Yams: You may read the summery and be like "Ryou and Joey?". Yeah, well, I'm doing this contest thing and I have to write a strange paring. This is the one I got... Okay, so there is shonen ai and this is a one shot. I may be forced in writing a fic if I get good reviews. *Laughs ass off* Yeah bloody right.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh and I don't think I ever will. Though, one never knows...
!Warning! Shonen ai. Out of character. Alternant universe. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!
Don't Speak
Even though Ryou Bakura had been attending Domino High School for three months, he was still considered the 'new kid'. The title had followed him around like a plague and he couldn't wait for another teenager to show up to rid him of it. He doubted that that would happen though, since it was already far into the school year.
Ryou sighed as he put the pen he had been writing with down. He lazily looked at the clock hanging on the blank wall. It read 2:30. That was good news; the school day was almost over. Ryou sat for the next few minutes, contemplating what he would do after he returned home. He would do all his homework for the coming day and get started on some projects that were due in a week or two. After that, he would take a shower and get to bed early. It sounded like a good plan.
*Ring!*
Students leaped up from their chairs and stuffed their bags with their binders. Ryou sat, listening to the final words of the teacher before he too got up and put his books in his backpack. He bet that most of the other's hadn't heard about the quiz they would be taking next time. He would study after school so he was prepared.
The soft spoken teenager walked down the packed halls of Domino High, avoiding eye contact with those who passed him. He was considered an oddity, what with his chocolate brown eyes and ghostly white hair. It didn't help that he had a high voice, a feminine build and British accent either. It just made him stand out like a sore thumb.
He came to a stretch of lockers and stopped in front of his own. Ryou fumbled with his lock but eventually got the combination correct. Placing unneeded books into it and taking out ones he had homework for, the white haired boy hurried to get out of the school. He wasn't rushing because he didn't like learning, on the contrary, it was one of his favourite things to do. It was the fact that Alec Boyce, a well rounded jock who was two years Ryou's senior, had decided to make the British boy his after school punching bag. Ryou had managed to avoided the encounters with the twelfth grader by getting out of class as quick as he could. Alec was one of those delinquents who was in detention nearly everyday, so getting out fast meant missing a beating.
Ryou was about to close his locker when a massive hand latched onto his wrist. He jumped in surprise and slowly turned his head to face the culprit that had his arm. It was young man who would have been quite attractive if it weren't for the horrors of acne. His hair had about a quart too much gel on it, making it appear a darker brown then it actually was. Ryou felt his stomach churn as he stared into the menacing eyes of Alec. He quickly looked away.
"Hello pipsqueak," the bully said bitterly. He wore a wicked smile as he looked over his prey. Ryou kept his mouth shut and his eyes down on the ground. Why was he always the one getting picked on? "Now common." There was a sharp jerk and Ryou stumbled towards Alec. He wished that he had at least been able to close his locker as he was pulled down the full hallways of the Domino school.
~~*~*~*~*~*~~
Ryou lay in a futile position on the ground. Alec had taken him to the forest behind the school, as usual. He cried out as the older boy's foot came in contact with his ribs. The white haired boy prayed for someone, anyone, to come and save him from this brutal beating.
~~*~*~*~*~*~~
Joey Wheeler walked casually out of school with his group of friends. He sighed, bored out of his mind from the long day at school. He shifted his cascara brown eyes down towards the shortest of his posse; Yugi Moto. The blond haired tenth graded thought of the events that caused them to become friends. He had been thinking of those days quite a bit for the last while. Yugi caught Joey staring at him in the corner of his eye.
"What is it Joey?" The taller boy jumped a bit, not expecting his purple eyed friend to be watching him too.
"Nothin'." They walked down the sidewalk quietly, Tristan and Tea talking once or twice. "Hey Yug, can I hang at your place?" Joey asked after they reached the school gate. The short boy stopped and put down his bag, as did the rest of the friends. They were all relieved to get the weight off their shoulders, literally.
"I don't see why not. Something up Joey? You haven't been talking much," Yugi said, eyes full of concern. Joey laughed and patted his friend reassuringly on the back.
"I'm fine! Now let's get outta here, I can't stand another minute near this school," the blonde said as he hefted his overstuffed bag back over his shoulder. Everyone was about to do the same when a scream broke the silence. They all looked at each other questionably, eyes all asking the same question.
"D-did you hear that?" Tea asked, looking a bit frightened. The boys all nodded simultaneously.
"It sounded like it came from the forest," Tristan said, looking ready to go and see if anyone was in trouble.
"I think we should go check it out." Without another word, they all took off towards the trees.
~~*~*~*~*~*~~
Alec laughed devilishly, every hit made the smaller boy wither in pain. Ryou's screams had died down to loud sobs; he had now completely given up in trying to attract the attention of anyone and was now trying to make it through the rest. His bully had just started with the beating after all.
"Hey!" Ryou could have sworn he had just heard someone speak, but his body refused to move from it's tight ball, so he could not see if there was actually someone there. He supposed that it was his imagination or hopeful thinking. That was until he heard the unmistakable thud of a body against something hard, most likely a tree. There then came sounds of a struggle followed by running.
"Yeah, you better run, you punk!" Ryou's heart leapt. That wasn't the voice of Alec, it was someone else. Someone had actually heard him and come! He slowly looked up just enough to see who had rescued him. There were four of them; three guys and a girl. They looked almost gang-like, especially with the two tall men pulling macho faces. The short boy with tri-coloured red, black and gold hair came forward, smiling at Ryou as he approached.
"Hi, I'm Yugi. That guy that was picking on you is gone now," said Yugi in his deep, newly acquired voice. Puberty had done wonders for his voice but had done nothing at all for his growth. In fact, he was still the same height that he had been in grade three. Ryou moved to a sitting position so he could better look at everyone.
"I'm Tea! Don't worry, you're safe now!" The brunette girl said happily. Inside she was very afraid for she thought that that creep would come back with creepy friends.
"Hey, the name's Tristan, that guy won't be bothering you anytime soon," said the brown haired teenager. Ryou looked each one over, studying their faces and voices. He tended to do that a lot; forget to talk at all and just stare.
"Joey Wheeler's the name. Saving people's my game," said the blonde confidently. Ryou noticed something in his voice that was quite different from the rest of his friends. Joey had a strong accent, but the chocolate eyed teen couldn't figure out the origins of it. It was definitely different.
"Oh please," Tristan said as he punched his brown eyed friend in the arm.
"Hey!! Wha' cha do that for?!" Joey yelled angrily, glaring daggers at the spike-haired teenager who had just hit him for no good reason. Tristan glared and put his hands on his hips.
"You couldn't even fetch a bone let alone save someone's life," said the hazel eyed boy, shaking his head in annoyance.
"Say what!?" Joey questioned, as he gaped.
"You heard me! You got a problem, rover?" Tristan mocked, pushing his friend further past the line.
"Grrr... Come 'er Tristan! Let's see someone save you from this!" Joey yelled as he abruptly tackled his friend. As the two started to brawl, Ryou stared at the two teens. Everything was happening so fast and it was giving him a major headache.
"Oh my," the white haired boy said quietly, rubbing his temples. His word were unheard do to the loud insults Tristan and Joey were dishing out at each other.
"Woof woof! I'm shaking in my boots," the hazel eyed teenager snapped at his friend, jabbing the other in the stomach. Tea stamped her foot impatiently while Yugi tugged at Joey's uniform.
"Guys, stop it!" The girl yelled, though the boys still continued their squabble.
"Tea's right. Joey, stop that, you're scaring her," said the purple eyed boy, pointing at Ryou. At first, the white haired teen was unsure of who Yugi was talking about. He stared at the finger that was aimed at him.
"Her? I'm not a girl," Ryou said as he stood up and dusted himself off. He noted that he was shorter than Tristan and Joey. Another thing he liked to record in his mind. More meaningless information to store and dwell upon later.
"Whaaaa?" The group of four was staring at him like he had just sprouted a new head.
"My name is Ryou Bakura and I am a boy. Good day to you all." The white haired teen turned and limped away, hand clutching his aching side. He knew they were following him but pretended to pay no attention. Ryou felt a light tap on his shoulder and he turned his head. Chocolate brown eyes met the cascara pair of Joey Weeler.
"Hey, sorry 'bout Yug. We all should have noticed the uniform." said the blond. He laughed awkwardly then grinned. Ryou stared at the smiling boy beside him. Something about Joey made him feel happy, almost relaxed. He felt the sides of his mouth lifting slightly. It was a ghost of a smile and he doubted that anyone but Joey could see it. That was fine with him. The others hadn't exactly done as much as his blond saviour.
"It's alright, I get that a lot," The white haired boy said as he turned and started to walk away. Again, he felt like someone was following him. He was right in his assumptions.
"Hey, you sure you can make it?" Joey asked as he trotted up to Ryou's side. The British boy grinned again, not use to having someone care about him.
"It's not the first time this has happened. I'll be fine," as that was said, the white haired boy took another step, only to have his leg give way. He fell to the ground.
"I'll walk you home," Joey insisted, practically picking the smaller boy up. Ryou marvelled at the blond's strength as he was helped. "Hey guys! I'm taking Ryou to his place," the Wheeler said, waving goodbye to his friends.
"See you later Joey," Yugi said, cheerfully waving back. Tea did the same. Tristan, however, scowled at Ryou in a loathing way. The British boy stared, unable to come up with why Joey's friend would look at him so cruelly.
~~*~*~*~*~*~~
The two walked to Ryou's house side by side. Joey talked about himself while Ryou was lost in thought. Though his body was screaming, he felt better than he had ever felt before in Domino City. He had finally found a person that considered him as a friend, not some sissy little British kid.
"So now, I'm learnin' Duel Monsters from Gramps and he says I'm gettin' good! Soon I can kick Yug's butt!" Joey exclaimed, snapping the white haired teen out of his happy friendship world.
"That's nice," he said distantly, not really paying much attention. The blond looked down at the shorter boy. Ryou was thin and frail with soft features. Taking a second look, he saw scars across the pale skin of his neck and hands. Blood stained his navy blue uniform dark and he walked with a slight limp; most likely acquired from the day's fight. Joey felt an overwhelming urge to protect Ryou again, but he wasn't sure what from.
"Hey, Ryou?" Joey started, wondering what he was going to say after that.
"Yes Joey?" He had the other's full attention now.
"Well, we're friends now, so as friends, I'd like to give you somethin'."
"Alright, what would that be?" Ryou asked curiously. Joey stopped and dropped his bag on the sidewalk. He then proceeded to dig in it until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a blue pen and uncapped it.
"Give me your hand," the blond said, holding out his own to Ryou. The British boy did as he was told, holding out his hand to Joey. The taller boy took it and turned it palm up. He wrote down his name and a seven digit number.
"Joey, is this your-?" Ryou didn't finish his question, he didn't need to. He knew exactly what Joey had written on his hand.
"Now I need yours." The Wheeler gave the pen to Ryou and held out his hand. The soft spoken boy wrote his phone number and his name down on Joey's skin. "Okay, so call me if you need to talk or whatever, okay?" Ryou nodded, smiling softly.
"Yes, of course. Thank you." Joey picked up his bag and both of them started to walk again.
"Hu? For what?" Ryou was about to answer but he spotted a familiar house. It looked like a duplicate of all the other houses on the street except for one distinguishing feature. In the small garden in front were three birdfeeders that his mother had made. She had died when Ryou was very little, so he didn't miss her terribly. His father had put up the birdfeeders as a sort of remembrance. He had told Ryou that his mother had loved the outdoors and everything that lived in it, and even on her death bed, she wished to be outside.
"This is my place. Cheerio!" With that, the white haired boy hurried up the short walkway and opened the door.
"Later!" Joey called after him. He turned and headed for Turtle Game Shop.
~~*~*~*~*~*~~
Ryou walked into the lonely house. His father was on another dig so he was all by himself for another week. He was grateful for that, if his father found out he was being bullied he would go ballistic. The white haired boy stared at a portrait that was up on the wall that was just outside the bathroom. In it was a woman holding a baby and a man with his arms wrapped lovingly around her. It was him and his parents. There were many pictures of them together throughout the house. Ryou knew he had inherited his mother's features: her brown eyes, her white hair, her thin frame.
"Mustn't dawdle... have to get cleaned up..." He stopped his reminiscing and went in the room to take a shower after writing down Joey's number on a scrap of paper.
~~*~*~*~*~*~~
"You did what?!" Joey covered his ears. Tristan had decided to come hang at Yugi's place too but it seemed to Joey that all his friend wanted to do was talk about Ryou and fume.
"Jeeze Tristan. I said I gave him my phone number. Drop it already." The hazel eyed boy glared at his friend. Yugi stared at the two, shaking his head. Seeing Joey and Tristan fight was a regular occurrence for anyone who knew them. Some, like Tea, would say that they fought just like an old married couple.
"Why did you do that?!" The blond had no idea what was getting Tristan so worked up.
"Lem'me think, oh yeah, because he's my friend," Joey defended.
"You just met him! He could be some sort of psycho!"
"The only one who's a psycho is you!"
"That's it! I'm leaving," Tristan said, storming out of the room in a temperamental rage.
"Bye Tristan," Yugi whispered, afraid that if his friend heard, he would yell at him too. He knew exactly why he was being so offensive. Everyone but the clearly clueless Joey knew that Tristan was undoubtedly in love with the New York boy. No one could think the hazel eyed boy's feelings were nothing more than friendship. Yugi assumed that Joey didn't even know Tristan was gay let alone anything else.
~~*~*~*~*~*~~
Ryou lay in his bed, wide awake. He was going over the events of the day. It had started like any other day: school, lunch, getting picked on. But from some miraculous stroke of luck, he has be rescued from Alec by a group of four. One of the four had actually helped him home and had said that they were friends.
"He's a good looking chap too," Ryou mumbled. He looked at the piece of paper that he had wrote Joey's phone number on. The white haired boy had already memorized it. He now knew it off by heart. He closed his eyes, grinning at the thought of a friend and drifted into a dream filled slumber.
~~*~*~*~*~*~~
The week flew by so quickly and soon, the weekend was upon them. Ryou was invited by Joey and his friends to hang out at the Turtle Game Shop. He was so excited to be going, he almost forgot when he was meeting them. It would be a few hours yet before he was suppose to arrive. He had a lot of time to get ready so he calmed himself down.
"Alright, shower, check. Now get dressed and eat lunch," Ryou said to himself as he dried his white locks. He walked to his room and opened his dresser. "What to wear...?" He spotted his favourite cream coloured sweater and long sleeved green shirt. In England, everyone had always worn two or more layers. He was so use to doing that. The chocolate eyed boy gathered the clothes in his arms and carried the bundle over to his bed. He dressed, carefully placing the Egyptian necklace his father had gotten for him under his shirt. He looked at the clock hanging on his bedroom wall. One hours and fifty minutes. He sighed heavily and went downstairs to get something to eat.
~~*~*~*~*~*~~
Joey and Yugi walked down the isles of the grocery store, trying to find the items on Solomon's list. They were having difficulties reading the old man's handwriting so they both had to guess what it was he wanted.
"I think this says apples. What do you think Joey?" The short boy held up the long piece of paper to his friend. The blond's eyes darted at the word for a second then back in front of him.
"I think it says pizza," he said, turning towards the frozen food section.
"That's what you said about the last one!" Yugi frowned and looked at the word again. Clearly, the word had two "p"s in it and was six letters long. He sighed and shook his head.
"So what are we doing for this party?" Joey asked, not even stopping when he grabbed a pack of chips and tossed it in the cart. Yugi quickly scooped it up and put it back on the shelf.
"Party? We're not having a party Joey!" The tri-haired boy said, frowning once more.
"Fine. What are me, you, Tea, Tristan and Ryou going to do at your place?"
"Watch movies? Duel? Um..." Yugi thought about what else the five of them could all do together. He had no clue what Ryou would want to do; he had only known him for a short time.
"Pig out?" His friend asked hopefully.
"I don't kno-" That was good enough for Joey. If it wasn't a direct no, then that meant it might as well be a yes.
"Pizza party!!" Joey sprinted down the rest of the isle and made a sharp turn, heading straight for the pizzas. Yugi chased after him, his short legs giving him a huge disadvantage. When he finally got to the frozen foods, Joey had already loaded five pizzas into the cart and was looking for fries.
"Joey," Yugi whined. "I should never take you shopping with me." The blond turned around, grinning widely at his slow friend.
"Well, who else do you know that can read Gramp's messy writing?" It was true that Solomon's writing was illegible but Yugi knew that Joey had no idea what it said. He mainly took him shopping because he wanted the company.
"Fine," the violet eyed boy gave in. He decided to change the topic. "So Joey, what do you think of Ryou?" The brown eyed teen tossed in a bag of frozen french fries before answering.
"What do you mean, Yug?" He asked his short friend as they walked towards the cashiers.
"You know, like him?" Yugi asked, picking the shortest line up to go into.
"He's my friend, if that's what you're getting at." Joey didn't want to have Yugi go all Tristan-ish on him. He had no clue why his friends would suddenly silence whenever Ryou came up in a conversation. Joey actually had to convince Yugi that having the white haired boy come over was fine.
"I know that," Yugi said in his best 'I-think-he's-a-good-guy-too' voice. He handed the money for the groceries over to the woman after she had tallied up the price. It was a bit higher than Yugi would have hoped for, but then again, anything with Joey Wheeler was always a littler more than expected.
"You're confusing. Anyways, lets get going before the ice-cream melts." Joey picked up the bags.
"Ice-cream? ...Yeah, okay." He guessed that Joey wouldn't get his question. His friend was a knuckle head when it came to romance and relationships. Yugi was his closest friend but even he didn't know what Joey's sexual orientation was. He supposed that all would come out in the next few days since Tristan was unquestionably going to confront Ryou.
~~*~*~*~*~*~~
Everyone had arrived at the Turtle shop on time. That is, everyone but Ryou. Joey was extremely worried, fearing that the boy might have run into some trouble.
"I should have walked with him. I shouldn't have let him go alone," the blond said, as he paced back and forth across the room. Everyone had been watching him for a least ten minutes, talking to himself.
"Joey, stop that, you're acting like something horrible happened," Tea said from her spot on the couch. Joey was really creeping her out.
"Something horrible MIGHT have happened!" He stopped and yelled at her, causing her to cringe. The cascara eyed boy focused back to the floor as he began to walk again.
"Relax Joey. He's probably just being fashionably late," Tristan said in his loathing voice. Joey had never heard his friend talk like that until he met Ryou. Now, he was using that tone none stop.
"Tristan, don't you start with me!" The blond threatened.
"Wanna go?!" Yugi and Tea sighed, already tired with the two's bickering.
"Grrr...."Joey growled and just when he was about to pounce Tristan, the little ringing sound of the shop door opening was heard. The blond smiled and hurried down the stairs. He saw Ryou, dressed in a off-white sweater and faded blue jeans, talking with Solomon Moto. The white haired boy turned his head so he was looking at Joey. Automatically, he smiled lightly and gave a quick wave.
"Thank you for the chat. Excuse me, will you?" Ryou asked to the old man behind the counter. He smiled at the polite young man and chuckled heartily.
"Yes yes, go on and have fun." The British boy nodded and walked to Joey. His friend was garbed in a white t-shirt with a green jacket onto and blue jeans. The blond quickly went back up the stairs, Ryou following close behind.
~~*~*~*~*~*~~
The group had watched two scary slasher movies and had just finished eating the pizza dinner. Joey and Tristan had a whole one each, Yugi had four slices, Tea had three and Ryou had two. Everyone had seemed pretty shocked when Ryou asked for utensils to eat his pizza. He ate just like he talked: clean and polite. Even though he had the least amount of pizza, he had finished eating last. That was just how he was. It was after the meal when Tristan approached him.
"We need to talk," the hazel eyed teen said coldly. Ryou could hear the disgust in Tristan's voice and was suddenly more afraid of him than he was of the killers in the movies. He nodded and the tall boy lead him out of the room and into the kitchen.
"Listen bud, you don't like me and-" Ryou cut Tristan off.
"I like you," the white haired boy said honestly. He had nothing against the other and had thought of him as a sort of friend.
"FINE. I don't like you-" Ryou interrupted again. It was so unlike him to cut someone off in mid sentence, but he wanted to make sure Tristan had all the right facts before he tried to kill him.
"Why not? If you just gave me a chance I'm sure we could be friends." He hoped the brown haired boy would drop it but that was wishful thinking.
"Er... That's not the point! You stay away from Joey, you got that? I've been working him for the last five years and I'm not about to lose him to some British pansy."
"Oh my, you're with Joey?" Ryou chose to ignore the part were he was insulted. He knew what Tristan was getting at but didn't know what reason caused him to think it. Sure, he thought Joey was good-looking and sure, it would be interesting to test a relationship, but that didn't mean it was going to happen. He had never talked to Joey as anything more than a friend.
"No, but I will be," Tristan said sternly. Ryou looked at him questionably then pulled a sly smile.
"What makes you so sure?" He had no clue where that came from. Ryou suddenly sounded sure of himself. His brain had triggered a part of him that he himself had never known about. If Tristan had tried to get Joey for five years but wasn't with him, then the blond was fair game. Ryou felt his heart rate quicken. He could have a chance. It was time to steal Joey right from under Tristan's nose.
~~*~*~*~*~*~~
As the weeks went by, Yugi and Joey decided to go to a card competition on a place called Duellist Kingdom on spring break. Ryou's father had returned and left for another dig. Solomon Moto had fallen into a coma and was in the hospital, leaving Yugi all alone in his house/shop. Ryou had rarely seen his blond haired friend for he and Yugi had been training. That saddened him though there was also an upbeat to Joey spending most of his time duelling. Tristan had barely seen him either. The two had started an all out war, battling for Joey's affection. Of course, the Wheeler didn't know that that was going on because he was to occupied. All the blond knew was his two friends had been acting really nice to him.
Now, it was the last night Joey was in Domino. Soon, he was off to play cards against some of the world's finest competitors. Ryou bet that Tristan had something up his sleeve. That was alright, so did he. The white haired boy walked down the dark sidewalk of a familiar street. He knew exactly where he was going and would arrive their very shortly.
The British boy came to an apartment building and hurriedly entered. The sudden change from cold to hot made him shiver. He walked into the lobby, spotted a staircase and headed for it. Three floors he climbed, all the while his stomach filled with more and more butterflies. Ryou came to the floor he was looking for and walked down the hall. The chocolate eyed boy stopped in front of a room, four doors down and on the left. He touched his ringed necklace before he knocked. Movement was heard in the room, footsteps came closer and closer. Ryou was contemplating whether to run or not when the door swung open.
"Wha? Ryou what are you doin' here?" Joey stood in the doorway, staring at the white haired boy. If Ryou wanted something, he would have stand up and take it. The British boy moved forward, causing the blond to back up. He smiled and closed the door behind him, all the while keeping his eyes fixed on Joey's.
"Ryou..?" Ryou put a finger up and placed it on the taller boy's lips. He leaned close, inches away from his friend. The chocolate eyed teen was defiantly crossing the line with what he was doing. He didn't care, not now.
"Shh... Don't speak..." Ryou whispered quietly before replacing his finger with his lips.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Yams: Sorry it was so short. I hate the ending. I wanted to throw up.
Okay, so the reason why Ryou is suddenly like "Joey's mine" is because I finished this on the due day right before my bedtime and that he's finally realizing that the ring is more then just a necklace. He tapped into the power without knowing and apparently it makes him want stupid blond guys... Yes... and he's OOC... yes...
So, what's the word all? No flames. Flames are bad. I hate flames. Flame me and be flamed back. If you flame me with a random name (ex: Burning McFlamer, I. B. Burninu, fLaMeR) ... you're really strange... OH! Remember, this was just a contest fic! I don't actually like the pairing. I think it's icky bad mala sickness, yuckey yuck yuck...