Disclaimer: Yu-gi-oh GX does not belong to me.
Summary: Syrus' homemade tamagopans have gone missing! Who could have stolen it? Will Jaden and friends be able to figure out who took it? Or will somebody else find out? Subtle Zane/Alexis.
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Who Stole the Tamagopans?
"NO! This can't be happening!" A little boy with spiky, light green hair shouted. He fell to the ground as he clutched both cheeks. His roommate and best friend, Jaden Yuki, woke up with a jolt, and lazily looked around the room.
"Eh...? What's going on? Where are all his monsters?" The brunette asked nobody in particular.
"Jaden!" The boy squeaked, running towards his friend's bed. "Something bad happened!"
"Relax, Sy!" Jaden said lightly, yawning and stretching at the same time. "Boy, you totally saved me. I was almost going to get creamed! There was this huge guy in my dream, and he summoned out this real big--" Before he could finish, Syrus Truesdale, cut him off.
"Listen, Jay! Some... one... stole... my... tamagopans!"
"Wha-what!" Jaden exclaimed. "But Syrus, it took you the whole night to make those! Who could have done such a thing?" The brown-haired boy asked sympathetically. Suddenly, the door to their small room opened and their third roommate, Chumley Huffington, entered. He is a fat boy with short with black curly hair and big, round nose.
"Hey, Chum! Where've you been?" Jaden asked, grinning. But before their newly-arrived roommate could answer, Syrus jumped up, throwing Chumley a suspicious look.
"I was in the bathroom... Geez! I knew I shouldn't have eaten that week-old grilled cheese yesterday." Chumley answered.
"Chumley! I want you to tell me the truth! Did you or did you not steal all my tamagopans?"
"What?" Chumley asked, baffled at the sudden question. As soon as the chubby boy realized that he was being accused, he frowned at Syrus. "I wouldn't betray my best friend and you know it!" Chumley shouted.
"Hohohoho... Chumley! No need to be overly dramatic! Sy and I both know that you love us, but--" For the second time that morning, Jaden was cut off.
"The best friend I meant is grilled cheese, Jaden." Chumley interrupted simply, opening one of the cupboards in their small kitchen area, and pulling out what seems to be a day-old grilled cheese sandwich.
"Oh, man! I need those tamagopans... I was going to give them to my big bro for his birthday today. I can't make new ones; I'm all out of the ingredients! Plus, it takes so long to make them!" Syrus whined sadly, sitting down on the floor, cradling his head in his hands.
"Don't worry Sy! We're going to find your tamagopans!" Jaden said enthusiastically, jumping out of his bed.
"Really? You're going to help me, Jay?" Asked Syrus, looking up at his friend hopefully. "Of course! I mean, what are friends for, right? Chumley's going to help us out too! Right, Chum?"
"Sure. But you owe me a good, well-cooked grilled cheese for this!" Once Jaden was done dressing, the three friends set out on their investigation.
"Now, where do you guys think we should start?" Jaden asked, looking around.
"Hey, guys, how about Chazz? I mean, he only stays next door, he might have snuck in last night and took your tamagopans." Chumley reasoned, giving his grilled cheese sandwich a hearty bite.
Jaden and Syrus nodded in agreement as they made their short walk towards Chazz's room. Syrus knocked lightly on the door, afraid that if he knocked loudly Chazz will kick the door open and hit him. When they didn't hear an answer, Syrus knocked again, and a grunt was finally heard inside the room. This time, Syrus knocked for the third time, and all three of them heard someone falling down on the floor, more grumblings, and finally the door swung open, revealing a fuming Chazz Princeton.
"What do you dorks want now?" Asked the raven-haired boy, glaring at the three unexpected and unwanted visitors.
"Uhm... well, Chazz, we were just wondering if you knew where my homemade tamagopans went," Syrus answered nervously.
"Or if you took it by any chance," Jaden butted in without even thinking.
"You... dorks... disturbed my beauty sleep for this?" Chazz snapped.
"Well, you see, Chazz, it was supposed to be for Zane. It's his birthday today, and I was going to give it to him." The little boy explained, looking down on the ground, as Chazz glared at him.
"First off, it's 9:00 a.m. in a Saturday morning. And you woke me up over something so... so, so stupid. Second off, to answer your question," Chazz started, calmly. "NO! Why in the world would I steal your stupid 'homemade tamagopans'…?" He continued, this time shouting at the top of his lungs. He imitated Syrus' squeaky little voice when he said the last two words. "When I could buy a store full of it?" Chazz finished cockily, smirking, and flicking some of his bangs.
"Ooo-kay... a short 'No' could have sufficed," Jaden answered, sweat-dropping.
"Hmph... shut it, Jaden. You're just jealous 'coz I'm rich enough to buy myself a whole tamagopan store."
"Uhhh... ooo-kay. Well, then, Chazz, since you're up now, can you just help us look for them? Sy really needs them." The care-free Jaden asked, grinning a little bit at Chazz.
"Fine! I'm going to help you dorks, but you owe me big time for disturbing my beauty sleep." Once Chazz was ready, all four walked off the pathway that leads to the other dorms.
"So, where do you guys think we should go first?" Jaden asked, both hands behind his head.
"Hmph, you really are a doofus, Jaden." Came Chazz's lazy response as he led the group. "Of course, we should look at possible suspects first!" The Princeton explained importantly.
"Of course! You're right, Chazz!" Syrus said excitedly.
"Hn. I know," Chazz murmured loudly, enough for all three to hear.
"Ok, who was with us at the dorm yesterday? Wasn't it, Bastion, Alexis and Atticus?" Syrus asked breathlessly as they trekked their way to the school. Chazz nodded, and all four remained quiet as they reached the school grounds; a few students were already out, some sitting under the shade of a tree, some walking around and chattering.
"Why don't we... start with Bastion?" Syrus offered. All three nodded in agreement as they went to Bastion's favorite hangout: the alchemy room where he usually does his wacky experiments that is often a failure. As they finally reached the room's door, the saw Bastion, knee-deep on his experiment. The group saw test tubes filled with strange bubbling liquids in different colors. Bastion continued to ignore them as he furiously scribbled notes on his notebook.
"Hey, Bastion," Jaden started, patting the gray-headed Ra student on the back.
"Oh, hello all," Bastion acknowledged them curtly before poring over his notes once again.
"Bastion, were you in the Slifer Red Dorm last night?" Cyrus asked, looking over Bastion's shoulders.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I was." Bastion replied. "Might I ask why you're asking me that question?" He asked, finally turning away from his notes and looking at the four.
"Because, he thinks you stole his tamagopans," Chazz answered, flicking his bangs once again.
"Tamagopans?" Bastion blinked.
"I never said that!" Syrus squeaked, arms flying everywhere. "Not really. Well, anyway, I made some homemade tamagopans yesterday for my big brother's birthday today. I was going to give it to him, but now that it is missing... these guys decided that they would help me look for it." The bespectacled boy explained.
"Well, I'm sorry, Syrus. I don't have it, and you know… I don't really like tamagopans." The Ra Yellow confessed.
"Oh... ok, then. Thanks, Bastion." Syrus said sadly, his head down as he started to walk towards the door.
"Well, see ya later, Bastion." Jaden smiled before following Syrus to the door.
"Ok, who's next?" Chumley asked. "I'm starting to get hungry again..." He added quietly.
"Hey! Cheer up, Sy! I'm sure we're going to be able to find it! Who knows Alexis or Atticus might have it?" Jaden encouraged, hoping to lift Syrus' spirit. Jaden confidently led the way to the great Obelisk Blue dorm, looking for the Rhodes siblings.
When they reached the dorm, they saw Mindy and Jasmine up front, flirting with two other Obelisk Blue students. The two boys suddenly looked up, glaring at the advancing boys. "What do you Slifer Slackers want?" One of the blonde boys snapped.
"Relax guys! We're just looking for Alexis and Atticus. Have you guys seen them?" Jaden asked, chuckling nervously as the two boys continued to glare at them.
Before one of the guys could respond, they all heard Alexis' voice from behind them, "Hey, guys, what going on?" They all turned around to find Atticus and Alexis together. The two stared at the four Slifer Red students, confused. All four slowly walked towards the siblings, out of earshot from the flirting couples.
"Alexis! Atticus!" Syrus said cheerfully, looking like a child who had just seen his mom after getting back from school. "You guys were in the Slifer Red Dorm last night, weren't you?" He asked, looking up at the taller blonde student.
"Mm... yeah, we were. Why?" Alexis asked.
"Well, you see... last night I made some homemade tamagopans--" The light green haired boy was cut off by Atticus' enthusiastic voice, "TAMAGOPANS!" All of them sweat dropped as Syrus continued, "Anyway, as I was saying... I made some homemade tamagopans last night for my big bro, but now they've gone missing! And I need to give them to Zane soon!" Syrus continued, squeaking and wringing his hands.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Syrus. But, I'm afraid I don't know where your tamagopans are." Alexis said, bowing her head apologetically.
"Hn. Alexis would never steal your tamagopans, you loser! She's too cool to be eating homemade food." Chazz proclaimed, crossing his arms in front of him, and nodding matter-of-factly. Alexis rolled her eyes, sweat dropping.
"Awww... well, it's alright Alexis. It's not really your fault," Syrus said, his head bowed down as he slowly walked the path back to the Slifer Red Dorm. "I LOVE TAMAGOPANS!" Atticus shouted after them.
Once out of sight and earshot from the Rhodes siblings, Chumley started to talk, "If I didn't know any better, I bet it was Atticus who took your tamagopans." All eyes turned on the chubby boy, as he nodded his head.
"Oh, come on! Don't be like that, Chumley!" Jaden said, tapping Chumley's fat back.
Back in the Obelisk Blue Dorm...
'Whew! That was so close!' A long blonde-haired girl said to herself, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand as she closed the door to her own private quarter. Alexis Rhodes walked towards her silk-covered bed, and sat down at the end of it gracefully, crossing her long creamy legs.
The blonde breathe in. Underneath her bed, she pulled out a small basket with beautiful colored papers. She bit her lip as she looked at the contents inside, remembering Syrus' desperate voice a while ago. In the basket is about ten full, round tamagopans. All ready to be eaten. Alexis licked her lips, forgetting all about her friend's little dilemma.
Last night, there was about twenty-five hot, baked tamagopans inside the basket. And ashamed as she is to admit it, Alexis had eaten the other fifteen last night, before going to bed. 'Gee... I feel real bad now.' The blonde said to herself, running her fingers on her long blonde hair, biting her lip once again. Her fingers itched to touch the tamagopans. It flashed under her bedroom's light, tempting her to eat them. She closed her eyes, sighed, and let her body plop down to the soft, silky mattress.
Flashback...
"Oh, where's Syrus?" Alexis asked the guffawing Jaden. Jaden and Chazz have been arguing about the difference between Purple and Violet for a few hours now.
"Huh? What?" Jaden asked, as if finally acknowledging Alexis' presence in the common room.
"He asked you where Syrus is, you deaf doofus." Chazz said, hitting Jaden on top of his brown head.
"Hey! That was totally uncalled for!" Jaden shouted at Chazz's back, as he massaged the small bump that had started to form on top of his head.
"Alexis," The Princeton said, turning his attention to the girl. "Don't pay him any mind; he doesn't deserve your attention!" He said. His eyes twinkled as he kneeled in front of her.
The blonde girl heard her older brother, Atticus, snicker behind her. And out of the corner of her eyes, she saw him give a thumbs-up to the raven-haired boy. She rolled her eyes. 'Oh, brother,' She said to herself, as Jaden started to speak.
"He's upstairs in our room. He is baking some tamagopans." Jaden answered, grinning. "He told me it was Zane's birthday tomorrow, and he wanted to make him something nice." The brunette continued.
"I LOVE TAMAGOPANS!" The older Rhodes suddenly said, jumping up. "I wish my dear sister would bake me some for my upcoming birthday!" He said dramatically, standing on the couch, his long arms stretched out, and eyes closed.
"Not when you start acting like a real brother," Alexis retorted, walking towards the door of the common room.
"Huh? Where are you going, my dearest Alexis?" Chazz asked, standing up from his kneeling position.
"Chazz," The Queen of Obelisk Blue started, massaging her temples, "I'm not your 'dearest Alexis'; please do not call me that." Alexis said as nicely as she could muster. "And, to answer your question... I'm going upstairs to help Syrus."
Before any of them could say anything, she opened the door and stepped outside. "Don't burn down the whole dorm..." Atticus chanted. He waved his hands and smiled goofily. Just looking at his face makes Alexis want to haul out her boot onto his face. She closed the door.
"Who's up for some video games?" Alexis heard her brother said.
"How about a duel?" Came Jaden's typical response. Before she could hear more, she climbed up the small stair leading to Syrus' room. She knocked gently, and heard a light "Come in," from inside the room. Alexis entered, just as Syrus put the last baked tamagopan inside the basket. The girl felt her eyebrow twitch at the sight of the egg-bread, it looks big and hot, ready to be eaten.
'No... Alexis! You can't! It's for Zane! Plus, you're in a diet! Snap out of it! Just look at that thing, only god knows how many calories those have!' Alexis told herself, biting her lip and smiling nervously.
The bespectacled boy looked up, and gave the blonde a small smile. "Oh, hey, Alexis." He greeted. He removed his cooking gloves and untied his apron, which Alexis noticed had the picture of the popular Dark Magician Girl on one side.
"I just finished making these for Zane," Syrus shared eagerly, fixing the paper on the sides. "What do you think?" He asked, looking up once again at Alexis.
The Queen smiled at him sincerely, "I'm sure he'll like it, Sy." Before adding to herself, 'And I sure want to eat those…'
The boy's face brightened. "Great! I can't wait to give it to him tomorrow. Anyways, I'm going to put this inside the cupboard, just in case someone might want to steal them." He quipped, opening an overhead cabinet, and placing the egg-bread filled basket inside. Syrus closed the door.
"I'm going to go downstairs now, ok?" Syrus said, walking towards the door.
"Sure, I'm gonna go back to my dorm. I'm tired." Alexis replied. "They're playing video games downstairs." She added. The Queen walked Syrus to the common room's door. The boy looked up at her again. "Are you sure you don't want to stay longer?" He asked.
"Yeah, don't worry." Alexis assured him, the younger Truesdale gave her one last smile before going inside. The noise erupted as he opened the door, and Alexis saw her brother, growling menacingly at the screen as Jaden cheered him on.
Alexis sighed, and then looked back up at the room where the tamagopans are hidden, waiting for her. The girl duelist tiptoed her way to the room, and opened the door, which creaked. She flinched a little and looked behind her. Despite the noise downstairs, she can't help but feel a little paranoid that they would hear her.
She stepped in, and closed the door lightly. Alexis gave off a long sigh of relief, her hand clutching her chest as she felt her racing heart. The blonde quickly opened the cabinet and took out the basket, greedily grabbing the egg-bread on top. She eyed it hungrily, for the past couple of weeks, she ate nothing but salad, and now... now... she can't stop herself. 'I just have to...' Alexis said to herself. She closed her eyes and bit the bread.
"Mmmm..." She murmured, chewing the tamagopan in her mouth. "Ok... I'm just going to eat one. I don't think Syrus would notice..." Alexis murmured, quickly finishing the bread. 'That was good.' She licked her lips. Without even realizing it, she took another one and started eating it.
Before she knew it, Alexis had eaten five. Her diet and self-control forgotten, she took another one and started eating it. As she finished her sixth tamagopan, she sighed, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and put the basket inside the cabinet again. 'Syrus won't notice...' She keeps telling herself, as she closed the cabinet, hiding the tamagopan filled basket.
Her eyes widened dangerously as she looked at her hand, still clutching the steel handle of the cupboard. Quick as a cat, she opened the door, closed it quietly, and ran to her dorm with the basket in hand.
End of Flashback...
Alexis unconsciously grabbed a tamagopan from the basket, and started eating it. Closing her big, hazel eyes; she savored the taste of the well-made egg bread. 'Maybe I should just give it back to Syrus... I feel bad for the poor guy.' She said to herself. Alexis stared at the white ceiling of her room as she ate the rest of the tamagopans. 'Only one left...' She realized as she looked at the last bread on the basket, 'Well, I guess there's no point in giving this back to Syrus.' She reasoned, shrugging. As she was about to eat the last egg-bread, the door to her bedroom opened. She looked up and found her two best friends.
The top Obelisk Blue Student hid the tamagopan behind her, and stuffed the basket under her bed. "Geez, don't you two know how to knock?" Alexis asked, exasparated. And their giggling did not help much at all.
"Hey, Lexi! Guess what? We're going to go on a date tonight. If you want, you can totally come with!" Mindy said happily, sitting down next to Alexis on the bed. "It's going to be fun!" She added.
"Uh... no thanks, I'm good." Alexis said.
"Come on, Lexi! We're going to go out with Bruce and Bryan Sylvester. Not only are they like, really good at dueling; they're super rich too!" Jasmine butted in, trying to convince her friend.
Alexis sighed, "I told you I'm not interested."
"Fine. Your loss." Mindy said, pouting. "But... can you just help us pick our outfits for the date?" She asked hopefully. The Queen of Obelisk sighed again.
"Alright," Alexis agreed, her friends cheered. "Wait, I need some fresh air. I'll be back soon." She added quickly, exiting her room before her friends could say something. 'Ok, now... where can I go to eat this last tamagopan?' She asked herself, looking around the empty hallway. 'Of course! I'll go to the lighthouse. Zane's not going to be there... I remember Atti telling me that he'll be taking Zane in the beach for his birthday. This is brilliant!'
Alexis ran to her favorite place in the school grounds as fast as she could. The last tamagopan is safely hidden in her skirt pocket. As she reached the lighthouse, a familiar figure loomed ahead, standing still and looking out to the big sea. 'Uh-oh! Not. Good.' Alexis said to herself, stopping in her tracks.
The girl was about to turn back around when said person looked up from his reverie, and turned his dark eyes to the girl. His mouth slightly twitched to the side. Alexis knew this as his crooked version of a smile.
"H-hi," Alexis stuttered, she looked down at the ground. She shifted her weight between her two feet.
"Lex, are you alright? You're all flushed..." Zane said, frowning and walking closer towards Alexis.
"I'm fine! It's just that I ran all the way here." The Queen explained nervously, her hands tracing the tamagopan in her pocket. "I thought you were with... uhm," She stopped mid-sentence when Zane turned his attention back to her. "…Atticus. In the beach? I remember him telling me about it this morning." She finished, looking away from Zane's intense stare.
"Well, I told him I didn't feel like going." The Kaiser explained shortly, noticing Alexis' hand. "What do you have there, Lex?" He asked, walking closer to her.
"Huh? Uhh... no-n-nothing! Nothing of importance!" Alexis laughed nervously, backing away from the advancing Zane.
"Is that so? Then, can you show it to me?" He asked. The blonde girl frowned, since when did Zane become so... curious?
"Actually, no... I can't show it to you."
"But I thought you said it's nothing important." He reasoned. 'This is starting to get out of hand...' Alexis said to herself, thinking of a good excuse to get out of the lighthouse.
"I... have to go, Zane. It was nice to see you -- oh, and happy birthday!" Alexis said, turning around and walking away. She momentarily blinked her eyes. When she opened them, she was surprised to see Zane in front of her. And with quick reflexes that Alexis did not know that he had, he grabbed the egg-bread from her sweaty hands.
"A tamagopan?" Zane asked, baffled. This is the first time she had seen Zane look confused.
"Y-yeah," Alexis answered, looking away as she felt her face turn hot.
"Syrus told me that--" Before the Kaiser could finish Alexis interrupted him.
"Yes, yes, yes! I did it! I stole the tamagopans from him! And I ate all of it... that's the last one. Gosh! I'm so embarrassed." She was looking down the ground as she confessed, her hands covering her red face. "Please," Alexis started, looking at Zane square in the eye. "Don't tell anyone..." She finished, whispering. Zane blinked again, he looked at the golden egg-bread in his hand.
He cleared his throat. "I promise," The girl smiled, her eyes twinkling happily. "But..." Alexis' delicate eyebrows furrowed, confused. "On one condition," He said, his face leaning down towards Alexis' face. The girl felt her face's increasing temperature as she realized the close proximity of their faces.
'He's so close... i-i-is he going to kiss me?' Alexis asked herself, looking at Zane's unblinking eyes. 'But, that's so... not Zane,' She reminded herself. Zane continued to lean his face closer to hers.
"What is it?" Alexis asked, trying to keep her cool.
"I get this tamagopan," Zane declared, standing back up. He looked down at Alexis, who did not bother covering her sigh of relief. Although he was not smiling, Alexis could tell that Zane was enjoying this.
"What? That's not fair!" Alexis whined, pouting.
"If you really think about it, this tamagopan was supposed to be mine." The taller student reasoned, hiding his triumphant smirk as he observed Alexis' change of facial expression.
"Oh... you're right, Zane! I really am sorry that I stole your birthday gift. You can have it." She smiled. "Just... promise me, you won't tell anyone, ok?" Alexis asked, looking up shyly at Zane. 'I sound so desperate but I have to make sure he won't tell anyone. Not even Atticus.' The Queen of Obelisk Blue paled. 'Especially not Atticus.'
"I won't," He assured.
"Great!" Her smile widened and her eyes twinkled happily. "I have to go now, Zane. I still have to help Mindy and Jasmine with their date." She ran, but turned back to Zane after a few steps. "Happy birthday, Zane. And, thank you." With that she ran back to the direction of her dorm. Zane finally smirked openly, looking at the vast sea.
'This was certainly a very interesting birthday...' Zane looked down at his hand, as if seeing the tamagopan for the first time. He raised it to his lips and bit the bread. 'This does taste good. No wonder Alexis enjoyed it...'
The End.
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Author's Ramblings:
This is my first Yu-gi-Oh GX fic; I've only seen a few episodes in Season 1, and I think I've seen almost all the episodes in Season 2. I hope none of the characters are OOC.
Thanks for reading, and please leave a review. NO FLAMES. I do accept NICE constructive criticisms though. I apologize in advance for any spelling mistakes... I don't have Microsoft Word, which technically means this: I don't have spell check.
(Improved and edited: 09/11/08)
