Paladin: Here is an almost forgotten inspiration that struck me in high school, all the way back in junior year. I just recently found the idea sheet I had for it and decided to start it seriously. Maybe I can get it done before I loose inspiration. -
One Day
Chapter One
One Who Travels
The five boys lay in various positions throughout the room. Two, Joey and Ryou, lay on the floor among blankets, both asleep already. Bakura sat in the corner of the room, leaning against the wall with a bottle balanced on his knee. Yami and Seto lay on the bed together, Yami being closer to Bakura. Seto was sleep, but Yami wasn't. He looked angry about something, and Bakura decided now would be a good time to provoke him.
"Hey, Yami." He whispered. He didn't want to wake Ryou, which was easy to do since he tended to be a light sleeper.
"What?" Yami murmured back.
"Up for a dare?" He looked up, crimson eyes on fire. Ryou was the only one out of the group that hadn't been drinking that night.
"Of course. Are you that interested in putting that dress back on?" Bakura growled softly, thinking about their last dare.
"Whatever. You know that guy in our fourth period? The one that sits in the back and never says anything?"
Yami squinted, thinking. "Yea, that teacher thought he was me that one time."
"Yup. Yugi Motou." Bakura grinned.
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Bakura was laughing. Yami scowled harshly.
"Dammit! What does he want from me?" Yami cursed. Bakura's laughter slowly died down as more people entered the classroom.
"So, let me get this straight. You followed Yugi home and asked him out." He had to pause to chuckle at the thought. "He said no, and slammed the door in your face?"
Yami growled at him and slung his math book at Bakura's head. He missed, and the book hit the ground with a loud "Thwap!" that made the entire class turn to look at them. Yugi sunk down in his seat.
"Yea. That's right smart-ass. Now what?"
"I don't know. He probably knows about you and Kaiba."
"That's not fair! How am I supposed to get him to believe I dumped Seto without actually doing it?"
"Hey, that's not my problem." Bakura's eyes glowed. "I just dared you to sleep with the guy." Yami gave him a dirty look.
"It will become your problem if Seto finds out about all this." Bakura burst into more laughter.
"But that's what is so funny! You wouldn't dare let him find out! He'd kick your ass quicker than he would mine!"
"Shut up!" Yami threw his binder at Bakura as well, missing again. The binder did manage to land on top of the book. Bakura wiped a tear from his eye.
"Where you throwing that at me?You have really bad aim."
"Yugi is a nice guy. He won't be into the one night stand scene! So how am I supposed to get him to go out with me?"
Bakura rolled his eyes. "Stop whining. You're Yami. Try some charm."
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Someone up there hated him. That was the only explanation.
"Now, go ahead and get in your groups and then I'll explain further." Yugi rolled his eyes and sighed. He hated group projects with a passion. They are a shy child's worst nightmare. This time, however, was even worse. He hadn't had to go through the embarrassment of asking to work alone, or just getting stuck with someone by the teacher, no, this time the one and only Yami decided he wanted to be Yugi's partner.
Yugi glanced at Yami sideways. He was currently glaring at Bakura, a few seats up from them. They were always fighting, but seemed to be good friends. It wasn't often you saw one without the other, which surprised Yugi even more. Why hadn't they paired up like usual?
Something is up. Yugi thought as Yami noticed him looking and smiled at him. Something big and I don't like it.
"So, uh...what are we supposed to be doing again?"
"Making a cheek cell slide." Yugi replied, a little more coldly than he really meant.
"Ok. So what do you want me to do"
Tell me why you've suddenly taken an interest in me, and tell me how to get rid of you.
Yugi smiled. "Hold this." He handed the glass slide to Yami, who promptly dropped it. The small piece of glass hit the ground and shattered into a million pieces. Yami cursed loudly, causing several looks and snickers.
"Boys! Try to be more careful." Their teacher scolded. As Yami cleaned up the broken glass, Yugi watched him, thinking.
Yami had asked him out, but everyone knew Yami was with Kaiba. Did he really think Yugi was that stupid? Yugi wanted nothing to do with Seto Kaiba.
"Sorry about that." Yami said sheepishly as he returned with a new slide.
"No problem." Yugi replied as he started on another slide.
"Alright, so we add a drop of water, a drop of iodine, and then the cells. So. Would you like to contribute your DNA, or shall I?" Yami asked. Yugi raised an eyebrow at him. Yami laughed as he picked up a toothpick. "Scrape the inside of your cheek gently." He read from the instruction sheet. He turned to Yugi and said cheerfully, "Open up."
Yugi was taken aback. "What?"
"You heard me. Open up."
"Uh...let me do it. It's nothing really." Yugi tried to grab the toothpick, but Yami jerked his hand back.
"No way. I want to. Let me do some of the work." Yami laughed at Yugi's obvious discomfort.
Yugi blushed as Yami grabbed his chin and lifted his face up.
Yugi found himself staring into Yami's eyes. He never noticed before but the color looked a little red. Yugi had always thought his eyes were brown. He found he was almost hypnotized. Yugi could feel his blush growing, a strange feeling settling in the bottom of his stomach.
Yugi gave up and opened his mouth.
Yami's gaze was intense, his eyes bright, but a little sad. Yugi thought it was a little strange, but didn't say anything as Yami swirled the toothpick in his mouth and finished the slide. Yugi watched him set the glass slide delicately in the microscope and looked through it to focus the lense.
Suddenly Yugi noticed that Yami was dressed in all black, which was against school rules. 'How does he get away with it?'
"Well, it's official." Yami straightened and motioned at the microscope. "Every part of you is perfect." Yugi blushed which caused Yami flash him a brilliant smile.
"You obviously don't know me very well." Yugi muttered, surprised he was able to speak at all.
"No, I don't really, but I'd like that to change."
Yugi frowned, looking Yami up and down quickly, not knowing exactly what to think. His words were serious, but his smile bordered on a smirk. Did he mean that? Yugi couldn't tell. He simply shook his head and started to answer the questions that were part of the lab report they were supposed to complete.
"So, what do you say? Will you be my friend?"
Yugi glanced at him as he leaned on the desk next to him. He could feel Yami's body heat. He was too close and Yugi was suddenly uncomfortable.
"Uh, sure, I guess." Yugi said softly, inching away from him slowly.
"Good! So, do you want to come with us Friday? Just a bunch of friends going to the movies."
"Um..."
"Perfect! I'll pick you up at seven, okay?"
The bell rang at that moment, and Yami was gone before Yugi could protest.
'Oh, great.'
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"So, I finally got him to agree to go out with me." Yami said triumphantly. He lay across Bakura's bed and put his hands under his head.
"Big f-ing deal, you've still got to get in his pants."
"Yeah, yeah, all in time." Bakura sat cross-legged on the floor, smoking. He wasn't supposed to be doing that in the house anymore. Not only did his parents not like it, but Ryou was allergic to the smoke. They had been fighting again, however, so Bakura was pretending like he didn't care.
"What were you and Ryou fighting over, anyway?" Yami asked, just to break the silence.
"None of your damn business." Was the rough reply. Ryou must have really pissed him off.
"Yeah, whatever." Yami said, rolling paraell to the edge of the bed. "Bakura, can I ask you something?" Bakura grunted, not looking up from the floor. "Why did you dare me to do this in the first place? Are you trying to get me away from Seto?"
Bakura looked up, eyebrow raised. "You're such a girl, Yami."
"Look who's talking, Mr. Braid." Yami said bitterly, giving Bakura's braided hair a tug. Bakura scowled and swatted his hand away."What's the matter with you?"
"Nothing!"
"Well, you better get in a better mood. Why don't you just go and apologize to Ryou? We all know it was probably your fault anyway." Yami laughed.
"You don't know anything!" Bakura said heatedly.
"Tell me what happened. Come on, I'm your best friend."
Bakura looked like he had swallowed a lemon. "He said he loves me."
"Wow, that's great! What's the problem?"
"That's just it. He really meant it. He wants to make it permanent."
"What, like, get married? Can you even do that? Besides, you're both still in high school!"
"That's my point. When I told him that, he thought I meant I don't...feel the same way." Bakura finished quickly. "But, I really do. 'Forever' scares me though, what if I screw it up?"
Yami shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you, except--" He pointed at the phone on the table beside the bed. "Tell him that. Now."
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Yugi though over his conversation with Yami as he got ready for bed. Yes, Yami was very attractive. Yugi had always thought so, even before Yugi officially admitted to himself he didn't like girls. He didn't know if anyone else knew or not, didn't really care.
'You're just going as friends, remember?' Yugi couldn't help it, he was excited. There was a soft knock at his door.
"Hey, Yugi." His grandfather pushed his door open.
"Yeah?" Yugi sat down on his bed.
"Are you okay? You seem a little distracted."
"No, I'm fine. I'm going out Friday night, okay?"
"Oh, really?" Yugi tried not to sigh as his grandfather grinned at him.
"It's not like that! I'm just going out with some friends." Yugi shrugged. "No big deal."
"Alright. I'm going Saturday to visit your mother, do you want to come this time?" His smile faded.
Yugi hesitated before he answered. "No. Thanks anyway." He nodded and closed the door. Yugi lay backwards and rubbed his eyes.
'Why are things so complicated?'
Paladin: Gosh, that is a long chapter! The next one probably won't be as long. Maybe. Heh, so, was it boring?