A/N: Wow I got such a positive response for this fic! I'm amazed people like it so much, and incredibly flattered. Thanks a ton and please enjoy this new chapter ;D
Disclaimer: Not Mine!
"Miho-chan, did Anzu-chan leave to change yet?" He asked politely and she shook her head no.
"She always stays after class to work with Marik-kun, if you talk to her now he might let you have a couple minutes before they start practicing," she said then disappeared into the fray of girls entering and leaving the change room.
Ryou scanned the room through the mirrors covering the walls and finally caught sight of Anzu relaxing in the corner, rubbing her eyes in an exhausted way.
"Anzu-chan!" He called, waving to her with concern on her face. She let out a jaw cracking yawn in response, wincing slightly as she tried to cover it before saying, "Hey Bakura-kun."
"Are you alright?" He asked worriedly, and she forced a smile. He'd always known she was a horrible actor, but this was even worse than usual.
"I'm" –
"Anzu-chan you're exhausted," he said flatly before she could try a half hearted lie, and she sighed, realizing she'd been caught.
"It's just this whole tutoring thing after school with Mutou-san, he's a good teacher, but its mentally exhausting, and then practicing every day with Marik-kun to..." She trailed off, face scrunching up in another petite yawn.
"I'm just tired right now, but I'll get used to it. After all, the lessons are worth it," she said brightly, no sign of lying on her smiling face now as she talked about the tutoring.
"So you and Mutou-san are getting along then?" Ryou asked smoothly.
"Hm? Oh yah, he's great," she replied cheerfully, seeming a bit out of it, and Ryou grinned a little to himself. Maybe this time around the romance would work out for the two of them. He certainly hoped so, it would do the serious teacher some good, especially because she obviously liked him as a friend at least, and the silly smile hinted at a crush brewing as well.
"So...dancing with Ishtar-kun has been alright then?" He asked casually, folding his hands behind his back, and felt his heart stutter when she frowned, but she seemed absorbed in her thoughts once again.
"Dancing has been good I guess, but as far as our partnership goes I can't seem to understand him at all. He's so closed off all the time like he's afraid for me to know anything about him other than his name," she sighed seeming slightly melancholy.
"I have to say though he is an amazing dancer," she admitted even sounding a bit grudging.
"I'll say," Ryou agreed under his breath as he caught sight of Ishtar-kun across the room while the room quickly got emptier. Interesting though, that he even estranged his own dance partner...why?
Ryou couldn't seem to stop asking why lately. The mystery surrounding him only got deeper with each passing day and he felt like he was sinking more and more as he waded into it while trying to remain invisible to the person at the centre of this particular quicksand patch.
...
"Ishtar-san, you need to focus on your grades," Ryou heard the sensei growl. He itched to open the door and see for himself what was going on, but knew that would only make everything awkward and silent, so he waited inside the change room feeling guilty for eavesdropping.
Still, he couldn't seem to make himself eliminate that one inch between the door and the frame to cease the flow of sound from the other room. Why in the world would Ishtar-kun have to focus on his grades when he was the best dancer in the senior year?
"I will sensei," replied a monotonous voice that he recognized vaguely as Ishtar-kun's.
"Saying you will is not the same as actually trying. I don't understand, I really don't, you have such potential as a dancer, yet your theory marks are lower than average," Sensei said in a dissatisfied voice.
So that was what they were talking about, theory. Ryou didn't think it was that strange, maybe that it was below average, but lots of people were good at dance and bad at theory or vice versa. Of course, teachers seemed to think the two were irreversibly connected though unless you were a school teacher you rarely had need for the doleful work.
Personally, Ryou considered it a conspiracy against the students to make them learn it just because the teachers had to.
"I will succeed, sensei, my marks are my business. Please excuse me, Anzu-san should be returning soon from getting her drink and I would like to begin practicing," Ishtar-kun replied in a cold clipped tone.
There was an ominous sounding rumble of comments from the teacher, but he agreed hesitantly, unable to argue with such good work ethic, and his footsteps retreated. Ryou quickly pushed the door open, not wanting to get caught, and walked across the room, giving Ishtar-kun a polite nod but not saying anything as he exited.
What had happened in his past to make him so focused? Where had he learned to dance so well without learning theory?
Ryou wanted to ask but knew such questions would merely be a nuisance to the other boy, and he likely wouldn't even answer. Ishtar-kun lived inside an invisible glass box that he pushed along like an iron weight, struggling to support it while showing no signs of that struggle unless you looked carefully.
Watching and trying to figure out his facial expressions was possibly the most difficult and absorbing task Ryou had ever put himself to. They each lasted only a couple seconds before they were covered again by a glance downwards or a serious poker face.
Seeing him constantly alone put Ryou at a disadvantage, approaching him while he was so aloof and cut off made him seem a lot more intimidating then when he was merely practicing during class. Come to think of it even then he was mostly alone.
How did one dance with such a heavy barrier surrounding them?
...
"Ready to practice?" Miho asked cheerfully and Ryou nodded, shaking himself out one last time.
"I think it'll be more choreography then practicing today, but we'll see what we get done," he replied lightly, and noticed her sigh out of the corner of his eye.
"Hey, hey, what's that about?" He asked brow wrinkled as his puppy dog eyes bore down on her with concern written all over his face, putting a hand to her shoulder.
"It's nothing," Miho said innocently with a bright smile, but Ryou wasn't convinced. She was much better at appearing cheerful than Anzu so he couldn't be sure, but from the way her dark blue eyes didn't sparkle at the prospect of choreographing a new dance made him suspicious.
"Miho-chan, I'll never be able to choreograph properly if I'm worrying about you," he said firmly and she let the smile drop, looking, to his surprise, worried just like him, not angry or upset.
"It's just Anzu-chan...I don't like that she's busy all the time," she said musingly and Ryou couldn't help a small smile. A lot of people thought Miho was extremely superficial but she was actually sweet when you got to know her.
She always noticed when something was wrong with her friends, even if there was nothing she could do to fix it. She wasn't as strong as someone like Anzu, but more of a delicate listener. It made her perfect for pouring all of his worries to though he felt badly about it afterwards.
"Well, Anzu-chan has been busy with tutoring and dance, it's not like there's anything she can do to avoid them between Mutou-san and Ishtar-kun," he said helplessly, wishing he had more to offer when suddenly her face lit up in a genuine expression of delight.
"At least she seems happier even if she is pretty tired. I mean, she kind of acts like she's got a crush on Mutou-san sometimes even though he's older and way more mature than the other guys," she giggled happily, and Ryou couldn't say he was surprised she noticed.
Her sixth sense for gossip was phenomenal sometimes, and she didn't even know Yami the way he did.
"I haven't talked to her lately, but when I did she seemed suspicious to me as well," he agreed eagerly. Suddenly her expression turned sly, and he immediately felt nervous. Her sixth sense was phenomenal but sometimes phenomenally bad when she was sniffing through his garbage.
"You've been kind of strange lately to Ryou...I think you have a new crush you haven't told me about!" She accused, and he knew too late that his expression would give him away. "I was right!" She shrieked excitedly, ringing her hands together and she jumped up and down.
"Who is he? Please Ryou, please, please, please tell me?" She begged, but he shook his head rapidly, eyes wide.
"I-I never said I liked anyone," he stammered in denial weakly, but she just rolled her eyes.
"You've been moping all the time, especially during dance, and since there are not that many guys, Miho-chan will definitely find out!" She declared in a determined tone he almost admired, he was so relieved she didn't actually know who it was yet.
He was certain she wouldn't suspect Ishtar-kun, after all, they never talked, and he wasn't usually one to fall for someone he didn't know so hard. He felt kind of silly for these feelings himself, especially knowing it wouldn't go anywhere since he was too shy to even talk to him, but he wasn't one to dwell either.
Beating himself up over it would hardly make the problem any better.
...
Stupid, he thought to himself mournfully as he found himself lingering outside the dance room though he'd left the change room over an hour ago. He left, walked around, decided he didn't feel like going home, and found himself back here, wishing he could see inside to where Anzu-chan and Ishtar-kun were practicing.
This urge to see him was getting ridiculous, he didn't even have the nerves to talk to him let alone spy on him! Ishtar-kun didn't know he existed beyond being another face in the classroom, that he knew for a fact.
Luckily he'd just turned away from his staring at the blank door and taken a step down the hall when someone turned the corner, equally surprised to see him as he was to see the other person. Yami? What was he doing in the dance hall?
"Hey, what're you doing here?" He called cheerfully with a small wave which Yami returned, a miniscule smile on his face, though a thunder cloud seemed to hang above his head ominously that had nothing to do with his wildly coloured hair.
There was a thick feeling like anxiety hanging around him. Strange, Yami wasn't really the anxious type.
"Mazaki-chan and I have a tutoring session, and she's late for the fifth time in two weeks. I thought I'd come check to make sure things are all right," he said smoothly, knowing Ryou would sense his worry, and immediately know he was lying if he tried to cover it.
"Ah, well I think she and Ishtar-kun are still practicing," he said making sure to sound uncertain just to prove how 'uninformed' he was on the situation. Of course, he knew all about the tutoring sessions from Miho, and even a little from Anzu herself.
He had wondered if Yami might actually have feelings for Anzu before, but this new worrying he was doing made him think he was definitely on to something.
"Do you like Anzu-chan?" He asked outright in his most innocent voice, and Yami's red eyes widened, their black edges making them seem like dark sinister vortexes against his pale face.
"Nani? Mazaki-chan? What makes you think that?" He demanded, obviously caught off guard, which made sense. He and Ryou had kept contact and were moderately good friends, but to make such an observation out of the blue...Ryou almost felt bad for him.
"Well you call her Mazaki-chan," Ryou pointed out slyly, and that only seemed to knock the teacher even more out of balance.
"I didn't even notice I was doing it," he murmured truthfully. "I suppose one can't help but feel some affection towards a student they spend so much time with," he added, brushing it off with a shrug and Ryou resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
Yami was first class when it came to pretending like something simply didn't happen. After all he'd been doing it for the better part of three years.
"Well, you can go in if you want; Ishtar-kun is pretty serious though. I was actually waiting to get something from our regular classroom, I didn't want to throw off the rhythm by bumping around in the other room," he explained casually, gesturing the second dance studio.
Quietly, he thought that that explanation made no sense since the walls were completely sound proofed so one class wouldn't disturb another, but he knew Yami wouldn't know this.
"Than this is dance studio three?" He asked uncertainly, sizing up the blank door. Ryou grinned to himself, knowing that nothing would dissuade Yami from going in and getting Anzu if he really liked her and he really seemed to like her.
"Yup," he replied cheerfully, and Yami opened the door, slipping inside silently, his poker face once again in place, though Ryou found it clear as water especially after working away at a challenge like Ishtar-kun these past couple weeks.
He waited outside the door, keeping his feet shifted, and his hand on the knob of the other door so that it could appear he had just exited dance studio two as soon as someone appeared. He grew impatient quickly; he wanted to see Anzu-chan and Yami together to see how they acted!
He nearly fell over with surprise when the door opened and Marik walked out, a less then pleased expression on his face which disappeared as soon as he caught sight of Ryou. He automatically let his hand fall so it would appear he had indeed just come from the room.
"Hello, Ishtar-kun," he said kindly, curiosity nearly smothering him, but he swallowed it forcefully. He would not ask what went on in there, he would not!
"Um, are Mutou-san and Anzu-chan still in there?" He asked then nearly smacked himself. Real subtle, Ryou, real subtle, he never was good at watching his tongue around people he liked.
Ishtar-kun eyed him for a moment, and then said, "Yes. She thinks her feelings for him are well hidden but they're not," he said simply, and Ryou knew he was watching for his reaction at the words. He didn't bother pretending to be surprised, certain Ishtar-kun would see through it.
"It's true that she is a horrible actor," he replied with a small smile.
"I have to leave," Ishtar-kun said rather abruptly, bowing a little stiffly, "Goodbye."
Ryou noticed with a small twinge of his stomach, and possibly his heart, that he didn't use his name. He probably didn't even know it since they had never even been formally introduced.
Well that was sort of his own fault, wasn't it?
A/N: Next chapter, the first real meeting between these two occurs!
Here's a preview of the next chapter:
So this wasn't the start of a relationship, or even a beautiful friendship, or anything so cliché but just the fact that he'd made it through a confrontation with his crush, and he hadn't seemed to pick up anything that bothered him made Ryou want to dance.
Was this what falling in love was like? Insane happiness over a complete stranger?
Jumping the gun a little bit, don't you think Ryou? See you all next chapter I hope!
