The Dangers of Spontaneity

Yuugi had just arrived home from school when the call came. Dumping his schoolbag on the floor of the game store, he rifled through the pockets until he had located the loud mobile phone. He flicked it open and saw that the call came from Bakura; which was surprising as he rarely called anyone, preferring to speak in person. He pressed 'answer' and quickly pressed the phone to his ear.

"Bakura-kun?" he asked without preamble.

"Yuugi-kun," came a breathless voice down the line. Yes, that was definitely Bakura, although he sounded a bit odd. "Please, you have to come over here. Quickly!"

Yuugi froze. "Bakura-kun, are you…crying?"

There was a pause and a sniffle, before he spoke again. "No, I'm just - "

"I'll be right there!" he said, already shaking off his slippers and pulling on the nearest pair of shoes. "Don't worry, I'll be at your place in ten minutes!"

He snapped his phone shut before Bakura had a chance to respond, and shot out the door faster than a streak of lightning.

Straight, straight, wait for traffic light, turn left, straight, over bridge, straight, run into Jounouchi –

Yuugi tried to dodge, but unfortunately both he and the unfortunate blond went the same way, and ended up collapsing into a heap on the pavement.

"Yuugi!" said Jounouchi, wheezing as he got up. "What got you in such a rush?"

Yuugi accepted the hand that Jounouchi offered and heaved himself up, jogging on the spot to make sure his energy didn't get compromised too much. "Bakura-kun's in trouble, he phoned me. I'm running to his apartment."

Hearing the name of a friend and the word 'trouble' in the same sentence was enough to ignite Jounouchi's nigh-endless supplies of energy. "What?! What are you waiting for, we have to help him!"

Yuugi set off after him, racing even faster along the wide pavement lining the busy road. Bakura lived in a large residential area, and the fact that there were many kids returning from school really didn't help. Students ranging from primary school to high school were all milling around, some walking, some running, some just stopping to have a chat. It really didn't make it easy to race along, especially with Yuugi's lack of height.

True to his word, he and Jounouchi reached the apartment complex in just short of ten minutes, the addition of another member to Bakura's new support group meaning that Yuugi had to sprint like crazy to keep up.

"Did he say what was wrong?" Jounouchi asked, pressing the elevator button repeatedly as if it would make a difference. It didn't, but it lost some of Jounouchi's energy and nervous tension.

"No, but he was out of breath, and I know he must have been crying," Yuugi replied, wringing his hands. "Do you think we should call Anzu? She's the best at cheering people up."

"Let's see what the problem is first." Jounouchi was definitely worried if he was forward thinking like this, but Yuugi knew that he had a protective streak a mile long. "Then let's give her a buzz."

They were out of the lift the second the doors opened. Yuugi was thankful for having had the opportunity to go to Bakura's apartment before; it meant that he knew where it was, which made it infinitely easier to find again.

Jounouchi got the first and tried the doorknob. It was unlocked, so he pushed it open and the two hurried in.

"Bakura-kun!" Yuugi called out. "Where are you? Are you alright?"

Now that they were inside, Yuugi could hear an odd choking sound coming from one of the closer rooms. Evidently Jounouchi heard it too, as he rushed towards the door to the white haired teen's bedroom and shoved it open.

"Bakura!" he yelled. Yuugi hurried up beside him, fearing the worst.

Bakura was lying on the floor in front of his desk, tears streaming from his eyes and arms wrapped around his middle. His face was oddly flushed, but that wasn't what made the duo's jaws drop. It was the simple fact that their polite, geeky friend was literally rolling on the floor in hysterics, laughing so hard that he was clearly having trouble breathing.

"Bakura-kun…?" Yuugi asked slowly, not quite believing his eyes.

"Hey, Bakura, calm down!" Jounouchi said sharply, moving over to the hysterical teen and shaking him roughly. "Oi! Bakura!"

Yuugi was scared for a second that Jounouchi was about to slap Bakura, but the boy calmed down and grinned up at them.

"You came! I'm sorry, I must have sounded really weird over the phone. I hope you weren't worried." This was said all with an incredibly inane grin, which dampened any sorrow the words may have normally held and made Bakura look quite demented.

Jounouchi sat back on his heels and sighed. Glaring at Bakura, he said, "That really gave us a scare, you moron! We thought that you were dying or something!"

Bakura let out another chuckle, then grinned at them even harder. "I had something I needed to show Yuugi-kun, but I think you'll appreciate it as well!"

He stood up and picked up his laptop, which was lying open on the desk. "Come on, I'll show you out in the living room. I would offer you something to drink, but I really don't think it would be a good idea."

Yuugi exchanged a glance with Jounouchi before following Bakura out of the room.

The three sat down on the couch in his living room, Yuugi on Bakura's left and Jounouchi on his right, the laptop sitting on his knees between them.

"This," said Bakura with a wide smile reminiscent of the Cheshire Cat, "is the Yu-Gi-Oh! Shipping List."

A/N: I just find some of the pairings in this fandom hilarious, so I thought I'd have our good friends here break the fourth wall and discover shipping. To be honest, Bakura is probably as much of a geek as any of us are, so it isn't that implausible for him to find something along these lines, is it?

Not my best work, but I had fun writing! Hope you did reading :D

- Bronwyn