See-through
A/N: Happy 2014, everyone! It's been a while since I last posted, and I'm back with a new one! Shout out to Yu-Gi-Oh! Season 0 in here XD With Miss Chono, the Wicked Witch of Expel! This is my gift fic for firebird963, my dear rp partner on tumblr. Hope you all enjoy it! R&R~!
Summary: In which Yuuma is simply being a good friend (and a sassy bitch).
Genre: Friendship/Drama
Rating: T
Pairings: skyshipping, keyshipping, pictureshipping/believeshipping (Astral x Yuuma x Kotori)
Yuuma covered his mouth so he would not giggle. He had simply glanced over at Kotori, wanting to ask her if she would have liked to hang out after school. Instead, he was greeted with the sight of her black bra strap. He looked down, too embarrassed to say anything at first. He wasn't a pervert! It was just... It made him giggle. Maybe it was because Kotori was so neat when it came to her appearance that – seeing that thin strap slip from its proper place and fall so slightly down – it struck him as rather funny.
His gentle laugh caught Shingetsu's attention. The boy raised his eyebrows and mouthed, "What's wrong?" Yuuma shook his head and leaned forward a fraction, as though in doing so he'd better shield Kotori from his view. Shingetsu was a nice boy, though, he'd never treat Kotori disrespectfully, and Yuuma would afford her the same courtesy.
Just as he went to inform her of her little slip-up, the teacher struck their desk with her ruler, causing the two children to jump.
"Tsukumo-kun! It is very rude to disregard a teacher's lecture, no?" He never liked Miss Chono. She would always find something to reprimand him – or at least someone in his class – about. Her saccharine voice and affected mannerisms disguised the cruel witch she truly was. The simplest of errs on a student's part would earn her wrath and she would dish out detention after detention. Within the first week of her placement, she had already assigned a record twenty. She would even go as far as to verbally shame the student.
That was what pissed Yuuma off about her.
"Yeah," he bit out, eye narrowing at her before flickering over to Kotori then back. Her bra strap!
"But I'll deal with you another time." No. "Mizuki-chan." No! "You really shouldn't be dressed like that. Why, you look like a harlot!" Color burst all along her cheeks and face and neck, the chagrin and horror she felt at those words so palpable that it made Yuuma wince. Before the little girl could even respond to such a ludicrous insult, Miss Chono resumed with, "Take a page from this one, children!" The wicked teacher pulled the girl by her arm, twisting and revealing her loose strap to the entire class. "Mizuki-chan would like you all to know that she wears black brassieres!"
Miss Chono pushed her back into her seat and returned to the front of the room, ranting and raving about how classless some girls could be. Yuuma did not know how the woman could be so expressive when her face was so heavily cemented with makeup.
Hazel eyes shimmered with hot tears as the girl scrambled to conceal her undergarment. Then she buried her face into her palms and wept, but ceased when Yuuma stroked her shoulder and whispered that all would be just fine.
"Mizuki-chan, be careful with what you're doing. You'll end up in a love hotel if you aren't." This ridiculous woman was taking things way too far! Her strap being exposed had merely been an accident!
"That's stupid!" Yuuma declared, slamming his hands against the desk as he got to his feet, glowering at the nasty teacher. He did not know what that woman's problem was, nor did he care. She had no right to treat his friend the way she did. "Kotori didn't do anything wrong!"
"That's enough, Tsukumo-kun," she snapped, glaring at the boy. "You're making a spectacle out of both yourself and your friend."
"How dare you?! You think you can just get away with what you said?!"
"How naïve... Subtlety is part of the appeal," she laughed. Her words confused him, though. "That little mishap couldn't occur if she hadn't the intention." Was... Was she accusing Kotori of purposely pulling down her strap? Did Miss Chono really have the gall to say such a thing? Adults really were stupid.
"Don't talk about my friend that way, you witch!" Needless to say, that comeback landed him straight in detention with the tacit promise of suspension the very next time he acted up. Yuuma honestly could not care if his actions would lead to expulsion. This evil woman had to go.
Once the bell that signaled the end of that long period was rung, and that horrid teacher had gone, their friends formed something of a barrier around them, providing comfort to the distressed girl and – simultaneously – cooling down Yuuma.
Shingetsu had always been a bit touchy-feely when it came to his idol. At that moment, though, feeling those pale fingers comb through his dark locks, whimpering about how hot his head had become and if he required medical attention (to which Yuuma gave a negative reply), he had never been more thankful for his excessive displays of affection.
It was really nice to see everyone being so supportive. Cathy had even put aside whatever petty rivalry she shared with Kotori for the sake of being a good friend. Tokunosuke and Takashi were poking fun at Yuuma's and Shingetsu's closeness again, just for the sake of lightening the dreary atmosphere. Tetsuo offered to duel Yuuma after school, immediately cheering up the boy and – in turn – evoking feelings of elation from Kotori.
Yuuma had assumed that everyone would feel the same as him – as his friends – about that accusation, understanding that it was nothing but a steaming pile. However, that was not the case.
Hushed whispers that evolved into skeptical stares and – finally – lewd jeers were aimed at the green-haired girl. Rumors started and spread like a conflagration among fickle minds.
Apparently, Kotori's decision to show off her bra had been based on her wanting to one-up Cathy and take the place of the Numbers Club's mascot. Another slur was that Kotori was strutting her stuff for money. Then the actual incident had been twisted into Kotori's fault, that she had unbuttoned her uniform and showed off her breasts like the indecent slut she was.
By lunchtime, variations of the incident so unreal and farfetched had been invented that it made Yuuma want to hurl and swear. Kotori couldn't take two steps with some ridicule being tossed her way. She'd try her best to calm the seething boy, shakily imploring him not to overreact to something that would blow over. Seeing her try to keep it together while she was so obviously anguished and humiliated only served to make him more angry.
Had everyone in this school gone completely bonkers?!
He swore he was going to send someone flying if the Kamishiro twins had not stepped in.
"Honestly," Shark had hissed, glaring at the audacious little hypocrites who had tried to form a little congregation of mockery, "I've never seen a more pathetic display." He did not seem too interested in the whole ordeal, but when the already disastrous situation began ascending to new heights of the ladder of catastrophe, he decided to step in and put an end to the nonsense. Those who still feared the notorious Shark backed down instantly, like the cowards they were.
Those who were bold enough to even attempt to include Shark in their debauchery incurred Rio's wrath.
"Say one word about her. I dare you. Just say it. It will be the last word you ever say, I promise." A terrifying threat said in such a charming voice. Yuuma candidly could not tell which one of the twins was scarier. The older girl became a bastion for the fragile child, allowing her to cling to her or even hide behind her.
"Tell us the real story," Rio demanded, hands on her hips as she gazed down at Kotori. The girl did, utterly embarrassed, adamantly claiming that she had not known that she had appeared indecent in anyway, as though she thought that Rio would not believe her. The blue-haired girl simple held her young friend, shaking her head in dismay and saying that she believed her, that she knew this whole mess was not Kotori's fault.
"That Chono... She's a real pain," Shark added, looking to Yuuma. "She's been harassing Rio quite a bit also." He snorted. Shark was not a person to partake in slander, period. He was always callous and blunt, his words ringing with forthrightness that sometimes bordered on hurtful. Miss Chono must have really been something despicable for Shark to have formed such an opinion of her.
Tokunosuke had been the one to retrieve a bit of a back story for her. How much of it was fictitious was what remained unknown. Still, it was worth the listen. Apparently, she was a heartless woman, casually dating men and using her fabricated beauty to milk them for expensive gifts and luxurious outings before discarding them like trash. How sick did you have to be to gain satisfaction from such a thing?
The irony and hypocrisy of the entire circumstance was daunting, and Yuuma wanted nothing more than the sweet revenge of broadcasting those most likely private details all over Heartland. Then... Then that would make him no better a person than her.
In the end, this was not about his feelings, and Tetsuo had made sure to remind him, nay, remind them all of that.
"Yuuma," he had barked, grabbing the boy by the shoulder and spinning him around to face him before he could rile himself up again. "Forget about Chono-sensei for a minute and think about how Kotori's feeling." It was not that they thought she was weak, and it was not that she was weak, but when everyone upped and turned against you so suddenly, it was truly perplexing and upsetting. "You should know that better than anyone."
Yuuma did. When he was alienated due to Tokunosuke's heinous snare, it truly was a hurtful period. He did not hate Tokunosuke, though, and forgave him immediately.
There had to be some way to both dispel Miss Chono's influence on Kotori's image while showing her that he was not going to take injustice sitting down.
That was when he had unwittingly given himself the perfect counterattack.
Astral finally emerged from the Emperor's Key that night, but quickly turned away when he saw that Yuuma was only half-dressed.
"I apologize for my intrusion." Yuuma simply laughed and greeted his partner.
"Don't sweat it. You can turn around, you know? I won't die."
"Isn't it a matter of courtesy?"
"Well, I suppose... Since it's you, though, it's fine." At these words, Astral fixed his gaze upon Yuuma, but instantly became perplexed at the odd clothing article that was strapped to his upper half.
"What are you wearing, Yuuma?"
"This, my dear Astral, is called a bra." Akari's bra, to be specific.
"What are the effects of this 'bra'?"
"It, uh..." His cheeks heated, and he stuttered his reply in a low tone, "it's used to support a woman's b-breasts."
"Are you a woman, Yuuma?"
"What? No!"
"Then why are you wearing a bra?"
"Because!" He inhaled deeply, calming himself before he turned away from his mirror and looked at his partner. "Because it's not right what happened to Kotori." He briefed Astral on the incident, feeling his anger stir with each clipped word. In response to his growing agitation, Astral hovered closer to Yuuma, making the boy slightly wary of their close proximity before placing his hand over Yuuma's heart. He may not have been able to physically touch him, but he could see clearly the positive effect such an action had on Yuuma.
It was more of a practice than an impromptu move on Astral's part. He'd been with Yuuma long enough to know of his nightmares, curiously observing as the boy tensed and broke into a cold sweat, sometimes gritting his teeth, sometimes crying. At first, he believed that it was just a normal sleeping ritual, that maybe recharging after a long day was painful to a human. Only after he'd become more comfortable in his partnership with Yuuma (and after he'd witnessed how calmly other humans tended to sleep) did he begin to feel the faintest threads of concern, that quickly morphed into a panicked worry.
That was when he learned how to calm Yuuma. One night, as Yuuma wrestled with his demons, whimpering incoherently, Astral had tried his hardest to lull him, calling out to him, trying to touch him but failing. It was only when his hand hovered unintentionally over Yuuma's heart did the boy fall peaceably asleep. Whenever Astral did not return to the key to deal with some important issue within, he'd remain with Yuuma, waiting until he was asleep to keep him calm. The nightmares weren't always a problem, but he made sure to be there when they were.
It was like a bonding exercise for him.
"What are you doing?" Yuuma's voice was breathy and a tad shocked.
"This seems to calm you."
"I... An... Anyway, I want to do this," he continued, putting a little distance between himself and the astral being. "For my friend."
"...Yuuma is a good friend."
The boy laughed off that statement, pink dusting his cheeks once more before he spun around and asked, "How do I look?"
"As you usually do. Weird." Despite internally agreeing with Astral, his words made the young one furious, and he pouted and called his partner names both colorful and rude before settling into his hammock for the night.
"Yuuma." That was all that was really need to be said to gain the boy's attention, and one look at Astral brought a grin so wide to his lips that his face was in danger of splitting.
"You look like a cat right now."
Astral was flabbergasted at his statement. "I do not." Yuuma always had to -
'Don't worry. I'll definitely Kattobingu!' The words that resounded within his incorporeal form made the poor creature shudder, but brought a small smile to his face regardless.
'Naturally.'
~ OoO ~
Yuuma wore a see-through, white blouse the next morning rather than his regular school shirt. Even though Akari knew the full story, she asked Yuuma if he truly wanted to go through with this. At his determined reply, she snapped a picture, much to his surprise.
"Baby brother, your gonna make headlines," she laughed. "Go raise hell, I've got some work to do." He and Akari did not get along all the time, but when they did, Yuuma swore that they would make a better team than even him and Astral, and that was really saying something.
He made his way to school without a hitch, though, he did meet up with Shingetsu. The boy colored a variety of reds upon beholding Yuuma, keeping his gaze downcast and stuttering his questions as to why Yuuma was dressed that way. Yuuma encouraged him not to look away, saying that it was fine, he wore this shirt because he wanted to be seen this way.
At first, Astral was not very pleased with the fact that many would see his partner like this, but accepted his choice nonetheless. There was something about the way that Shingetsu looked at Yuuma that rubbed him the wrong way. Those eyes held a curiosity that rivaled Astral's, as though he wished to glimpse more than the view the transparent shirt offered. The boy looked innocent enough, so Astral honestly expected no foul play from him, though, he might have to pluck those eyes out if they continued to trace Yuuma that way.
Yuuma could sense his partner's unease, and wished to know what bothered him. All that detestable tension dissipated with Tetsuo's arrival, though. Thick eyebrows raised upon noticing what Yuuma wore beneath his shirt, and it brought a smile to his face.
"Race ya," was all he said before skating off, Yuuma hot on his heels with Shingetsu and Astral tailing after him. His speed truly was abnormal for him to be able to keep up with Tetsuo so easily. Astral smiled to himself as he recalled the time Shark literally had to speed with his motorcycle to keep pace with this bizarre boy.
It took a while, but when people started to really notice Yuuma, word about his scanty garb got around fast, and Kotori's plight was all but forgotten. Fun was poked, bordering somewhat on disparaging, but Yuuma ignored it all, ignoring what everyone said with ease and behaving as though it were a typical day, even continuing his performance before that evil teacher.
"Tsukumo-kun, what are you wearing?"
"This is my uniform, Chono-sensei," he replied with faux innocence. "Are you blind?"
"That's enough lip out of you, boy."
"I was just about to tell you the same thing. Do you wear your lipstick on the outside of your lips too, or is your mouth just really big?" That earned some ohs from the other children.
"Detention, Tsukumo-kun."
"How about, no?"
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me," he replied, leaning back against his chair, giving the teacher a better view of his brassiere. She wrinkled her nose in disgust, her green eyes darkening in anger. Astral wished to intervene and put this lady in her place, but he was candidly enjoying Yuuma's blatant impudence. Such a trait he had once wished would disappear and leave Yuuma obedient to his instruction, now it was something he loved in this boy.
"How about you apologize to Kotori, and then we'll talk about your makeup problem?"
"What you are doing is against school rules, Tsukumo-kun," she hissed, leaning closer to the boy. "I can have you expelled for this." Her lips formed a wicked, short-lived snarl, and her eyes flashed. In return, red eyes narrowed at her. She did not appear to be under Varian influence, and that made him loathe her all the more.
"Then you'll have to expel me too!" Tetsuo announced, kicking back in his chair, a black strap lining his bicep. The children near him blushed and giggled as he continued, "This strap just won't stay up, you know?"
"You think you've got problems, nyah!" Cathy huffed as she got to her feet, tugging her pleated, pink skirt downwards. "Just look at how short this skirt is!"
"Same here, ura!" All eyes turned to Tokunosuke, who sported a cunning grin while fiddling his hat. He did not wear a bra, nor did he dress in a skirt, but his argument was quite simple. "Why, I thought you knew that hats were against school policy," he said with a shrug. "Guess you don't know as much as you thought Chono-sensei, ura?" He shook his head is disappointment. "Or maybe you simply choose what you want to know, ura. Does that make you a hypocrite then, ura?"
"Shut up, you little brats!" she howled. "Detention! All of you!" Groans of protest and dismay resounded through the room, and some of their peers even aimed insults at Kotori and her friends for causing them trouble when they had nothing to do with it.
"Wait a minute, Chono-sensei!" Takashi uttered as he got to his feet, hastily quieting the disruption among his classmates. "As the class representative, I have to inform you that what you are doing is unfair to everyone in this room."
"I don't make the rules, I just enforce them. As the class representative, you should be doing the same."
"I am, that's why I'm telling you that what you did to Mizuki-san was nothing short of harassment!" Indignation rose to new levels at those words, as though a veil had been lifted from their classmates' eyes.
"Yeah!"
"Kotori-chan didn't do anything wrong!"
"What's all this fuss about?"
"Don't you know? Rumors have been going around saying that Kotori -" And so the truth quickly began to circulate. How some troublesome souls spread rumors about the incident yesterday that quickly spiraled into madness.
All quieted when Shark walked into the room, wearing nothing but swimming trunks and – of all things – a sky blue bra. The younger boys outright gawked, and the girls blushed and squealed at how good he still looked.
"Ka-Kamishiro-kun," Miss Chono stuttered, utterly horrified that someone of his caliber had stooped to the level of these foolish children.
"Chono-sensei," he drawled, placing his hands upon his hips, "Kouchou-sensei requested that you come to his office."
"He would have made an annoucement -"
"Kouchou-sensei specifically asked me to deliver the message." The smirk on this boy's face irritated her beyond belief, and she wanted nothing more than to slap it right off. The purple-haired boy turned away from her, his stoic expression back in place as he turned to give the class a good look. "If you don't mind, I have to get back to class."
"Ryouga!" All eyes turned to Rio, who stood impatiently at the doorway. "Let's go!" She looked magnificent in a bikini.
"Hold your horses, Rio!"
The girl waved to Kotori, who shyly waved back, before skipping away, and Shark mustered a gentle smile for Yuuma as he walked past.
The vile woman looked as though she wanted to reprimand the students once more, to assert her authority, but they banned together this time. The boys felt brave enough to unbutton their shirts, while the girls pulled down a strap each - a blatant sign of rebellion - and then simply sat and waited for her to continue. No one feared her threats of discipline, and frustration became the teacher, cracking her makeup and revealing the hideous face below.
So, she fled.
Miss Chono never came back after that day, all traces of her evaporated, as though she had simply vanished, like a ghost. Even though the woman had hurt her and chagrined her in the worst of ways, Kotori became a little concerned about her sudden disappearance at first, but Yuuma was enough to distract her.
"That stupid lady's finally gone!" was his triumphant yell, and those who detested her just as much cheered with him.
Upon his return, Mister Kitano got the reception of a lifetime.
Apologies were nice, and Kotori candidly appreciated how most of the children who had partook in that stupidity humbled themselves enough to mutter a sorry, but she was just awaiting the day this stupid chapter was forgotten. Until then - she thought, looking to the smiling boy beside her who asked if she wanted to duel with him - she would have the pleasure of her friends' - of Yuuma's - company to keep her moving forward.
"Sure. Let's duel, Yuuma!"
The End.
©Kitty Seeboo