"FUCKING IDIOT!" was the only words Atem heard once Yami stomped into their house in rage, furiously shutting the door with a loud slam. Atem was beyond surprised, he never saw his little brother this upset before. He had never heard him curse at himself out loud either. This was basically how Yami would react to every single thing he'd said in that classroom.
He'd be cursing mentally for being such a jerk to people who only wanted to help him. Something told Yami to stay away from them, and his only solution of how to make them stay away was to hurt them. In defeat, the loud, angry teen dropped all his belongings and ran over to the couch, laying facedown much like Atem had done yesterday. Actually, it was more like he threw himself facedown and hugged the pillow with all the force he could gather.
Atem heard Yami yell something loudly in the pillow. He walked out of the kitchen, where he'd been washing dishes, and stepped closer to his little brother. He removed the pillow from his face so Yami was forced to lean his head to the side of the couch, his eyes locked on the window as he looked outside.
"Care to say that again without the pillow in your face?" Atem asked, raising a brow questionably, not really sure if he wanted to know what was on Yami's mind. Yami twisted and turned on the couch while he grabbed his golden bangs in fury.
"FUCKING IDIOT!" he repeated yet again. Yami grabbed the pillow from Atem's hands and placed it on his face, mumbling something along the lines of, "I will suffocate myself to death."
Atem sighed once more as he took a hold of the pillow and pulled it away from his brother.
"If you want to talk about it, I'm here, because God knows I'm not leaving Japan without you. I'm not that lucky." Yami looked up at his brother questionably. The look Yami had given him didn't resemble an angry glare or a casual smirk. Instead, his expression was not only angry, but also miserable. It was almost as if the anger was hiding underneath, or trying to take control over what he was saying.
"You can leave with my corpse." Yami pulled the pillow towards himself, somewhat brutally.
Atem had to take it back for what seemed to be the millionth time, and keep it at a safe distance from Yami.
"What could possibly be so bad you have to suffocate yourself to death?" he asked, hiding the pillow behind his back, since Yami's glare indicated that he might get tackled if he doesn't hand it over.
The pale teen sighed, calming down with each passing second. He dragged himself up off the couch and walked over to pick up all the items that flew out once he dropped his bag. When he was going through his things, he reached for the notebook, which caused the eraser Yuugi had handed him to fall out. He placed the book down and picked up the eraser, showing it to his older brother. Atem didn't seem to get the point. What was Yami trying to say?
"This. This is the reason I'm an idiot." Atem still didn't seem to understand what his brother was telling him.
"All right…elaborate," he said, placing the pillow down, helping Yami pick up the pencils and papers that flew out. Yami bit his lower-lip nervously. Should he talk about this? He never went to Atem for advice or help. There was no time for that in the past. Now that they're 'trapped' here together, they do only have each other. It wouldn't hurt to get rid of these feelings.
"This…guy!" Yami pulled his golden bangs yet again, in fury. He was almost confident he'd pull all his hair out from this experience, yet losing some hair probably wasn't a problem. There was so much of it after all. Atem seemed to wonder what sort of guy could be ticking off his brother this immensely. He knew Yami could be angry but it would never be with himself. This boy seemed to get on his brothers nerves but far from what he expected.
"He just won't leave me alone! I don't know what to do because every time I step close to him I turn into an-"
"An asshole?" Atem finished his brother's sentence with a cheerful smile. The only response Atem received was an irate glare. Sure, he was right but did he really have to phrase it like that? Yami sat down on the floor in defeat and messed around with the heap of pencils in. Carefully, he watched Atem pick up some of the papers before answering back rather quietly. It was almost as if he was embarrassed.
"Yes?"
Confusion spread across Atem's face. So, this boy had now only been around Yami when he was at his worst, or so he assumed. It wouldn't take long before this person gave up and left his little brother alone. The question was now, why not sooner?
"How is he still around you if you just act like an ass all the time?" Not even Atem seemed to comprehend this.
"I …DON'T KNOW!" Yami said while he clasped his hands around the pile of pencils, shoving them back in the bag before standing up, repeating the same sentence over again.
"I don't know and it pisses me off since he really wants to be my friend! He's so nice and cute, yet all he thinks of is guiding me through the school! I tried getting rid of the guy but it just hurts so bad every time I insult him!"
"Why do you insult him?"
"So he can leave me alone! Imagine having someone so positive and bright around you that the sun would look dim in comparison!"
Atem couldn't believe his ears. So the boy who was giving Yami such a hard time was a happy chirpy kid that just wanted to be friends with him?
"Wow, you are an asshole." Atem proclaimed as he handed Yami the papers he'd gathered up from the floor.
"Well. I don't know how to help you really, Yami. I'm glad you shared something with me at least." Yami now realized what this feeling was. Not only a feeling of guilt or anger. It was the feeling of fear. Fear of going back and having Yuugi act the exact same way as he did before. Of course, he doubted the kid would act the same after that experience but you never know. What if he did indeed forgive Yami for that? He hoped Yuugi didn't forgive him. He didn't know him after all, what reason would there be to befriend someone who acted so negative? Insult after insult, how would he manage to keep this up? If he managed to keep this up, would he really be left alone, or would he be surrounded hate? Maybe there was a difference in how to deal with this situation, though he knew no other way than to make everyone hate him, in order to be left alone.
It worked in Egypt and got people off his back when he didn't care for them. It was the only tactic he had and it always worked. This method of getting rid of people who tried to befriend him was never questioned, that was at least until he meet Yuugi. Someone who just wanted to help didn't deserve this. They didn't deserve so much hatred. How low did someone have to sink, before realizing that things may have gone a little bit too far?
"Why am I so useless at this whole friendship thing?" he asked.
"Because you never had friends? No surprise really." His older brother could be so cold at times, especially in situations where he obviously could not see Yami was hurt. That comment seemed to hurt more than what was intended. The older one noticed how Yami's eyes got a bit saddened but then turned sharp and angry in a matter of seconds.
"No. No surprise." He hissed while walking up the stairs, heading towards his room.
"Yami, I didn't-" When the door was slammed shut, it created a dull echo. A loud thud was heard soon after, as if Yami just dropped all his stuff at the top floor. Atem scratched his head, and was left completely speechless.
"Brother, you are hard to figure out. I wish you could just stop looking at everything so black and white." He headed back into the kitchen to continue the dishes he left so suddenly thanks to his brother.
At the top floor however, Yami was cursing himself even more for being so horrible to everyone. It surely was like a bad habit. It was something he just couldn't stop easily once he started. He did still not like the fact Joey had made fun of him the minute he stepped into class, and he thought that it was the main reason why he targeted almost anyone as his enemy. Even Yuugi, which was way off the track of sane. The guy only wanted to help, after all. Breaking him mentally was only mean, and he was no different than Ushio if he did that. The only difference was that Yami did it with words instead of throwing punches.
"I have to apologize to him. Even if I tell him I don't want to spent time with him, I have to set things right." He tapped his index finger against his lips for a few seconds, as he was trying to come up with a solution. His thoughts wandered off to what Atem mentioned a while ago.
"No surprise really."
What did he mean by that? Something that will make other people stay away from him and not bother, that's all he wanted. It's not like there was a magic formula for it. He didn't want any friends in Egypt, but maybe Japan could be different?
He seemed to have a huge problem with his brother's comment. It didn't only irritate him but also make him want to confess a huge burden to Atem. Something he knew would come off as strange because of how little they actually knew each other, or spent time together.
"Atem, you have no idea why I don't want any friends to begin with…" He mumbled still holding his index finger against his lips, continuing to fall into deeper thoughts. The more he thought about this, the more upset he got and off-track to what he was supposed to be thinking about, which was seeking forgiveness.
"Everyone who got close to me only wanted to be my friend to get close to you, since you were so freaking perfect." He bit his fingers angrily.
"Ow…" Not a very smart idea. Crimson eyes shifted to look out the window. There was a nice overview of Domino Park from this room. The park was far prettier inside but way safer when at a distance. Yami walked around for a bit in his room, giving his brother some more thought. There was one major difference from what happened in Egypt from what was going on here.
"No one here knows him. Maybe… I could act friendly. They most likely won't bother me if they don't know that Atem is my brother." He tried to remember all the conversations he'd had with the crew, trying to recall if he mentioned a brother even once.
No. No memory of it at all. Then maybe, he could still try to act friendly around others. Then there was the problem of him making Yuugi cry a few minutes ago. The short teen didn't see him cry exactly, but Yami felt as if he had just crushed the boy's hopes of getting a new friend.
"If I knew where he lived I'd run over and explain myself." He then thought for another moment about what he said. A cold wave of utter realization hit him like a massive mallet.
"…Shit. I don't have an explanation." He sighed while he threw himself onto his bed, facedown, and looked over at the fluffy pillow. He grabbed it and rolled it around for a few seconds, then focused his eyes back on the window over his bed. Blue skies, wonderful weather, children and animals probably playing in the park happily, while he was too tired to even think of something fun to do. Why couldn't Yuugi just react like everyone else and throw a fit? Why did he have to smile? Why couldn't he stop thinking about those smiles? Yami pushed the pillow away and just looked at it with a blank expression.
"Suffocating myself to death keeps looking more promising." He rolled his eyes and crawled under the sheets, not even bothering to change out of his outfit. He was too tired to care for homework, or care for the voices yelling and arguing inside his head, and way too tired to deal with his family. He simply closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep while hugging his pillow tightly. Sleep was the only thing that could make all the problems vanish for a little while. For a brief moment, even if it was temporary, forced, insignificant, it would bring SOME peace and that's all he could truly ask for.
The next morning was all but a breeze. How could someone make such a miscalculation of the time? Yami woke up about 2 hours late for school. He cursed because he didn't set the alarm and Atem didn't come up to check on him before he went to sleep.
However, he did set Yami's uniform up for him. That may have been the only correct event this entire week. Clearly this wasn't Atem's fault but he cursed him anyways for at least not checking up on the alarm. Yami got out of bed, dressed in a rush, and grabbed his bag to run down the stairs, through the door, without any breakfast or preparations. He didn't even stop to greet Atem on the way or explain himself.
Atem who was in the kitchen, screamed in fear when his little brother suddenly stormed out of the house in a rapid speed. The tanned teen assumed Yami already left for school. If he knew Yami was still sleeping he would have tried to wake him up long ago.
"Oh God, little brother… you're in a lot of trouble now."
Being late usually didn't happen so frequently, however, it was nothing Yami could not handle. The problem was what waited inside the school, and that terrified him the most.
He increased his running pace while looking at the clock on his wrist. There was still a chance he would make it in time for biology and English, but he had to hurry before the classroom closed. Once the door was closed no one was allowed inside. The gate remained open for them, luckily. Running through Domino Park was a neat shortcut, in a small amount of time; he could spot the school from a distance and hoped he still had some time left.
It appeared as if he traveled in the speed of light by the small amount of time it took him to normally reach the school. Yami picked up his schedule to search for the biology room. Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, a familiar shivering sensation of worry consumed him. He thought he was only imagining things since he overslept and was still half asleep, so he read it again or more like 'attempted' to read it. He rubbed his eyes and continued to scan the piece of paper, but nothing made sense.
"I-I can't read any of this!" He put the paper aside realizing it was much more useful to follow Yuugi's note than it was on the actual schedule which seemed to have Japanese and English written over it confusingly. It didn't include a map but only the numbers of the halls, which didn't help much since he didn't have every hall in the school memorized. There was also no map showing the locations of what floor each class was on, it was a complete mess. It would be easy for the others to understand of course since they studied at Domino High much longer but for Yami, following this schedule was nearly impossible.
He looked around for some teacher so he could ask for directions but settled for a young girl that seemed to be talking to her friend. To Yami's surprise it was the two girls he rejected yesterday, in a very disgraceful manner at that. He swallowed his pride and ran over to them.
"Biology class! Where?" he asked in a hurry. There was no time to be picky after all.
The girls simply stared at him, they obviously remembered yesterday's little act. Yami realized he wasn't going to get an answer out of them easily. This was probably one of those times friends would be very useful. He clasped his hands together as if he was begging them to tell him where to go.
"I'm in so much trouble I don't even care about my pride anymore."
He asked them to please tell him where their biology classroom was located. They both pointed at the stairs in the distance and said it was on the 3rd floor, a little surprised at Yami's sudden change of personality. He didn't seem like the jerk he was yesterday. Though, in Yami's opinion he really couldn't care less about them.
"Thank you!" He said and waved them goodbye. They both just watched him run off before they turned to each other and tried to understand what just happened.
"It was the only way to get an answer out of them." After thinking about it once more he realized it didn't feel all that bad to say 'thank you' or 'please'. Though they were phrases he didn't like. He'd heard them so many times they lost their value. Mainly, people who did not honestly mean it said those words. He just considered them all a bunch of useless phrases that could be thrown out of the dictionary. They were only words to add in a sentence if you really wanted something from people or show some kind of courtesy after all. He was practically sweating and out of breath once he arrived at the third floor. He had been running all the way from home to school and was exhausted beyond reason. His body was not built for such exercise early in the morning.
The biology teacher was about to head inside the classroom, he caught her just barely.
"Wait a minute!" Yami yelled from across the hall. Luckily, he managed to grab the door before it closed.
"I'm here!" was a loud shout everyone in class heard before an individual rushed inside. He nearly fell over as he made his entrance around the teacher. The students looked at him confusingly as he arrived messily to school. Was this the same guy from yesterday that acted all hostile and cool? His clothes were completely wrinkled and his hair was a huge mess. His golden bangs were less spiky and curlier because of the position he slept in the entire night. His eyes slightly red from just waking up and his stance was less than confident. He surely didn't look like the normal self they were used to seeing. Yami realized he just crossed the first rule he made for himself. No scenes. This was a scene. Luckily he caught on to it and regained his composure rather quickly.
"Quit staring already." He managed to say; however he was still trying to catch his breath, so that phrase didn't sound as confident as it should have. Running through the entire park, to school and up a huge amount of stairs could drain ones energy out. The energy he'd gathered from sleeping so much. At least it was put to good use. He wouldn't have the strength to argue with Joey after that little run. That was another pro. It didn't take long for him to regain the attitude he had last time.
After every passing second, he looked more like the guy from yesterday, unpredictable and untouchable.
Though, since he arrived here, he had probably been grabbed, hit, and touched more than if he would have been in Egypt. Well, it was more entertaining to stay in Japan than in Egypt, that was true for sure. At least one couldn't expect the same routine to play out every day.
He walked over to take a seat next to Yuugi like normally. Yami looked over to him only to meet his somewhat puzzled looking face. He wasn't smiling or frowning. He really didn't seem to know what to think of this weird event. It was as if Yami was a completely different person in those couple of seconds. Yuugi was about to speak up but Yami beat him to it.
"Yes I know, I'm like two hours late, I care as little about that as my appearance at this minute." The tone of voice it was said in was mocking, not understanding. Yuugi simply looked away from Yami and focused on the teacher instead.
Great, now the silence treatment was starting to piss him off. He wished Yuugi would just hit back every once in a while. It seemed like that was what Joey was for. Joey threw an eraser at Yami, to catch his attention. It didn't annoy him as much as it confused him. As soon as Yami looked at the blonde he saw a note he held up with the words "Watch what you say or else I'll –" and the rest was written in Japanese. Yami frowned when Joey stuck his tongue out and taunted him like a little kid. Sure, it was an empty threat but it ticked him off nevertheless. He opened his bag and pulled out the books he needed for the lesson.
"Didn't you say you were going to stop being an ass?" He thought to himself yet again. "Reconsidered." was the only logical word that came into mind. Why did he not act nice to Yuugi? Even after he wanted to, so badly. Mainly because kindness required effort, being a jerk required nothing but a little wit.
Maybe it was just the mood he was in at the moment. All that was left to do was to wait for the teacher to start the lesson. He would much rather be talking to Yuugi but knew that if he didn't plan out what to say, he'd only act mean again. It was best to not say anything until the right time arrived.
Once the lesson had begun Yami noticed that Yuugi was looking at him every now and then while taking notes. He didn't exactly know what the boy wanted but continued writing down his own notes. The staring wasn't unpleasing but he wished Yuugi would pick a better time to stare at him. Especially since he left his style at home.
It was home with his pride, lying right next to his modesty. He'd lost happiness long ago and didn't even attempt to regain it. Yami flipped over a few pages in the notebook, only to have something familiar fall out of it again. It was strange to see how many things were falling out of his schoolbooks recently.
The eraser Yuugi handed him was still in there. He wondered if Yuugi wanted it back. Of course, Yami had no reason to keep it anymore, especially not after that rant yesterday. It was Yuugi's after all.
He reached out for it and tossed it over to him after a second or two. It didn't require much thought, it belonged to him, so why not?
Yuugi looked at him yet again, but waited for Yami to say something. Yami though, did not bother looking back or even say why he'd returned the eraser. It was self-explanatory. Meeting his gaze would only make this situation more awkward. Instead he just crossed his arms and legs.
"What? It's yours." He whispered with a shrug. Yuugi picked up the eraser and scanned it for a while.
"Yeah, though, I sort of gave it to you." He carefully placed it at the edge of Yami's bench and returned to look at the board. Was this boy serious? He was still acting friendly even after such a horrible outburst Yami allowed himself to have yesterday? He shook his head in misery. He couldn't believe this kid. This couldn't be real. No, it shouldn't be real. There was no human in the entire world that could act like this. That could tolerate such cruelty. Yet, just a few inches away from him sat this innocent looking kid who so desperately still acted friendly. Why was it even so important? He couldn't help but to feel bad for the kid. Why did someone so kind had to be placed next to someone as messed up as Yami?
He had not noticed that he was in fact looking at Yuugi for quite some time. The young boy noticed Yami's stare and their eyes meet for a split second before Yami turned to look at the blackboard quickly, earning a light chuckle from the lavender-eyed teen.
"How Cute…He knows I care." Yami sighed and lost himself in his own thoughts, deciding to ignore the blackboard even if he was staring right at it.
After Biology class was over and done with he walked over to Yuugi and asked him a question.
"Hey-" Yuugi didn't expect Yami to ever approach him for a conversation because of what happened yesterday but nevertheless he was willing to listen. Yami couldn't seem to ask the question. It felt wrong. It felt weird. It just didn't seem like something he had the right to do after all the comments thrown around.
"Well, you see…-" Yuugi interrupted him.
"The schedule was in Japanese?" Both of them stood silently for a few seconds before Yami confirmed it with an awkward nod. Anzu who was just exiting class saw the entire scenario play out. Words could not describe how badly she wanted to hit Yami across the face if this was honestly what his nature was like. She thought he'd treat everyone badly until they could be useful to him. Well, he wasn't going to get his way with her friends. She wouldn't allow anyone to exploit Yuugi for his kindness. It had happened before too many times, and it would not be allowed to happen again. That was, unless Yami decided to beat her too it.
"Well, I still have the note in my pocket since yesterday. You can have it if you really need it." He was about to reach out for the note out of his pocket when Yami stopped him. Yuugi jerked backwards a bit. Surprised that Yami would reach out and grab his arm like that. Especially since he knew Yami didn't like people grabbing on to him all the time. Yuugi couldn't tell exactly what he was feeling. His expression wasn't blank but it seemed to be filled with all sorts of emotions. It was hard figuring out what the intent behind the act was, all until…
"No. No thank you." He said looking straight into the eyes of the smaller kid while pulling his hand away from his pocket and placing it back straight down.
"You can't! You just can't! This is so low! I don't care how humiliating it will be to arrive late to every class or even miss classes. You're not asking for the note back."
"This is so wrong," He mumbled and tapped his fingers against his lips nervously. Why did he even try and ask that?
"This is so not right." Yami repeated. Yuugi was standing there confused over what just happened. There was a war of several voices screaming in Yami's head, one voice trying to dominate the other and trying to hurt Yuugi once more, knowing that Yami would feel utterly horrible about it later on. Yet, there was this other voice, the voice of reason. Maybe all hope wasn't lost after all.
"Don't hurt him anymore. You'll have to deal with the consequences, even if that means wandering around the school aimlessly. It's either that or say you're sorry, and we all know that you won't be saying 'sorry' anytime soon."
"Don't worry, I'm not gonna bother you anymore. I'll find my way around. See ya." He said and walked past Yuugi. The young one simply stood there silently, looking towards Yami's figure as he disappeared in the crowd of people. Anzu on the other hand was probably more confused than what Yuugi was. She heard everything, yet she was sure she didn't say anything. What made Yami suddenly turn so normal?
"What on earth was that?" she questioned herself as she began to walk towards the hall Yami headed to.
Yami was slapping himself in the face as he walked into a random direction. He had nowhere to go. He didn't either KNOW where to go. English, where? Well, if the classrooms were named or they had a map around the school it would help lots. Yet, now he really was all on his own. No idea where to go, and asking someone for directions would be too embarrassing to deal with. He really wished he had not thrown the note in Yuugi's face and just downright insulted his friends. They seemed like nice people, so why the hostility?
"I can't ask him for the note. I tossed it and practically almost tore it apart. How could I ask for it back only because I need it?" He stopped walking only to lean on to a locker and then hit his head against it while cursing.
The people walking by didn't really find Yami's act all too interesting but they were focused on getting to their own classes. After all, only the people in Yami's class knew exactly who he was and what his personality was like. At least the personality he'd showed them during these days. Thoughts of how badly he'd explain himself to the others rushed through his mind. Several scenarios played out in his mind of what would happen if he messed up horribly. All the scenarios had nothing but bad endings.
"Silence. I don't want to hear anymore."
He groaned, and turned around to look at some of the numbers on the doors, finding everything else less amusing. Why not try to get to the next class? Maybe the Japanese schedule was not so bad after all? He looked at the schedule to see if there were any numbers written on it, to his surprise, no numbers. There were English words, but nothing he could make sentences out of or even begin to comprehend. Basically, you needed to know the school or the language to understand this.
He lowered his head in defeat while he threw the schedule away in the trashcan.
"This thing is as useless as my attempts to communicate." He picked the paper back up and ripped it into pieces. It was better to take the anger out on this piece of paper than argue with Joey later on somehow.
Controlling his anger was a problem, also another reason to why making everyone pissed was easier than being nice. He stood there for a while only looking at the different halls. Wondering if one of them would be the right one or lead to the right classroom.
"Lost?" a female voice asked.
It was that friend of Yuugi's. Yami didn't want to give her a response, fearing he would insult her unintentionally again.
"English is…-" She pointed straight down the hall…
"To the left, right down there." and smiled at Yami.
He was confused. She acted so friendly. Even if he didn't want to have anything to do with her, his question was rather automatic.
"Why are you-"
"Helping you? Hi by the way, my name is Anzu." She finished off his sentence. Yami only nodded. He saw no reason to state his name since she probably already knew.
"You didn't act like a complete ass for once. I was about to slap you when you asked for Yuugi's note, but since you refused, it gave me a little hope. You might not be that bad after all."
If she had any idea what was going through Yami's mind at the moment, she'd regret her words. He again reacted without thinking; there was just something he needed to ask. This nagging voice inside his head demanded an answer to the question. Yami refused to spend another second with this person, attempting to have a conversation, without asking what was on his mind.
"Why did you guys lie to me?"
Anzu was mesmerized, what did Yami mean by that? She tilted her head to the right and only came up with one occasion where they'd lied. Not even lied, but maybe masked the truth… All right, they lied.
"I know Ushio beat Yuugi up. You don't have to hide it, my question is, why did you?"
He looked up at the taller brunette. It was slightly annoying that she was taller than him. Most of his height even came from his freaky hair, so he was about twice as short compared to her. Anzu only let out some 'hm' sounds and folded her arms behind her back. It seemed like she didn't like speaking about this sort of thing. A bad memory or so probably, that was best left forgotten.
"Yuugi used to be bullied a lot in the past. Even by Joey until he realized he was wrong and asked for forgiveness, so did Honda. I guess he didn't want you to feel sorry for him. Most people did back then because he was such an easy target without many friends, except me."
Yami was more than confused. Joey? He had been a bully? The two of them seemed like such good friends, it was impossible to imagine Joey hitting Yuugi even over a joke or as a friendly gesture. Joey was defending Yuugi all this time. It just wasn't possible that such a thing could happen, could it? Then again, if Joey really did beat Yuugi up and mess with him, why would Yuugi possibly forgive him? Yami seemed to doubt this was the case but played along anyways.
"Did Yuugi really forgive him for all he'd done?" Yami asked idly. He wasn't really sure if what Anzu said was true but he seemed to take her word for it. Maybe it was wishful thinking.
"Of course. Yuugi was happy he made a new friend. You really don't know who you're dealing with here." Anzu smiled once again.
No. He knew exactly whom he was dealing with and it scared him. Even if Yuugi forgave him it still didn't wipe out the things he had said or done.
Would Yuugi forgive him for all he'd done? There was nothing to lose if he asked for forgiveness. Then again, maybe asking for forgiveness was the point where Yuugi would snap at him.
"Wait a minute. How do you know Ushio beat Yuugi up?" Anzu asked.
"Wait, how did you know actually?" He hadn't asked himself this but now he was curious as well. Was Anzu there with Yuugi when it happened?
"I helped him recover a bit after the beating."
"Oh… I just beat the fuck out of Ushio when I found out." Yami smirked. He was still very proud of that. It wasn't often he got into these sort of fights where either party would leave with a severe injury. Anzu gasped in surprise.
"Wait! You set the guy's hair on fire?" Yami raised a brow at her comment.
"You know about that?"
"Hell yes! High five!"
She grabbed his wrist and high fived him practically against his will. He was perplexed by the sudden attitude she had around him. It seemed more relaxed and more carefree. She also seemed more demonic now that he took a closer look at her. There was a fire in her eyes. She really enjoyed hearing this. Then again, Yami did too. Thinking back at that moment, he could only say that Ushio deserved all he got. There was also no news about Ushio in school. They hadn't heard of him beating up any new victim, so the fire did the trick.
"Perhaps setting me on fire will cure this horrible attitude too?" Hell, it worked with Ushio. He wasn't in school, and even if he were; he wouldn't dare go near Yuugi.
"All right! Someone finally gave that bastard what he deserved."
He was amused at her happiness. She didn't seem like the kind of girl who would enjoy picking on bullies, but little did he know Anzu cheered the ones who protected her friends…while she beat up the ones who tried to harm them.
"If you honestly cared for Yuugi then why did you act so mental the day after?"
A little stunned at her phrasing at first, he thought this one through before answering very carefully.
"Because I thought you guys lied to me. When you said you helped him I just assumed I knew everything that happened when he got beat up." It was about the best answer he could give her right now. She nodded in response, satisfied with getting a decent reply out of him.
She waved at Yami to come join her while they walked to their English class together.
"Well, she does care too much but caring isn't something bad."
He was staring down at the floor during the entire walk, thinking a bit too much about how to exactly ask for forgiveness. It was difficult. Especially since Yuugi was just... Well, he was not someone Yami encountered every day.
They finally arrived to their English classroom. If Anzu did not open the door at the right time, Yami would have most probably walked into it.
"Uh, are you all right?" She attempted to communicate with him but he was far too deep in his thoughts to hear her.
She then held Yami's hand and guided him to his seat, he didn't seem to notice or mind at the time. He was too focused in his thoughts. Yuugi was already sitting down and doodling something in his book. No one in class realized Anzu and Yami walk past until she greeted everyone.
Yami shrugged her hand off once he heard Anzu mention Yuugi's name. He still didn't feel comfortable with the sense of touch. The only reason he didn't tell her to let go sooner was because he barely noticed it. Come to think of it...
"...What was that all about?"
"To make sure you didn't hit yourself in a wall or two." She grinned. Yami didn't notice that during this entire time he'd been locked away in his head, away from all social life.
It would not hurt if he walked into a wall, but yes it would be very embarrassing. Anzu waved her hand in front of Yami's face only to have him blink in response. He probably didn't hear anything after the wall comment.
"You space out a lot for a violent thug."
"Ha-ha, very funny." The sentence was overflowing with sarcasm but it wasn't meant to be hurtful. He rolled his eyes at her comment and took his seat.
Soon the other crewmembers showed up, surprised to see Yami and Anzu talking so casually. Seto was wondering how Anzu managed to do this before him. Especially since he knew Anzu didn't like him at all. If anything, she would be the one to make sure he stayed away from all of them, or maybe she was just telling him not to go around and talk to Seto. Whichever it was, it didn't amuse anyone. Kaiba thought of becoming friends with Yami since the guy always fought with everyone. Having some comedy filling their classroom's every once in a while would be a good stress relief. Joey was about to throw a fit until he looked over at Honda who pulled him back and headed over to their direction.
"Okay. When did hell freeze ova'?" Joey looked around the room and then up at Seto who only gave him a glare in response.
"Well, it's seems as if I'LL have to deal with you myself today, mutt. Let's see, how should I degrade you today-" Kaiba joked. That took Joey's attention of Yami for sure.
Honda walked up to Anzu and ended their conversation, glaring at Yami as if he was about to hit her or hurt her in some way.
Yami wasn't bothered. He'd prefer if they took their regular seats so he could speak to Yuugi and ask for forgiveness. That was the main issue he had to deal with right now. As soon as Anzu's attention was directed towards Honda he could look over at Yuugi who was still scribbling something in his notebook.
"It doesn't hurt if I try, right?" The more he pushed that into his mind the more likely he was to actually say sorry. Yet the other voices in his head simply told him to stay away from the kid. That it was all hopeless anyways. He looked at Yuugi, a bit more in detail.
No. It wouldn't hurt at all. Though seeing those smiles every now and then could make anyone nervous. Even though he was covered in bruises from the beating, he still refused to look sad. While taking notes he looked as bright as usual. Was such a thing normal around here? Yami's thought trailed off to what he was thinking the first time he saw Yuugi in class. When he thought they were in fact almost like twins, only to find out they were the complete opposite.
"It really wouldn't hurt if he had some leather pants on."
No. Wrong. First forgiveness, then they could go out shopping.
"Hello? Yami? Anyone there?" Yuugi said waving his hand in front of the taller ones face. Yami snapped back into reality.
"Uh, yes?" he replied quickly unaware of who was even asking the question. "You've been staring at me for a long time, are you feeling alright?"
Did Yami really space out while looking at Yuugi? He didn't know what to reply to the kid. He wanted to give him a quick reply but regretted his words mid-sentence.
"Why do you c- damn it." he placed both elbows on the desk before putting his palms on his face, hiding. Yuugi thought it was weird seeing how confusing Yami acted and decided to ask Anzu if she knew anything. She only shook her head in a negative gesture as a response to Yuugi's question. She wasn't going to make forgiveness easy for Yami to gain.
If he wanted a friendship, he'd have to fight for one. Yuugi was worth a fight and she knew Yami knew that himself.
Meanwhile, Yami's thoughts were clouded with regret and utter despair.
"Why is it so hard to say one single word? Sorry. That one word is exactly what could get me out of Japan to be honest. Why don't I bother apologizing to my parents? How do I expect to apologize to Yuugi if I can't apologize to my own family members?"
His hands moved from his face to his forehead. He was getting a slight headache from all the thinking. It was about to get worse.
The English teacher arrived at last and didn't give them an easy time 'slacking off' as she would put it. Yami enjoyed English, but at this point he didn't want to see another letter, ever. No more letters. If the letters weren't in the form of 'I'm sorry', or how to pronounce the words, then he wasn't interested.
"They should have a class that teaches people like me how to apologize and admit they're wrong," He mumbled to himself. Luckily no one was able to hear his talking as they were focusing on the teacher.
Right after that class ended and their teacher allowed them to leave, Yami was first to rush out in a hurry. The way he had exited was rather… interesting. As soon as the teacher announced class was over he jumped up and ran as if his life depended on it, leaving Yuugi and the rest shocked once again.
"Wow. He was ecstatic class was ova'" Joey said scratching the back of his head.
"Ugh…Coward…" Anzu whispered to herself.
"I must say, for a guy like him, he sure knows how to make both a dramatic entrance and exit." Kaiba said picking up the books from his desk, not even looking at Yami's little escape.
It was as if the classroom held him as a prisoner. As soon as the doors unlocked for him to reclaim his freedom, he ran as fast as possible. Anzu looked over at Yuugi who seemed to stare blankly at nothingness.
"Yug, ya comin'?" Joey asked. There was only a moment of silence, causing both of his friends to worry slightly.
Suddenly Yuugi grabbed his backpack and ran past his best friends quick as lightning, without a word. Anzu and Joey both just stared at each other while Yuugi was long gone.
"Whaddaya' think he was doin' dat for?" Joey raised a brow.
"I don't know. I've never seen him do that either."
They both decided to run after him to make sure nothing bad happened. Yuugi was running with all the strength he had, it was at a time like this he really didn't like his heavy backpack. Once he reached the second floor, he looked out of a window and noticed Yami down at the bottom. Said teen was heading for the school gate rather quickly. Yuugi panicked for a second, thinking he'd not reach Yami in time. The young duelist looked over at an open window just beside him. He bit his lower lip to the thought of jumping out it just to speak with Yami.
He was terrified of heights, but figured that if he closed his eyes during the fall that it would be over in a matter of seconds. He mainly hated having his feet off the ground. It had nothing to do with falling. It was just an unpleasant sensation.
This would be over in a matter of seconds. At least that's what he told himself in order to jump. It didn't look that high either from his point of view.
"I sure hope all that math paid off, because according to my calculations I shouldn't suffer any injuries if I jumped from here down in the pile of bushes." He gathered courage before taking a huge leap of faith, yelling out "YAMI!" and hit the bushes with a loud scream.
Yami jumped up, frightened to the core by the unexpected loud scream and thud. He turned around rapidly but saw nothing and no one around.
"Holy flying fuck! W-What the hell was that?" he stuttered out loud in shock, completely petrified. He leaned down to look around the trees and under the branches for something. Maybe someone was playing a prank on him? If it was Marik and Bakura, he was about to teach them a lesson, however he found no one. He put his bag down on the ground so he could search more efficiently. The shout had to come from somewhere.
He was poking the bushes lightly when a hand emerged, grabbing on to his. He screamed yet again, falling straight on his back.
Suddenly Yuugi poked his head out of the bushes.
"Stupid math. Completely useless." He rubbed the back of his head with his fingers. He blamed math, yet he completely forgot to include that large backpack in his calculations. It surely didn't make the fall less vicious but it was over in a matter of seconds. Not too frightening. Yami was completely speechless. Had Yuugi just jumped out of the second floor to stop him from exiting the school grounds?
"Are you crazy? You could have gotten killed!" Yami yelled at him in fear. It was maybe a bit overly exaggerated, no one could die jumping out of the second floor but it wasn't safe at all.
"Oh, you care so much." Yuugi smiled. This was the first time the kid had been sarcastic and he didn't like it one bit. Sarcasm shouldn't be used when one almost fell on his head and caused a bloodbath. Yami calmed himself down, taking deep breaths as if he was the one who just jumped out of that tall building. He wiped the dirt off his jacket while he regained his composure.
"Why did you-?"
"Forgive me." Here he thought he couldn't get more shocked. Did forgiveness really mean this much to Yuugi and if so why did he want forgiveness from Yami? He really thought their roles should be reversed. Yami should be the one apologizing, for so much. Though, he would refuse from jumping out of the school just to seek forgiveness. A broken leg and cracked skull wasn't worth it.
"I shouldn't have lied to you. I'm sorry. The truth is I got beat up real badly. I just didn't want you to run off and try to beat up the bully like Joey had tried in the past, that didn't end well." He attempted to pull himself out of the bushes, only to get stuck on a few branches near the bottom, unable to move his legs. If Yuugi only realized what Yami had been up to that one day, he would regret his words. Wasn't it the least bit strange Ushio wasn't in school since yesterday?
Yami was still completely lost in this situation. He failed to comprehend what happened in about 30 seconds. A boy jumped out a window seeking forgiveness, which scared him to death. Sounds about as accurate as it could be.
Yuugi struggled to release himself from the bushes' grip. It was as if it didn't want to let go at all. He huffed in annoyance and still continued, persistently. Yami looked at the younger teen as he tried so desperately to pull away from the bushes' grasp.
Just when he thought he had the boy completely figured out, he shows Yami how wrong he is. Yuugi threw his backpack on the ground so he could focus on getting his leg freed from the annoying bush. It didn't help much, even with the heavy weight off his shoulders. He had no idea why he was still watching this. No matter how badly trapped the kid was, he didn't bother to ask for help, even if he obviously couldn't deal with the problem by himself.
Just as Yuugi was about to give up, he felt two strong arms wrap around his waist tightly, before pulling him out of the bushes. It surprised Yuugi that Yami had freed him successfully, with little to no effort on his part. The crimson-eyed teen placed Yuugi down on the ground firmly once they were a step or two away from the bushes. His arms were still wrapped around the shorter boy. For once, holding on to someone didn't feel as bad as it usually would, maybe it was because he was helping someone out, quite literally. Yuugi looked up at him and smiled sheepishly; somewhat completely embarrassed he had to receive help for such a silly thing.
"I-I-I could have sort of done that by myself."
That was it, Yami had met his superior, and he was far more stubborn than he could imagine.
"Looks can be deceiving, you're heavier than I thought you would be." Yami chuckled with a smile.
This was the first time Yuugi witnessed him having such a sincere smile. It was almost unbelievable. Yami let Yuugi go and waved him goodbye as he went to pick up his bag. That's when Yuugi first realized what Yami had told him. The smile sort of temporarily shut down his brain.
"Heavier than what you- WHAT?" He still forced himself to understand what happened. Then again, he couldn't forget the fact Yami said he was heavier than he thought he would be.
"You think about people's weight?" was something he wanted to ask, though Yami didn't give him enough time to do so.
"See you tomorrow!" The smile was still visible even from a distance.
Yuugi was sitting on the ground on his knees completely confused over what to reply. He was still focusing on Yami's smile and what made him act so nice. Suddenly he realized he had to say something. If not, he'd just look silly.
"Uh, Yeah! Tomorrow! B-bye!" He said waving awkwardly, while blushing. He sat there for an amount of seconds before Joey and Anzu accompanied him. They began to shake him violently because they saw how he jumped out of the second floor. Joey noticed how Yami had grabbed Yuugi a moment ago and asked if he had hurt him in any way shape or form… so he could receive punishment. It's as if the blonde only wanted excuses for violence. Yuugi tried to calm Joey down and tell him Yami only helped him, but it didn't seem to work. Anzu sighed. Well, did Yami apologize at last or had something completely different happened? She had to ask him tomorrow morning. Even if Yami was harmless, he still needed to apologize, regardless of what Yuugi had said to him.
Meanwhile Yami was walking home in laughter.
"You have to be kidding! He really is persistent." Tears almost formed in his crimson eyes. Silence struck when he turned around to look back at Domino high. The jump, the smile, the entire scenario just kept repeating itself in his head. He still couldn't figure out why Yuugi was so nice. Maybe it was just how people were like in Japan?
Anzu had a different opinion of him too when he refused to take Yuugi's note back. Just maybe, these people were different than the ones he'd encountered earlier.
He walked down the same path he always takes and headed for the park. His head was still clouded with these thoughts, the thoughts of maybe becoming friends with all of them at some point. Becoming friends with Anzu, Honda, Joey and Yuugi.
"I'm beginning to like this guy." He tapped his school bag slightly out of amusement, still thinking back at when Yuugi jumped out the window.
"Crazy innocent kid." He sighed with that smile still visible on his face.
"It wasn't worth it… It really wasn't."
Once he stepped into the house Atem was concerned. The tanned teen was minding his own business all up until he saw his little brother enter the house.
"Yami! Are you all right?" Atem shook his brothers shoulders to get a response out of him quicker.
"Uh…yes?" Yami was a bit puzzled over why his brother would shake his shoulders or even ask him if he was fine.
"You were smiling. That's why. I was worried. Seriously worried." Atem joked.
"I wha?" Yami didn't even notice he'd been smiling all the way home. Atem asked him if something special happened or if he heard some good news.
"Oh, pf… Just some random stuff…" failing to mention the kid who jumped out the window. He gripped his bag tightly as he noticed he was almost late for the great tournament. Atem wondered why Yami was excited about coming to Japan, only to realize his favorite game was played here regularly often. Duel monsters.
He even had the cards in Egypt. However, they were all in English and Arabic. The new cards here were all in the Japanese language. He had to look up the cards on a site to make sure he knew what they did before putting them in his deck.
Eventually, Yami rushed down the stairs with a duel disk on his arm. He had quickly changed out of his school uniform and back into the leather outfit he so dearly loved.
"Looks?" Yami asked his brother while turning around, so he could have a good view. Atem only rolled his eyes at the question.
"Fix your hair instead of your clothes." Yami suddenly realized his hair was still a huge mess since this morning. He really should go and fix it. Then again, fixing the hair-issue would only mean less time for dueling, great dilemma indeed.
"Oh screw my hair, no time for that. It's a hopeless case. I just wanted your opinion on the pants." He threw the leather jacket over his shoulder and ran out, waving his brother goodbye with a smile. Atem gripped the doorknob while he was looking at his younger brother vanish in the city of Domino. Even if this wasn't his hometown, he acted as if he'd been here for ages. The school, the city, he already seemed too familiar with it, while Atem couldn't handle it at all. The fact Yami could deal with such a huge change better than Atem, terrified the older one greatly.
"He's creepy when he smiles like that…" Atem shivered, wondering what on earth could change Yami's mood so drastically from this morning. He shrugged the thought of himself while he closed the door. Unlike Yami, Atem didn't have many worries to think of. The only thing on his mind was if the phone would ever ring. Next time their parents called he'd ask them for their number so he wouldn't have to wait for them to call all the time.
Yami had been dueling random opponents to knock them out of the tournament and obtain their so-called star chips to proceed to the finals. He was dueling to obtain one of the most powerful cards of all time, one of the three Egyptian god cards.
He heard that a single God card could crush any duelist imaginable. He really wanted to get his hands on at least one before going back to Egypt. These sort of things, tournaments, were never held in Egypt, might as well enjoy it while one can. The quicker he could gain 10 star chips, the better. It sure wouldn't be easy seeing how almost everyone was dueling for the cards. The entire city was filled with duelists. that's probably why they called it Battle City. He wandered around aimlessly, looking for a new opponent. Everyone seemed to step away from him for some reason. He had dueled a few opponents and perhaps he just crushed them a bit too much. He wondered if he honestly scared away most duelists because of the way he dueled or if it was because of his outfit.
Suddenly a familiar voice was heard uttering his name in slight surprise. He looked around but saw no one near him that he recognized. Was it just imagination?
"YAMI!" Another more familiar voice yelled. He couldn't help but to chuckle, it was easy to recognizing this voice, definitely. The city was huge, so he began to scan the area to see exactly where the sound came from.
Eventually, he turned to his right and walked close to a café where Yuugi was standing waving at him. It surprised Yami to see Seto Kaiba exited with a few drinks for him and the rest of the guys. So there were more of them also dueling in this tournament?
"Who knew these guys were duelists?" Yami wondered, while smiling a bit as he gladly walked over to the others.
"What's up with him?" Kaiba asked, as he raised a brow, because he never saw Yami look so optimistic.
"I'm more confused ova' wat's up with those clothes." Joey said eyeing Yami from top to toe. His outfit looked rather black and less colorful than the school uniform or the clothes he usually wore to school. Perhaps that was also a factor to take into consideration when wondering why everyone had stepped away from him. In Joey's opinion he looked like a thug ready to beat down all three of them, the most optimistic thug around right now. Yuugi seemed to notice his friend's concerned expression and had to step in.
"I think he looks just fine."
They both just uttered a silent "Meh." while walking back inside. Yami had finally reached the café. He placed both his hands firmly on his hips and asked Yuugi a simple question.
"So you're dueling here too?" Yuugi nodded.
"You can join us inside the cafe." Yami didn't seem to protest. Though he did notice the looks Joey gave him earlier, along with Seto. Could he really? After all the things he's said and done? Could he remain content during the entire time he was here without insulting anyone just out of bad habit?
"Hmm…" The smile on his face was vanishing slowly as his head got clouded with more thoughts.
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all?