Sparks Within the Heart
Chapter Three: Hard Beat
ANNOUNCEMENT: I have changed the name from 'An Echoing Soul of an Echoing Love' to 'Sparks Within the Heart'. This is because the name 'An Echoing Soul of an Echoing Love' is a good name, but not for a story that is going to be a trilogy. So! I have changed it to something that can fit. Also, I feel that 'Sparks Within the Heart' makes sense too, since they do say that love is like a fire :)
That is all, please enjoy the story...
Lauren bobbed her head as she listened to 'Passion' by Utada Hikaru. She had heard them over a music video she found on YouTube, and really liked them. The red head finally got into class and greeted her two friends. "Morning Yuugi. Morning Jonouchi."
"Hey Lauren!" Jonouchi greeted.
"Ah… Morning, Lauren." Yuugi echoed. Lauren raised an eyebrow at his tone. It wasn't his usual cheerful greeting.
"What's got you down, Yuugi?" Jonouchi asked. It seemed he noticed the strange behavior as well.
"Nothing, it's fine!" Yuugi tried to pass off.
"Yuugi," Jonouchi started off completely serious. "I've been investigating ever since that time, and… As I thought, there is no idol in this school!" Lauren tumbled backwards out of her chair.
Yuugi reeled back in shock. "What the… Jonouchi, you're still investigating that?"
"Therefore, Yuugi…" Jonouchi continued, ignoring their reactions. Lauren sat up and just stared at Jonouchi's back in shock. "I shall become this school's number one idol!" He even gave a stance with it. Lauren sweat dropped. You've got to be kidding…
Yuugi didn't say anything and just looked down at his desk. What's wrong with you, Yuugi? Lauren thought, concerned. This is quiet, even for you. "Yuugi…" Lauren gave Jonouchi a flat look, worried he was going to babble on about something else that means absolutely nothing.
Yuugi snapped into attention. "Ah! Eh?"
"What are you worrying about? Tell me!" Jonouchi commanded as he took Yuugi by the shoulders. "I'll help you!" She was surprised. Jonouchi's face was determined. He was telling the truth. He really was willing to help Yuugi. Lauren smiled. Jonouchi was turning out to be a great guy.
Sure, he was dumber than a bag of rocks…
But a nice guy.
"Really, everything is fine!" Yuugi repeated. Lauren knew him well enough to know that he was lying. "Thanks anyways, Jonouchi…"
"Okay…" Jonouchi winked.
Lauren leaned over to whisper in Yuugi's ear. "Yuugi," He looked over at his good friend. "You know whatever it is, we can help. You don't have to lie to us. We're your friends."
Yuugi smiled. He felt warm that Lauren said that. "Its okay, Lauren! It's nothing. I'm not lying, I promise." Lauren sighed, knowing she wasn't going to get Yuugi to tell her what's wrong.
It was true. Yuugi couldn't tell Lauren what was wrong. He couldn't tell Lauren about this, and then she'd have to listen to this guy's awful voice! He couldn't do that to her, since she had great tastes of music. It'd kill her to have to listen to a guy like this. He knew that if he invited Jonouchi, then he'd pick a fight with Souzouji. He couldn't invite Anzu either, and then she would have to listen to Souzouji's awful voice too.
Yuugi just couldn't tell his friends about this awful thing!
Lauren watched as Jonouchi and Honda got a paddle and lifted up Anzu's skirt with it. After giving off an impressive squeal of surprise, she turned around and hit Jonouchi with all her might. Lauren had to admit, Anzu could pull off quite an impressive right hook, and she wasn't even really a fighter. However, Lauren peeked a looked at Yuugi, and saw Yuugi was fiddling with something in his pocket.
Lauren narrowed her eyes. If Yuugi wasn't willing to tell her what was going on, then so help her, she'd find out herself…
-x-
After school was done, Lauren had pick pocketed Yuugi to find out what he had been messing with in his pocket. Lauren found out that it had been a ticket.
'Souzouji's all night solo live'.
Lauren sighed. She knew just about no one would want to listen to that man's 'so-called' singing voice. A dying rat could sing better than him. But, it didn't matter. Lauren saw the price of them, and did the mental math of how many she figured Yuugi had. I think he had ten tickets. Lauren looked down at how much the tickets were. Let's see, 2,000 yen. Which is about 17 dollars. So, 2,000 times 10 are about 20,000. That's about… 260 dollars. Lauren shrugged again. She'd have to talk to her friend about this. She knew he would have no trouble giving her that money.
Since no one would buy the tickets, Lauren figured she had to. Lauren figured that she could make up for more than ten tickets. Souzouji had been trying to get her to go out with him for a while now. She sighed mentally. I really don't want to give Souzouji the wrong idea; he might never leave me alone. But… If it helped Yuugi in any way, then so help her, she was just going to have to grit her teeth and roll with it.
Lauren walked towards the school entrance and saw Yuugi and Hanasaki. She found out that Hanasaki had tickets too. Lauren rubbed her head and sighed to herself. Good grief. She heard Yuugi tell Hanasaki that he would take the tickets instead. Lauren smiled to herself as she leaned against some lockers. What a surprise… Lauren tapped the ticket with her fingers as she walked out of the school.
Well, better go and get that money… And… steel myself for tonight… Lauren sighed. So much for watching 'Doctor Who' on Netflix.
-x-
Lauren decided to wear a cute blue graphic tee that showed off just a tiny bit of stomach, paired with some dark wash jeans and her normal jewelry. She figured she was ready. Lauren put in her normal angel earrings, hoping they would give her luck. She then made sure her Egyptian Ankh. It was a beautiful gem, which showed all the colors of the rainbow.
Lauren found it in an old Egyptian tomb, and ever since then, she just couldn't take it off. Something about it entranced her. She hoped with these two, she'd be able to survive the night.
Lauren got the money her best friend was kind enough to give her and walked out to Souzouji's house. A thought made her pause, however. What if Yami was to come out? Lauren felt her heart race just a tiny bit. She smiled to herself. If he did, she'd have a much better night than she thought. She got there in time to see Souzouji grab Yuugi by the collar, more than upset about him not selling any tickets.
"S… Sorry, but I was really busy…"
"Hey," both looked over and Yuugi was shocked that Lauren was there. She lifted up her ticket. "Don't be silly, Yuugi." She smiled at her friend. "You gave me one."
"Ah," Souzouji blushed when he saw his crush in the door. She was hot, the shirt and pants complimenting her tan skin. "Lauren…"
She lifted up a package of money. "Here's about 30,000 yen. That should more than make up for the tickets."
"A-ah, of course." Souzouji grinned. It made Lauren's skin crawl. She ignored it and confidently walked over to Yuugi and plopped down next to him.
"L-Lauren…" Yuugi whispered. "What are you doing here?"
"I pulled a ticket out of your pocket when you weren't looking." She answered, just as softly.
"But… why?"
Hazel eyes rolled as the owner sighed. "Because you're a $*! actor." She mumbled. Suddenly two pairs of headphones were shoved into their faces.
"First off, use these to listen to my song!" Yuugi really didn't have a choice but to listen. Lauren inconspicuously put some earplugs into her ears before she placed the headphones on. Souzouji plugged in the headphones and turned the volume up as high as it would go. Good God, this man is insane. Lauren thought with a sweat dropped. It wasn't going to be long before he went deaf. "And now, the number I'm most proud of! Here is comes!"
She gripped the headphones and winced. What the *#? This voice… is not human! "Ahhhhhh… Did you like that, Lauren? I've been saving that for you?" Lauren rolled her eyes again.
But, she smiled sweetly, almost sickeningly sweet. "Of course!" Lauren swore that she just threw up in her mouth for… flirting with this… ugh. But, if it protects Yuugi, I'll do it. "You're such an impressive singer! I'm so happy that I came here!" The red head tried not to gag horrible at how she was playing the whole flirtingly sweet role. Ugh, if I keep this up, I'm gonna lose my mind.
"Now, before the next number, I'd like to introduce tonight's special guest!" Lauren raised an eyebrow. He grabbed the curtain behind him. "Tada!" He pulled it back and showed…
"Hanasaki!" Yuugi cried. Lauren's eyes widened. What the #%$?
He was obviously badly beaten up. Lauren rushed over to him, with Yuugi by her side. "Oh Hanasaki…" Lauren murmured. "What did he do to you?"
"Heh heh… Look!" Souzouji chuckled. "Pitiful… What a pitiful face… Yuugi… You stole Hanasaki's tickets, even though you're his schoolmate!"
"Hanasaki!" Yuugi cried, as Lauren checked his wounds. "I'm sorry! I made things worse…"
"Y… Yuugi…" Hanasaki said quietly. "Don't apologize… You were just trying to help me… And anyway… This is just divine punishment for trying to sell you a ticket… I'm so sorry…"
"Hush." Lauren said gently, motherly. "It's not your fault, Hanasaki. He had no right to do this to you." However, she felt a rush of power course through the air and turned. She saw the Eye of Anubis on the puzzle light up, and Lauren squinted from the brightness.
"How dare you… Make my friend Hanasaki suffer like this… I won't allow it…" Yami… She thought. She knew his voice now by heart, it was always such a deep rumble compared to Yuugi's timid voice. He turned around, confirming her thoughts.
"W… What happened to your eyes?" Souzouji muttered. "Hey hey hey! You wanna fight?"
"Heh heh, Souzouji!" Yami chuckled. "I have a question for you! Are you a coward? Wellll?"
"Whaat?" Souzouji snapped.
"Because if you're not, you won't run away from playing a little game with me!"
"A game…!" He repeated.
"It's called…" Yami smirked. "The game of silence!" Lauren raised an eyebrow. "Before I explain the rules… allow me to prepare the materials!" Yami pulled out two 'Sound Pierrots'. "This is a 'Sound Pierrot' toy! They were already in this karaoke room! If their sensors detect a sound, they begin to dance." Lauren wasn't sure if she liked them… They were a little creepy, especially considering the fact that they were little clowns, and clowns gave her the creeps. "The rules of the game: after the start signal, we must both keep perfectly silent! Don't even more your teeth or feet! Before we start, we'll place one of the 'pierrots' in front of ourselves…. The first person to make their 'pierrot' dance loses! Alright!"
"So, Yuugi, what happens if you lose?" Souzouji asked.
"I'll give my life!" Yami smirked.
"How about you give me Lauren as well?" He licked his lips and it made my skin crawl.
The smirk that was on Yami's face disappeared. He seemed to become angry. Lauren smiled sweetly, and said something before Yami could. "I would rather jump off a cliff and then get run over than go out with you." Souzouji gripped the mic. he was holding tightly. He glared at Lauren, but she just continued to smile at him. "However," she waggled a finger at him. "If you lose, then you have to suffer a penalty game, right?" She turned to Yami.
Lauren saw an emotion play within his eyes, but he covered it up with a smirk. "Right…" She raised an eyebrow, Yami may be a better actor than Yuugi is, but it still wasn't enough to fool her.
"Interesting!" Souzouji brought her attention back to him.
Game Start!
There was complete silence that completely engulfed the whole room. Lauren wasn't use to this kind of silence. It was the kind that you could feel. The kind that seemed to rest on your shoulders heavily. She never did like that kind of silence. It made her frigidity. Lauren reminded herself to stay as still as she could. She looked over at Souzouji and he smirked before licking his lips at her. Lauren gave him a disgusted look.
She lifted up her hand and flipped him off in defiance. The smirk that was on his face was wiped off quite quickly after that. Just in spite of him – and if she was honest with herself, she liked the idea – making sure she was silent, she rested her head on Yami's shoulder and closed her eyes, relaxing against his warm body. Somehow, she could tell that Yami was fighting a smirk.
Lauren lazily opened her eyes half-mass, and saw that Souzouji was staring hard at something. When she looked over, she saw that Yami's microphone plug was just barely hanging on to the edge of the glass. Lauren quietly gripped Yami's pants, worried.
Yami sensed her uneasiness, and since he couldn't move, he couldn't reach out and take her hand. So, he used his aura instead. Within seconds, Lauren felt his aura wrap around her, she knew he was telling her not to worry, that everything was going to be fine. She gently relaxed her grip, but kept an eye on the plug. However, her attention was taken away when she heard a wobbling sound. She looked over and saw that Souzouji's pierrot was dancing.
He didn't realize that it was his Pierrot however. He seemed to think it was Yami's.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Lauren realized it was his heartbeat through the speakers that was getting the pierrot dancing. "The sound of your heart!" Yami pointed out.
"Why is the speaker playing my heartbeat?" Souzouji panicked.
"You're mic." Lauren answered with a flat look. "You didn't put it down, and remember? It was at max. volume, it could easily pick up your heartbeat with how close you were holding it."
"Even in the midst of trouble, you didn't lay down your mike… A habit that has brought about disaster! Souzouji, you lose!" Yami announced. The Eye of Anubis appeared on Yami's forehead. And we know what that means, ladies and gentlemen. Lauren thought. "Penalty game! 'Beat Festival'!" Lauren and Yami got up, and the red head made sure to pick up Hanasaki. Lauren figured it had made his heart loud enough for him to hear… probably as loud as the music he listens to, maybe even louder than that. He really is going to go deaf…
"Rock music had eight beats!" Yami said. "So of course, when one listens to music with a fast beat, their own hearts speeds up to match it! The music's rhythm is the same as the chant of your heartbeat!"
"So, basically, he's become a human karaoke?" Lauren asked. Yami's smirk fell and he looked forward as he nodded. Lauren raised an eyebrow. Did she do something wrong? "Yami?" She asked.
He didn't look at her. "Yes?"
"Are you okay?" She asked. "You're acting like I've done something wrong."
"It's nothing." He said.
Lauren rolled her eyes in despair. "Oh, come on!" She snapped. "Yuugi's pulled that already, and I've established he can't fool me. Yami! You can't fool me either! Stop lying to me!" She got sick of it when that happened.
Yami's eyes widened. It had been the first time he's ever heard her yell. He looked over at Lauren, and saw she was looking at the ground in front of her, with her head down. His heart ached. He didn't mean to upset her. He looked forward, and sighed. "Do you have a crush on Souzouji?"
Lauren almost tripped over her own two feet when he asked that. She looked at him shocked. "What? Where did you get that?"
He still didn't look at her. "You were… flirting with him earlier."
Lauren blinked once, twice, a third time. Suddenly, she burst out laughing. Yami looked at her and raise an eyebrow. He was acting like that because he thought I liked Souzouji? Lauren laughed harder. Oh my God! That's hilarious! She was able to get herself down to chuckling. "Are you jealous, Yami?"
Yami flushed a bright red. "No!" He said. He stubbornly looked away. "I just think there are so many better choices than him!"
"What? Like you?" She teased. He flushed an even brighter red. Lauren chuckled. "No, Yami. I don't like Souzouji." He looked at her finally. "I only flirted with him because I was hoping that it Souzouji would be so focused on me flirting with him; he wouldn't get angry at Yuugi."
Yami blinked, surprised. "You were protecting Yuugi." He didn't put it as a question.
Lauren nodded. "Yeah." She smiled. "You're not the only one that wants to protect him, Yami." She chided gently. She shrugged. "With the money, I figured I could give him the money for all fifteen tickets. And I knew that me alone being there could make up for no one else showing up."
Yami's eyes softened when he finally understood. "That's very kind of you, Lauren."
She smiled. "Yuugi's my friend. I want to help him out as much as I can." She said. "Anyways," she leaned over, as if to tell a secret. "Between you and me, I think I threw up in my mouth when I flirted with him." Yami chuckled. "I mean," she smirked. "Leaning my head on your shoulder was the best part of the night!"
The smile was wiped from Yami's face and he blushed. "Lauren!" The said devil just laughed and cooed to Yami about how cute he looked with a blush. Yami rolled his eyes in despair at her teasing, but Lauren knew he had a smile on his face.
It seemed her and him were going to become close friends.