Prologue: Last Day of School

"What d'you say?!"

"Bite me, bitch," Zuko growled in return. It was out now. The cafeteria was, bit by bit, becoming hushed. Eyes were glued to the pair—stiff backs, fists clenched, oh their anger would cause some damage.

"Don't call me any names, you damn faggot," Jet spat out. He'd done it now.

It was over in a flash. Zuko was already up and gone, but Jet was down where a punch had been SLAMMED into his face. Was he unconscious?

A girl stood in Zuko's way as he was stalking out of the cafeteria. She glared up at him, skin perfectly tanned and eyes blue like the ceramic tiles. He made to ignore her, but then she called out, "He'd be better without you, Zuko."

"Shut up." He should've kept ignoring her. But he couldn't help but whisper, "I still need him."

Pure Science

Summary: They got together two months ago, right before APs. It was chemistry. Aang/Zuko yaoi.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the last Air-bender. They would've done UNSPEAKABLE things on live television if I had. ;)

Warning: YAOI YAOI YAOI. Boys love each other! Don't read on if you don't understand this! Plus lots of swearing!

A/N – I've wanted to write this fic since…forever! But I've never found enough time. Well now I do. Happy summer everybody. I hope this doesn't remind you too much of school. xD

Chapter 1: Cycling is Gay

"Aang!" Sokka yelled, his heart furiously beating blood to his flushed face. This was aggravation at its height. "Aang, don't overexert yourself! We need you for the penalty kicks later on!"

It was half-time interval. Ninth game this season, and Aang felt as if he was walking on air. They hadn't lost a single match. So he'd asked Katara to put some candy in his knapsack for when he got hungry (trust her to stuff in a love note and some girly valentine hearts while at it, but it wasn't that bad). Now, however, his hyperactivity was going over the top.

Squealing at the top of his lungs, he pedaled his bike furiously over to the empty bleachers on the other side of the field. It was an amazing moment of stillness, utter perfection. He'd made a jump up on one of the lower beams, and was about to jump higher—

"RYAHH!" Aang screamed considerably less joyfully. His entire body was falling, and he couldn't stop it. Within seconds, a flock of yellow jerseys surrounded him like pins to a magnet. It looked flowery, from a distance.

"Jeez, what happened to him?" Jet snorted, throwing more cold water on himself.

Zuko simply looked up, cold eyes blazing gold with curiosity. "A win for us, I suppose."

"He didn't seriously get hurt, did he?" Jet was now standing up on the bleacher along with his green-clothed teammates. None of them, however, were willing to literally walk over and ask them if everything was okay.

"At the rate he was going?" Zuko snorted. "You didn't see him go 'round the field in circles, and then jump on the bleachers?"

"He's a fast kid," Jet nodded. "It's good for us that he's down."

The coaches were arguing furiously about whether they should continue the game or not, while Captains Zuko and Sokka sat quietly, pretending not to want to tear their coaches apart.

"Alright Zhao, that's enough!" Zuko roared over the two.

"You be quiet, Zuko," Zhao threatened. "There is no way we have to give into their commands! They're down by one player and they have plenty of back-ups. If they don't suck it up and play pussy on us, they might as well surrender."

"For the last time, that's not what I said—"

"He can't play at all?" Zuko asked. The coaches ignored him, and so he looked at Sokka.

"We don't think so," Sokka shrugged. "I can't believe him, though! Of all the games he could've chosen, he just had to screw this one up!"

"Sprained ankle? Broken leg?"

"Uh…first, I saw him fall flat on his face. So his cheeks are really bloody, but he was giggling and stuff so I was sorta scared he got amnesia—"

"Alright, this is bullshit, where is he?" Zuko snapped, standing up. "If this is nothing serious, why can't you just ask him whether he wants to play or not?"

"We can't."

"Why not?" Zuko hissed, getting impatient.

"He's out. Unconscious. Sleeping like a damn baby. Jeez, dude, sit down and cool it!" Sokka looked at Zuko as if he was scared Zuko might kill somebody. "He's the best player on the team. The only reason I got captain was because coach was afraid that Aang would do exactly what he did today and act like a fricking toddler."

"This is getting stooooopid…" Jet sang, joining the two next to their coaches, who still hadn't calmed down. "Let's just play."

"Hey Bato?" Sokka said, addressing his coach.

"Sokka for the last time, I'M BUSY!"

"Hey, why's everybody yelling?"

The entire field went out with a hush as everybody's eyes became glued to Aang. The skinny boy looked considerably mussed up, sporting large bandages on either side of his face and a bruised lip. The humorous part of it was that he had a huge grin on his face and had forgotten to put on his shorts upon waking up.

The boys began to snicker.

"Oh my god, Aang…" Sokka hissed, shaking his head. The snickers began to grow louder.

"Seriously, what's going on? The intermission isn't over yet?"

"It's been over, lad," Bato growled into his bandage-clothed face. "What were you thinking? Did you consider how much danger you were putting yourself in? Not to mention us, your team?"

Aang blushed. For whatever reason, the boys began bursting out into laughter. "Uh…yeah…sorry coach, really—"

"I've really had enough of this," Zuko interrupted. He kicked up the soccer ball into his hands and walked head on pass Bato and stood in front of Aang. "I hear you're the best on your team."

Aang simply stared at him. He knew full well it was a challenging statement, but did not bother to look peeved. He smiled innocently. "Sort of?"

"There is no 'sort of'!" Zuko barked. "You've caused us enough trouble. We're gonna settle this quickly, because I want to go home and sleep because my fucking head hurts! We're playing one-on-one, and whoever wins, wins it for the team!"

Zuko threw the ball in Aang's already damaged face. Like a fast retort, Aang caught it with a twirl of his hands and flung it at Zuko's feet.

"I'm so sick of the lack of ethics in your soccer team, Zhao—" Bato began to complain.

"Fine, let's do it," Aang said. And like that, end of story.

Everybody smirked.

"Oh, this ought to be good," Jet laughed.

There was something different about Aang's eyes. He no longer looked like a child when he played soccer. He looked like a fully-fledged male out to make a kill, a hunter light on his feet and swift on his attack. Zuko did not deny that he was slowly becoming enraptured with Aang's style. And the boy was good, especially flying solo like he was now. It was the first real play he'd had in months.

One thing irked him, though, and not in an entirely innocent manner. Aang liked to whisper as he played. They were mere feathers on Zuko's sweaty shoulders as their feet wrestled like lightning for the ball, but it was nevertheless enough to make the hairs on his neck stick up. Aang liked to make the little notes to himself, needing to hear orders outright.

Zuko took a deep breath, fighting down the unneeded arousal. He wanted to try something out. Waiting for the right moment, where they were the right distance from the goal, Zuko whispered in Aang's ear, "Turn left."

It worked. As if by instinct, Aang made a swift run to the left so that Zuko had just enough room to score. The two ended up colliding in the process.

"Ow!"

"Shit!"

The ball hit the net full-force, but Zuko and Aang were down in the grass. Zuko stared at his accomplishment, and then looked down at the boy he was crushing.

Aang was looking at him with a new kind of fury, one of shock and utter rage. It really didn't help that, despite the bandages, his flushed face made him look as though he'd just had an orgasm.

"I won," Zuko smirked.

"Get off me," Aang pouted.

The two teams dispersed. The couches lectured. Aang tried desperately to own up to his misdeeds of the day, while Zuko was trying to shrug off all the teasing.

"We got seriously worried for a minute there, man."

"Yeah, wouldn't want a little uke to own your ass."

"He really is fast…

"IN BED!" Everybody chorused, throwing their jerseys up in the air as if it was a victory song. Zuko shook his head, fighting down his grin.

"Shut up, guys," He said, forcing himself to be serious.

"Seriously, he looked so gay."

"Like he just woke up from kinky sexy time."

"I hope you didn't do anything R-rated out there on the grass, Zuko."

"Yeah, what was with the floor action there?"

"Um, Zuko?"

A different voice was addressing him this time. Aang was standing there with his knapsack but with no pride. He looked like a baby who'd just gotten his toy taken away. "Coach isn't letting me ride back with him," He told the grass in a monotone. "I was wondering if you could give me a ride."

"Do you wanna sit on his lap, kid? We got no spare seats."

"Why don't you shut your trap?" Aang suddenly yelled, head snapping up. "You're so bad at defense I could've gone right through you!"

A few of Zuko's teammates whistled. More laughed. The player in question who'd just been singled out was sulking.

"And you probably can't tell right from left! You can't aim! You stop playing whenever you feel like it, you fatass! If you don't give me a ride, Zuko, then I'll just stay here and die and it'll be on your conscience."

Aang walked away leaving a nasty burn on the entire team. None of them were laughing now.

"Sour loser," Zuko murmured.

"Just leave him, Zuko, that kid's got a nasty attitude," Jet shook his head.

Zuko glanced at his friend, and then at Aang. The boy was sitting in the middle of the field, skin shining gold in the sunlight. His eyes were closed, seemingly meditating.

"You're right," Zuko sighed. "He's just too much of a brat, sometimes."

End of Chapter 1: Cycling is Gay.

A/N – just wondering, does anybody in the fanfic community NOT hate me for practically abandoning my writing? Show of hands?

This first chapter was basically just a warm-up for what's to come. The next chapter's a lot longer! I hope you guys will enjoy. =)