"You shouldn't let him get to you like that, Joey". Yugi peered up at him with a concerned expression, eyes large and sincere. "Maybe if you stopped picking fights with him, he'd also leave you alone?" Although Joey knew that Yugi was right, it didn't improve his already black mood, and he continued to stride angrily up the footpath, coming dangerously close to leaving Yugi behind as his pace increased. "I know it Yug', but that creep just gets to me! He needs someone to take him down a peg, the smug bastard." Joey hoisted his backpack further up his shoulder and peered down at Yugi, mildly surprised to see that he had dropped back a bit. He made a mental note not to take his bad mood out on his kind hearted companion and checked his pace. "Besides, I was just jokin' around, but he always goes straight for the throat. And he KNOWS how much I hate bein' called a damned mutt!" Toward the end Joey's voice had risen to a near shout and Yugi was looking faintly distressed. As if on cue, Yami appeared beside the shorter boy, staring intently at his Aibu. After silently scrutinising Yugi for a few seconds, the taller boy calmly looked up at Joey. "Would you like me to speak to him, Joey? He may listen to me as he sees me as an equal". Yugi quickly interjected, "no offense of course Joey! You know what Kaiba is like though". As Yugi spoke Yami's gaze shifted back to his face as though fascinated by everything he saw there.
Joey shook his head to clear it of his thoughts, before replying, "Nah, Yug- I mean, Yami, thanks but that's okay- I did start it all, I guess. I should just learn to keep me big trap shut". As Joey morosely kicked at a dead leaf on the footpath, Yugi glanced at Yami. They were both surprised by Joey's extreme reaction to his latest spat with Kaiba, and Yugi was keen to snap him out of his dark mood. Yami nodded at Yugi, knowing as the smaller boy did that this situation called for a one-on-one. Yami faded away slowly, smiling faintly at his Aibu, who had already turned back to the taller blonde beside him. "Listen, Joey. I know you're feeling down, but it's time to snap out of it. Don't give Kaiba another thought! Getting mad about him is exactly what he wants." Joey considered this. "And don't forget! We find out tomorrow which class trip we are going on! I really hope it's the amusement park idea!" Yugi hopped up and down slightly with excitement and his huge beaming smile dragged a begrudging one from Joey. And he was right; tomorrow the class votes would be counted and the winning trip would begin the following week! The class had been winding themselves up into a frenzy debating which option would be picked, although the hot favourites in Joey's circle of friends seemed to be skiing or an amusement park option. The trips all cost roughly the same amount and so had been prepaid far in advance. Joey's mood soured a little as he recalled that he'd had to apply for a financial hardship grant to be able to afford to go on the trip- his father certainly wasn't going to spend the money on him. Joey ran a hand through his thick mop of blonde hair, sighing as he realised that he was deliberately seeking reasons to be grumpy. "You're right Yug', that is cool! We will have to get to school early to go see the list. Ya wanna be bunkmates, wherever we're going?" Yugi beamed at Joey and nodded enthusiastically. Joey's spirits lifted a little at the prospect of two weeks of school free holidays spent with all his best friends. "C'mon Yug, let's hit the arcade!" Yugi cheered enthusiastically and the two boys began jogging in the direction of their favourite gaming arcade. Things were definitely looking up.
For the first time in many months, Joey was early to school. He and Yugi had spent hours the night before discussing the upcoming class trip, managing to convince themselves over enormous slices of pizza and cups of flat lemonade that the amusement park option had definitely been chosen. Joey had been so caught up in the thrill that he'd lost track of time and been late arriving home. As a result he now sported a livid purple bruise on his upper arm where his father had grabbed him in a vice-like grip as Joey had attempted to sneak past and up to his bedroom. Luckily he had not been punished for being late this time and his father had contented himself with merely yelling at Joey for several minutes and shaking him slightly by the arm. Joey ensured that his long sleeved blazer stayed on however to avoid any awkward questions should his shorter white school shirt sleeves reveal the bruise.
A blonde-tipped spike of jet black hair emerged amongst the crush of students and Joey realised Yugi was struggling toward him. "Mornin' Yug'!" Joey yelled cheerfully as the shorter boy pushed his way over. "Are you ready to go check out the results?" Puffing slightly, Yugi nodded and stepped in behind Joey, who was much more successful at carving a path through the mass of blue-blazer clad students. As they approached the front steps of the school building, Joey and Yugi noticed a lone student standing still as their classmates milled about. "Morning, Ryou!" Yugi called out, drawing the white haired boy's attention. "Are you waiting for somebody?" Ryou turned toward the duo and his dark brown eyes flashed with concern. "Good morning, Yugi. Good morning Joey. I am trying to find Bakura; he disappeared earlier but would not tell me where he was going! I just do hope that he's not off causing problems. I thought if I waited up here I might spot him but I have been waiting for ages and have seen no sign of him!" Already pale, poor Ryou looked even more wan than usual. He had good reason for concern; Bakura was insane, and even his Aibou had at best a tenuous control over his actions. Joey did not envy Ryou the burden of being Bakura's partner. Imagine spending all your waking minutes thinking about another person and not yourself! Joey shuddered at the thought and pushed it from his mind. "Aww, c'mon Ryou, even a nutbag like Bakura knows there are rules. He won't risk the sweet gig he's got with you just for a bit of fun!" Ignoring Yugi's disapproving frown at his description of Bakura, Joey slung an arm around Ryou and proceeded to lead him inside the building. "Let's go find out where we are going on this trip, huh? That'll take your mind off Bakura and we can get in early to choose our bunkmates!" Ryou smiled at Joey, relief playing in his expressive eyes, before his grin faded into a slightly shamefaced disappointment. "Unfortunately I cannot choose my roommate; the school has placed some students on their own for, ah… various reasons. I was told yesterday that I would be bunking alone". The school understandably could not quite understand the situation with Ryou and his Yami- as far as they were concerned, Ryou was deeply disturbed and had a split personality. Ryou seemed content to let them assume as such, explaining that the truth would probably get him locked up. Luckily, Yugi had managed to avoid the same amount of stigma as although Yami could emerge and exist separately to Yugi, he rarely chose to, instead usually swapping with Yugi when he wanted to manifest. Many teachers had merely noticed that Yugi occasionally appeared taller or more confident than they remembered, but rarely did they give it more thought than this. Yami seemed perfectly content to remain as one with Yugi, although when the gang were all together he would sometimes emerge separately to interact with them.
Joey shook his head and looked over at Ryou. "Sorry to hear that, bud. I'm sure you can sneak in and visit Yug' and I in our room when nobody is looking!" Ryou gave him a faint smile before turning serious again, his eyes sweeping the room for Bakura.
"Listen up, everybody! Please gather around!" The students milled about as Mr. Ruthe stepped up onto a milk crate to better see and be heard by the crowd. Joey and Yugi managed to push their way to the front, where they could see that Mr. Ruthe held a rolled up piece of paper in his hand. "As you are all aware, shortly we will be revealing the result of the class trip vote, which will determine where we be going over the summer break". The hallway full of students grew steadily quieter as the last giggles and shouts faded away. "Before we do this however, we must let you know that the sleeping arrangements will not be determined by yourselves. That is to say-" here Mr. Ruthe had to raise his voice as several students had begun to protest- "that is to say, your roommates will be determined by random selection, or a 'lucky dip". Now almost every student was groaning or crying out in protest, including Joey. Yugi remained silent but his excitement had dwindled and he was clearly disappointed by the turn of events.
"Please! Attention, students!" Mr. Ruthe, looking slightly harassed, waved his hands above his head in an attempt to regain order and regain control over the situation. "The room pairings will be chosen by a member of staff and the final list will be posted outside the staffroom door shortly. There is to be no trading or swapping of places, and no exceptions. Of course, girls and boys will remain separate. This is non-negotiable. You will have plenty of opportunity to spend time with your friends during the trip, and so having a different roommate may not be so bad. In fact, you may make a new friend!" Joey rolled his eyes at Yugi, thoroughly put out. If I wanted more friends I'd have made some, Joey thought savagely in his head at Mr. Ruthe, who had hastily climbed down off the milk crate and escaped into the teachers' lounge to retrieve the voting results while the hallway erupted into discussions and cries of dismay from the girls.
A tap on Joey's shoulder brought him out of his reverie and he saw Tristan and Tea standing behind him. Both looked just as unhappy, although Tea less so as she would never have been able to bunk with one of the boys anyway. As always, her gaze shifted to and lingered on Yugi, who true to form was oblivious to her rather obvious attraction for him, as he greeted both Tea and Tristan cheerfully. Suddenly Yugi stiffened and stared blankly about him for a second, before blinking dazedly and standing a little taller. Yami had emerged. "Heya Joey, Yugi" said Tristan, who did a double take at Yami before correcting himself. "Sorry; Yami. Hey. Bummer about the sleeping arrangements, huh?" Joey nodded vigorously while Yami nodded once, his eyes meeting Tea's for a moment. Tea flushed horribly and became very interested in gazing at her shoes. "It is a pity" Yami agreed in his deep serious voice, "however I am sure we will have ample opportunity to see one another during the day. And who knows- it is a lucky dip; perhaps some of us will end up bunking together anyway". The others nodded and Joey was suddenly hopeful again. Sometimes Yami's deep, measured personality could calm him even more than Yugi could.
Finally Mr. Ruthe emerged from the teachers' lounge and without flourish pinned a piece of paper to the notice board on the wall. Following this he pinned a second, longer piece of paper next to the first before turning and scarpering back into the room. The students surged forward to read the notice, Joey and the others at the front of the line. For a few seconds there was silence as those in front read the voting results; this was shattered as Tristan yelled out, "What?! A cruise ship? Who the hell voted for the cruise ship!" then all was pandemonium as whoops of joy, cries of protest and requests for Tristan to repeat the result rang out. Joey scanned the piece of paper quickly, and sure enough, the winning class trip vote was for a two-week cruise on board a huge cruise liner! A momentary wave of disappointment at not going to a theme park was quickly pushed aside as the broader group's excitement washed over him- two weeks of free food, free activities and plenty of swimming! It wasn't his first choice, but it was a damned good second, Joey mused. Beside him, Tea clapped her hands together with joy and Yami merely shrugged, quirking an eyebrow. It is what it is, Joey, his look conveyed. Joey grinned back at him and moved aside to check out the second piece of paper; obviously the random draw of students' names for accommodation had already been completed. Joey scanned the list, noting names that were together and those with weird combinations. He chuckled when he saw that Yugi was bunking with Duke; that would be interesting. He supposed that they would probably be seeing a lot of Yami in the upcoming days; competition always brought him out. He noticed Ryou Bakura- solo bunk written below the list of partners in an untidy scrawl and felt a stab of pity for the poor quiet lad. Another three students had been given solo rooms, and Joey recognised all their names as those of school bullies, except for one girl who was simply allergic to almost everything and was incredibly difficult to live with.
Joey did one full scan of the list but could not see his name partnered with anybody. He read again, carefully, but neither he nor Yugi could spot Joey's name. Beginning to panic a little now, Joey moved aside to let others view the list and knocked on the staff room door. What if his grant had not gone through? What if they didn't let him go on the trip? Joey would normally make plans for the summer break to avoid being home as much as possible, but had not done so this time in anticipation of going away with his class! Finally Mr. Ruthe yanked the door open, looking flushed and irritable. He was clearly expecting to face a horde of furious and disappointed students, and appeared to be slightly surprised to see only Joey standing in front of him. Pushing his small spectacles up his nose, Mr. Ruthe stared dimly at Joey. "Mr. Wheeler? What can I do for you?" Joey gestured to the name list that had now been ripped from the board and being handed about amongst the students to read. "Mr. Ruthe, my name doesn't appear on the list. Was there a problem with my financial support grant?" Mr. Ruthe frowned and stepped further out of the doorway, rubbing his chin. "Wheeler? No, no, I recall that everything was in order for your paperwork, it all went through nicely. Yes. No there is no reason for you to be not on the list- you must have just been missed in the draw. Terribly sorry Wheeler; well, no harm done! I mean, all the students have now been paired off, so you will not be able to bunk with anybody, but there are plenty of spare rooms available. You can bunk solo, Mr. Wheeler. Yes, that'll do nicely! Just like our young Mr. Ryou here!" Mr. Ruthe beamed at Ryou who had appeared beside Joey, the crumpled and slightly torn list of names clutched in his hand. Before Joey had a chance to object, Mr. Ruthe took the list from Ryou and hastily scribbled Joey Wheeler- solo bunk below Ryou's own name. "Well, that's done then isn't it! See you all on Monday at the wharf- letters have been sent to your families that contain all the details for what you will be required to bring and what time to meet your classmates on Monday. And no, Mister Wheeler-" Joey had opened his mouth to speak- "your friends are already partnered off and so they cannot swap and move into your room. Good day!" The door closed firmly yet gently in Joey's face.
All on my own for two weeks? He can't be serious! At least Ryou has Bakura to talk to, or fight with anyway. This is going to be the worst trip ever. Joey scuffed his shoes as he made his slow way to his first class. At least there's one upshot- I don't have to bunk with Kaiba! The thought pleased him.