AN: Not going to lie, this story is completely and utterly ridiculous. It is so ridiculous I feel like I should probably apologize for it. So yeah...this story was born out of many random thoughts; namely how overprotective Yami no Yuugi seems to be at times, the super ridiculousness and over the top-ness of the show at times (esp since I am forced to mostly watch dub since I can't get my hands on the sub atm) and of course the ever important question of "Huh, what the hell does he do with the puzzle during gym class?"- cause of course that's a really important question to ask one's self. So yeah, I hope you enjoy and don't find it too crappy.

Read and, I hope, enjoy and reviews are always cool.

I don't own Yu Gi Oh or its characters.

"Whadda mean Yuugi? I thought you and the Pharaoh were cool."

"We are," Yuugi admitted sheepishly. "He can just be a little..." he touched the gold pyramid hanging from his neck absentmindedly as he searched for the right word, "...overprotective."

Jounouchi's blond hair fell over his eyes as he glanced sideways at his much shorter friend. He watched the King of Games inquisitively as the two stood along the gymnasium wall with their classmates, waiting for the beginning of gym class.

"Is that why you're wearing the puzzle to class?" Jounouchi asked with a frown, bemusement etched in his fair features.

Yuugi gave a clipped nod. "Yeah. It's kind of hard to wear in gym, but I can understand it from his side too. I mean, if it's not on me than someone else might try to steal it or something," he ended with a shrug.

"Yeah, I get that," Jounouchi nodded in agreement. A pause briefly arrested their conversation. "So, then why are you so worried about wearing it now? It's not like you don't already wear it to school."

"Well, I'm not really worried about it as long as we don't do anything too rough I guess." Yuugi's words came slowly as he tapped a finger against his chin; his eyes rolled to the ceiling while he pondered the question.

"What, you afraid it's gonna stab you in the chest or something? I think he'd tell you not to wear it if you thought that was gonna happen," Jounouchi gave a head jerk in the direction of the pendant hanging from his friend's neck.

"It's not me I'm worried about," Yuugi said evasively, clearly uncomfortable as he noticeably shifted his stance.

"Whaddya mean?" Jou's eyebrows were raised, voice filled with curiosity.

"I-"

"Alright everyone, line up!"

Unfortunately, or fortunately in one of their opinions, before Yuugi could answer their teacher strode into the room, dragging a large bag behind him. A large unmistakable bag filled with unmistakable circular objects.

Yuugi paled in recognition.

Oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please, oh please let me be wrong.

"You alright Yuug? You're kinda pale."

What little blood remained in Yuugi's face left him as he felt the spirit inside him stir to attention at his sudden influx of fear.

"Today we're playing..." the teacher paused in his enthusiasm, "Dodgeball!"

"Oh dear god no," Yuugi nearly whimpered.

The class was abuzz with reaction; the students like himself, smaller and less muscled, groaned at the oncoming assault, muscle memory already beginning to induce pain at the mere thought of the so-called sport. Everyone bigger than said students chuckled sadistically at the impending suffering they would cause.

Jounouchi laid a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder, misunderstanding the shorter one's dread. "Don't worry Yuugi, I'll look out for ya. I'll make sure you're on my team."

Yuugi shook his head, "Jou, that's not what-"

"Who wants to be team captain?" the teacher asked with unbridled enjoyment.

"I will!" Jounouchi's hand shot up and he winked at the ghostly pale Yuugi with a grin.

"Alright, Jounouchi and...Kaiba, pick your teams!"

"I'll take Yuugi," Jounouchi declared with a note of pride.

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "I don't need Yuugi to win a duel and I certainly don't need him to win a sports game. Take the damn runt. Have fun losing mutt," he snorted.

Too distracted to be embarrassed Yuugi bit his lip as he trotted over to his friend.

"Oh yeah? Have fun eatin' those words Kaiba, cause we're gonna kick your ass!" Jounouchi rested a protective hand on Yuugi's shoulder.

Yuugi groaned. "Jou, you really shouldn't have done that," he mumbled as students were steadily picked by each captain.

"Don't worry Yuugi,we can take em," Jounouchi's voice was smug and boastful. "We'll totally kick Kaiba's butt into next week."

"No Jou, you don't understand." The spirit inside Yuugi was shifting with agitation as he pleaded. Panic began to rise within the small teen; he tried desperately to formulate some plan, some strategy to avoid the impending disaster.

"Play ball!"

Too late.

The mockingly cheerful red balls were dumped onto the floor, leaving the members of each team to frantically scramble to grab one as they headed to their side of the gym. Instead of entering the fray Yuugi hurried to his best friend's side.

"Here Yuugi, I grabbed you one too." Jounouchi pressed a ball into his hands and turned towards their opponents. Without hesitation he threw the ball with a mighty heave, cursing when it missed Kaiba by a hair.

"Jou, listen-"

"Not now Yuugi, come on, we gotta beat Kaiba!" The ever present hostilities between the two had once again reared its ugly head and Yuugi's desperate pleas fell on deaf ears. Jounouchi didn't take his eyes off the opposing team for even a second; he ducked left to avoid a ball, picked it up from where it fell and tossed it back. He gave a cheer of victory when it hit another player in the back, successfully outing him from the game.

Yuugi, meanwhile, still clutched his ball in his hands, only moving to timidly dodge the flying projectiles hurtling toward him. This was not his game and Yuugi was quite aware of that fact. A sudden apparition beside him also took notice of this fact.

"Aibou, what are they doing?" The spirit called "Yami no Yuugi" sounded alarmed as he watched his hikari's classmates continue their violent tirade.

"It's called 'dodgeball' mou hitori no boku," Yuugi said aloud, too distracted by the balls flying at him to speak in his thoughts. "I have to avoid being hit," he said as he danced awkwardly so as not to be pelted.

"But they're throwing things at you! You could get hurt aibou!" the ghostly figure sounded horrified and angered at the prospect.

"No, no, mou hitori no boku," Yuugi tried to assuage the spirit nervously, "It's-"

Yuugi turned his attention too late; a bright red ball was spinning through the air at an alarming rate, it's path directed right at his face.

Then the ball bounced away harmlessly by one thrust from his fingertips.

"-only a game." Yuugi stared down at his transparent body and then over to the spirit possessing his own. Yami no Yuugi wore a smug smirk, ball in hand.

And now Yuugi Mutou's worst nightmare had become reality.

"Mou hitori no boku! It's only a game! I'm not in any danger, get back in here right now!"

"Nonsense aibou," His yami soothed in his mind. "If they want to play a game, I'll play one. I love games."

For a seemingly innocent statement it gave Yuugi an awful lot of shivers down his spine.

Yami stood with one hand cockily on his hip, holding his weight to his side while he tossed the dodgeball up and down single-handedly. "So, all I have to do is hit members of the other team with this ball and not be hit myself, correct aibou?" Ever the proper duelist the master of games poised the question with serious single-mindedness.

"Well, yes, mou hitori no boku, but-"

"That's alright aibou, I'll take it from here." With surprising strength Yami no Yuugi threw his ball with deadly accuracy, sending an opposing player to the ground several feet from where he had stood.

"Holy crap Yuugi! Where did that come from?" Jounouchi's open mouth spoke as loudly as his shouted words. The shaggy-headed teen looked over to his friend and saw not the nervous and gentle Yuugi, but an erect figure that oozed confidence and ferocity. "You're...not Yuugi anymore...are you?" Jounouchi words came as hesitantly as the situation allowed.

"I thought it would be best if I assisted aibou with this game," the former Pharaoh stated as he sent another ball, and another player, across the gym.

"Oh, uh, okay," As a loud groan of pain echoed above the din Jounouchi felt he was starting to understand why Yuugi had been so concerned.

"You can just catch the balls you know? To get someone out of the game?" Yuugi's suggestion came as more of a plea through their mental connection.

"But aibou, this way is so much more...fun," The thought was practically purred to Yuugi. There was way too much enjoyment in those words to make the hikari feel anything but greater discomfort.

Another ball sailed, another cry rang out. As the dark spirit prepared to throw again obscenities filled the air next to him. A cursory glance to his left showed Jounouchi rubbing his arm, glaring across the room at a smirking Seto Kaiba. Jounouchi made his way to the benches with his fellow outed classmates, scowling and cursing Kaiba's name the entire way.

"Poor Jou," Yuugi accidentally thought 'aloud' as he watched the smug face of the young billionaire. He winced in sympathy; Jounouchi hated nothing more than being bested by Kaiba.

Yuugi, however, was not the only one who felt a stirring of emotion. Yami no Yuugi's eyes flashed and narrowed. A hurt friend of Yuugi's meant a hurt Yuugi. And nobody, nobody, hurt his aibou.

Nobody.

"You'll pay for what you've done Kaiba!" Yami no Yuugi shouted it across the gym, holding his ball in the air as though it was a royal scepter. The dodgeball wielding teen looked as though he was waiting to rain divine punishment down upon his 'enemy'.

"No, no mou hitori no boku, it's just a game!" Yuugi pulled at Yami's arm, but the spirit inhabiting his body ignored him.

"We'll see about that!" Kaiba shouted right back at Yami.

"Oh my god," the apparition of Yuugi buried his flushed face in his hands.

The few remaining players were watching Yami no Yuugi and Kaiba with uncertainty; they held their balls in hand with trepidation as the two rivals engaged in a battle of glares, each with a ball reeled back ready to attack.

Off to the side of the gym their bruised, battered, and retired classmates watched with an entirely different sort of uncertainty.

"I think they're taking this a little too seriously," a student next to Jounouchi whispered.

"I think Yuugi broke my jaw," another complained.

Jounouchi bit back a groan of his own and buried his head in his hands.

On the gym floor Kaiba and Yami no Yuugi both let out a battle cry as they threw their balls at one another. Both missed and cursed, then picked up another ball and tried again.

"Hey!"

"Ow!"

Player after player was struck out by the stray balls thrown by the two embattled students. Soon only Kaiba and the Pharaoh were left standing, baring their teeth at each other like wild dogs.

"You're going to lose Mutou," Kaiba hissed venomously. His ball sailed through the air, narrowly missing his opponent.

Yami no Yuugi grunted as he ducked away in the nick of time. "I'll send you to the Shadow Realm Kaiba!" he thought with gritted teeth.

"What? No, no Shadow Realm mou hitori no boku! This is a gym class game!" The apparition of his hikari positioned himself in front of yami, albeit symbolically, blocking his shot.

Yami no Yuugi gave a disgruntled grunt and looked away from the face frowning at him as though he were a rather naughty puppy. A ball flew through the transparent form of Yuugi Mutou and bounced off of the ball in Yami no Yuugi's hand. Across the gym Kaiba let out a loud curse. A feral noise rumbled from the back of the Pharaoh's throat.

"I can hit him with this right?" Yami no Yuugi raised the ball in his hand.

Defeated, the hikari's words came out in a sigh. "Yeah, that's alright I guess."

With a triumphant smirk the dark spirit pulled his arm back and then thrust it forward, sending the ball across the gym with amazing speed. Even though Yuugi had his back turned it was impossible to misinterpret the events transpired; the loud, frustrated curse that left Kaiba's mouth resounded loudly through the large room.

And then Yuugi found himself staring at Kaiba as the other teen fumed not fifty feet from him.

Yuugi stared down at his solid hands and breathed a sigh of relief. Then he looked to his classmates and let out a nervous laugh. Some pretty dirty looks were being sent his way...from a lot of really bruised faces.

It wasn't until they had changed and ventured into the safety of the school hallway that Jounouchi mentioned the incident.

"Well, that was...weird. I guess that's why you were worried, huh? You weren't kidding about the overprotective part."

All Yuugi could manage was a rather sheepish nod, his cheeks still pink since he had reentered his body.

"Yuugi? Don't look now, but I think that whole dodgeball thing is about to bite us in the ass."

Yuugi looked up at the sound of Jounouchi's voice only to see a wall of rather unhappy classmates glaring back at him.

"Aibou," a voice whispered in his ear, a ghostly hand rested on his shoulder. "Let me take care o-"

"Jounouchi, take this!" Yuugi thrust the Millennium Puzzle into his friend's hands. "Now, come on!"

Before Jounouchi had the chance to question or protest a surprisingly strong small hand was wrapped around his wrist, dragging him back and out a side door.

Though Jounouchi's voice was uttering loud exclamations behind him Yuugi's mind was only focused on one thing as the duo made their speedy escape.

From now on Anzu watches the puzzle during gym class.