Mary Sue
a ygo fanfic by yllimilly
The tall elf held her breath, stifling a cry everytime the demon called out their name. They heard a furious scream, the flapping of wings, and then nothing.
"I think he's gone," Dark Magician Girl said.
Ryou frowned at no one in particular, looking for the best word that could fit that sentence.
"He's gone," Dark Magician Girl stated.
Nope.
"I think he's gone now," Dark Magician Girl whispered.
Still not quite right. Why was writing so hard? Why did the words take such pleasure playing hide and seek with him? Ryou pushed his laptop away and reached for the pile of reference books he liked to use as a foot holder.
"Ryou! Phone!"
"Coming!" He put the thesaurus back in place and picked up the receiver in his own bedroom.
"Hello?"
"Ryou!" A jovial, female voice exploded in his ear. It was weird how not only Anzu generally acted older, she also sounded older on the phone. "It's seven thirty!"
"Seven..." Ryou glanced at the alarm clock by his bedside. "Oh no!" He put on an apologetic air, even though Anzu couldn't possibly see him right now. "I'm coming right away, Anzu. I can catch the 20 I think."
"Nevermind... My dad doesn't want any guests home after eight. It would be pointless..." There was an obvious sliver of sadness in her voice.
"I'm really sorry, Anzu. I got caught up with... something. I got carried away-"
"Were you writing again?"
The boy stopped short, and sighed. "Yes."
And then he waited for her turn.
"You should really let me read your stuff someday. I just know it's gotta be good, you know?"
"No, it's really not that good," Ryou lied. Well he knew he was no Shakespeare, but he thought he was a pretty decent writer, and he was getting some nice reviews from readers. But most importantly, never in a hundred years could Ryou Bakura muster the courage necessary to come out to his crush, nothing less, as a fanfiction writer.
He heard Anzu sigh. "Well I've been studying anyway. We could always meet up before the test tomorrow if you want."
Ryou froze. He hadn't started studying for the test yet. He always paid close attention in class and took good notes, but he hadn't started actually reviewing them. All because of this cruel plot bunny that showed up out of nowhere two days ago.
"Ryou?"
"Uh, yes, that'd be nice."
"... You haven't started studying, have you."
"Y-yes! I have." Then he amended: "I think so."
"Oh my Lord, Ryou! Worst thing is I know you're gonna do better than I do on the exam. It's just not fair," she teased.
"No, you're going to do great, Anzu," he said earnestly.
"Oh, Ryou. You're so cute. Alright, gotta go back to studying. See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow."
She hung up.
Ryou didn't count the reasons why he loved Anzu Mazaki. And the more he suppressed his desire to declare his feelings to her, the stronger they grew. He liked her because she played both table and video games and could hold up her own to a room full of geek guys. He liked her because she was loyal and nice and stood for her beliefs and those of her friends. He liked her because she could wear crop tops like no other and she had strong legs feminine hips and beat him at thumb wars and still looked beautiful even when laughing out loud at one of the guys' jokes, her mouth full of udon, the only girl sitting at a table of guys in the middle of the high school cafeteria...
"Hello everyone," he announced meekly, settling his tray in front of hers, next to Jonouchi's which was more on the frugal side.
"Oh hey you picked the same thing again," Honda ironized.
"Two days in a rooow!" Jou added in a sing-song voice.
"I didn't notice," said Ryou before trying a shy bite, quite proud in fact to have another affinity in common with the woman of his dreams. He was also hoping he wouldn't stay under romantic scrutiny for too long; luckily for him, Jou's bird like attention span took care of that.
"Hey hey Anzu, tell that joke again."
She shook her head energetically.
"Yeah Anzu, tell that joke again. If you don't Jou'll ruin it."
"Hey you suck at jokes more than I do. Come on Anzu."
Having finally swallowed her bite, the lady rose to defend herself.
"Not in front of Ryou."
And if Ryou had been perceptive enough, he might have detected a blush there.
Actually he kind of did.
Was he seeing things?
"He can handle it," Honda intervened. "Right Ryou? Are you okay with jokes about, like-"
"NO!" Anzu yelled to cover up Honda's voice.
"I'm okay, maybe later, maybe," Ryou offered to ease both sides of the debate. "Yugi is..."
"Student Council, yeah," Jou mumbled. "I wouldn't have voted for him if I'd known... We barely see him anymore."
"You didn't even think he'd make the cut," Honda reproached.
"Yeah well I don't know, it's just... Being gay and all."
"First gay class president."
"Guys! What does it matter how he is? You shouldn't even bring it up in the first place." Anzu punctuated her statement with a decisive noodle slurp.
Ryou did the same, but without the sound. He'd never quite adapted to the custom. It didn't bother him; he just never could bring himself to do it.
Both guys, having eaten up their plates quickly and not knowing what to do with their hands, started kicking each other under the table. Some kind of guy's game neither Anzu nor Ryou could really wrap their minds around. They took the opportunity to consume their meals.
"Hey I wonder if Yugi has a crush," Jou said out of the blue. Which is how a lot of sentences came about: randomly.
"I dunno, man," Honda said without pausing their game of legs. "You?"
"Fuck you man," Jou barked back, out of better comebacks. Which was typically the case with Jou... But this story isn't about Jou.
"Hey fuck you yourself," Honda retorted in typical teenage rhetorical fashion.
"Guys this is stupid. It's not even our business who Yugi likes," Anzu interjected.
Ryou was still slurping his noodles, methodically, silently, content with being a mere witness to the interaction.
"Yeah I think Yugi's into your scrawny ass," Honda continued.
"I'm not fucking gay," Jou bit back, less and less playful about the issue. "You know what I don't think he'd fancy you."
"What the fuck, man? Do I look fucking gay to you?"
Anzu gave up on trying to steer this puerile conversation somewhere else. She gave Ryou an apologetic smile. He smiled back to her, shrugged and shook his head lightly as if to say, 'that's okay'.
"Your cock's just too small-" Jou's sentence ended in a bout of laughter, followed by a potent 'ouch' that put a smirk on Honda's face. "You fucking- Fuck!"
"Hey you brought it up," Honda explained, to justify himself. His smirk faded to an embarrassed frown. "Okay, I take it back. I think he'd go for Ryou," he gave as a 'I can't apologize 'cause I'm a guy but I'm sorry' sort of peace offering.
Anzu's non-interventionist resolve faltered quickly enough. "Okay, no just like, seriously guys. Shut. Up."
Jou gave her a long, hard, look, then grinned devilishly.
"You're JEALOUS!" And he high-fived a hilarious Honda.
Ryou didn't how to react. He was very, very content drinking the broth straight from the bowl, away from further scrutiny.
"Am not! I'm sure he'd make a great boyfriend but I don't have a crush on Yugi."
"Yeah, don't you know Anzu totally digs body builders," Jou said sarcastically, relishing in her intensifying blush.
"Yeah, right, she's totally into like, real hairy guys, like chest and all-"
Ryou shivered at the idea.
"Ew!" Anzu onomatopoeia'ed in her defence.
"Hey we don't judge," Jou added.
"Yeah we're cool with that, Anzu," his accomplice acquiesced.
"Stop trying to guess what guy I like," she said weakly, the tip of her ears turning to purple.
"OH-"
"MY-"
"GOD."
"She's got a crush."
"She's totally got a crush."
"Why do you do this to us?"
"You were one of the guys!" Jou mock-deplored, which earned him a murderous look from Anzu.
"I- I don't think she's one of the guys," Ryou dared enter the conversation. Or more accurately, the barricade of playful verbal offenses against his friend... Crush. For all reward for his attempts at protecting her femalehood, Anzu gave him a tortured little smile.
"Ryou don't try to fool us now-"
"It's cool to be gay, yo,"
"Yeah it's all the rage," Jou added with a lisp. Followed by another high five.
"Not every girl wants a like, a tough guy, you know," Anzu reproached. "Some girls actually like sensitive guys who don't act all macho or or- ape-like."
Something blossomed inside Ryou's chest and wilted immediately. So she had a guy in mind? Anzu, the Anzu he liked, had an actual crush?
"Sorry girl, we're both off limits," Honda said, hitting his own chest with the flat palm of his hand, and pointing to his buddy across the table.
"Yeah we're total monkey, yanno. Hey Honda lemme eat your fleas," Jou said, standing up as if he were to act on his word.
Ryou couldn't help but let out a little laugh, but stopped himself upon seeing Anzu's unimpressed face.
"You guys act so weird whenever Yugi's not here," she deplored to herself, or no one in particular.
But Ryou heard her.
The 'hey bro we were just kidding' and the 'yeah Ryou we were just being stupid don't mind us' hadn't eased Ryou's growing sense of... resentment towards the pair. It gnawed at his mind throughout third and fourth period, and on the bus ride back home. It bothered him during dinner time with his father and it bothered him after when he sat down to work on his ongoing chapter at his laptop (forget about studying altogether in this mindset!), so in the end Ryou decided he had to to something about it to get the anger off his chest.
It wasn't anger per se, he wasn't actually mad at Jou and Honda. They never meant harm but they just took their jokes too far and Ryou wasn't well equipped enough either in wits nor in street smarts to compete with them. As a result he always sort of felt hurt whenever a joke or funny comment was made at his expense.
Not only that, but today he managed to pass as gay in Anzu's eyes, and he hadn't defended her enough when she needed help. He'd merely been a passive spectator, and he was so accustomed to the girl defending herself without needing any help - Ryou just hadn't had a chance to think of something.
He felt like getting even with the guys, but in a way that wouldn't hurt anyone. He'd write about them.
Sure, it felt weird to write about someone you know. Writing fanfic about Gemini Elf and Dark Magician Girl was weird enough - although it didn't feel weird per se - but writing about an actual existing person felt like crossing some kind of imaginary line between the acceptable and the unacceptable.
So what? What they'd said about Yugi and Anzu was unacceptable, too. Either way it would make him forget about the whole ordeal and forgive them in a sense. They'd never know.
He took from the pile under his desk a notebook he'd never used. An old, dusty notebook from one of his father's travels, some sort of souvenir from who knew where. His dad had always had the crummiest gift ideas, or maybe his idea of 'a gift' was just crummy, period. Who on Earth could think a decrepit notebook could ever make up for a four month long field work trip thousands of miles away from their family? Everyone always told Ryou, to console him, that his father was just an 'absent-minded' professor. Ryou never cared for that.
His father had said the book was special. Ryou had never wanted to use it. And bow, he had found a good reason to make the book 'special'. Ryou grabbed his favorite pen, the one with gel ink, and started writing.
It was a rainy day. Jou hadn't brou-
It was a rainy day. Jou had forgotten his umbrella. When he arrived to school he was soaked. To the bone! Honda noticed and-
It was a rainy day and Honda was late for school. His mother had insisted on giving him a ride and she had gotten caught in traffic. When she dropped him at the gates he saw his best friend, Jounouchi Katsuya, running towards him. So he was late, too. That wasn't unusual.
But he didn't have an umbrella. Honda felt sad, because it wasn't unusual, either. He waited for Jou to notice him at the gates.
"Hello Honda," he said, hugging himself to keep himself warm. Honda noticed he was cold because of the rain.
"Hey Jou." Honda held out his arm to shield his friend from the rain.
"Are you stupid or what?" Jounouchi asked, his teeth clattering. "I'm already soaked wet, what difference is it gonna make?"
"I'm just trying to help, no reason to be a huge dick about it."
"Well maybe I don't need your help," Jounouchi replied.
Honda frowned.
"Fine, whatever," Jou said, nearing Honda under the umbrella. They walked to the school's front door in silence.
When they entered the school, Honda spoke up again.
"Why didn't you call me? You know my mom would have given you a ride."
"Hey you're not my mother, okay Honda? Stay out of my life."
"I don't want to stay out of your life."
"Why?"
"Because I care about you."
Jounouchi glared at him.
"I love you, Jou."
Honda grabbed him by the shoulders and kissed him.
Ryou put down his pen, amazed. And laughing. Sure, that was weird, but a little voice in the back of his head told him that the scenario almost sort of made sense.
Plus it was incredibly funny. Jounouchi and Honda, gay! That served them right.
His heart a little lighter, and his mind a little clearer, Ryou stashed away his book under his thesaurus and sat himself down to study.
The next day something strange happened.
Rain.
Epic rain.
He was at least two blocks away from the school when he heard the school bell ring. When he saw the deserted schoolgrounds, Ryou realized that had been the second bell - the one announcing the beginning of classes. Crap!
Fortunately he wasn't the only one to be late for class. As he closed his umbrella Ryou saw a student disappear through a classroom door. He tiptoed to his locker, self-conscious about the sound the wet soles of his sneakers made on the tiles.
As he was about to turn around the corner he heard the main door of the school open, and two male voices he knew very well.
"You should've called. I would've - My mom would've given you a ride."
Ryou's heart jump. Those lines rang oddly familiar to him. He turned to see Jounouchi and Honda, talking to one another. They hadn't noticed him. Instinctively, Ryou chose to hide rather than to go to them.
"You're not my fucking mom," Jou spat defensively. His voice echoed clearly in the empty hallway. Ryou's heart rate went up. What was going on...?
"I don't wanna be your mom, Jou, I wanna be your friend. Goddammit, you're always like that."
"You're always like that! That shit with your dad, huh? I told you to call me but you cut me out! You always- You're fucking proud is what your problem is, Jounouchi!"
"You stay out of my fucking life," Jou cut scathingly.
"The fuck I will," Honda growled.
Ryou's eyes were wide open like saucers. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was just too strange... He heard one, two, three squeaky footsteps and panicked - what if they found him here, eavesdropping? The footsteps stopped abruptly.
"Let me go you fucker," Jou snapped.
"I'm not done yet-"
"I don't care, Honda, just let me be-"
And then silence. Something light and metallic fell to the floor.
Then more silence.
This couldn't be. But it had to be! The signs were clear. Ryou thought of the scene he'd written yesterday evening... Logically, only one thing could be happening right now. Ryou risked a sneak peek.
He saw Honda and Jounouchi up in each other's arms, kissing with tongue and fondling each other's behinds.
"Where's Jou and Honda?"
"I don't know," Ryou replied all brisk and business-like.
"What's up with you today?" Anzu asked, laying her tray in front of Ryou's. Today she had chosen oyakodon, and he, some katsudon. Same format, different meat.
"I don't know," said Ryou nervously, squirming uncomfortably in his pitiful lie.
Anzu looked at him with dubious eyes. "Okay, I won't ask. You gotta promise me one thing, though."
"W-What?" He knew she possibly couldn't know what had happened this morning, or last night. Still, he just couldn't help but feel guilty and paranoid about it.
"To make up for our botched study session, you silly!" She forked a heap of white rice into her mouth.
"Oh." He smiled sheepishly. "W-What do I have to do?"
"You have to show me your writing," she explained, her mouth half-full still.
Ryou's heart stopped. "My... writing..."
"Oh come on you've always gotten the best grades in English! Your writing's gotta be good. Stop being modest," she insisted. "Plus I won't take no for an answer."
Ryou nervously poked at the breaded piece in his bowl. "Uh..."
"Can I come tonight?"
Ryou jumped. "What?"
"Oh, what's going on tonight?" Yugi arrived with his own trayful of food. "Oh look, Ryou! We both got katsudon today!"
"Yes, haha." Ryou's queasiness was completely lost on Yugi's cheerful mood.
"Oh Yugi," Anzu started again, "it's just that I'm going over to Ryou's place for a school project tonight. At six, right?" She asked in Ryou's intention.
"Um, yes, yes." He'd been trapped. He had no way out of this one! Anzu was coming to his place tonight and there was nothing he could do about it. He'd sound suspicious if he contradicted her now.
"Oh," said Yugi a tad sadly. "I would've loved to come, too."
And he, too, started poking idly at the breaded pork cutlet in his bowl, like he'd lost his appetite.
By the time he got home, Ryou was a desperate man. He'd accepted his tragic fate. Tonight he was going to make a fool of himself showing his Duel Monster fanfiction to the girl he loved. He droned through his meal, giving only monosyllabic answers to the usual 'how was your day' and 'how was school' prompts. Nabe was his favorite, but today he just wasn't hungry. Not that he was depressed or excited or scared. Maybe a mix of all three, actually.
There might be a way to prevent that from happening.
It was a crazy idea but it might just work.
Ryou grabbed the old notebook from the pile under his desk. It was still there, untouched. No one could possibly have opened it since yesterday.
He opened the notebook and flipped through his yellowish, faded pages. He needed to read the story again just to make sure he hadn't hallucinated this morning's incident. Ryou held his breath throughout the scene that was taking place outside the school. He wondered if it had taken place, too?
"Why didn't you call me? You know my mom would have given you a ride."
You should've called. I would've - My mom would've given you a ride.
"Hey you're not my mother, okay Honda? Stay out of my life."
You're not my fucking mom. You stay out of my fucking life.
"I don't want to stay out of your life."
"I don't want to stay out of your life."
And a few lines later, the kiss. The dialogue wasn't quite identical, but the plot was the same. Jou and Honda. Together. Kissing. Jou and Honda, gay.
Ryou had made them gay.
With this book.
This wasn't just a crummy old book anymore. It was special. It really was special, after all!
Feverishly, he grabbed his gel pen and inside the notebook, began to jolt down the first thought that went through his head, without edits or second thoughts.
It had been a real rainy day, but the skies had cleared. A beautiful girl with cropped brow hair walked happily on the sidewalks shining gold with speckles of sunset. She was en route to meet her friend Ryou at his place; they were supposed to study for an exam. In a bag she was carrying handmade cheesecake that she had made herself - they were her specialty and Ryou's favorite. Everything she did was Ryou's favorite, but she did not know that. He would never tell her.
But maybe, tonight, he would show her instead.
The girl, who was named Anzu, rang at the doorbell of her friend's house, impatient to see his face when she'd give him the surprise.
Well, much to her disappointment, it wasn't Ryou who opened the door, but his aunt, with whom he lived.
"Hello Anzu," the old lady said.
"Hello Ms Bakura," she replied. "I've come to see Ryou, is he here?"
"Yes, he's busy. I didn't know you were to visit tonight. Come on in!"
She entered and wiped her shoes while Ryou's aunt called out to Ryou. "Ryou!"
Anzu took off her shoes, waiting for her friend to trundle down the hallway.
"Hello Anzu," he said. "What did you bring?"
"Cheesecake!" She announced gleefully. "They're bite sized, so you can share with your aunt."
"Can I have one now?"
"Sure!"
Ryou bit in the pastry. It tasted like paradise. "Thank you Anzu! It's delicious!"
They headed to his bedroom.
"Anzu, I have something important to tell you."
"What is it?" She was curious.
"I love you, Anzu."
He leaned in and kissed her.
Ryou contemplated the page for a moment, zoning out slowly, mesmerized by what he'd just written. Oh, if only!
A knock on his door drew hm from his reverie. He threw a glance at his clock. "Auntie, I'm busy-"
The door opened anyway to a brunette still dressed in her school uniform, droplets of mud all over her stockings, and most importantly, out of breath.
"Anzu!" Ryou closed the notebook hastily. He glanced at the clock, panicked. "It's not even five thirty!"
"I know," she panted, "I just had to tell you this."
"Tell me w-what?" He tried to put down the book away from view, but the move wasn't lost on Anzu. And her eyes darting to the book and back to Ryou's eyes wasn't lost on him, either.
"Two words. Jou and Honda."
"I- I have no idea what you're talking about," he lied, his heart rate picking up like a cat high on catnip.
"Try to guess." No reaction. "Lunch! Yesterday! Remember that conversation we had? Well the conversation they had?" Anzu's breath was a little more normal now. She was standing, leaning against the door for support, too giddy to have a seat.
"Um, something about Yugi...?" Ryou fake-risked.
"They're gay. They're totally gay - oh my GOD! Joey told me on the phone. He just called me to tell me."
"And so, um, you came here to see me... To tell me that?" Please please please God don't let it be one of those awkward moments where she has the revelation that I might be gay and that it's okay for me to come out of the closet, too...
"Yes- well, no, actually. I would've come later 'cause I was baking something, but then Jou called and it burned."
Ryou narrowed his eyes. She was... baking?
Anzu sat on the corner of Ryou's bed. He turned to face her. Their knees were almost touching.
"He told me he felt sorry about calling you gay, too. I thought..." She seemed lost in thought for a minute, but Ryou gave her time. "I thought it was really brave of him, to come out like that. So I thought I should do the same, too."
Ryou's heart sunk Titanic-style.
Anzu... a lesbian?
He - falling for a lesbian?
"I like you."
Ryou's jaw fell slack. "What?"
"Don't make me repeat it," she berated. Her eyes flickered from his to the stained fabric covering her knees.
"What did you just say?" Ryou's incredulous gaze earned him a flushed glare.
"I said I liked you, Ryou. I can't believe you've never noticed. I didn't even try to hide it. I'm fine if you don't like me - I just wanted to come clear."
"What- what do you mean you don't care whether I like you or not?"
"I didn't say I didn't care!" Anzu cried out. "Ryou you can be so dense sometimes..." The soft edge to her voice indicated that she really didn't mind at all.
Ryou took a deep breath, dangerously happy about the slight blush on her lovely cheeks.
"Well, I've liked you for a long time, actually."
He leaned in and kissed her.