Kana: (ignores homework due – very pressing homework) (spins around merrily)

Disclaimer: (looks around) Hmmn…I am not surrounded by cheddar cheese OR do I have black doves flying out my ass. I guess I don't own Yugioh. LEARN IT!

Season Four, Round Three of ComputerFreak's YGO contest: Ardentshipping (Hiroto Honda x Shizuka Kawaii) HAZZAH for a bit of straight people! Alrighty, so I don't need to put the yaoi warning here, since they're – (beats living shit out of fly buzzing near head) DIE FUCKER, AHAHAHAHA! – ahem, since they're not yaoi! And it's CANNON; how long has it been since I wrote something CANNON? Well, there was that Hellsing fanfic…nope, never!

Summary: Jounouchi gone; check. Alone with her; check. Otogi eliminated; Unknown. Honda's quest to gain Shizuka's heart is a long and tough one, frequently affected by Murphy's Law.

Beware. Some 2nd person. Oh how I love it.

OOOOO

The Washitsu Room

One-Shot

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Five…four…

…Three…two…

…One…

RING!

Honda jumped up and set off like a running shot; like greased lightning; like a rabbit on crack – you get the idea. Classmates and teachers alike dove out of the way as he raced down the hallways, his sneakers squealing, his lungs aching.

SCREE! He yelped as he slipped just outside the school's entrance, sliding sideways and crashing into everything. But he still caught a glimpse of her, and that was worth it.

Shizuka was waiting patiently for Jounouchi, nibbling her bottom lip and wearing an autumn colored sundress. The wind shifted the hem, and her hair was teased – she brushed a bit out of her face with an absent swat of her hand. She stared at the door, and it was a miracle that she didn't see him skidding across the floor.

Then Honda slammed into a wall, but it was worth it.

OOOOO

Every other Wednesday Shizuka came for her brother, to see him and smile with him. And every other Wednesday, Honda would hope to catch a glimpse, something to hold onto until the next two weeks crawled by.

When they did drag themselves away, it was pouring rain, with a little distant thunder thrown in for effect. When Honda ran down the halls this time, he walked slowly, as the tile was slippery and muddy, and had 'will crack skull' written all over it. It took him an agonizingly long time to weave his way through the crowds, but finally he saw her, standing in the rain, with her hair hanging in ropes.

Shizuka used her hand to wipe away a lock of hair plastered to her forehead, her windbreaker speckled with raindrops, and some had snuck into the holes and dampened her clothes. She looked miserable, but her eyes still stared at the door, until Jounouchi came out.

As soon as he stepped out into the rain, Honda opened his umbrella (a dark blue one so old that it was frayed at the edges), and made a beeline for Shizuka – well, not really, since he didn't want to seem too obvious. He tore right through puddles that soaked his shoes right to the ankles, making his socks soggy and uncomfortable. He was running through the plan in his head – 'hello; share my umbrella; you're wet; yadda, yadda, yadda' – when a variable went off coarse and got to her first.

Otogi Ryuji. Standing there. With his own umbrella.

With the corner of his mouth twitching, Honda jerked to the left and made for the bus stop. No sense in trying to put the pieces of his ruined plan back together.

OOOOO

"Honda-kun! Honda-kun! Your dog!" Shizuka laughed and giggled as the giant German Shepard attacked her exposed skin with a long pink tongue. The dog barked and lopped back over to Honda, who scooped up her leash and wrapped it around his knuckles and hands.

"I'm sorry; I didn't know she would jump up on you like that." Honda said sheepishly, bowing his head miserably. So many mistakes...

OOOOO

You see him, that guy, who you vicariously trust because of your brother. He is odd, you admit to yourself, but you can give him the benefit of the doubt anyway. Best not to judge a book by its cover.

Kaiba Seto has invited your brother (more like was forced to) and his troupe of friends to – one – of his homes to study for the end-of-the-year exams. In your opinion, he is growing soft. Or, more likely, Mokuba-kun talked him in to it.

It is a small, neat, slightly OCD one-story home, with a sleek white finish and dark navy blue roof tiles. The only tip-off that suggests that it is owned by such a rich man is the obviously professional yard work and the rumors that stirred every time the deep black limo drove down the suburban street.

You tentatively step onto the cobblestone path that leads towards the house. Your heart flutters – what would happen if you stepped on the grass? He'll be annoyed, probably.

But your fears are calmed when Mokuba races across the lawn, and Seto follows him with dignified abandon.

When Yugi-tachi enters the house, they hear all sorts of odd noises. Shrieks, singing, chirping. Birds. A lot of birds; parrots to be exact. You follow Mokuba and Kaiba-san into a hallway and through a door. The noises increase in volume.

It is a Washitsu room. The tatami floors are a light tan, and the shoji doors show a variety of smudges of colors, displaying a vibrant backyard. But the room is quite large, with many low polished tables and no less than a dozen white cages. The cages hold at least twenty birds, from the tiny lovebirds to the loud amazons. Mokuba makes a beeline for the nearest cage and plucks out a green-winged macaw, placing it on his shoulder.

"You have a lot of birds, Seto-kun," Yugi says, peering into the cage of a pair of cockatoos. They flare their yellow crests at him and say 'up-up'.

"They're Mokuba's," Seto answered, sitting at a table near a few cages containing African Grays. He looks at the cockatoos. "By the way, they want you to pick them up."

"Really?" Yugi's gaze turns skittish.

"Yeah," Mokuba now has no less than four birds on him – two lovebirds on one shoulder, a cockatiel on another, and a different breed of macaw on each arm. "When they say 'up-up', they want to be held."

This is odd, you think. An odd way to study. But then again…Seto does have some of the best scores in Japan…

OOOOO

Soon everyone had 'on' at least one bird. Jounouchi had two lovebirds preening his hair as he studied physics, and Yugi's cockatoos perched on his shoulders while he read about the Mesozoic era. Seto was accepting pencils from a large African Gray that enjoyed turning the pages of his calculus book for him (which made everyone suspect that this was his bird). Shizuka was flipping through an old book on English literature with a budgie on the brim, and Otogi had a parakeet nesting in his hair. And Honda – poor little Honda – had just spent the last half hour scooting slowly over to Shizuka in his best ninja-like way.

They were alone now. Yugi-tachi had gone out for refreshments – watermelon, chips, sodas, and the like – and now they were alone…with a flock of colorful parrots. Colorful parrots that liked to say odd things. Honda had discovered that one macaw in particular (the one that had stood on Mokuba's shoulder before he had gone out) would react oddly when someone said 'whoa'.

"Whoa baby, light my fire!" The macaw would cry out, flapping its wings and hopping around.

"Oh shut up," Honda grumbled, feeling an Amazon poking through his hair. He had read the same paragraph on dynamic relationships in blood cells at least three times – and he still didn't know anything about biology.

"What?" Shizuka asked quietly, looking up from her book. He suspected that she hadn't been reading anything either, as her budgie kept singing small tunes to her. "Was I too loud?" She had a way of staring at you so that even the innocent felt guilty.

"Not you, that bird." Honda pointed at the macaw. "Its vulgar."

"I think he's funny," Shizuka held out a hand, and her budgie leapt onto it and then to her shoulder so she could read in peace. "Witty. You know?"

"I guess," Honda felt his spirit deflating.

Then he felt a weight on his head. Honda fumbled around, trying to see what it was as Shizuka giggled up a storm.

"Whoa baby! Light my fire!" Screeched the macaw that had settled on his head, fluffing its feathers.

"Son of a -." Honda fumed angrily, clenching his jaw. But Shizuka was laughing. She was laughing at him – no, with him. Smiling at him.

Possibly…maybe…liking him.

Honda calmed down and the room became silent again, save for the sounds of the birds and the turning of pages.

OOOOO

That boy, who you know vicariously, is not so bad.

OOOOO

Kana: It's a bit shorter than I like, but I had trouble with this bunny. Hope you like. Bit of a crack fic, though not really.

Note: parrots (especially amazons, cockatoos, and macaws) will say 'up-up', 'step up', or just plain 'up' when they want to be held. Its because most bird owners will teach the command 'step up' (to make the bird step onto their fingers) and say these things. And most birds will say stuff like this fictional macaw – at least, the ones I know will.

Read and review! Not my best, but definitely good!