The boy leaned outside of the classroom, glancing at his watch in irritation. The bell had rang at least a minute ago. Or more. Why wasn't the teacher calling him in yet? He peeked through the doorway, then sighed in irritation. She was talking. He was all too familiar with how long adults could talk - but he couldn't sit down, because she might call him at any moment.
Like now.
"Please come in," she said, beckoning.
The boy sighed, getting up off the wall to walk into the classroom. Well… it was more like saunter. He was fairly certain he was smarter and stronger than most of the kids in there, so there wasn't too much to worry about. "Hey," he said to the class. "I'm Yami."
The teacher smiled thinly as she said, "Please talk about yourself."
He threw an annoyed look at her.
"Can I not..?"
Her reply was instant.
"Rejected, introduce yourself," she commanded, still smiling.
Smirking, Yami said, "Fine. I moved here just this year. Hope we don't get in each other's way." Inclining his head, he went over to the only empty seat and sat in it. The teacher then began lecturing about the basics of English, which bored Yami quickly. He already knew what allusions were, as well as what 'pillaged' and 'genocide' and 'stronghold' meant.
Seriously, what were they teaching kids these days?
Stifling a sigh, Yami leaned back to stare blankly at the ceiling. Then he heard, "Yami, please read next." Everyone was looking at him. Probably expecting him to be embarrassed - as if. He had been paying attention the whole time, even if his book was closed.
"The sun descended into sleep / It's brilliant gaze fading / A softened bloom dyed / In the colors of death," he recited from memory.
Ms. Valentine frowned at him. "Excellent memory, Yami," she said scoldingly, "but please follow along with the class."
Mentally, Yami translated her words as: "Stop showing off, and slow down for the rest of us, Yami."
He smiled sweetly. "Sorry," he apologized, slightly louder than necessary, as he pulled out his book. He placed it on his desk, opening it to a random page, and proceeded to let his eyes glaze over again. Learning something you already know is boring, if not tedious. The boy was grateful when classes rotated - something to do, although he found none were more advanced than English.
Then came lunch, which proved to be more interesting than all of the periods put together so far. Yami was eating his hamburger when a tall blonde guy came over, flanked by a brunette.
"We don't like your attitude, newbie," the guy said. He had a serious accent on him… or had he just never taken pronunciation classes?
"I see," Yami said calmly, finishing his lunch.
"Good," the blonde said. "I'm Joey, this here's Honda. Fix your attitude, or I'll do it for ya."
Yami smiled up at them. He pitied them, really. How boring they were. "Look - Joey, was it? I doubt you can touch me. So back off."
Joey visibly bristled, but then a young voice said disinterestedly, "Do what he says, Joey."
Yami looked over, startled, to see a child looking at them.
The child had really ruffled hair that was dark with blonde bangs, as well as unusual violet eyes. Not unlike Yami's hair - though his had more blond streaks. He also wore, Yami realized, briefly shocked, the high school uniform. A blue-black jacket over a black t-shirt with the school's lame logo, a white diamond, emblazoned over the heart.
"Aw, boss!" Joey complained. "Lemme slug him!"
The child shook his head, standing. He barely reached Joey's elbow, but still there was a certain authority about him as he said, "Why do you dislike him, anyway?"
The blonde scoffed. "Cause he's irritating."
At this point, Yami cut in, "How am I irritating? Granted, I don't kneel and scrape at your feet, but still -"
The child suddenly stared at him. "Yes," he agreed, "your audacity is certainly interesting. Besides," he now addressed Honda, "why didn't you stop him?"
The brunette shrugged. "Figured I couldn't - so I helped him."
Yami felt lost. He tried to sort out why, and came up with several explanations. The first was that it seemed like this child was above these two delinquents in pecking order - which considering how confident they were when they had approached him, must have been pretty high. Second, if the child truly was their boss, he wondered why he had stopped them.
And third and probably most unsettling observation of all, was that the child's resemblance to him was a bit unsettling.
"Who are you?" he blurted out.
The child glanced at him again. "I'm Yugi," he said with a smile.
"And don't you forget it," Joey cut in. "He's the boss 'round these parts -"
Yugi shot Joey a look, causing the blonde to instantly shut up.
"That I am," Yugi agreed. "But you're likely stronger than anyone other than me, so please take it easy on my people."
Yami frowned. "Your people?" he asked.
