I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal or the english dub intro song.
Pre-slash? Mayhaps.
His hair was in his face again. Aggravated, Shark shoved it away, scratching himself badly with his pen. He hissed in pain, standing up with a jerk and striding angrily to the mirror. There was an obvious blue streak on the side of his face, and it was turning red and threatening to bleed. Shark growled, blinking away the abrupt tears from the pain and throwing the pen across the room, only to be incensed further by the realization that he would have to get it.
It was on days like this that he really, truly wondered why he tried, especially at such a ridiculous thing.
It had started that afternoon.
He had stood around once school had let out, because lately he'd had the impulse to stick around and wait to see if anyone would come up to him. He didn't care if it was someone looking for a fight or another stupid girl after him; he just wanted to see if somebody would show. Of course, he refused to admit to himself why he was waiting; the truth was after he'd left those thugs he'd started to feel a bit … alone, really.
So Shark had waited, and finally he'd been noticed.
By Yuma.
And he'd run up to him, grinning hugely. "Shark! I haven't seen you in days!"
He'd sighed, exasperated. It was so like Yuma to state the obvious. "Yeah, I know. To be honest, it's been pretty peaceful around here."
It's almost been boring, he'd thought, but he'd shoved the thought away before it could take hold.
The kid had positively glowed at that. "Did ya miss me?"
Shark had glared at him. "No," he'd said nastily, his face scrunching in distaste. "Why in the hell would I do that?"
He'd seen the way the kid's face had flickered from happiness hurt in a second and he'd almost regretted saying it. In the end, he didn't. The last thing he needed was a fool like Yuma tagging around.
Somehow, though, Yuma had managed to look cheerful again, and it made him feel sick still, thinking about it. "You seem pretty down, Shark. You know what I do whenever I feel down?"
Shark was feeling a bit uncomfortable now. What was he doing trying to cheer him up? Why hadn't he left yet?
"What?"
"I go out there and high-five the sky!"
Shark had squinted at him. "And what does that mean?"
Yuma had paused as though considering this. Idiot, he'd thought, doesn't even know what he's saying. "Well," he said, his voice building in confidence, "it means you face your fears head on and work to live your dreams!"
He'd blinked. "You're an idiot, Yuma," he'd said, and then he'd turned and walked away.
"You just gotta believe in yourself, Shark!" Yuma shouted after him. He'd dropped his cool façade and ran, then, and it was lucky his motorcycle was only a few blocks away because he'd known that Yuma had been chasing him.
On the ride home, he'd thought about the exchange and realized that Yuma talking to him actually made him kind of … happy. It was familiar, and he liked coming up with new ways to insult the kid.
Yuma was sort of interesting, he'd thought. He went around and failed and somehow still kept going. Shark couldn't understand it; if there was one thing he hated, it was failure. What had happened at that dueling competition had shaken him badly; he hadn't even had the chance to fail, because he had done the ultimate failure, cheating. And then, just as he'd started to get over it, he'd lost to no one else but Yuma. He'd decided that he was such a bad duelist that he'd quit forever.
That was the thing, though. Yuma never quit. And he'd made sure that Shark hadn't quit, either. And Shark couldn't help but admire him for that, for his sheer, dumb determination.
And maybe he'd thought a bit about that flash of hurt on Yuma's face while he drove. And maybe he'd almost ran a light because of it.
So when he'd gotten home he'd gone straight to his room, to the notebook he kept hidden away. He'd pulled out a pen and stared down at it, willing his mind to work, because for some reason, thinking of Yuma made him want to write a song.
Not a shitty song, nothing like the words that littered the used pages he'd passed over; something better. Something … worthy of the kid.
But now he still had nothing written, his pen was behind his dresser and his face hurt. He didn't want it to be fueled by frustration, like every other thing in his life as well as all the other songs. He wanted to make something good.
Damn Yuma and his stupid inspiration.
Shark glowered at his notebook for a second before an idea struck him. Something about what Yuma had said today -
My dreams won't die if I high-five the sky…
He stood and dove for his pen, the notebook flying. Maybe the stupid song wouldn't be a piece of shit after all.
Thanks for reading :) I'd like to know what you think, so please review.