Love or Friendship?
Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End
"Yuugi if you don't hurry up we'll be late," Yami reminded me as he casually leaned on his elbows on my bed.
"I know, I know," I replied to my darkness. "Just let me grab my backpack and then we'll go."
I snatched up my bundle and turned to Yami. I was still amazed that Yami finally had his own material body. I was so use to see him as translucent as ghost, but here he was: real, alive, and lounging on my bed with a bored expression on his face.
I slung my bag over my shoulder and placed my hands on my hips. "Are we going or not?"
A smile spread across Yami's face and he gazed at me seductively before he stood and approached me. He reached forward and ran his fingers through my tri-colored hair. I fought to suppress a shudder that threatened to shake my body and I lowered my head as I began to blush.
"Okay, let's go, aibou," Yami answered, his hand sliding down to rest on my cheek. Yami reached for the door, opened it, and allowed me to slip before him.
Once in the hallway, Yami followed me throughout our house until we arrived at the kitchen. There, my grandfather was busy preparing breakfast while getting ready to open his shop.
"Bye, Grandpa! We'll see you after school!" I called to him as my darkness and I headed to the front of the Game Shop.
"Wait! Aren't you two going to eat breakfast?" Grandpa asked from the kitchen. "You'll be skipping the most important meal of the day. That's not good for your health."
Yami and I turned to each other and stifle a laugh. I don't know why but Yami and I always seemed to crack up whenever Grandpa tried to look after us. It was probably because we were always protecting him.
"We'll be fine, Grandpa. Besides, we're late. Bye!" I replied back and opened the door.
We rushed out and slammed the door before Grandpa could say anymore and we burst into laughter. We continued to snicker as we made our way through the morning traffic, dodging cars and trucks every now and then. Finally, we were able to turn our laughter into giggles and we were calm when we ran into our friend Katsuya Jonouchi.
Jonouchi was a tall adolescent with longish blonde hair and hazel eyes. His school uniform was unbuttoned all the way to reveal his white undershirt. His shirttail blew in the breeze and he leaned lazily against a bus stop sign.
"Good morning, Jonouchi," I greeted as I stepped up to him.
"'Morning Yuugi and Yami," he replied, holding his bag over his shoulder. "So are we ready to go or not."
"Yeah, let's go," Yami answered, standing close to me.
Our walk to Domino High was a very brief one and we arrived at the school in less than fifteen minutes. When we had entered the campus we saw that our friends Anzu, Honda, Ryou, and Malik had been waiting for us. We quickened our pace and joined the group.
"Good morning, everyone. Thank God it's Friday, huh?" I laughed as I stood between Ryou and Yami.
"T.G.I.F.!" Anzu laughed.
Then the most peculiar thing happened. Anzu began to check Yami out. Her eyes stopped at his midsection and she blushed slightly. I tilted my head in confusion.
What…what was that?
Yami, oblivious to Anzu, noticed my movement. He tugged at my shirtsleeve, drawing my attention to him.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"N-nothing," I stammered and looked away from his crimson eyes. "Hey how about we get to class before we're late?"
"Yuugi's right," Ryou agreed, "we should hurry."
Our little group began to walk towards the school building, sharing stories and news as we made our way to our first class. Eventually, we began to branch off as we reached our classes. Anzu stopped at the entrance to her class, inspected Yami again, and stepped inside her classroom.
Okay?
Soon, Yami and I were the only ones left. We continued to traverse the hallways until we reached the staircase leading to the second floor of the school. My darkness and I climbed the small stairs and stopped once we had reached the top. Yami turned to me and ruffled my hair unexpectedly.
"See you next period, Yuugi," Yami said as he dropped his hand.
"Uh, okay." I replied and smiled at him.
My darkness returned the smile, causing my heart to skip a beat. Then, he turned on his heels and began to march to class.
I watched as he left, my heart pounding in my chest. I didn't really mind that I had a crush on Yami; actually I kind of enjoyed it. I probably would have told him about my feelings already if I wasn't so damn shy.
After standing alone for a minute or two, I released a weary sigh and trudged to my first class. I stepped into my theatre class just as the final bell rang. My classmates were milling about and socializing before class, making the room loud and noisy. I weaved through them until I found a seat next to the only person I knew in my drama class: Seto Kaiba.
Seto Kaiba was the CEO of his company, Kaiba Corp., which made computerized holographic technology and other gadgets. Kaiba had short brown hair and icy blue eyes. He was arrogant and very competitive with Yami, and he disregarded everyone else. Nevertheless, I tried to be kind and patient with him.
"Good morning, Kaiba," I said to him as I sat down in the desk next to his.
Kaiba returned my salutation with a curt nod and he glared at me. It was typical Kaiba, so I let it slide. Besides, I was used to it already.
But today, something was off. Throughout the entire class period, Kaiba made attempts to ask me something. But every time he tried he would hesitate and look away. And if I knew anything about Seto Kaiba, it was that he was never afraid to say what he wanted. The fact that he wasn't doing just that was a little unnerving.
At one point, when our teacher wasn't looking, I wrote and passed a note to Kaiba.
What's wrong? I wrote.
After reading my note, Kaiba scribbled something down and handed it back to me.
Nothing. He wrote back.
Yeah, right. Do you honestly think I'm that stupid?
Yeah, I'm just not going to answer that.
I shot him a glare and continued.
Seriously, Kaiba, what's up?
He sighed after reading my note, as if he were accepting defeat. Another little red flag rose in my head.
Actually, I do want to ask you something. Kaiba responded. I wanted to ask you before I approached him.
What is it?
Kaiba hesitated while writing the note, causing me to wonder exactly what he was putting down. Then, after a moment, he hurriedly finished his response and shoved the note towards me. I took it from him and unfolded it.
Do you think Jonouchi would go out with me? The note read.
I sat motionless as I read the writing. Was Kaiba really asking me if…
The bell rang then and Kaiba was the first person out the door. I remained where I was, frozen in place. Kaiba's words had stunned me severely and began to make me think. When had Kaiba started to like Jonouchi? Did Jonouchi even know about Kaiba's feelings? Did Jonouchi…
It wasn't until someone put their hand on my shoulder that I remembered where I was. I jerked away and clutched the note to my chest. I looked up and saw Yami standing over me, his hand still posed where he had placed it on my shoulder.
"Oh, hey, Yami." I said to him as my face began to blush. "Don't sneak up on me like that. You scared me."
Yami said nothing and sat down in the desk in front of me. He grasped my wrists and pulled them towards him. I tightened my grip on the piece of paper between my hands, hoping that Yami wouldn't pry my fingers to get the note.
"What's wrong, aibou?" Yami asked, bringing my hands up to his lips.
I felt my blush begin to deepen. "It's – It's nothing," I stammered and glanced up at the clock that hung on the wall. "Hey, aren't we late for class?"
With a free hand, Yami reached forward and cupped my cheek, forcing me to look at him. "Screw class," he whispered and began to lean forward.
His lips were just inches away from mine when his cell phone rang. "Dammit," he muttered and released my face as he reached back for his phone.
Yami answered the call and listened intently. My face felt like it was on fire and I struggled against Yami's grip. But Yami's hold was too strong and I eventually gave up.
After a while, Yami hung up and turned towards me. "Anzu and everyone else are skipping school, wanna come?"
He gave me a look that practically begged me to. It wasn't like I had a choice, anyway. Yami would have made me go, even if I didn't want to.
"Fine, whatever," I mumbled and stood up, Yami's hands still attached to my wrists.
Yami stood along with me and dropped my hands. Then, he stooped down and grabbed my backpack from where it had been resting on the ground. He held it out to me, waiting for me to take it.
"Yami, I can get my bag myself," I told him as I took the bag from him.
"I know, aibou," Yami said blankly and began to head to the classroom door.
I gripped my bag and the note tightly and followed him out the door. What was that all about?
Our entire group ended up skipping school for the rest of the day. We spent most of our time jumping from house to house, mostly relaxing and enjoying our freedom. At each house we played different party games like truth or dare and even musical chairs. We didn't play Spin the Bottle; however, for obvious reasons.
The last place we stopped at was Anzu's house. It was passed noon and by then we had run out of games to play. So Anzu came up with a new one.
"Spin the Bottle, Truth or Dare?" I asked.
"Yep!" Anzu replied cheerfully, apparent proud of her "genius."
"But hasn't that game already been invented?" Honda asked, taking a seat on the floor of her living room.
"Shut up!" Anzu hissed at him and we all burst into laughter.
"Okay, so how does this work?" Yami asked once we all had settled down.
"Well, it's like this," Anzu began as she grabbed a glass bottle, "one person spins the bottle and whoever it lands on they get to ask them a truth or dare question."
"Yep, I've played this before." Honda remarked and received a sharp punch to the arm by Anzu.
"So who goes first?" Malik asked.
"I'll go first since it's my house." Anzu replied and we began our little game.
It was exciting at first but after a while we began to lose interest. Not wanting the game to end, Anzu decided to spice it up a bit, and surprised us all.
