Title: Beyond His Reach: Reminiscence of Long Ago
Author: Svelte Rose
Pairing: Ryou & Téa
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh
30 Kisses Theme: No. 19- Red
Disclaimer: I don't own YGO.
"My god, have you no fashion sense?" She spoke, her voice menacing and a malicious smirk.
"I tell you, they're letting in all the freaks into Domino High," Another one tittered, the girls behind her giggling immediately.
He rolled his eyes, "Lemmings,"
One came up uncomfortably close to him and tugged on his hair, a suggestive smile upon her lips, "It's long…nice volume, a good hold, if you know what I mean,"
He moved to the side, an uncomfortable smile upon his face and accusing eyes, "What are you doing?"
"I just want to get to know you better," Her eyelids twitched over her large eyes, widening for a mere second before lowering seductively, her long lashes practically brushing her cheeks.
"Back off," He bit, eyes narrowed and body tense.
Behind her, the girls cackled merrily, happy that they'd finally gotten to him.
"Why, I just wanna have a little-,"
"Hey," A clear voice boomed out, blue eyes boring into every single one of them as she leaned against one of the lockers comfortably, "Class is about to begin,"
Bothered by her poignant stare, the girls cast their eyes to the floor and quickly scattered- whether to avoid the ringing of the bell signifying their tardiness or because one of Domino High's most prominent students just clearly showed her dislike for their behaviors.
He watched indifferently at the retreating bodies and sighed, looking down at the one in front of him. Her neck craned around him, eyes searching…
Their makeshift intermediary had disappeared.
She leaned over the balcony and watched the glittering dresses, tinkering champagne glasses, and happy laughters of the dancers below. It was just half an hour before midnight and many had already chosen their partners for the midnight kiss. Now, after dinner and dancing, it was just mingling amongst each other waiting for the countdown to occur.
Mai wasn't hard to spot in the crowd with her bright red dress and cascading waves of blond hair.
Red fitted the blond. It was a color of passion- an emotion Mai did not lack in any department. Anything and everything that she did, she poured her whole heart and soul into it. She was easily one of the most vibrant women in the room- not because of her outstanding dress but because it was just her essence. Her passion for life was easily shown by any project she did. She flitted from person to person like a butterfly, couple to couple, group to group, always leaving them laughing. The veritable hostess of this party, Téa had onlyallowed itbecause Mai pulled another one of her tricks.
Invitations had been sent out three weeks ago and the response was unimaginable. Since Téa was virtually unreachable except through Mai, the poor blond had been bombarded with requests by her many other associates and clients to be invited to the party of the year.
Téa snorted. In her opinion, it was just like any other party. The guests arrive, you socialized, eat dinner, dance and mingle some more, and then the spectacular boom at the end showcased by thousands of dollars in fireworks. In this case, the countdown to the New Year was also topped off with a thousand falling balloons and confetti- a contraption that Mai had set up to make the night more spectacular.
"It suits you,"
The brunette swirled the contents in her glass, staring down into the liquid, never once acknowledging she'd been spoken to. A few moments passed before she downed the rest of the glass and turned around, staring at the stranger with glassy eyes.
With his long white hair pulled back in a low ponytail and adorning a tuxedo that looked as if it were designed for him, he seemed hardly the audacious stranger she'd met at the Burstein ball. The gloves looked as though they fit his hands like a second skin and just the overall effect of his appearance sent her heart palpitating.
It was silly. And that was what exasperated her so much- she was rarely silly over a man; she had been around better looking (not to say he wasn't drop dead gorgeous as she was shamed to admit) and definitely more charismatic ones.
But none of them held his aura of…
..She didn't even have a word.
"I wanted to return it to you," She began, blue eyes never once leaving his face, "And I still do. It was either wearing it or lugging this around in the box. I had been carrying it around for some time but tonight, Mai convinced me to wear it. I hadn't imagined our paths crossing again,"
"It suits you," He repeated, hands tucked so casually in his pockets.
"You shouldn't have bothered," She turned around, unable to look at his unsettling brown eyes any longer. Staring down at the people, she kept her watchful eye on the blonde, relieved that their roles were switched for at least a night.
He had slowly come up to stand besides her, leaning on the railing with his back. Glancing surreptitiously down at her, he smiled indulgently, "But I did,"
For a few moments, all that passed between them was silence. The lawn lamps dimmed gradually as the obnoxiously large clock Mai purchased, began to count the last ten minutes of this year. The crowd cheered and more alcoholic beverages were accepted from the passing waiters and waitresses.
"You look beautiful,"
And Téa's reserve snapped with a harsh exhalation of breath, "You speak to me as though we're familiar with each other. I don't even know your name," She reached up with a gloved hand and rubbed her head with the simple objective of keeping her hands busy.
His smile tightened and his face hardened slightly, "I don't imagine you remembering me. You and I ran in different crowds back then,"
She furrowed her eyebrows, "Back then? Different crowds?" Now, she was officially and utterly confused.
"High school- you and I both attended Domino,"
Blue eyes widened in recognition but dimmed as she tried to remember his face- this was a hard task. She'd spent most of her years there ignoring the people. She hated the facades, what the backstabbing girls did to their own best friends, the horrible courtships from her admirers…
"I wasn't anyone special. Just another person a posse of people picked on me because of my physical anomalies," Despite his bitter words, he possessed a soft smile, clearly of reminiscence, "They worshipped you, this I'm sure you had some idea of,"
"They didn't worship me," She murmured, leaning on her elbows as the clock neared ten minutes and the activity on the lawn heightened, "They saw me as someone else they could use,"
"But you know," He continued, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as he too, watched the flurry of activity going on below them, "It seemed whenever they reached their peak, you'd be there to bring them right down,"
"I didn't do anything special, honestly," She objected, her cheeks brightening.
The crowd's excitement below hit an all new level of excitement as it started the countdown for the last minute.
"You don't even recognize your own courage," He turned to her and placed his unsettling gaze upon her.
Having felt the intense stare even without looking, she licked her lips nervously as the crowd started to count down the last ten seconds. She could feel the hairs on her arms stand up and she couldn't figure if it was a dry air and the static electricity combined or the myriad of goose bumps that appeared so suddenly.
Obviously, it was most likely the latter.
"10…9…!"
"You didn't recognize it back then, you don't recognize it now,"
"8…7…!"
"Even after what he did, you kept your head up- hurt, but not broken,"
"6…5…!"
She remained silent; his recount brought memories of painful times and a shattered heart. While she had long forgiven the boy- no man, that jaded her to the world, it was far from being forgotten.
"4…3…!"
"They may have hated you for it, but they loved you because of it,"
"2…!"
Below, everybody, every which way started to go for their partners- opposite sex or same sex, it didn't matter in their drunken states. At least most knew their partners- some didn't even bother checking.
"Téa, please look at me," He pleaded softly, bringing himself closer to her with a step.
She couldn't refuse.
"1…!"
Screams and booms in the distance, were heard as the fireworks begun their debut in the night sky.
His lips softly covered hers, one arm gripped the back of her neck in a gentle but firm hold and the other protectively around her waist. Fingers threaded her brunette tresses as her head tipped back for leverage.
She stiffened, more surprised than anything; arms hung limpidly by her side.
"HAPPY NEW YEARS!" The crowd cheered as many grabbed their partners and kissed for luck and, or just simply out of pure joy, many straggling calls occurring after. Anything else was deafened by the booms of the fireworks above them. Confetti was thrown, champagne and wine spilled but no one paid any notice.
The New Year was the beginning of a whole new slate, new promises to fulfill, and all that jazz.
And the grandest moment that would be captured in that very moment…was their sweetheart, entertainment sensation with her arms around an anonymous, elegantly-clad man possessing shocking but later praised, white hair-
…sweetly sharing their first kiss of the New Year.
End Notes: That's the end of this arc. I could probably delve further with their backgrounds but I rather like the ambiguous ending…I imagine you guys probably wonder about who the man that broke Téa's heart is, if she ever found out what Ryou's name was, how their courtship occurred- if they even had one, etc. Make up your own endings- whatever satisfies your hearts. And please, tell me what you think- good and bad!