Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! is the intellectual property of Kazuki Takahashi

Author's Notes: Otogi/Honda ! Yay! and a warning on some drunken swearing.

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You and Me

What day is it? And in what month?

This clock never seemed so alive

I can't keep up and I can't back down

I've been losing so much time

Otogi Ryuuji stared at the calendar blankly. The symbols and numbers staring back at him just didn't make sense. Somewhere in his foggy mind, he knew they had meaning, he just couldn't seem to translate it into significance. Giving up on the task, he sat down to breakfast instead; cereal and toast and orange juice. He felt very drunk though he hadn't drank anything. Otogi had been drunk before, so he knew how it felt and he was just waiting for the hangover. God, when had this started? He was going to the arcade with Yugi and his friends, were they his friends? It was Saturday, he remembered now. Yugi said "Otogi-kun, will you come with us?" He had looked around. Everyone else was ignoring them. Honda had looked up. He had waited for an answer and Otogi had said "Sure." He didn't know why he liked Honda. He was so stupid. He could have had any number of smarter, prettier, kinder girls or boys, people who worshiped him, innocent people, sexy, or attentive, or fun, but he had fallen in love with Honda Hiroto who was likely the single straightest guy on the planet and more likely than not, didn't even know his first name. Why? Why? Honda wasn't pretty. He was handsome, a sort of suit or street/rugged handsome, he was strong, not dependant, wasn't overly the hero but could be when he had to, he was loyal but anyone who wanted loyalty should have turned to Jounouchi, he was street-smart but not brilliant, common, normal, and very clearly straight. Otogi moved to hit his head on the table in frustration but caught himself when he noticed his bowl of cereal-less milk sitting there, which made him more frustrated and he glared openly at the thing. It had all started with Shizuka, really. He had liked her, in the beginning, he still liked her but she was far too innocent for him, for her own good and his preference. She was the classic damsel in distress and he, being chivalrous at heart, had more than willingly played the hero. But he'd found out quickly that it was more fun to poke at Honda while doing it. Their rivalry had interested him more than the "prize" at the end. So naturally, he'd kept the rivalry and let the prize slip away. Shizuka had moved back with her mother so now it was only Hiroto and him. Otogi dumped his milk down the drain in the sink and grabbed his coat on his way out the door.

Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do

Nothing to lose

And it's you and me and all of the people

And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you

The arcade was overly crowded when he got there, it being a Saturday, and Otogi had to hunt around for a bit before he spotted his friends – Yugi's friends and Yugi, he was jealous of Yugi, a lot of people were for one reason or another, but you could never seem to tell Yugi that, he just didn't get it. Honda and Jounouchi were currently in the middle of a video game competition; Yami, Yugi's other, was cheering them on, and at the Dance Dance Revolution stage nearby, Anzu and…shit…Shizuka…were rounding off a game with Yugi and Ryou cheering them on. Bakura was nowhere to be seen, which usually meant the place would be on the news when he got home. Otogi took a deep breath. He didn't care. He was just going to be himself, or something similar, he had nothing to lose. Sauntering over to the video games, Otogi leaned casually on the back of Jounouchi's chair between the two and watched them play for a minute. They were both quite good. It was a fighting game where you had to go through so many monster fighters to beat the opponent and the better you got the tougher your opponent's challenges became. Otogi grinned and leaned down between them.

"I'll kiss the winner."

Honda chocked slightly, misjudging an attack and was defeated. Jounouchi cheered happily and Otogi leaned in further planting a quick kiss on his cheek for his victory but Jounouchi was too busy crowing to pay him any mind and Honda was frowning at his screen, continually flashing "YOU LOSE!" in bright red letters.

"Aww, don't worry." Otogi cooed, wrapping his arms around the other from behind. "I'm sure you'll win next time."

Honda shrugged him off, standing and trying his best to ignore Jounouchi's ecstatic bursts. "Knock it off."

Otogi forced a grin, darting in front of Honda before he could leave. "Come on, it's just a game. You're not really that mad at me, are ya?"

Honda glared down at him and for the first time, Otogi thought he knew what a rabbit must have felt like, staring down headlights or a particularly miffed dog. The fake smile vanished. "Why are you always pulling that shit? Like you want everyone's attention but you don't do anything with it. I'm not into your little games ok. So quit screwing around."

Honda side stepped the raven-haired duelist, going somewhere else, somewhere he wasn't, and leaving Otogi standing there in the middle of the arcade with Yami staring at him and no excuses to protect him.

All of the things that I want to say just aren't coming out right

I'm tripping on words

You've got my head spinning

I don't know where to go from here

"Otogi?"

Otogi blinked, his eyes refocusing to find Yami in front of him, with a worried look on his face. Otogi grinned that forced, fake smile that for some reason didn't seem to be working today. It had never failed him before, yet now, for no reason, he couldn't seem to convince a goldfish he was happy, not that he carried one on him…

"What?" Otogi went on regardless, ignoring the foreign sound his voice made. "Somebody outta tell that guy ta loosen up. Hey, could you tell Yugi for me, I got an appointment I forgot about the other day, an' I really can't miss it. So, I gotta run. Tell him I'll make it up to him next time."

Yami watched him go, puzzled slightly at the obvious lie. Not that he'd never ditched them before, but he'd never bothered to make up stories for it.

Whatever was going on, Otogi wasn't even sure anymore, but it had gotten way out of hand. So quit screwing around. Honda's voice echoed in his head and he clutched at it as he walked trying to rid himself of the self-doubt he was certain three years of therapy had taken care of. Obviously therapy was bunk. Honda had never complained about his behavior before, not seriously. He was just having fun. Jounouchi didn't mind. Like you want everyone's attention but you don't do anything with it. What was he supposed to do with it? He didn't know. He didn't want everyone's attention, just Honda's. But Honda hated him.

Otogi went home, back to his small apartment. Originally he'd thought of it as a cozy little place, a not-too-extravagant, get-out-of-the-ridiculously-over-large-house that seemed to have come with his fame and the servants and the smell of the money and the too much time and live-a-normal-life apartment. But now it was just small. It was confining and stuffy and lacking all of the things that make such a place into a home because the truth was, he didn't possess such things. Otogi Ryuuji was very aware of what assets he was lacking and which ones he possessed. He was charming and lucky and pretty, witty, and chivalrous but he had no loving family, no stability, no real sort of life, and no idea what it was to be normal. Otogi had three modes; fake, charming, and depressed and currently he just didn't have the energy to maintain fake or charming. He couldn't blame anyone for not liking him for being himself, he wasn't anything to begin with.

Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do

Nothing to prove

And it's you and me and all of the people

And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you

After sufficiently depressing himself, Otogi decided to get drunk. Forget Honda. It wasn't as though he couldn't be happy without a meaningful relationship. This would be his requiem for all the happy dreams he shouldn't have indulged.

There was only one club Otogi went to, really, and it was always crowded and loud and smelled of the incense they burned to ward off the too-many-people smell. He had gone there with Jounouchi once, one of the many times that he had been arguing with Seto. They had watched the girls and the boys on the dance floor and had a good time. But tonight was different. Tonight, he would give his out-of-control heart a proper tribute while he sacrificed it to the alcohol and tomorrow he would wake up a new man, be over Honda, and get on with his life. There was a certain mindset to getting drunk and when Otogi was satisfied that it had set in, he took his seat at the bar and ordered the first drink.

"Goodbye, Hiroto. I'm giving you what you wanted."

Otogi stared into the amber liquid of drink seven as he swirled it around in the glass, watching in fascination how it swished from side to side. It reminded him of music or poetry or water. He wondered if the water in hell looked like this. Maybe in hell the water was all alcohol, never quite quenching one's thirst, never allowing clear thought or comprehension, offering only forgetfulness so that the painful monotonous life of hell was all that one ever remembered. Yea, the water in hell was all alcohol. Lakes and rivers of it. Otogi sighed as drink seven began to dwindle. Otogi had always taken his alcohol rather well, having drank casually long before children his age should have been, but that was just his family. For Otogi, drink seven meant slightly drunk and if he'd had any reason to speak, it would have been slurred. He couldn't drive, couldn't remember when he'd gotten there, likely wouldn't remember how he got home, but at drink seven why he was drinking was still stubbornly locked in his brain. It was all Shizuka's fault. Stupid Jounouchi's stupid sister. If he'd never fawned over her maybe he and Honda might not have ever interacted. Ok. Stupid him. Shizuka was so much too good for him. Pretty pretty graceful kind Shizuka. But he did't love Shizuka, too good for him or not, he just didn't have feelings like that for Shizuka. For some reason the thought of doing the things with Shizuka that he'd dreamed of doing with Honda just sort of disgusted him, like Shizuka was somehow everyone's little sister and for some idiotic reason he felt the urge to protect her whenever she was near. Otogi carefully moved his empty glass out of the way, remembering his cereal bowl at this of all times, and flopped down on the bar pathetically. He'd told the bartender to "keep 'em coming" so he expected a refill at some point. A glass clinked against the hard wood of the bar near his head and Otogi's first thought was that that had been fast, considering the crowded state of the place at this time of night. Of course, he wasn't going to argue so he sat up to take the drink when he noticed someone's hand on the bar next to it. 'Not tonight.' he thought, about to shove the drink away when he finally looked up, meeting slightly amused brown eyes, staring softly at him from beneath that non-mistakable spike of hair with it's two shades of brown. Honda.

There's something about you now

I can't quite figure out

Everything she does is beautiful

Everything she does is right

Otogi frowned. "What do you want?"

"I got the name of this place from Jounouchi. I hope you don't mind."

Otogi's frown deepened. Suddenly he was all polite and sociable. "I asked what you wanted." Otogi repeated, trying to flag down the barkeep. "I'm a little busy right now. I apologize for my behavior it won't happen again or I accept your apology or whatever you felt just had to be said cause you've been infected by the Yugi virus. I'm fine and I'm not upset. I'll deal with you on Monday just not right now."

Honda watched as the bartender refilled Otogi's glass and waited patiently for the dice master to thank him for it before speaking. "O…k." Otogi glared at him. Honda sighed. "Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot earlier. I wasn't really mad at you. I was mad about somethin' else and it really didn't have anything to do with the arcade so…I'm sorry."

"It's not like we just met this morning." Otogi answered, glaring intensely at number eight as he spoke. "It's no big deal. I'll leave you alone, ok."

"That's not what I meant." Honda sounded frustrated. "Look, just, give me your attention for, like, two minutes, ok?" he pleaded, laying a hand on Otogi's arm to stall the drink.

Otogi ripped his arm away, heedlessly splashing some of the amber liquid on the counter and shouted at the other. "No Honda, you may not have my attention. For some stupid, uncomprehensible reason, I think I've fallen in love with you and until you arrived I was right in the middle of trying very hard to drink it off. I'll just flush it out of my system with alcohol, now if you'll excuse me…" and with that he downed number eight and started looking around for number nine.

Honda blinked uncomprehendingly for a moment until it finally registered. About that time, Otogi had spotted the glass Honda had originally bought for him and snatched that up as lucky number nine. "Wait." Honda said, stopping his arm again. Otogi glared emerald ice chips at him and tried to pull his arm free. "Did you just say you're in love with me?"

"Not for long. Now give me my fuckin' drink."

Honda let his arm go and started laughing. Otogi didn't see what was so funny but Honda just kept laughing as though the situation was hilarious for some reason.

"My emotions are not a fuckin' joke." he yelled at the other.

Suddenly Honda was completely serious. He picked up the drink Otogi had abandoned in his anger and calmly poured it over the dice master's head, sitting the empty glass back on the counter with a soft clink.

"I was angry because I thought you knew I liked you and you were teasing me for it."

Otogi blinked back. Sort of how a fish must have looked, tasting alcohol for the first time.

"So you had to pour it over my head?"

Honda grinned, running a finger over his wet locks and licking it off. "You needed a bath anyway."

Otogi grinned back incredulously at the other.

Cause it's you and me and all of the people with nothing to do

Nothing to lose

And it's you and me and all of the people

And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you

and me and all of the people with nothing to do

Nothing to prove

And it's you and me and all of the people

And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you

"Hey, Honda," Otogi said, slurring the words a bit as they entered his apartment "I just figured out what I wanna do with your attention."

Honda grinned back, blushing slightly. "Not tonight."

"…Did this happen in the morning?"

"…"

"I shouln'ta said that I love you. It's not your problem."

Honda turned the other around to face him, brushing aside damp strands of ebony hair, captured by the brilliant emerald eyes that looked to him for an answer. "I…know I don't have a clue what I'm doing. And, despite your current state," a grin for the jeweled eyes "I'm not in your league. But I do love you. And, I'd like to stay, if you'll let me."

There was a moment of silence and Honda leaned down, pressing his lips against Otogi's gently and pulled back slowly, trying to judge the other duelist's reaction. Otogi let it settle for a minute before burying himself in Honda's leather jacket, clutching at the material defiantly. It was a dream. He was too drunk. Maybe, if he held on tight enough, he wouldn't wake up.

"Stay."

The next morning, Otogi woke up with a dull headache. He was cozy, snuggled under thick comforters, pressed securely against a warm body and held in place by strong arms. He blinked against the light filtering into the room through the drawn shades and looked up at Honda, who was sleeping peacefully next to him. He didn't dare move. In fact, he snuggled further into the embrace as he waited patiently for the memories to fall into place. Honda Hiroto loved him, he'd stayed with him, held him, slept together with him, and the sun had cemented it all into reality. He'd never really understood what the big deal with having a sun god was, but now he knew, and he gave serious contemplation to thanking Ra for the sunrise. Otogi smiled, making a bet with himself. If Honda told his friends they were together, he'd bow down and thank the pharaoh too, as he had a good feeling Yami had said something to Honda after he'd left. Normally, it would have bothered his pride, but he was just so comfortable at the moment that he was grateful instead.

Honda stirred beside him, opening his eyes and smiled faintly, burying his nose in Otogi's hair. "Mornin'." he mumbled, the sound muffled slightly.

Otogi grinned happily and waited until Honda pulled away and he had his attention. "Good morning." and he took Honda's lips in a passionate kiss, demanding entrance and receiving it, thoroughly kissing him senseless.

"…I guess."

Otogi grinned and snuggled back into his embrace, hiding amongst the comforters happily. Every second they'd spent wanting each other and thinking they weren't loved back he considered wasted, and he fully intended to make up for every one.

What day is it?

And in what month?

This clock never seemed so alive

song is "You and Me" by Lifehouse

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