What the Hell
I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, even though I wish I did so I could play with its characters again and again. This story came to me while I was listening to Avril Lavigne's What the Hell. It takes a while to understand where the inspiration comes from, but just stay with me.
This is my second puzzleshipping story. It was supposed to be a one-shot story but I wanted to give the story a decent background and then I was on a roll. I hope you will enjoy it.
For the Yamis' surnames I needed to play a bit with their stories. I played a lot with the characters and had much fun. I hope you will have fun too.
Chapter 1:
Amethyst eyes looked up at the night sky, the moonlight reflecting in the purple pools of innocence. Their owner, a sixteen years old boy named Yugi Muto, loved the sight of the moon. It reminded him of the person he considered his other half, a boy named Yami Sennen. It wasn't just that Yami looked so much like Yugi that everyone mistaken them for brothers but also the fact Yugi felt Yami completed him perfectly. Yugi was kindness where Yami was courage. Yugi was light where Yami was darkness. Yami was the only darkness that could affect Yugi's light, but Yugi didn't know if it was the other way around with Yami. It didn't seem like it was. Yami was barely a year older than him but was taller than Yugi who always looked younger than his age. Where Yugi's eyes were round and full of innocence, Yami's where sharp crimson pools that magnetized you. Yugi gave an air of trust while Yami of power. Yugi had a smile that could light the world. Yami had a smirk that could make you melt or run for your life, depending on how it was used.
The young boy ran his hand through his unruly star-shaped hair and moved back to bed. He needed to sleep if he wanted to get enough rest before school. With a last look towards the moon, Yugi climbed in his bed, hugged the fluffy kuribo plush toy Yami had gifted him with on his tenth birthday and closed his eyes.
Yugi felt as if it was only moments ago when he had closed his eyes when a shrilling ringing noise filled his room disturbing him. Groaning, he pushed his hand out of his comforter and blindly searched for the intruder of his sleep. His hand curled around a round object which went flying at the other side of the room with a loud crashing sound. Another groan mixed with a sigh escaped the boy's lips before he let the sun completely wake him up. With regret he noticed that the alarm, the monster which produced that shrilling noise, after years of mistreatment, had finally given its last ring.
As the boy made his way to the bathroom to start his morning routine, he mentally noted that he needed to buy a new alarm. After finishing with his shower, Yugi gathered what had remained of the poor clock and threw the pieces in the trash bin silently apologizing to the broken object. Then, he proceeded to walk downstairs and towards the kitchen where he knew his grandfather was preparing breakfast for himself and his grandson before each of them would start their days, Yugi to school and his grandfather to the game store he owned.
"Good morning, my boy" the old man greeted the boy as he walked in the kitchen and took his place on the table. Already a plate of pancakes and a glass of milk waited for him. "Was that your alarm?"
By now grandpa Solomon was used to his grandson's routine of kicking the alarm out of its rightful place. It was something that happened often since Yugi really enjoyed his morning sleep.
"I need to buy a new one" Yugi murmured quickly eating his breakfast. "I broke it." He seemed almost ashamed, but his grandfather only laughed and patted him softly on the head.
"If you would show the same tactics towards the people that bullied you all these years ago, you would have never been touched" the old man teased him, but his expression turned dark.
Yugi was a really kind person. His kindness and soft demeanor had attracted many bullies through the years. Yugi had kept his beatings a secret from his grandfather, but when the old man found out about it, he sent Yugi to take some martial arts classes. However, that didn't seem to help the boy. One day old Solomon couldn't take it anymore so he asked his grandchild what was happening. Yugi had admitted he didn't like hurting people even if they had hurt him. The grandfather didn't know what to do.
Fortunately, there was someone else that did know what to do with this mess. Yami, who was a friend of Yugi since elementary school, had always been close to Yugi for some reason. He had understood the younger boy had some kind of trouble but had never picked up exactly what was happening. The bullies weren't the smartest kids but they knew not to hurt Yugi in places that could be seen by others or do that in front of an audience. Unfortunately for them, after a beating that broke Yugi's hand, falling from the stairs Yugi had said, Yami made sure he wouldn't lose Yugi from his eyes. One day he followed Yugi all the way home only to see the poor boy being pulled in an alleyway by a boy three years older than him.
Yugi would never forget that day because that was the day Yami saved him for the first time. His dear friend received many hits himself but managed to make the older boy leave Yugi alone. Soon Yami and his friends, Bakura and Marik, made sure no one would touch Yugi again. Yugi was thankful to them, and especially Yami.
Yugi dismissed his grandfather's comment. He knew what he was thinking. The bullies had recently tried to hurt Yugi again, but Yugi was no longer alone and he was no longer scared to raise his voice. He had learnt that sometimes all the bullies needed to leave you alone was to show them you didn't care about them. Not that he believed they wouldn't try to corner him again if they found him alone, but at least now he didn't feel like he needed to look behind his back each and every moment he walked out his classes. No, it wasn't the bullies that bothered Yugi. It was the lack of his former protector.
Saying goodbye to his grandfather, Yugi grabbed his schoolbag and left. He silently walked all the way to school deep in his thoughts. However, when he spotted a familiar blonde at the school gates he couldn't help but laugh. Joey Wheeler liked waiting for him at the school gate, when he wasn't late. Joey was his first guy friend. They knew each other since kindergarten. They had become friends in the second grade of elementary school after Joey had thrown little Yugi in a pond during a school walk. Yugi had ended up sick for two days but when he came back he had immediately forgiven Joey and even asked the teacher not to be mean to Joey. Since then, the boys were the best of friends, mostly like brothers.
A boy with brown hair and dark eyes was leaning on the gates by Joey's side. Yugi knew that usually you could find Tristan Taylor wherever Joey was. Those two were inseparable. Therefore back then Yugi had gained another friend since Tristan thought little Yugi could use another one and since Joey had decided to treat Yugi as his little brother so Tristan made him his friend too. Yugi didn't mind at all. He had always wanted friends. Speaking of friends, in the distance he could see Bakura and Ryou and Marik and Malik running towards them. The warning ring would ring soon and the two couples seemed to have had a late start.
Ryou Bakura had come to Japan from England when Yugi was at the fifth grade. He had been born in England, his mother being from there and his father being Japanese. His family had eventually decided to move back so Ryou had transferred to his school. Ryou had beautiful long white hair that seemed so soft to the touch and angelic face characteristics that were enhanced by his round chocolate eyes. Upon meeting Bakura King, the one year older meaner version of him, Ryou had felt fear. Bakura looked so much like Ryou that it was uncanny. However, his eyes were sharp and full of mischief and at his third year of elementary school he had acquired a small scar beneath his right eye after a fight which made it even easier to understand he wasn't Ryou. Not that many mistaken them.
It was kind of the same story for Malik Ishtar and Marik Namu. Malik was of Egyptian origins but had lived in Egypt only for a year or two. His family used to travel for years since his father was a collector of artifacts for museums and liked to move his family around. When he died years ago, his wife had decided to move them to Japan since she had gotten a good job in a museum there. That's how Malik had ended up transferring in the same school as them in the first year of junior high school. When he met Marik, a year older than Malik, of Egyptian origins as well, and the same white-gold hair as Malik, Malik decided to make sure this person wouldn't come close to him. He had heard a story about how once you get to meet your doppelganger and especially get to know them, you were supposed to die soon. Unfortunately for him, Marik was really interested in the younger boy. Two years later those two became a couple.
Very few, Yugi was one of them, knew for sure that Ryou and Bakura were also a couple. People suspected it but for Ryou's sake who wanted to keep it a secret for now, Bakura hadn't announced it to anyone but the gang. Which pretty much consisted of those seven and Seto Kaiba and his brother. Well, that wasn't exactly true. Seto Kaiba, a brown haired seventeen years old boy that owned and ran Kaiba Corp wasn't exactly part of the gang. That's what he said at least. He was unofficially dating Joey and had dropped school choosing home schooling in order to run his company. His brother, Mokuba, an energetic black haired boy with mischievous black eyes was only eleven so the boys could see him only when visiting Kaiba.
"Good morning, everyone" Ryou greeted them, trying to catch his breath. "Sorry, we are late."
"We better hurry up, or we will be late for class" Yugi said softly. "Are you okay, guys?" Malik nodded and upon seeing Marik smirking, he hit him on the back of the head.
"Those two idiots were late again. I don't even want to know what they were planning to do today but anyway, let's go" Malik said and dragged Marik with him towards school.
Yugi followed the rest of the guys laughing. It was a usual thing seeing Marik and Bakura being in trouble. No one blinked an eye anymore. Those two were troublemakers with a capital T. It was always funny seeing Malik and Ryou trying to put a leash on them. Which was exactly what the two younger boys were trying to do before sending them to their classes with warning looks.
The younger boys of the gang reached their classroom with Yugi feeling thankful for almost being late when his eyes caught a spark of crimson. He didn't want to look. He didn't want to look at those crimson tips on the other boy's hair but he was standing by the door. Thankfully he was occupied by a mess of brown hair and pink jacket which suspiciously moved to the side at the exact right position to hide Yugi as the boy slipped in the classroom with all the other boys. Not that it would matter. Yami had long ago stopped noticing Yugi.
With a sigh Yugi took his seat behind his desk and took out his book. Just before the teacher walked in the classroom, the brown haired girl walked in too and took her seat at the front row of desks. Her name was Tea Gardner and once upon a time she had been Yugi's first female friend. Well at first Tea was not exactly a friend but she used to talk to Yugi more than the other kids. Tea would check on Yugi from time to time thinking he was cute and would play with him as if he was some kind of plush toy. Yugi didn't mind. He was always alone at home so he liked playing with other kids at the kindergarten. When they hit the first grade of elementary school, Tea would talk to Yugi from times to times. It was usually after someone had picked on him. For some years Yugi thought he had a crush on Tea. The girl was so full of speeches about friendship which she delivered whenever the gang was together and Yugi liked her positive energy. However, around junior high school things had changed.
"Mr. Muto, could you please give me the answer" his teacher called Yugi's attention back to the lesson. He had spaced out.
"Napoleon" Yugi answered, even though his mind was elsewhere.
"Thank you, Mr. Muto." The teacher turned back to her whiteboard.
"Yug, I have no idea how you do this" Joey whispered to him, after making sure the teacher was busy writing whatever she was writing on the whiteboard. "You always know the answer even when you don't pay attention."
Yugi shrugged. Truth was, Yugi was a really intelligent person. He could usually concentrate on the lessons and think of other things in the same time. Anyway he had already studied most of the material so he knew what the teachers would say.
His thoughts turned back to Yami. Yugi missed him so much. They had been inseparable since second grade. Yugi was always happy when he was close to Yami. It took him several years to understand that Yami was not another brother to him like Joey. No. Yugi's feelings towards the older boy was those of true love. He was only sixteen but he knew that he truly loved Yugi as more than a friend or a simple crush.
Yugi had stayed sleepless many days during the beginning of his high school year considering if he should talk to Yami. He wanted to tell him but he was afraid of jeopardizing their friendship. Then again, if he didn't tell him it wouldn't be fair. Yugi would make it clear that no matter what Yami's answer would be he wanted them to be friends so if Yami couldn't return his feelings, they could stay friends. He hadn't wanted to lose Yami. He had discussed the matter with Joey, Ryou, and Malik. They had all told him to give it a try. All of them had already found a boyfriend so they thought Yugi should try to be with Yami. The gang thought they were right for each other. Well, everyone in the gang except for one person.
The same day he had decided to confess to Yami, Tea made her move. Tea had grown to a really beautiful girl which many guys wanted. However, her eyes were on Yami. Marik and Bakura had suspected it, but they had never believed Yami would date her. Unfortunately they were wrong. Yami had said yes. Yugi never got his chance. Since then Tea had made it her mission to keep Yami away from Yugi. It had started innocently enough with dates exactly when the gang would meet. Tea and the gang were already falling apart because Tea always made nasty remarks about Malik and Marik dating. It was one of the reasons Ryou didn't want to make his relationship known to everyone. The gang had a feeling Tea was behind the rumors going around the school about Malik and Marik.
They had started with them dating and continued with people saying Malik had slept with Marik after their first date, which was an absolute lie. Then they proceeded with rumors about Malik cheating on Marik with a variety of people. The rumors had as a target to break the couple but in reality they had succeeded the exact opposite. Marik knew Malik would never do such things. The older boy was kind of crazy but not crazy enough to lose his boyfriend over some rumors. A couple of days later the rumors changed. Yami spent quite some time with Tea but Yugi and the gang were still his friends. Tea didn't want Yugi anywhere close to her Yami. The rumors started innocently enough saying the gang called Tea names when she wasn't around. Tea had pretended to be hurt but patient for Yami's sake. Then one day someone said that they saw Yugi trying to persuade Tea to leave Yami for him. Supposedly Tea had refused and had ended up hitting Yugi when he wouldn't take no for an answer. At first the rumor was met with laughter but when Yugi sported a bruise on his cheek the next day, people started believing it.
"I wonder if it hadn't been for those rumors if Yami would be still talking to me" Yugi thought with a sigh before moving to his next class which was Literature.
Yami had spent his evening comforting Tea, not understanding how Yugi could do such a thing. He knew Yugi had a crush on Tea during elementary school but he had thought that was over. Against the voice in his head that told him to calm down and then talk to Yugi, Yami had rushed to Yugi first thing in the morning and screamed to him to stay away from his girl. He had screamed more things than that, but Yugi didn't want to think of those words. Yami hadn't even stayed long enough to see Yugi's teary eyes or hear what the younger boy had to say. Yugi had tried many times to approach him but every single time Tea was there. The gang couldn't understand why Yugi would stop every time he would see Tea.
Rumor upon rumor and strained silence upon silence Yami had pulled himself away from the gang. He spent most of his time with Tea and her friends or sometimes with Bakura and Marik when they weren't with their boyfriends. He would exchange words with the others if he came across them but he hadn't said a word to Yugi in two months.
Yugi was hurt by Yami's behavior but he wished his friend was happy. He didn't like how he was treated but as long as Tea treated Yami as he deserved, Yugi was okay suffering in silence. However, there were others who weren't okay with that. The gang, including Kaiba, didn't like seeing Yugi sad. They all knew that it was actually Yugi that had brought most of them together. It was Yugi's kindness that had tamed Joey. It was Yugi's polite and gentle manners that had made Ryou feel better in a new environment. It was after Yugi's advice that Ryou started observing Bakura more, enough to understand he didn't need to fear him. It was Yugi that had dismissed Malik's fear of his upcoming death and had brought him closer to Marik. Yugi who loved games, especially duel monsters, had brought Kaiba to the gang and had made everyone feel welcome. Even Tristan felt like little Yugi was the glue that kept the gang together. No one wanted to see Yugi hurt. All of them knew that Tea had done more than steal Yami from Yugi. They had seen the way Tea looked at Yugi. They had heard Tea's insults when Yami wasn't there. What they didn't know was what had happened between Tea and Yugi during junior high school but Yugi wouldn't talk about it.
As the gang made it to the sakura tree where they spent their lunch break, Yugi saw Tea running and hugging Yami before kissing him in front of everyone. Yugi's heart felt ready to break. He turned his head to the other side and sped up his step.
"Did you see her?!" He heard Malik saying. "That idiot winked at you, Yugi."
"Why the hell would she wink at Yugi?" Bakura asked. "Oh, I need to bleach my mind now. Ryou…"
"NO!" Ryou's face was red but his answer was stern.
Bakura pouted, yes he actually pouted.
The gang laughed and took their place under the sakura tree. To their great dismay Tea, Yami, and the rest of Tea's friends sat on a nearby tree.
"Why do they always have to sit so close to us?" Marik growled not caring to lower his voice.
Marik and Bakura were tired of having Tea around them whenever they wanted to spend time with Yami or seeing Yami being dragged around by the brown haired bitch. Marik especially was pissed with the girl. He knew she was behind the rumors. Therefore he flatly refused to be close to the bitch. Yami had finally gotten the message his friends for some reason didn't like his girlfriend and had stopped meeting with them when Tea was around. However, somehow Tea would always manage to sit close to the gang during lunch.
"I really want her gone" Ryou whispered throwing a glance towards Yugi feeling concerned.
The aforementioned boy was busy eating his sandwich so the gang decided to drop the subject. Suddenly, a cute girl with purple long hair approached them and taking a deep breath she asked Yugi out. The boy's jaw dropped. Sure there were some girls that would ask him out thinking he was cute but it always surprised him. He was trying to find a way to softly let her down when Malik intervened.
"I am sorry, sweetheart. Yugi is taken." Marik said, his words directed towards the girl but his eyes were focused on the other tree.
"T…Taken?" the girl shuttered.
Yugi wanted to talk but Marik shook his head. "Yes, he is taken." Malik confirmed confidently.
"Oh..sorry...I didn't know" the girl answered and ran away embarrassed.
"Ehm, guys…what…?" Yugi stuttered as much as the girl but Marik shook his head again.
Yugi's eyes followed Marik's. Crimson met amethyst. Yugi turned his head away. He didn't want to be caught in those eyes again. He would lose his mind for sure. Had Yami heard them? Did it really matter?
Word about Yugi being taken was spread wilder than fire. Before the last ring echoed through the school signaling the end of the school day everyone knew that Yugi was in a relationship but no one knew with who. Yugi groaned wondering how he had ended up in this mess. It was Marik. Yes, it was Marik's fault. But why had Malik played along?
"Hi, Yugi" a soft baritone voice made Yugi's head snap as he quickly turned towards the owner of the voice.
He had stayed behind to help one of his teachers with some papers. He now wished his teacher had chosen someone else.
"Yami?" he acknowledged the voice, thankful to any God who helped him maintain some tone of confidence and calmness in his voice.
"We heard you are dating, huh?" Tea's voice came from behind Yami. Yugi shivered as he saw her eyes narrowing. "Who is the lucky girl?"
"Why do you care?" Yugi heard himself saying. He didn't know why he was taunting her.
He was so tired. He just wanted to go home. He wanted this day to end.
"It's the first time the infamous Yugi Muto dates someone. We are simply curious about who could steal your heart."
Tea's words stung him so badly. There was only one person Yugi loved. Only one person had stolen his heart and this person stood right in front of him. This person's eyes were on him burning a hole through Yugi's heart. If only Yami knew how much the younger boy loved him.
"I am sorry. I need to go. I promised to help my grandfather make dinner tonight" Yugi excused himself not being able to handle Yami's gaze anymore. He bowed and turned to leave.
Tea's eyes were on him until he was lost. When Yugi found his friends waiting for him at the gates he tried to pretend nothing had happened. He was unaware that someone had seen everything.
"Where is Bakura?" Yugi asked Ryou.
"Detention" the white haired angel sighed. "I will wait for him. I will see you tomorrow, guys."
Ryou waved them off as the rest of the gang continued walking. Then Joey turned to Yugi, "What took you so long?"
Yugi sighed. "Yami and Tea stopped and asked me about this rumor about me being taken. Tea wanted to know which girl got my heart." He really wanted to go home.
"What did you answer?" Marik asked casually.
"Nothing. I excused myself and left. How could I answer anything? I am not taken." Yugi felt the beginning of a headache. "Sorry, guys. I need to go home now. My grandpa is waiting for me. I will see you all tomorrow."
The gang stayed there looking at Yugi walking away. Then Joey turned to Marik. "Now spill! Why did you say that Yugi was taken? And why did Malik play along?"
"Yeah, dude. Yugi seems to be troubled by the rumor" Tristan agreed, looking confused.
"Well, my dear puppy," Marik said with a smirk using Kaiba's nickname for Joey, "if you follow me you will find out soon."
Joey growled at hearing the nickname but nodded. Soon he discovered that Marik was leading them to Kaiba's mansion and wondered how his boyfriend was involved. He sighed. He hoped whatever Marik had in mind would make Yugi happy because the little guy deserved all the happiness in the world.
Here ends chapter one. Please hit me with some feedback. As always if you want to talk to me, PM me. I have chapter two already ready so I am going to update really soon. Till that day, angelic Ryou will give you a smile.