I know this might be a little confusing, but there are some brief moments of flashbacking in this fanfic. That, and the characters personal thoughts will be italisized. I hope this is not too confusing to follow. Please forgive. Graci!
Disclaimer: Must I own anything?
"Yuug... I love you."
Even several days after the fact, I flushed as my mind recreated that event. I could not get Jonouchi's words out of my head. Even as I thought them, my heart pounded and echoed throughout my chest cavity.
Is this really... love? I thought as my dizzy/fuzziness overtook me again. The only thing I was worried about were my real feelings. Sliding my arms out onto the desk and stretching them, I rested my head down and sighed heavily. Once again retreating to that not-too-distant-memory of Jonouchi's confession.
After Jonouchi confessed his true feelings, his entire face was flushed. Embarrassed and uneasy, he placed his hands in his pockets and started fidgeting. The awkward silence that followed post-confession seemed to effect Jonouchi more so than me. I was simply in a state of shock, unable to find the voice to respond to Katsuya's declaration. Meanwhile, Jou-kun looked on the verge of tears.
"I... I love you , too." I finally said. We suddenly exchanged traitsJonouchi became stunned and speechless whereas I turned silent and blushed. After several stomach-churning moments, Jonouchi smiled. Walking closer, he embraced me in his arms.
"Aishiteru." He whispered, a solitary tear splashing onto the shoulder of my blue jacket.
I slowly opened my eyes as the memory faded. Sadly, my crimson orbs threatened to overflow with tears. My heart jolted as I remembered how I had felt telling Jonouchi my feelings; I had not felt nervous or scared. I had not found it difficult, and because of these things, I was unsure if what I did was the right thing. I felt as if I was betraying and misleading my shinyou(best friend). The 'I love you' had had no real emotion behind itit was almost automatic.
As I raised my eyes, shoving aside my sadness, I looked up at Jonouchi. The blond teen was even more happy than usual. He seemed to have a smile of his face constantly and even the aura around him changed.everyone could feel it, even if they could not understand it. A small smile crept across my lips. I was not going to tell Jonouchi that I did not love him, and it was not because I did not want to take away my tomodachi(friend)'s happinessI knew that I had feelings for Jou. And I was sure that, against all odds, I would find out for himself whether the feelings in my heart were of love or not.
"Yuuuuuuuugiiiii-chaaaaaaaaannnn!"
I was brought abruptely out of my daydreaming state and, upon looking up, my eyes fell onto the long swaying black hair of Otogi. I plastered a smile on my face and greeted the dice-loving weirdo. I was friends with Otogi but, at that time, I did not feel like seeing him. I wanted to be alone. However, having the nice, I-can't-hurt-anyone-especially-a-friend attitude that I did, I greeted the fellow duelist and invited him to sit down. Almost instantly, Otogi went off on a tangent, talking incessantly about Ra-knows-what. I reamined calm and tried to think of a way out of my present predicament. All along, I did not let Otogi onto the fact that I was not really paying attention. I added in randomly placed comments such as, "Wow." and "Really?" and "That's great!" As Otogi rambled on and on, my eyes wandered subtely over his shoulder and to Jonouchi. I flushed instantly when I caught Jou's eye. The blond haired teen's lips perked up into a satisfied grin. Despite this, his face was soft and his smile affectionate. My cheeks flushed and I broke away my eye contact to look down at my knees. My heart sped up rapidly in my ribcage and once again, I felt light-headed. I found himself smiling as well. Jonouchi always had a way of making me feel so special.
"...gi. YUUGI!"
"Hahai?" I responded, snapping to attention.
"You weren't listening to me!" Otogi whined.
"Gomen. Gomen." I apologized. I made to listen to my tomo again as he repeated everything. Although Otogi griped and moaned about it, it was obvious that he did not mind at all. Repeating everything only helped him relive the events. Not too long afterwards, my mind (once again) wandered away from the conversation.
My eyes trailed up and subconciously planted themselves onto Jonouchi, watching him as he talked to Hiroto-kun. A small smile succumbing my face, I knew full well that I would look forward to discovering my true feelings.
"YUUGI!" Otogi's annoyed and hurt voice sounded throughout the air. I jumped again. Whining once more, Otogi said, "You weren't listening...!"
"Gomen ne." I sighed. I knew I wanted to leave and be by Katsuya's side, but I could not bring himself to tell Otogi that. When I looked up again, I saw Jonouchi leave the room, catching a glimpse of his golden locks as this happened. Before I was even aware of what I was doing, I had jumped up, yelled to Otogi that I had to go and rushed down the hall after my best friend. "Jonouchi!"
Jonouchi turned and waited for me to catch up. When I did, I looked up at my friend and saw Jou's little smile and blushing cheeks. I smiled back. "Can I walk with you?" I asked happily. Jonouchi's smile broadened.
"Sure." We made our way down the long hallway, walking no where in particular. It was our lunch hour and we were not required to be in class. I talked to Jou-kun about my grandfather's new games from Ireland and Brazil, Egypt and Canada. I was so excited about it and Jonouchi listened, smiling and happy that I was so thrilled. But something was still plaguing at the back of Jou's mind.
Twenty minutes after we had left our classroom, we had nearly walked the entire expanse of the school to return back when the bell rang to signify that lunch was over. "Hmm..." I said, disappointment dancing across my features. "I guess we should get back to class..." I did not even attempt to block the sadness from my voice. Ready to walk past my shinyou, I was suddenly gripped by the arm and pulled back. Shoved lightly against the wall, I looked up in confusion at the blond teen. "Huh?" Feeling unease seep into my stomach, I asked looking around cautiously, "Jonouchi... what are you doing?" But I was cut off by sweet and hot lips pressed against my own. I was stunned. My first kiss was not exactly what I had expected. I had seen many romance films and had always pictured a kiss to be sweet and uplifting. Not that his kiss with Jonouchi had not been that way, but it tasted more of tuna fish and soda than of mint freshness.
When Jou pulled away, he looked deep into my eyes and my knees felt weak. "I love you, Yuugi,. Nothing's going to change." Kissing my cheek lightly, Jou smiled and went off to class, a spring in his step.
I stood against the far wall, paralyzed.
After school was over, Jonouchi was supposed to walk with me back to my grandfather's Kame Game Store. As I waited anxiously for my crush to appear, Otogi came up from behind and poked me. I screamed momentarily and jumped. Ryuu-kun laughed. I blushed with embarrassment. "Sorry." The black-haired duelist apologized. "I just thought I had to do something. You looked so uptight."
"Sorry." I smiled, scratching my head lightly. "I was waiting for Jonouchi."
"...Ah..." I looked at Otogi, confused, for a moment. Is that... I thought to myself. Is that sadness I see? As soon as I thought it, I shoved it aside as a random thought in my head. No. Can't be. He's not sad. Why would he be? "Well... see ya." Without another word, he turned and left. I cocked my head to the side, thoroughly confused. That was not like the Otogi I knew. But all those thoughts were instantly shoved away when I heard Jou's voice call my name. Spinning around, I looked behind myself and saw my best friend bound towards me like a puppy. I smiled and felt my heart leap in my throat. When Jonouchi reached me, I smiled more openly.
"Hi, Jou. In a hurry?" I joked. Without answering the question, Jonouchi apologized.
"Gomen ne, Yuugi! I can't walk with you home." I felt deflated. My face must have shown something of what I felt because Jonouchi whimpered lightly. "I'm so sorry, Yuugi. Please don't be mad at me, but... well..." He laughed nervously and draped his arm over his head, a sweat drop cascading down his left cheek. "Honda and I got in a little fight with the teacher and he's making us clean out his entire classroom as punishment." I smiled a little; I could not help it. The story was definately believable. "Forgive me, Yuug?" Jou made his classic puppy-dog eyes look and jutted out his lower lip to ensure he was forgiven. I laughed. Just like anyone else, I was a sucker to that look as well.
"Hai. I forgive you."
"ARIGATOU!" Jonouchi smiled, glomping his arms around me. "I am so sorry, Yuugi, but I promise to make it up to you, okay? I will walk you home tomorrow! I swear it!" I was so touched and flattered by the blond teens' determination.
"Fine. But you better mean it." I half-joked. Jou beamed and winked.
"Yokusoku(I promise)." To seal it, he made another motion to make me both weak in my knees and embarrassed. Taking my hand, he lifted it to his lips before kissing it sweetly. I flushed. I felt like a princess and Jonouchi was my knight in shining armor. That analogy made the crimson hue on my cheeks deepen.
Once he was finished, Katsuya looked at me and winked once more. "Thank you, Yuugi. Aishiteru." He made a curt wave before speeding off to not be caught and made to serve the same punishment the next day for being late.
As soon as Jonouchi was out of sight, I raised my hand to my own mouth and lightly licked the spot where Jonouchi's lips had been moments before. I flushed again and my stomach churned with both unbred happiness and nervousness. Jonouchi had such control over my emotions, but I was still skeptical of my true feelings. I wanted to be 100 sure of what I felt before commiting anything.
I walked out of Domino City High School with a tune on my mind, a smile on my lips and (like Jonouchi) a spring in my step. My mind was clouded with thoughts of my best friend that I barely paid attention to where my feet were leading me. It was not until someone spoke that my concentration was broken.
"Yuugi."
Looking over, my eyes once again fell on Otogi. "Yea?"
"I... I have something I want to tell you." Slightly confused but interested, I inquired on what it was. "Well..." Otogi admitted slowly. "I... I have had a crush on you for a long time..." His face was flushed. Upon hearing the words "I", "crush" and "you", my stomach plummeted. Uh, oh was my only thought. "And I wanted to tell you..." Throughout his confession, Otogi avoided eye contact at any cost, looking at anything (specifically ground-ridden) but my crimson eyes. "I'm in love with you."
I froze.
Owari! (of first chapterit will contiue! Do not worry!)
PLEASE review! (notice the big letters on 'please'? It is to signify desperation) I want to know what people think. To speak honestly, I think my English sensei was annoyed that I was writing this through student's presentations, so I had to go through a lot to get this done! Review it! Arigatou!