'd hate me too, after the breakup..."
"Atem's the douchebag..." Mana muttered. "You're a good friend, Yami. My brother should see that... I can't believe he did what he did. You two were an adorable couple... I always thought you two were in love..."
A sigh. "Me too, Mana... Me too." They remained silent after that, and Yuugi blinked. What had just happened..?
'Maybe that girl's brother stole his girlfriend or something...' she thought hopefully. 'Yup, that must be it. Yami was in love with her, and then she cheated on him with that girl's brother.'
She had almost convinced herself. Almost.
"So... Domino High!" Jounouchi declared with a grin, plopping down on his seat. "What do you guys think it'll be like?"
"Hopefully better than Junior High..." Another boy muttered. "I'm tired of gangs. I'm glad Yami got us out of there, really..."
Yami winked. "Well, it turns out they really don't like it when you let them get zapped with two-hundred thousand volt stun-guns in the rain. They're lucky they hadn't turned up the voltage enough to kill themselves... Well, not all of them, anyway."
"...THAT WAS YOU?!"Mana shrieked, loudly enough to turn the heads of everyone in the teashop.
"Oh, no! They're back! Quick, guys, we need to leave! Now!"
"Mayumi-Chaaaaaaaan!"
Just before they were ushered out of the shop, she saw Yami reply quickly. "None of them actually died... I was kidding!"
The door of the shop slammed shut, right on her toe; she'd been paying too much attention to the male than to where she was stepping, and she let out a howl of pain.
Just as it fully closed, Yami's head turned, and he grinned knowingly at her, before winking.
She couldn't stop smiling all day. Well, until they got home, that is.
"Hey! You betrayed me! You said we could go to the arcade!"
Too stuck in her daydreams of Sennen Yami, the tricolor-haired teen had failed to notice the taxi pulling up at her house until it was too late. She, hair sopping wet, was now being pinned to a chair from behind by Miho. Anzu and Mayumi smirked viciously, holding various instruments of torture in their hands and on the bed nearby.
...Such as the hairdryer, hairsprays and gels, straighteners, and curlers.
"Come on! The bet starts now, and you know the rules!" Anzu giggled. "You can't tell anybody who doesn't know who you really are. No exceptions. And the bet still counts outside of school, too. I don't think there's any reason for you to try and deepen your voice; you're so tiny and chibi anyway that even if they thought you were a boy they'd think your voice seemed to suit you. You can't only hang around with us ll the time at school, now... You'll need to make some guy friends or you'll look suspicious. And-"
"I know, we've gone over this five times already on the way over here..."
"You were daydreaming!"
"I was still listening! Sometimes..."
"Well, we're gonna experiment with your hair, now... So let us do the work!"
Four hours and six nightmarish hairstyles later, Yuugi had shooed the others from her house and declared that she would sort her hair by herself. She sighed, sinking down onto her bed, and picked up the hairbrush, attempting to separate her bangs from the rest of her hair properly, and then clipped them to the side. She then set the brush down, exchanging it for a comb and some hair gel from the bathroom and standing in front of the mirror. Really, she had nothing in mind, but instead idly fumbled with various hair-care products, thinking of Yami.
From what she'd seen of him, he was a joker, and made friends easily, even if he did sound like he could be violent. His voice made her heart flutter, and if she was a nïeve girl, she would have believed that it was love at first sight. But she wasn't, and knew better. It was definitely attraction, though, and with the amount of time she'd spent thinking about him that day, she was safe in saying that she had a feeling that she was developing a crush.
"I've been doing my hair for ages..." She thought suddenly, looking up a the mirror.
She blinked at what she saw.
She hadn't realized at the time, but she'd been subconsciously styling her hair in the same way as Yami's. Her hair was forming the same star-shaped style as Yami had, but was hanging slightly limply due to the length and extra weight.
'I guess I need to cut it...' she thought sadly, grabbing a pair of scissors and holding them to the point where her back hair changed to purple. However, just before she snipped the first piece, she hesitated. 'I can't do it... I love the purple too much to lose it all!' Moving the scissors slightly lower, she began to cut, leaving a little bit of the amethyst, making her hair look like the tips had been dipped in the color and that was it. It made her cringe, to see her hair suddenly almost a third shorter than it had originally been, but now it was significantly easier to fix the spikes. They weren't perfect, not by a long shot, but her hair was beginning to resemble Yami's.
'Now for the bangs...'
Her golden bangs were naturally wavy, with a few ringlets, and stuck out in bizarre angles, just like that of her older sister, Mai, who had moved out several months ago to get her own place. Even if she attempted to straighten them out, they would always seem to revert back to their natural state after about half an hour. But this time, she'd really try! She turned up the heat setting on her straighteners from one hundred and twenty degrees celsius to two hundred, and desperately tried to iron out the waves, or at least make them sharper. Finally getting them to a satisfying shape, he smiled, and separated out part of the middle of her bangs, planning to push them back in a further imitation of Yami's hair. If she'd got this far, what was the harm in continuing?
She smiled as she stared at her hair again. It was an exact duplicate of Yami's, only the tips were, of course, amethyst.
'Perfect!'
The next morning, the girl awoke, her head feeling significantly lighter than usual. Why-
"I lost that bet!" She yelped out loud, horrified. "And today is the first day of school!"
Quickly, she shot out of bed, running over to the mirror at the far side of the room and staring at her hair.
"Oh, no... I have a bed-head! I'm glad I set my alarm earlier today!" She looked around, and smiled as she saw the hair products through her open door, in the bathroom. "Now I just need to remember exactly how I did it... And get it done quickly... But I should get changed first, or everything will just get messed up!"
She ran quickly into the bathroom, opening the medicine cabinet and taking out a roll of bandages. Then she ran into her own room, opening her closet and freezing at the sight of the uniform. Slowly, she reached one hand out and stroked a thumb over the fabric.
"I can't believe I have to do this..." she muttered. "But it's my punishment for losing a bet... It's only fair. I won't back down!"
It took her a while to figure out how to wrap the bandages around her chest in a way that wouldn't cause unnecessary pain to her breasts, but eventually, she had it figured out, and as she pulled her school shirt over her head, she had to admit, they had definitely been flattened, although it made her shirt look slightly lumpy.
'It shouldn't be noticeable at all when I put my jacket on...' she thought to herself. 'That's good, at least. I'm really looking like a boy, now!' she frowned at the thought. 'This is going to be weird... Well, I should put on the pants and then leave the jacket until my hair's styled...'
She quickly switched her pajama pants (Bright purple, with a repeated white star pattern embroidered into the fabric) with her blue school pants, and grabbed the hair products.
'I only have half an hour before school...' she thought with a worried frown. I'll need to be quick!'
Repeating her antics of the day before, she clipped her bangs to the side, sorting out the rest of her hair. Knowing what to do, the process was much quicker, but still, it left her with only-
"I only have ten minutes!" She yelped in a panic, pulling her bangs free and immediately getting to work. She managed to finally get the front bangs to do the same as Yami's, but, after glancing at her watch again, realized she'd never get them to stick up that much in the time she had; that had taken the longest!
'Gah... I'll have to make the rest of my bangs the same as the ones I've done...' Sighing in resignation, she managed to make her appearance somewhat acceptable, but couldn't do anything with the single tiny blonde bang that rested over her forehead. 'This is going to have to do... I need to set off for school in five minutes!'
Feet skidding everywhere, she tore down the stairs and slid into the kitchen to make some toast.
'Dammit... Now I need to wait for it to pop up!' To make matters worse, she caught her reflection in the silver-colored toaster, and gasped. 'I forgot my jacket!' Running back upstairs, she pulled the jacket over her shoulders, looked in the mirror, and admired her handiwork.
"I look like a boy, now..." She muttered. "Although... One more thing!" She ran over to her closet for the second time that day, pulling out a shoebox filled with assorted items, and tipped them on her bed, searching. "Ah! Here it is!" She pulled a leather choker out of the mess, a joke present from Miho after she had caught Anzu and Yuugi reading some M-rated yaoi fanfiction for a book about an ancient egyptian pharaoh and his personal servant. The fanfiction was a modern day AU, and had involved bondage, so on her fifteenth birthday, she had gotten the choker from Miho, who had said, "The boy in that fanfic looked like you would if you were a boy! I saw the preview picture! So now you can dress as a bondage slave, too!" Yuugi had never blushed so brightly, and had immediately thrown the choker in the box, never to wear it.
Until now. She walked into the bathroom and carefully put it around her neck and fumbled with the buckle, securing it. 'Good, now my neck's hidden. Boys have an Adam's Apple, so now you can't tell that I don't.' Her face crimsoned as she suddenly realized that she did, indeed, look like the servant from the story, Heba. And, even worse, his name meant 'Game', the same as her own. At least she didn't have a tan...
The smell of burning filled her nostrils, and her eyes widened. 'Crap! The toast!'
Somehow, against all odds, she made it to school on-time, and sat in her homeroom classroom, bored. Ironically, she was the first to arrive, and so had pulled out a golden box, staring at it.
The box was decorated with hieroglyphs, and had an eye on the front as the centerpiece. She pulled the lid off the box, and stared at the contents; a jumble of golden pieces.
Yuugi had been trying to complete the Millennium Puzzle for eight years, now, and was supposed to be practically impossible, making it extremely interesting for the girl gamer. Games and puzzles were her forte, so this was the one thing that had managed to capture her attention entirely. Plenty of times, she had come close to finishing it, and had memorized where several fit together, which was useful as she would often have to disassemble it when moving it around... There wasn't that much room in the box.
'I hope I make some friends...' she thought sadly. 'Anzu's right, I can't hang around with the other girls as much anymore...'
"Yuugi-Kun!"
It took a moment for the 'boy' to realize who was addressing 'him'. Yuugi turned around, to be greeted by Miho.
"You're early," she said with a smile.
"I know..." she muttered. "I thought I was going to be late because of how long my hair took..."
"Well, it looks cool! Your disguise is really believable!" She frowned thoughtfully after a moment. "Hey...You made your hair look like Sennen Yami's!"
"Not quite," she protested defensively. "His is red at the tips. And some of the blonde in his hair sticks up."
"It's weird seeing you as a boy..." she muttered, before a predatory grin spread across her face.
'Oh, no...'
"Hey... Yuugi-Kun..." she drawled. "You look a lot like that boy from that story... Heba, wasn't it? And you're even wearing that collar I got you!"
Yuugi groaned. 'Why me..?!'
Anzu peeped into the room, and giggled.
"Hey, you look like Heba, now!"
"So Miho-Chan already said..." She muttered.
Anzu giggled. "Now all we need is some sexy boy who looks like..."
Two more teens stepped into the room, and Anzu gasped.
"...Atemu!"
"The name's Atem, actually..." He grumbled, rolling his eyes.
"I know..." she blushed, before turning suddenly flirtatious, making Yuugi roll her eyes. It was common knowledge that Anzu had a crush on Atem, and had for a few years. "Sorry, Atem... We were discussing a story, and Atemu is the name of the main character in it. It's a girl's story, though... It wouldn't interest you."
'Because it's shounen-ai...' Yuugi thought instantly. Of course that was Anzu's implication.
"I know what it's about, actually," he said dryly, walking past the brunette with disinterest. "I've read it."
Anzu's eyes widened in shock slightly; she hadn't believed the rumors about Atem and Yami being a former couple, firmly believing both were straight and somebody had been spreading lies around their school. After all, she had a crush on Yami, too. But this undoubtedly wouldn't stop her believing Yami was straight. After all, what did it matter that Atem was gay, which wasn't necessarily true anyway? It didn't mean they'd dated!
"So... Is that your girlfriend?" Atem asked Yuugi suddenly, jerking his thumb at Miho. "I'm assuming it isn't her..." His eyes slid over to Anzu, and then back to Yuugi. "Unless she's some sort of cheating bitch who doesn't give a fuck about how she treats who she's dating."
"Hey!" Anzu shrieked indignantly at the insult, as well as the implication that she was dating another girl... Not that he knew that Yuugi was a girl, of course.
"No!" Yuugi shrieked in surprise and mild disgust at the thought of dating her female best friend, and, without thinking, blurted out her thoughts. "I don't like girls!'
Atem raised an eyebrow, eyes shining, and she clamped a hand over her mouth in horror, realizing what she'd just said. "Oops...!"
"It's okay." He winked, before leaning closer. "I can't really judge you badly for it; that'd make me a hypocrite."
Yuugi blushed profusely. Was he flirting with her?! That wouldn't end well! He didn't like girls! Sure, he was hot, but... Even if anything did happen between them, he'd eventually find out that she wasn't male, and then everything would be over, and not to mention, he'd hate her for lying to him!
"Umm..." She glanced at her friends, a silent plead in her eyes.
"Hey!"
She turned and blinked as she finally noticed the person who had entered the room with Atem. To her surprise, she realized it was Mana, the girl from the day before.
"I don't recognize you," she said, poking Yuugi's nose as she stepped in front of Atem, blocking him from flustering the poor 'boy' any more than he already had. Atem grumbled a bit, but she ignored him. "I recognize those two, but not you. Your face looks a bit familiar... But I can't put my finger on it. Did you go to the same junior high as Anzu and Miho?"
"No," Yuugi said quickly. "I only moved to Domino a few weeks ago." She gave a sigh of relief as Mana gave a nod, apparently believing her.
"Ah. What's you name? I'm Mana. Mana Kanika. And that's my brother, Atem." she giggled. "Although I think you know that." She whispered loudly in the disguised girl's ear. "I think he likes you!" Everyone laughed at this, and Yuugi blushed.
"Yuugi. I'm Yuugi. Mutou Yuugi."
A beeping sounded from Mana's pocket, and she pulled a phone from her pocket. "Ooh, Yami's here! Awesome!" She gave Atem a concerned glance, and everyone looked at him curiously.
The teen's gaze hardened at his sister's words. "...I see."
More footsteps were heard, and Mayumi whimpered as Jounouchi walked in, accompanied by another boy, a brunette with the front of his hair spiked.
"Oh, no! I'm too embarrassed!" she yelped.
"Be quiet, he doesn't even know it was you who gave him that puzzle!" Miho hissed, hitting her friend lightly. Mayumi visibly relaxed. "Oh, yeah... I forgot, if I'm honest.."
"Oi, Kanika! Move it!" Jounouchi's friend yelled, making Atem turn with a growl. He pushed the tricolor-haired male out of the way, and turned to Miho with a smile. "Hi... What's you name?" He winked, and Miho blushed.
"Honda-Kun?"
"That's strange! My name is Honda, too!" He declared without thinking, and then blushed as he realized what he'd said. "Uhh, I mean... So you know who I am?" He couldn't prevent the huge smile crossing his face and the slight blush. "So, who are you?"
"M-Miho..." She muttered, unsure of what to do.
"M-Miho-Chan..?" He blushed more at knowing her name. "Such a beautiful name for such a beautiful girl!" His eyes widened and he fell to the floor in surprise. "Oh, no! I said that out loud!"
They all laughed, save for Atem, who was glaring at the newcomers. Only he, Yuugi and Anzu had noticed the short boy behind them, almost the same height as Yuugi, only a few inches taller. He and Atem looked almost exactly alike, save for the height difference, the new boy's pale skin, and he fact that his looks were clearly Japanese rather than Egyptian.
"Yami-Kun...' Yuugi thought immediately, and fought back a lush, instead focussing on Atem's expression. He looked angered, and slightly hurt to see the other boy, and there was a hint of some other emotion hidden there too, but it was difficult to distinguish. Said boy stepped past the elder, sitting on the seat next to Yuugi. Immediately, Atem's expression soured even more as he took a seat on the far side of the classroom.
"He's still sore mentally from what happened..." Mana whispered, upon noticing her brother's antics. "I'm sorry, Yami.."
"It's okay..." He whispered back, closing his eyes. "I haven't forgiven him yet, either..."
An awkward silence persisted for several seconds, before Jounouchi and Honda plopped down on the seats behind Yami and Yuugi.
"Why are we sitting near the shrimp?" Jounouchi asked, crossing his arms behind his head and lounging on the desk, kicking Yuugi's chair.
"Hey, I'm not much taller!" Yami yelped. "And to answer your question, we're already here. And it's away from Até..." He added as a quiet afterthought.
"Good point..." Honda hummed in agreement, before shooting Yuugi a look. "But he's still pretty short. And he looks wimpy."
"Are you even sure you're supposed to be in high school, kid?" the blonde added. "What's your name?"
"I'm fifteen!" She yelled indignantly. "And my name is Yuugi! Not kid! Yuugi!"
"Leave he- umm, him alone!" Anzu yelled angrily. "Yuugi, are you okay?"
"I'm fine..." she muttered. "Just a little annoyed."
Anzu sat down on the other end of the classroom; they were at the front middle of the room, and so she went to the back right. Atem was at the far left, and Anzu knew that Yuugi probably wouldn't particularly want to be near the flirt. Besides, she didn't particularly want them near each other either; she wouldn't admit it, but she felt jealous of Yuugi. Why was one of her crushes paying more attention to her best friend?! "Yuugi, come here," She said, pulling up a chair at the desk net to her. "We should move away from these jerks!"
Miho and Mayumi plopped down nearby, and gestured for Yuugi to sit down on the chair Anzu had drawn. "Come on, before the teacher gets here!"
Yuugi nodded, stood up, and began to put the puzzle away, only for a familiar tall figure to walk in.
"Sit back down!" The teacher snapped, and the pupils' eyes widened.
"Chonou-Sensei..." the green-haired girl whispered in worry, olivine eyes widening. Miss Chonou had been their middle-school homeroom teacher too, but had left for unknown reasons after the incident with the puzzle gift Mayumi had gotten for Jounouchi.
"Everybody must sit where they first chose to sit," The teacher snapped, face caked with makeup. "It's against the rules to switch seats."
"Yuugi..." Anzu whispered in worry as the two bullies exchanged smirks. Yami rolled his eyes, but froze as he made eye contact with Atem from the other side of the room. Ruby and garnet clashed, and Yuugi was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Longing shone in Yami's eyes for a moment, before it was quickly disguised and he turned towards the door as the rest of the students began filing in, one by one.
So far, the day had been a nightmare, and it was only recess.
Jounouchi and Honda had picked on her and teased her all morning, always messing up her games every time they found her playing, alone. Anzu had stood up for her several times already, but Miho was too busy being distracted by Honda, and Mayumi was too shy to be seen near Jounouchi, and had started talking to a boy just slightly taller than Yuugi, a blonde boy with glasses, who was equally shy.
And pretending to a boy was extremely taxing. While she had no plans to chicken out of her penalty, she would often get confused when being referred to as 'Yuugi-Kun' or 'he'. Not to mention, Atem's flirting was becoming rather annoying, and she swore she saw a couple of girls at the other side of the classroom, giggling and saying 'he' was cute. One thing seemed sure - she'd never be able to get a relationship at high school, now! She was straight, and even if any boy liked her, they'd probably be gay...
To make things even worse (She was surprised that it was possible), Yami had said absolutely nothing to her. She had no idea if he hated her, just like his two best friends, or he felt sympathetic. He seemed rather indifferent, and she would often catch him gazing over or glaring at Atem. It frustrated her... What had happened between the two? Well, at least Yami wasn't flirting, she didn't know what she'd do if she found out her and her crush liked each other, but couldn't be together. Perhaps it was better this way.
She was sat in the empty classroom, and had decided to distract herself with a solo game of Pop-Up Pirate, but it was getting rather boring. But what could she do..?
'Yes! Today is the day I complete it!' she thought as an idea struck her. She'd been distracted this morning, but now would be a good time to try solving the puzzle again, as usual. She rummaged through her bag, setting it on the table and lifting the lid.
"Ha!" She yelped as the box was yanked from her hands, and she turned to see Jounouchi and Honda smirking, eyes fixed on the golden box. Yami stood in the corner of the room, doing nothing as usual, giving nothing away in his expression. "Heh heh... Yuugi, what're you doing in here alone? It's way too dark and gloomy!" He glanced back at the box. "Hey... This is your treasure?" He snorted, before tossing it to Jounouchi, who caught it easily. "And he passes to Jounouchi!"
"Ah! Wait, that's valuable to me!" She stood up quickly, standing in the middle of them and trying to intercept their game of catch... But was too short.
"Since you're acting like a girl about it, this must be pretty valuable!" ~Jounouchi declared, before frowning. "Actually, you do sorta look girly, too... And you have a high-pitched voice. Why, if I didn't know better, I would've thought you really are a girl!" Honda snorted, and she froze. He couldn't really know... Could he..? "All your jumping around is getting irritating! Quit it, Yuugi!" She breathed a sigh of relief; phew, it had simply been a taunt. "I'll teach you how to act like a man!"
Yuugi had to resist the urge to burst out laughing. Of course she didn't 'act like a man'. She was a girl! "Look! I'll give back the box..." He lifted it even higher. "..If you try with all your might to get it!"
"BUT I HATE FIGHTING AND VIOLENCE!" she yelled, making the others in the room cover their ears, even Yami.
"So loud... But no guts behind it..." the blonde muttered, to a nod from Honda. Yami's eyes softened for a moment as he looked at her. She resisted smiling; she had to get her box back!
"Anyway..." She held out her hand. "Give back the box!"
"Not a chance!" Honda grinned with malice.
"So, what's in the box, anyway? Only one way to find out!" Jounouchi took hold of the lid carefully.
"Y...You can look, but don't lose it! It's incredibly valuable!"
Jounouchi popped open the lid, and pulled a face as he saw the golden pieces. "Whaat... That's dumb... Here, Honda!"
He threw it again, only to be intercepted by Yami, who glared at them, giving Yuugi the box back. "Nice catch!" Yuugi yelled to the boy in relief; she'd gotten her box back, and he wasn't going to side with them! At that moment, Anzu walked in, and noticing the looks on the faces of the two bullies, she glared.
"I heard what you said to he-him!" Anzu yelled angrily. "So if it's so dumb, why didn't you give it back right away?!"
"Mazaki!" Both visibly cringed.
"And Yami sided with them..." Honda muttered.
"Picking on weaker people! You guys are the dumb ones! Now beat it!" She whacked her bag around Honda's head, and both boys yelped, running out of the room and shouting insults at the brunette.
"Are you okay, Yuugi?" Anzu asked with concern for her sister-figure.
"I'm fine... Yami helped me out!" she said with a slight blush. Her crush had saved her treasure!
Anzu gave a knowing smile. "That's good... So, you've been trying to solve the puzzle again, I see?" Her smile turned to a frown. "It's been eight years, Yuugi... Are you sure you'd rather just not sell it online? I mean, it's solid gold! You'd be rich!"
"No! It's too precious! It's a memento of my grandpa!" She cried, looking offended.
"Your grandfather's dead?" Yami asked surprised. "I'm sorry for your loss, Yuugi-Kun..."
"No..." Anzu rolled her eyes, blushing slightly. She was in a conversation with Yami! "He means that it willbe a memento, one day. I thought the same thing as you when he explained this to me a couple of years ago... Yuugi's a little odd..."
"Hey! Anzu, that's mean!"
The other two giggled.
"I'm terribly sorry for my friends' behavior, anyway!" Yami said sternly. "Those two are idiots... But they both have a tough past. They're still leaning to be kinder to others, they've resorted to gang violence for years, and were brought up in bad families... I'll have to have a conversation with them about how they treat people, soon."
"Ah... I can understand that..." Yuugi muttered in agreement. "If they've had it that bad... It's not their fault... Thank you, Yami-Kun!" 'And thank you for not flirting like Atem-Kun... It would be too much, even if I do like you...'
"Well... I'll see you two later!" The boy winked. "I should probably sort out those two knuckleheads. I'll see you at lunch?"
"Yeah!" Both girls yelled in unison, overjoyed at the thought of seeing their crush again later.
As the door of the classroom snapped shut, they both exchanged glances in silence, and waited a moment. Then...
"Ohmygod!" Anzu squealed. "He talked to me!"
"I know!" Yuugi cried cheerfully. "And he saved my puzzle box!"
"But I can't believe Atem..." Anzu muttered with a slight glare. "I had a crush on him! And he completely humiliated me! And then he turns out to be gay! How could it get worse?!"
"He was really mean to you..." The disguised girl agreed. "And i have no idea how I'll cope with his flirting for a whole year... But we've already found out we all have a common interest; he's clearly part of the Egyptianshipping fandom. We could still be friends with him... Maybe he'll warm up to you someday and we can get along with him... And I'll just reject him at some point, and that could solve the problem..."
"But there's Yami, too..." Anzu said worriedly. "They don't get along, and I don't want to ruin my chances with Yami... But at the same time, I'm beginning to believe the rumors are true..."
"What rumors?"
"I said that out loud? Shit..." Anzu swore under her breath. "Never mind. It doesn't really matter... Haha!" She rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "Anyway..." SHe walked to the classroom doors and opened them. "Let's go and see what Miho and Mayumi are doing!"
"Yeah!" Yuugi nodded, and the two began to walk.
'Oof!' Yuugi fell backwards as she found an extremely tall student hovering over her. Anzu hadn't noticed her friend lagging behind, and was now halfway down the corridor, leaving the amethyst-eyed girl alone. Well, apart from the black-haired, muscular-looking person who was standing in front of her.
"The name's Ushio," he introduced. "Is it true that you're being bullied, Yuugi-Kun?"
"N-no, Ushio-San..." She muttered, trying to walk away. He intercepted her, looking slightly annoyed, but masking it with a 'friendly' smile.
"Somebody like you would say that," He said instantly. "But it's okay! From now on, I'll be your paid bodyguard! I'll make sure they don't do anything to you again!"
"It's fine, honestly!" She called to him as he walked away, but it was too late. "Weird guy..." She muttered. She didn't want a paid bodyguard! And, not to mention, she felt slightly insulted that he'd said, 'someone like you'. What was that supposed to mean?!
Yuugi wrinkled her nose at the food in front of her. It was a burger, her favorite food, but the school food looked despicable. The burger meat was a grayish-pink, and didn't even looked cooked, nevermind like real meat!
"Hey! Yuugi-Kun! Over here!"
'That's Mayumi's voice...' the teen thought as she turned around and sought out her friend. The green-haired girl waved at her from across the cafeteria, accompanied by Anzu and the blonde boy from before. 'Hang on a minute... Wasn't he with Yami and the others in the teashop yesterday?' she mused. There had been Yami, Jounouchi, Honda, Mana, a white-haired boy with brown eyes, a tall brunette with blue eyes, and then him.'He must be her new friend...' Yuugi brought her tray over to the table and beamed at her friends.
"Ohayo, everyone!" She waved as she sat down.
"Ohayo!" Anzu greeted.
"Oh! Yuugi-Kun, meet Hanasaki-Kun," Mayumi said, gesturing to the blonde, who smiled and waved shyly.
"Hi, Yuugi-Kun..."
"Hi!" She smiled. "So, are you Mayumi-Chan's friend?" Hanasaki nodded.
"Yep! I'm Hanasaki Tomoya. We met this morning!"
"Oh!" Anzu looked closely at him, eyes narrowed in concentration as she noticed something. "Are you friends with Yami? I thought I saw you at the Red Bubble Teashop yesterday with him..."
"Yeah!" He tilted his head in curiosity. "Why did you want to know?"
"It's just..." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "What happened with Yami and Atem? I heard that they don't get along any more, but they used to be really close..."
He fell silent, and looked down at the table for several seconds, before mumbling inaudibly.
"What was that?"
"Well-"
The blonde was interrupted as Yami sat down between Yuugi and Anzu, followed by a rather energetic Mana, who plopped down on Anzu's other side.
"Move up, ballerina-girl!" Mana announced loudly, almost knocking Anzu off her seat. Mana giggled, before looking around, ignoring the annoyed brunette who was now protesting that she wasn't a ballerina. "Hey, where's that Miho girl?"
"She went off with Honda-Kun the last time I saw," Yuugi said, pointing out the purplenette, who happened to be following a rather flustered Honda, struggling to balance two trays of food, accompanied by a rather pissed-off Jounouchi.
'Well, at least she's not bringing them over here...' the girl thought to herself.
"Ah..." Mana nodded, and began tearing into a chicken leg hungrily. Yuugi's stomach growled, and she ook an uneasy glance at the burger in front of her.
'I hope I survive this...' She took a bite, and immediately spat it out in disgust.
"Ugh! This thing is disgusting!"
Everybody else laughed, and Anzu took a bite of her omuraisu. "See? This is edible. I'm glad I chose the right food!"
"I didn't get anything, I didn't have enough..." Mayumi sighed, and Hanasaki's eyes softened.
"H-Hey... Mayumi?" The girl turned around, seeing the boy take a flask out of his bag. "I brought dinner, but my mom always gives me too much... I can never eat it all! Do you want some?" He opened the lid of the flask, and Mayumi smiled.
"Ramen? Okay... Sure! I haven't had ramen in ages!" Thanking him, she got up from her seat in search of cutlery.
"Ooh, Tomoya has a girlfriend!~" Mana and Yami chanted with giggles as soon as the green-haired girl was out of sight. Hanasaki blushed furiously.
"N-no! That's not how it is! Guuuuuuys!"
This time, everybody but Hanasaki laughed. After the laughter died down, Yami took a look at his own food.
"Yuugi-Kun?"
"Hm?" She looked up as the boy poked his food with a worried expression.
"Are... Are the burgers really that bad?"
She frowned. "Yami-Kun got a burger, too?" He nodded, and she pulled a face. "Yep. But try it, if you don't believe me..."
"...I'll pass." He pushed his plate away and took a bite from an apple instead. "Hey, Yuugi-Kun. There's this new burger place just opened up down town, and they have really good burgers! Shall we go there after school? It beats eating this crap." Yuugi blinked, stunned. Yami must have noticed, because he caughed hasily, hiding a small blush, and added rather hurriedly, "Everybody else has food, and we'll only be starving later, right?"
'Phew. For a second, I thought he was asking me out on a date or something! ...Which would be so cool, if I wasn't pretending to be a boy! I'm glad he just wants to be friends, unlike Atem. That would make thingsweird.'
"Umm.. Okay! That makes sense! Sure!"
"Great!" Yami smiled. "Meet me by the cafeteria after classes are over."
"Sure!" She pulled a purple-cased phone out of her pocket and gestured to it awkwardly. "I just need to tell my grandpa that I'll be out tonight."
"Go ahead." Hearing a small shriek, he looked up at the entrance to the room, and nudged the shoulder of the 'other boy'. "In fact, hold hat thought. Miho's just got here, and she's running at about a million miles an hour."
"YUUGI-CH... YUUGI-KUN!" SHe shrieked, flying at the table, almost making the tricolor-haired girl drop her phone. She stuffed it in her pocket to avoid any more potential disaster.
"Huh? What is it?"
Miho was out of breath, bent double and clutching her knees as she panted. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT, YUUGI-KUN!" She barely moved in time in order to avoid the rucksack that was suddenly flying towards her head.
"W-what are you talking about?" She swerved out of the way as the bag came crashing down again.
"I KNOW WHAT YOU DID TO JOUNOUCHI-KUN AND HONDA-KUN!" She shrieked. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?! I NEVER THOUGHT SOMEONE LIKE YOU WAS CAPABLE OF BEING SO MEAN!"
"What happened?!" Yuugi demanded. "Tell me! Because I haven't done anything!"
"No," She snapped. "You didn't. You hired that... That bully! You hired him to hurt them, didn't you?"
'Miho-Chan's acting odd... Why would I hire a bully to beat up Jounouchi and Honda Kun..?' Racking her mind, she recollected the events of the morning. 'Wait... That guy who asked me if I was being bullied..! That's it!'
Yuugi gasped in realization. "I didn't do anything, but I think I know what happened!" Without another word, she ran out of the cafeteria, before silently cussing.
'Fuck! I never asked where they were!'
Hurried footfalls behind her alerted her to another's presence, making her turn around.
She was faced with Miho, who, surprisingly enough, seemed less murderous and more curious.
"Okay, Miho believes you. But you have to let Miho show you where to go! Come on, Yuugi-Chan!" The other girl made a gesture, and tore off in the opposite direction. Yuugi gave a sigh of frustration, before following her friend.
'Typical Miho... ALways changing her mind!'
Both girls soon found themselves stood outside, and gasped as they saw Jounouchi and Honda collapsed on the floor, struggling and attempting to stand. Standing above them was-"
"...Ushio-San!" Yuugi gasped as the tall boy turned around with a smirk.
"Ah, hello, Yuugi-Kun. I was just about to go looking for you. Like what I've done?" He gestured to the two broken boys, and the blonde growled.
"Yuugi! I knew you were to blame!" He yelled angrily, before hissing in pain.
"Jounouchi-Kun!" Miho and Yuugi yelled out, Miho rushing over to his aid while Yuugi continued to glare at the black-haired boy, standing her ground despite her petite frame and height of less than five foot. Ushio snorted.
"Why Yuugi... I thought you'd be grateful! You're free to do whatever you want to them! Punch them! Kick them! Show them that they should never mess with you!"
"I can't do that to my friends!" She yelled, standing in front of the other three in defense.
"...Friends..?" Honda asked weakly, a puzzled expression on his face.
"Makes no sense, as usual..." Miho rolled her eyes at her friend's antics.
"Fine, then. I guess I'll do it!" He made a move to step forward again, but Yuugi stood closer to them.
"No! The only one who gets to hit them is me!"
"...WHAT?!" Jounouchi glared. "Make up your mind already, goddammit!"
"They only wanted to help me to act more mature..." She said sheepishly. "There's no need to hurt them!"
Ushio snorted. "You know what, I really don't care. But I still beat them up for you, and as I said, I'm yourpaid bodyguard. My services cost two hundred thousand yen. I expect the money by tomorrow or..." He took a knife from his pocket and licked it with a venomous look in his eyes. "You'll regret it. Although I think you need a reminder... This isn't bullying, it'll just give you some incentive to pay!" He kicked Yugi in the gut. Hard. The girl winced in pain, collapsing to the ground, and he walked off with laughter.
"Remember, I expect the money tomorrow, or else!"
"Two-hundred thousand? Really?!" Yami gave him a sympathetic look. School was over, and the two were finally at Burger World, eating burgers a billion times better than the school's processed meat. Yuugi nodded sadly, her puzzle box in front of her as she tried once again to solve the puzzle as a distraction.
"Yep... And I know I don't have enough. I only have about ten thousand at home of my own money... Nowhere near enough to pay him!" Yami's eyes softened.
"Have you asked your parents for money? If you explained, I'm sure they'd do something..."
"Ah..." Yuugi sighed. "My dad's always away on business trips, and my mama's not home much, either... She works all day, so it's usually pretty late before she gets home, I wouldn't want to stress her out. My grandpa's usually the one who looks after me, but I don't wanna cause him any stress, so that's out, too." She took a moment to look at the puzzle in her hands. "Gah! Why am I even trying to figure out this thing, anyway?! I feel like crap... But I seem to be doing okay, I guess..."
"You're halfway done..." Yami pointed out. Yuugi sighed.
"Yeah, but I can never get any further than this... This is as far as I can go..."
Yami frowned for a moment, before his eyes lit up. "Hang on a second... He took a piece from the other's hand, slotting it easily in place. "Here!" Yuugi's eyes widened.
"Wow! You can solve this too?!" She blinked for a moment. "Grandpa's always saying that he thinks I'm the only one who can solve it..."
"Then I must be another you," Yami teased, connecting a few more pieces. Yuugi giggled, and observed as the male easily carried on her progress, until only one more piece needed to be added.
"One more piece, and it's done!" They exchanged glances. "Together?" Yuugi asked, and Yami smiled and nodded.
"Together."
Yuugi reached out to her box, only to find empty air. Her heart sank. "H-huh? Y-Yami-Kun! There's a missing piece!" Yami's face was filled with horror for a moment, before realization dawned on his face.
"...Oh! I almost forgot!" He pulled the final piece out of his pocket, the centerpiece, which was decorated with an egyptian-style eye design. "I got given this earlier. Apparently, someone stole this when they decided to take your puzzle box away. They didn't want me to tell you who they were." He gave Yuugi a meaningful look, and she grinned.
"Jounouchi-Kun, right?"
"Yup!"
Both erupted into fits of giggles.
"Okay... Well, this is it..." Yuugi stared into his eyes for a moment, before speaking. "The person who solves the puzzle is supposed to make a wish... So we should both make a wish."
Yami nodded. "That makes sense."
Their hands brushed as they both reached out for the final piece, and both tried to hide a blush. Both holding on, they leaned forwards towards the golden pyramid, pushing it into place, eyes closed as they wished.
'I wish that I had friends who would never betray me... Friends that would always stay by my side always.'
Yuugi opened her eyes and noticed Yami doing the same as he finished his wish. Both stared expectantly at the puzzle...
Nothing.
They exchanged glances, before giggling again.
"Well, that was melodramatic." Yuugi laughed, and Yami nodded with a snort.
"I know!"
"So..." Yuugi shyly averted her eyes. "What did you wish for?"
"Me?" Yami winked. "I can't tell you that, or my wish won't come true!"
"True..." Yuugi smiled. "Let's hope both our wishes come true, Yami-Kun!"
"Yeah!"
Yami frowned as he noticed the sky darkening outside.
"Well, I'll be going now, Yuugi-Kun. There's some things I have to take care of... See you later, okay?"
"Sure!"
The not-boy smiled dreamily as he left, unaware of his plans to make Ushio pay for hurting his newly dubbed 'other self'. Neither knew of the adventures awaiting them, but looking back on it, neither would regret even a moment of it.
Uhh... So how was it? Gah, I'm sorry for ending it so soon in to the plot, but it was getting majorly long, and it seemed like a good stopping point.
HOWEVER! I do plan to make this a multi-chapter fic, I have tons of ideas. If I do, it will be Puzzleshipping, probably with eventual Mobiumshipping, and will be a season 0 rewrite. If I actually get motivated enough I might even go further, but for now... Yeah. I'm thinking of also adding Supportshipping later on in it, and Polarshipping, as well as developing Mayumi and Hanasaki's relationship. (Inspiration for adding Hanasaki inspired by Magi Magi Magician Gal's use of him in her AMAZING story, 'Why Did It Come To This?')
Oh, and the sequel/rewrite/next chapter, whatever will also include what happened between Yami and Atem to make Atem act so cold towards Yami. I'll probably make the full chaptered version have a better start; I didn't know it would be season 0 AU until I got to them picking their uniforms anyway, so it's a bit mushed up.
So, I guess I'll end by encouraging you to review; I really wanna know what you thought, if I should make more, and if I made any mistakes. Well, until the next story, I guess that's it. Thank you for reading! ^^