Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh
Warning: Cursing can go from mild to mass amounts at times
Note: There will be blood in later chapters, mentions of sex, and possible lemons...
Keep in mind that Yami is a GIRL. So she worries about GIRLY things and has these things. Called INSECURITIES. They happen. She has them. Because she's human.
As far as the group dynamics go, by the way, things are strained and iffy and will be explained throughout the story so keep that in mind.
Chapter IV: White Roses
Bad move, Yami. Shouldn't have thrown it away. Surely, you of all people know just how expensive a gift that is.
Yami glared at the note that had been placed on her books, clenching her jaw in frustration; at this rate, if this prank or whatever the hell it was, continued, Yugi would end up finding the notes and freaking out on her behalf.
She cast a glare around the hallway, bristling and glancing back at the note slowly as her stomach flipped and settled again; it was too early for this shit. School wasn't even technically starting yet.
This prank was getting annoying and pathetic. If they wanted to psyche her out, they would have to try much harder than this.
She looked the message over, staring at the bright blue of the ink, and tilted her head; well, that wasn't nice. The picture that he had taken of her dumping the necklace in the trash now that the word Bitch written across the front but this time it was large block letters in red ink like Sharpie.
Rude.
She cast another glance around, skin crawling now. Did they have cameras in her locker or a key? Had they opened it or just slipped it through the bars? She would have said that they needed to have opened it to put it on her books so neatly but when it came down to it, all they would have had to do is slip a larger piece of paper through with it on top, shaken the loose leaf, and then pulled it out again and wandered off.
Yami didn't think that it had been opened when it came down to it. But she wasn't entirely sure either. Maybe she could rig it to tell her sometime…
"Aibou?"
She blamed nerves and getting lost in her thoughts for the way that she jumped and nearly hit her head against the locker door violently. The door rattled as she spun to face him, eyes wide, fingers gripping the card and picture far too hard; she crumbled it up before she could over-think it, shakily giving him a grin.
"Don't sneak up on me like that!"
Yugi blinked in confusion, blue-violet eyes stretching wider than usual as he took her in; she already knew that her hair was a little tangled from where she had woken up late and run, but hoped her lack of sleep from that night as she had attempted mentally listing out all of the guys who wrote left-handed or had had a crush on her at some point was not.
The list…was horribly short.
So maybe it was just Vivian and Rebecca paying the guy to write these things and give them to her. Someone that she didn't quite know well enough to bother with or even attempt to bother with.
So many people applied to that list however.
She was normally just with the others because that was what always happened and now she was trying to think outside of the group and while she knew a scattered handful of left-handed people, that only applied to their grade. If they had decided on bribing someone outside of their group, she was utterly screwed as far as suspects went.
Her boyfriend tilted his head, furrowing his brows slightly and frowning the smallest bit before reaching out to straighten her jacket shoulder where she had banged it against the door with her startled reaction.
"You okay?"
"Yeah," she murmured, putting on a small smile and trying to make it seem more pointedly relaxed but she thought he could tell how tense her body actually was just by giving her a single glance. "I was just a little in my head for a moment there."
Yugi nodded slightly, almost dismissively, but glanced at her hand for a second, looking at her eyes and back again; was he supposed to ask about that? He didn't think she would tell him anyways. Especially with that look in her eyes practically begging him not to mention it.
"All right then." He tilted his head. "Are you sure? You look pretty pale."
Yami blinked when he touched her forehead and cheeks, supposing that he was checking for her skin being clammy, but looked satisfied enough when he found nothing.
"Yes, I'm sure." She nodded again and squeezed the card in her hand, her fingers stinging with the force of it for a second as the paper pressed into her palm harshly. "Tired but I'll get over that soon enough."
Yugi nodded but didn't look very happy with that explanation.
And Yami hated herself for immediately jumping to the conclusion that Tea was truly starting to get under Yugi's skin and he was officially worrying about it. The red-eyed girl didn't know if that was true or not but it was definitely starting to tear at her skin with worry and she was being to feel sick to her stomach with guilt. If she just told him what was going on, would that make it better?
Or would it make it worse?
Yugi wouldn't tell her if their situations were reversed and she didn't want to have to drag him into it either. He would become too worried and protective and she already knew that she couldn't deal with that happening. It just wasn't possible for her to keep up with her own thoughts and worry about him getting himself into trouble over her being the victim of a potential prank to make them break up or something worse than that.
"Come on, aibou," Yugi announced, taking her hand and twining their fingers together as he led the way to the staircase. Yami tilted her head and looked over her shoulder, confused to find that the others weren't anywhere around them.
Had he sought her out before they could find them?
She turned back and Yugi smiled at her for a brief second before turning away again, leading the way up the stairs until they reached the exit to the roof; Yami shivered at the touch of cold air that came when he opened the door and locked it, the door kept open by the locking mechanism being pushed out as it was.
Yami had to admit that she was more than a little excited to be up on the roof with him again; it had been a long while since the last time. Normally the group was always with them and the rooftop had always been that one place that they went without them, just sitting around and playing games around their lunches.
She cast him a curious look and vaguely took notice that he hadn't grabbed a lunch or anything, growing slightly unnerved by that fact.
"Aren't you hungry?"
Yugi turned his head with a brow raised and gave her a small grin, rolling his eyes and gesturing her further out towards the fence; Yami blinked and tilted her head before nodding slightly to herself. Of course Yugi had brought them both lunch from home; his mom must have been home because, despite it all, the smaller teen tended to burn water when he wasn't careful. He could cook for the most part but the moment he gave his attention to something else, the smoke alarm would end up going off. The enthusiastic blue-violet-eyed teen always ended up distracted when he cooked and when he got distracted, he normally gave his newfound entertainment all of his attention no matter what, and he got so engulfed in it that he wouldn't even realize that a timer had gone off or something was burning.
Yami had tried to make cookies with him one time but the teen had ended up commenting on how hot she was and spent the ten minutes just talking about that while she had laughed and pulled the cookies out. And then, of course, she had been forced to restrain him from the cookies because they were too hot and Yugi made a game of trying to get them until she eventually just told him to go for it and laughed when he ended up burning his tongue and whining pitifully.
"Your mom's home?"
Yugi puffed his cheeks out and sighed loudly. "Goddamn it. I knew I wouldn't get the chance to say I made it before you said that."
Yami raised a brow. "Did you make it?"
The blue-violet-eyed boy opened his mouth and then closed it again, turning away. "No."
His girlfriend burst out laughing. "Oh wow."
"Shut up," he whined, gesturing for her to take a seat and doing the same; she was pretty sure he was watching her skirt when she finally took a seat but rolled her eyes instead of calling him out on it. It wasn't like it was offensive or anything, though she kind of doubted that everyone else would feel that same way.
She honestly pictured Mai teasing the hell out of Joey about it and Tea being slightly ruffled but appreciative anyways because why wouldn't you like to have the attention of your boyfriend so keenly? Yami vaguely wondered how her rolling her eyes would come off to someone like Tea at the moment. Maybe the brunette would think she was frustrated with the entire idea of sitting with him? Maybe it would give more of a hint at her little suspicions of her cheating on him?
By the gods, she needed to stop obsessing over Tea and what she had said to Yugi.
He would have told her if he actually thought that her words held a point or worried him so much that he was trying to make sure that she was around him constantly or he was attempting to get closer to her or something.
Right?
She shook it off. Of course he would.
"Mom's attempting Egyptian food this week," he announced, laughing when her eyes stretched wide and her brows shot up; it wasn't much of a surprise that his mom had this strange love-hate relationship with Yami most of the time. She honestly had them with most people, but at times she was only the tiniest bit beneath vicious with the red-eyed teen. She blamed her for Yugi growing up too fast and by growing up too fast, she meant him dating her and the fact that they were sexually active. She blamed her whenever he got stressed and whenever his grades dropped even slightly. She never tried to ban her from Yugi because she made him happy so that was really the only thing that kept the love part of that relationship.
Plus, from what she had walked in on one morning while coming to check up on Yugi when he was sick, his mom hated her hair and her eyes. So apparently that merited passive-aggressive attacks in her book as well.
"Should I check to see if it's poisoned?" Yami asked skeptically, looking at it and narrowing her eyes; she would not be the least bit surprised if that ended up happening at some point. Honestly, she couldn't really wrap her head around the entirety of how their relationship worked, but either way, Yami hardly saw it changing and Yugi didn't want to get in between his mom and girlfriend and so very wisely sat it out.
And it wasn't as if his mom had ever threatened her because if that had actually happened, Yugi wouldn't be nearly as complacent and quiet, so it was more just a show of being unhappy with his choice in girls.
It didn't help, however, that she openly supported the idea of Tea and Yugi.
"No."
Yami narrowed her eyes further and looked at him through her lashes. "You tried it earlier, didn't you?"
He blushed slightly and ducked his head, mumbling, "I wanted to make sure it wasn't poisoned."
The girl rolled her eyes and shook her head, undoing the cloth that was wrapped around the container of food, opening the lid and looking it over. "Wow. She really put some effort into this, huh?"
Yugi would have said that she was coming around but they both knew that wasn't it. He just figured his mom was coming to realize that no matter how many the complaints or the hints at Tea that he really wasn't going to budge with their relationship.
"Yep," he said instead, nodding and watching her thoughtfully for a moment.
"You warmed it in the microwave?" Yami asked, blinking wide eyes and looking at him in shock.
"I did," he agreed, nodding enthusiastically. "It's better hot. Plus it's cold out here."
"Oh please, you're such a wimp when it comes to temperature," she scoffed playfully, laughing and moving to fold her legs to the side, resting her hip against the concrete as Yugi narrowed his eyes and glared at her. "This isn't even cold!"
"Are you serious right now, Yami? Your jacket is almost three times as thick as mine is. And plus, you like the cold," he snorted.
"Props of being born in February," she snickered, rolling her eyes. "Fine, you want to change jackets? We can see who's more cold afterwards."
Her boyfriend gave her a wide grin almost like the Cheshire cat. "You just want to wear my jacket," he chuckled.
"Maybe a little," she admitted. "Besides, you look…good in pink…?"
"You sound so convincing!" he laughed.
"Shut up, I'm trying!"
Yugi rolled his eyes and grabbed his container, settling it in his lap and starting to eat while Yami followed his example, pausing to really smell the food and make sure there was nothing off about it; her boyfriend glanced at her and choked on his laughter before turning away again, shaking his head and smirking widely.
"What? You can never be too careful with mothers!"
"I feel like we would be having this exact same conversation if you were a guy."
Yami stopped short with the food in front of her mouth and stared at him while Yugi blinked a few times and then squeezed his eyes shut, trying and failing to get "Don't" out before she murmured, "I'm a little concerned about your sexuality right now. I mean, what kind of statement is that?"
"I…I just meant that…Hey, well, at least I still said it was you and not someone else!" he sputtered, frowning and blushing harder. "Just—gods, stop looking at me like that!"
"Well, how am I supposed to look at you after that kind of comment?"
"Word vomit, okay? It was word vomit."
His girlfriend nodded that way she always did when she was about to really get into the task of teasing him, and he could feel his cheeks heating that much more, eyes wide as he shifted awkwardly in his seat.
"You swinging the other way on me now, Yugi?"
"Goddamn it. I'm never going to live this down, am I?"
"Hell no. If I have to constantly wonder if you're imagining me with a penis then you have to suffer through being reminded endlessly."
Yugi groaned and rolled his eyes. "Shut up," he mumbled. "That's not even…Just shut up."
"You're too easy."
The blue-violet-eyed teen huffed and Yami snickered at the way he crossed his arms and shook his head. "You're just rude. Why the hell are we dating again?"
"I don't know…Can we swap jackets now?"
Yugi stared at her for a moment and then laughed and shook his head. "Fine. All right. If you want the jacket, you can come and get it."
She was comfortable though. And he knew that.
"You play dirty."
"Mmhmm."
"Keep your stupid jacket then. Mine's warmer anyways."
"So you admit that it's cold!"
"No, I'm calling you a wimp in a nicer way. Ra, Yugi, get it together."
"Shut up! I am so not a wimp…You're a wimp!"
"You fled from my house like you thought my dad was going to chase you down the street," she snickered, smirking widely as he blushed and then paled before blushing furiously again. "And that was just yesterday. Not to mention the million other times you've done it too."
Yugi opened and closed his mouth. "I…Shut up! He's intimidating, okay? Plus, if you only knew what he had told me the day that we told him we were going out…" He shuddered and Yami tilted her head curiously.
"What did he say to you anyways?"
"I'm not telling you that!" he snapped, sputtering and blushing harder. "That shit was traumatizing!"
"Or you're just a wuss."
"It was traumatizing, Yami. Traumatizing."
"Or you're just—"
"Traumatizing."
She rolled her eyes and held her hands up. "Okay, so I'll pretend to take your word for it that it was 'traumatizing'," she announced, nodding and smirking slightly. "But we'll both know that I don't believe you even though I'll make it seem that way."
"That's all I ask."
"So easily pleased."
"I am, I am," he agreed immediately, nodding and putting his container aside before falling on his back and groaning softly. "It's cold."
"You're a wimp."
Yami glanced at her food for a second; it was still relatively warm but it was getting really cold now, but either way it was pretty good and the only problem was that Yugi's mom had apparently given her too much of it. She didn't know if that was because she thought she was a stick—which she was; she admitted that without argument—or because she just wanted to overfeed her a little bit.
Because she knew from meals over at their house that she would get beyond guilty if she couldn't finish her plate. She had overeaten more than once over there and felt sick for the rest of the day and it was hard to break that habit even when she wasn't there to see it. It was just something that she was raised with.
If she was given something, she wasn't supposed to turn it away.
She didn't really know if that applied to food too or not but most of the time it did regardless of whether it was supposed to.
Yami chewed her cheek. If she ate anymore, she was going to be too full and she would end up grumpy and unhappy all day. But if she didn't eat it, she was going to feel guilty and miserable because of it.
She stared at her food for a long minute and yelped when the container was suddenly snatched from her hands and Yugi went about munching on the rest of it.
"What the hell are you…? I—I wasn't done with that!" she objected, all but gawking and flinching at the way his face darkened slightly and he rolled his eyes around another mouthful. Yami turned her attention away, staring at the sky as Yugi put the container with his and pushed them away.
"You need to stop doing that," he muttered, narrowing his eyes when she refused to look at him again. "If you get full, you're not supposed to keep eating. I hate it when you do that."
Yami rolled her eyes. "Well, you've hated it for the last four years, right? I think you can manage hating for longer," she snapped.
"Are you serious right now, Yami? Just stop doing it! It's not even healthy."
"I'm sorry, did you just try to tell me what to do?"
"You know damn well that's not what I was saying."
"Then phrase it better."
"Don't fucking growl at me," he spat. "You've always done that and I've always hated it. I told you that the first time you did it in front of me and I'll tell you every fucking time afterwards."
Yami opened her mouth to snarl at him and then went completely still, staring at him in shock, realization slamming into her as their eyes locked. They had had this conversation so many times and they had left it alone again until the next time that it was brought up, a constant back and forth kind of thing. But they had never gotten vicious over it, and Yugi had just helped escalate it to the point that she was about to tear him a new one.
Tea.
She curled her lip back in frustration.
Tea actually had talked to him about it.
And Yugi had been threatening to explode this entire time.
"Say it," she growled softly, bristling and glaring as her boyfriend froze in place and his eyes widened drastically, startled and beginning to realize just how far he had stepped. "Go ahead and say it."
Yugi shook his head slowly, not opening his mouth and instead looking at the concrete beneath them.
"Why not? Go ahead and put it to words," she hissed. "Go ahead and say it. I want to hear you say it."
"Then won't you be sadly disappointed?" Yugi snapped coldly, getting up and dusting his pants off as the bell started to chime for them to get to class; Yami ignored his hand when he went to help her up, instead straightening and dusting herself off without a glance at him.
"Yami…"
The red-eyed teen shook her head, clenching her jaw; if they really had to talk about this, she wanted to at least think about what the fuck she would say before she flew off the handle at him and they waged an all out war on each other.
But she already knew Yugi wouldn't say the words, which was exactly why she had challenged him to; the idea hurt him too much to be able to form the words and give them life. So telling him to speak them made him quiet because he couldn't handle the actual concept of her going behind his back like that if Tea was actually right.
She hated to use his insecurities against him, to dig her fingers into his flesh and tear until he was bleeding, but it was the only way to stop the fight before it could actually begin. She needed to think before she spoke to him about it because if she didn't, they would both end up at each other's throats and all but physically assaulting each other.
And she had no idea how she was supposed to tell him that she wasn't cheating when things were already starting to grow so strained that she couldn't fully wrap her head around it as it was.
"I—"
"We have to get to class," she interrupted immediately, walking around him and freezing when she realized something was wrong; it only took getting within two feet of the door for it to click in her mind. The door was locked. Someone had locked them out.
Vivian or Rebecca or whoever was in on this prank…
She ground her teeth together and bit back the urge to snarl in frustration. If this was really a stalker situation, she was going to be so unhappy it would be amazing. Yami glanced back at Yugi, finding that he was chewing his cheek and watching her, expression miserable but growing confused now as well.
"What?"
"The door's locked."
He tilted his head but didn't bother with trying the knob himself, instead sighing and grabbing his phone out of his pocket; Yami guessed he would be texting Joey or Tristan because even he wouldn't be happy to see Tea at the moment and he probably knew if they were within two feet of each other, Yami was going to lose it.
She wanted to apologize because she was starting to feel miserable at the idea of inflicting pain on Yugi but the other teen was carefully avoiding her face and she was still mad even around the guilt.
"Tristan will be here in a minute."
Yami nodded and glanced at the door again, hearing Yugi start picking up the empty containers but not bothering to glance over and watch; the brunet appeared after a long minute, popping the door open for them and letting them slip inside.
Tristan had always known that they weren't the perfect couple; they had to fight at times, even he knew that. Maybe they weren't major or they just wanted to get something off their chests, but either way, they had to disagree and argue sometimes like every other couple did. So, no, he didn't think they were the perfect couple, but he had to admit that he figured they were pretty close when it came down to it.
It was clear just by being around them just how close the two of them were, and how much they cared about each other. Even if Yami wasn't the most vocal girl in the world and Yugi commonly only got a small kiss for saying those three words, it was pretty obvious to him just how much the red-eyed girl put into that simple action. He figured it was easily overlooked, but it was impossible to miss the fact that when things got tough between them, they always worked it out.
And he knew it had gotten tough a couple of times in their relationship.
Especially where they were concerned.
The group had grown slightly strained and it was almost impossible to pinpoint the exact moment it had happened, the exact day, even the year, but it had happened. Somewhere along the lines their group of six had disconnected somewhere though the break hadn't been so enormous that it tore them apart and out of each other's lives.
It was subtle and it had grown somewhere, especially where the girls were concerned.
Yami and Tea were strained to the point that it was all but impossible to hide and Mai and Tea were turning into fire and ice now. Yami and Mai had their friendship but it looked almost as if it were being acted out most of the time, as if they were truly trying to tolerate the other and failing somewhere despite how close they had been as best friends only years ago.
He didn't know if it was Yami and Yugi together or if it was the fact that Joey had once asked Yami out and she hadn't told Mai about it and the blond had let it slip or if maybe it was the fact that Tea and Yugi's friendship was a little tighter than normal.
He and Joey were pretty unaffected by it, but Yugi was in the heart of it most of the time and the three girls were civil but there had to be breaking points and he was starting to think Yami was edging towards one.
He glanced at them awkwardly, finding that Yugi was at his side and Yami was several strides ahead of them, not bothering to say a word or so much as look back at them.
So they were fighting or at least they had gotten ruffled somewhere but he doubted that they would fall apart at any point.
Besides, he was more curious about just what had caused it.
Normally it was external and revolved around the group.
He was willing to bet it was Tea or Mai but he wasn't about to ask and he doubted Yugi would want to tell him in the first place.
Yami only bothered with the task of opening her locker when she was sure that none of the group was around. There were a few people wandering, drifting down the halls in whatever direction, but none of them were paying attention to her.
She opened it and stared, not the least bit amused and growing angry as it swayed with the pull of the door.
The damn thing was taped to the top of her door with a note of Don't do anything stupid with it again, Yami beneath it.
Yami studied it for a long moment and then snatched them both off the door; fine, if they really wanted her to have the damn thing, she was going to take it back to the fucking store. What was the point of keeping it in the first place?
She didn't want it, she had no need for it, and the stupid necklace was ugly as far as she was concerned.
She liked lapis-lazuli gemstones and sapphires.
This bitch got her diamonds.
Fuck them.
She slipped it into her pocket, using the tape to attach it awkwardly to the fuzzy inside of her jacket, and tossed the note into the trash, snatching her backpack and filling it with a few notebooks before slamming the door. Yami spun on the group as they started towards her, seething when Tea was the first face she saw; her boyfriend flinched backwards and Mai and Joey both froze in place while the brunette backed up a couple of steps and Tristan gave her an awkward look.
"I'm guessing she doesn't want to walk with us today," he pointed out, making the others glance at him and Yugi flinch again.
She had the impulse to snap at him that he needed to get over himself because she had something more to deal with but that would have been counterproductive and she was far from stupid enough to let that slip in the first place, instead turning and heading for the doors.
"Yami, wait!"
Was it wrong if she ignored him?
She kind of felt like it was but she didn't want to bother with him.
At this rate, she would end up chewing his head off if he stepped too close.
Yugi flinched when the door slammed behind her, clicking far too loudly as the noise echoed across the entire hall for a moment. The small teen shifted his weight awkwardly but didn't look at them and didn't speak, ignoring the shocked looks he gained and the stricken expression on Tea's face.
If only he hadn't opened his mouth, she wouldn't have run off like that.
He chewed his cheek and took his spot next to Joey again, ignoring it when Tea tried to ask him if he was okay, mouthing the words; the blue-violet-eyed teen gave her a single look and resisted the urge to snap at her in pure frustration.
"You would like to return this?"
Yami didn't care for the incredulous edge to his words, instead glancing at the necklace disdainfully. "It is from this store, isn't it?"
"Oh yes, it's from this store," the man stated, nodding slowly once and looking the chain and pendant over for a moment with a glance at her through his glasses before turning back. "Do you happen to have a receipt?"
The red-eyed girl blinked once, staring at the way that he was shifting the small chain through his fingers; gods, this guy was pudgy. "It was actually a gift," she stated, glancing at it and then his eyes, spine tingling with anxiety.
"A gift?" he repeated slowly, looking dubious for a moment and making Yami's skin crawl; okay, so she wasn't the hottest girl in the world, but with the way the deliveryman had made that statement and the idiot in front of her was staring at her, she was starting to think she had grown ugly overnight. "Oh, Mr. Dartz."
Yami turned her head as a tall man with greenish hair and mismatched eyes of a color akin turquoise and gold started towards them from the other side of the store; she blinked a few times and her stomach twisted just as she realized how stupid this entire situation she had just thrown herself into was.
Of course it was stolen.
Why the hell hadn't she thought of that before?
"I want you to watch this young girl while I go phone the police."
The man stared at her for a second and then looked at the shop owner. "Your daughter said it was a boy who stole it, not a girl," he commented in a voice that made Yami's skin crawl in surprise. That was almost as bad as Nightshade's when he was using his own vocals instead.
"It doesn't matter. She has it now." He leveled her a small glare. "Now follow me."
Yami scoffed and narrowed her eyes even as she walked behind him and the guard snorted a noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.
Twenty minutes later she was seated next to the man as he phoned the police and the guard merely watched with a small smile of amusement; Yami rocked back and forth in her seat, elbows against her knees and chin in her palms. They had actually threatened to search her bag until she had started spouting laws at them and both of them had backed off.
Now she was tempted to sort through it and do homework because if this took any longer, she was going to be pissed as all fuck.
"You got the necklace back!"
Yami looked up at the brunette that wandered into the room, eyes widening in surprise; wow, she was pretty. Must have had her mom's genes.
She nearly laughed at herself for the thought but went still when wide brown eyes fell on her before narrowing as her attention turned back to her father. "I told you it was a boy who stole it."
"What did he look like?" the red-eyed teen said immediately, cutting off the shop owner who had opened his mouth; the girl turned to her with wide eyes, startled by the way that she had tensed in her seat and was watching her with a gaze of dark red.
"He…" She trailed off for a moment, thinking. "He had a weird haircut, kind of…bowl-shaped? And it was kind of turquoise in color…he had these glasses with a beetle in the center and—"
"Weevil," Yami groaned, covering her face and shaking her head; that stupid little bug had stolen the necklace but he wasn't the one who was sending her the cards or flowers. That was so far out of the realm of possibilities it was honestly disgusting. "His name is Weevil Underwood. He goes to my school."
But he was willing to do anything for a certain price if you offered it to him.
And all she had to do was get hold of him and threaten to beat him senseless if he didn't tell her who the fuck her little stalker was or who had put him up to this. If it was all a prank, that was great, because Weevil being caught would mean that she could get to the source of it quickly and not have to bother with it afterwards. If it was Vivian or Rebecca, then this whole thing ended that easily.
The moment she stepped out of the store, she froze in surprise, eyes widening in shock; Vivian was right there, waiting, sitting on a bench and smirking as she got to her feet. "Trying to shoplift, Yami?" she sneered as the red-eyed teen blinked and tried to sort out a way to get past the brunette without an incident. "That's pretty pathetic. But I can't say I'm surprised. Considering how poor you are."
Yami tilted her head and leveled her a cold stare. "Do you even know what an ambassador is?"
The taller girl smirked cruelly. "I'm starting to think your daddy doesn't care about you," she snickered as the other girl started around the bench; she saw a few kids from their school officially looking over, some of the guys sitting up in the food court and staring with such wide eyes that it looked like they might just jump out of their seats in anticipation.
"Don't walk away when I'm talking to you," she snapped, grabbing her arm in a grip that the smaller girl was pretty sure would leave a bruise.
Yami spun and backhanded her hard enough to make her stagger, her hand instantly letting go and allowing her to turn on her heel and start walking again; some guy howled out "Catfight!" and another did a long low appreciative wolf whistle. A girl was laughing and another was filming; she swore she saw some guys out in the parking lot she was approaching jump off their skateboards and turn their phones on her. She couldn't tell if it was because someone had texted them to do so or if it was just something that had happened, that maybe they were just out there already filming, but she didn't care enough to ask either.
"You stupid bitch."
The red-eyed girl ignored her, walking further ahead and not once glancing back to look at the other; a guy whistled at them and called Vivian hot and another said that this catfight would be brutal.
Yami disregarded the statements, ignoring Vivian advancing on her from behind; she wasn't about to run and she sure as hell wasn't about to hide either. She stepped onto the sidewalk and turned sharply, moving through a small group of people with the brunette snapping at them to move behind her.
Why she hadn't grabbed her yet was beyond her at the moment but she couldn't care less; she was just lucky that Yami was sane enough that she wasn't about to accuse her of a prank in front of everyone, especially not when she didn't have enough proof to even make that kind of statement.
She got halfway back towards the school when her shoulder was wrenched backwards and she nearly got tossed off her feet, spinning around as her bag was thrown aside. Her adrenaline spiked, eyes widening before she narrowed them into slits, glaring and backing up a step.
She didn't need a fight at the moment.
She really didn't.
But that didn't mean she would back down from one either.
"Vivian, back the fuck off," Yami snapped, taking in the bright red mark on her cheek and steeling her muscles. The taller girl swung and smacked her, but the good thing about Vivian was that she overestimated her punches and they normally came off as light taps.
Just like this one.
Yami blinked once and then punched back.
"Bitch!" Vivian snarled, grabbing her. The smaller girl stumbled and grabbed at her shirt when she charged forward a few steps. Yami landed on her side, hip stinging. She rolled and Vivian struggled as she threw a punch at her head.
"Get off of me," the red-eyed teen spat, grabbing her around the throat. Vivian squirmed and jerked, trying to get out of her reach. The punch made her yelp and Yami used the split second to shift their position and loom over her. The brunette let out a noise like a startled cry of pain and Yami punched again.
The taller girl bucked and Yami jerked but kept hold, slapping her. Vivian rolled, grabbing her by the throat and flipping them. Yami choked when she squeezed, eyes widening drastically.
Fuck.
Yami braced herself and twisted. The punch made her ears ring for a moment. The second one wasn't nearly as hard. She rolled and Vivian grabbed her hair, punching her shoulder.
Fucking bitch…
The brunette pressed against her back for a second, pitching her weight forward. Yami hesitated for a second and then rolled forward. Both of them landed on their backs. The smaller teen breathed hard, twisting away to face her. Vivian caught her around the stomach and pulled her back.
Yami bit her tongue unconsciously when her head jerked from the punch. The slap made her ears ring again.
"Stupid bitch. Don't ever touch me!"
Yami took another blow to the head. Vivian paused to breathe in hard and the smaller girl lashed out. The brunette yelled in pain and Yami scrambled to get away. Her leg was caught but she managed to get up. The taller girl followed a split second later and grabbed her harder, jerking her head back. Yami caught her wrist and dug her nails into her skin violently, both of them breathing hard and restraining the other. Her other hand found its way into the brunette's bun, gripping tightly.
"Shit, Yami!"
The red-eyed teen didn't respond, breathing hard. Vivian jerked her hand out of her grip and Yami braced herself for the punch. For a moment neither of them moved.
And then Vivian reached for her hair.
Yami punched her hard enough to make her stagger backwards. Vivian yelped and the smaller twisted to face her.
"Shit, stop!"
Vivian stumbled again when Yami pressed into her.
"No, no, no—Fuck!"
Yami spun them once and then pressed all of her weight into her. Vivian hit the ground on her back, trying to punch. Yami panted and moved to straddle her side. The grip on her hair stayed and Yami punched again.
"Stupid bitch!" Vivian screamed.
"Fuck, Yami, let go!"
Vivian's grip slipped and Yami moved to stand up more, punching again. The brunette screamed again kneed at her stomach. Yami kept her grip on her hair even as Vivian managed to pull herself under her legs and crouch. Vivian made to flip them over but Yami twisted and they fell on their sides again.
"Shit, shit, let go!"
Yami rolled when Vivian bucked, but the position didn't change. Her head was caught between Yami's legs and she couldn't move much. The red-eyed teen breathed hard but kept her grip, tightening it.
"Don't swing on me!"
Vivian stilled from where she was trying to punch the smaller girl and Yami blinked wide eyes as the newcomers tried to pull them apart.
"No swinging."
Yami ground her teeth together as they pulled at her arms and tried to separate them.
"Damn, Yami, release," he laughed.
She was pretty sure that wasn't what she was supposed to do.
Nails dug into her wrist and she reflexively let go, startled when she was pulled to her feet and Vivian stumbled to hers, wiping at her nose and glaring angrily. Yami breathed harshly, eyes flickering wildly from the blond to Vivian, scattered thoughts finally connecting the fact that it was Joey and Solomon who had joined them.
Her adrenaline was still spiked and she wasn't sure she was thinking right as she shifted her weight for a moment and chewed her cheek.
But she was still fired up and still so pissed off. This had to be a prank and that was why Vivian was at the mall at the same time as she went to return it.
Right?
Yami ignored that little voice in the back of her head saying that didn't really mean anything, wanting it to be that simple and easy to fix. She was desperate for it to be that easy…
"Is that blood?" Solomon asked, eyes wide.
Yami sprang the second that Joey looked away. Vivian yelled in surprise as they hit the ground.
"You stupid bitch!"
"Fucking hell, Yami!" Joey cried, going to grab he and stopping short at her next words.
"If you set up this stupid prank, I'll fucking murder you."
"Prank?" Solomon asked in confusion, looking at the blond as he stared at his best friend's girlfriend and opened and closed his mouth. The brown-eyed boy grabbed her around the waist and jerked her off her feet, thanking the gods that she was so light in the first place.
"I'll mutilate you," Yami spat out, breathing hard.
Vivian got up, tongue swollen as blood dipped down her chin. "What the fuck?"
The smaller girl breathed out a shaky exhale and stared at the brunette; she wasn't about to attack her again and her brown eyes were wide with confusion as she snarled, "You fucking psycho! Look at what you did to my tongue!"
Yami bristled and spat at her, missing by an inch. "It isn't funny. Your stupid fucking prank isn't funny!"
"Stupid fucking bitch!"
Joey tightened his grip around her and quickly scrambled to carry her over onto the side of the street as Solomon was gesturing wildly for him to do. Yami squirmed and Joey nearly tripped just as Vivian was about to go for her face.
"Lay one hand on her and I'm calling the police," Solomon stated immediately.
The brunette froze and spun on him, glaring. "Look at what she did to my tongue!"
Joey bit back some laughter; did she know that Yami had torn her cheek open like that? He guessed not with the way that her tongue was the only thing she was whining about.
"Go home, Vivian."
"Fucking bitch," the brunette spat, wiping her mouth.
"Or you could go to the hospital…Yeah, I think the hospital might be a better choice," Joey muttered, shaking his head slightly and making sure to keep a grip on Yami who was now staring at where her backpack was laying across the street.
"You have twenty seconds to get off my property before I call them," the elder Motou snapped, glaring at her until she finally backed off and stepped backwards a few times, spitting out some blood and turning on her heel.
Joey only released her when he thought that Vivian was far away enough that she wouldn't bother, blinking in surprise when Yami headed off back to where the fight had started. The girl sniffled roughly, wiping at her nose and finding herself surprised by the blood there.
When had she gotten her in the nose?
Maybe she had been so hyped on adrenaline that she hadn't even noticed it…?
"Damn, you're a real scrapper," Joey snickered as she wandered back over; she didn't want him touching her but she didn't object to it as he tipped her chin up to examine her face. "Shit, how does that even happen? You got her hard and all you've got is a nosebleed and a couple of bruises."
"Her legs are bleeding," Solomon stated, shaking his head. "Girls fighting in skirts. What kind of craziness is this?"
Yami offered a weak smile and groaned under her breath; Vivian wasn't behind a prank and Rebecca…she hated Weevil. She hated him so much that the last time they spoke, she nearly put a pencil through his neck during class.
Her head spun for a second.
"Here, sit down and I'll be back with the first-aid kit."
Yami nodded absently as Solomon wandered off and Joey continued checking her over, moving some of her hair aside to look at her scalp; she could have told him that there was nothing there but she was still too far in her thoughts to care.
Weevil had stolen the necklace and unless Rebecca was really one hundred percent sure it would win her Yugi, she wouldn't go near the bug. There was always Rex if she wanted that to happen.
But she was pretty sure Rex had something akin a conscience. So she hardly saw that happening in the first place.
Yami wrinkled her nose at the antiseptic that Solomon used to help wipe off some of the blood on her legs.
"Here, hold this. Your temple looks like it needs it," Joey commented, holding out the bag of ice; the girl stared at it for a moment and then finally took it a minute later, pressing it against her head and closing her eyes.
"It'll be gone in a few hours," she muttered. "I heal fast."
The blond finally gave in to the urge to burst out laughing, doubling over and giving her a high-five when she stared at him in surprise. "That was the greatest shit ever. You kicked her ass!"
Yami blinked and decided not to comment that Vivian could have seriously killed her if she wasn't careful. And besides that, she was so tired and it was just too surreal a situation for her to truly wrap her head around.
Her head felt funny.
"Yes, congratulations," Solomon snickered, glancing up at her and shaking his head. "I always knew you were a fighter."
She let out a small laugh that she hoped wasn't too shaky.
Her eyes shot towards the stairs for a moment and then around slowly, honestly half-expecting the blue-violet-eyed boy to come bursting into the room at any moment; she honestly wasn't sure if she was happy or a little sad that he didn't do so.
"He's with Tea right now," the elderly Motou stated, getting up and dumping the bloodied paper towels in the trash. "I think they went to the mall maybe?"
Yami nodded a little, ducking her head with a small blush but feeling terribly disappointed. Her stomach twisted and flopped for a moment but she didn't bother to comment on it, instead getting up.
"That's probably a good thing anyways. I have homework to do," she muttered, blinking once against the sting that came from putting her weight on her legs again.
"Do you want me to walk you home?" Joey asked, tilting his head in genuine concern.
"No, thank you. I've got it."
The blond hesitated, glancing at Solomon uncertainly before turning back. "All right. Just…you know, call if you need anything."
She nodded absently and wandered out the door.
"Hello?"
"White roses?"
Yami froze in place from where she was about to enter the kitchen, stomach dropping and heart leaping into her throat.
"Yami."
The red-eyed girl blinked slowly; she knew she should have checked the ID before she answered the fucking phone.
"Yes."
"White roses?" Yugi repeated slowly, sounding frustrated and miserable all at once; she flinched, closing her eyes and leaning against the wall with her free hand against her temple, wincing when her fingers brushed over the massive bruise on her skin. "You don't even like roses!"
Yami didn't know if she should respond or not, unsure of even continuing this conversation; her head was spinning again and her balance felt off. She wouldn't have even been surprised if the wall couldn't support her anymore.
"Tea just told me that you came there two days ago asking about white roses. But you don't even like roses and I've never bought you flowers because you hate them," the other teen continued, rambling and sounding as if he was going to be sick. "Yami, talk to me!"
Don't beg me…
"I don't know what you want me to say," she finally managed, rubbing at the bruised skin and grinding her teeth together; fucking Tea. She swore she would mutilate her if she didn't back off.
"Tell me something, anything! Maybe why you were in the store asking about white roses in the first place?" Yugi muttered, growing frustrated again; she could hear something off in the background and swore under her breath. He was at the park, sitting somewhere alone and talking to her; he only went to the park when he was scared or hurting, when she drove him into wandering out of the house to think or freak out.
She opened her mouth but she had no response; what was she supposed to say to him about this? She wasn't going to tell him about what had happened. It would have been stupid and far from good. Yugi would probably end up hurt and she couldn't have that happen.
But not responding to him hurt him worse than anything else and if she couldn't force something out, what was the good of even attempting to keep him safe?
"I…I'm not." she hissed, mouth feeling awkward as she stretched the words out and tried to get rid of the bitter taste lying on her tongue. "I'm not."
"Yami, seriously? That's all you're going to say?"
She ground her teeth together. "Yugi, stop…"
"You do realize that Tea's suspected this for years now and you're pretty much proving her right," he muttered, voice coming out a little choked.
"Shut up," she snapped, bristling. "I'm not. I never have. Tea is just a stupid, whiny little bitch and you're her fucking lap dog right about now."
Yami swore she could hear it when he recoiled. "You can't be serious right now."
"You're accusing me. I haven't done anything wrong."
"You hardly sound like it," he snapped coldly. "Do you even hear yourself right now?"
"Do you hear yourself?" she spat. "Tea tells you that she thinks I'm cheating and you think just because I don't want to be around everyone every single fucking second of the day that she's right?"
"No, I didn't until she started telling me about how you were asking about roses—"
"You stupid fucking prick! I asked her a fucking question that you both are blowing so far out of proportion I can't even wrap my head around it," she hissed quietly, going silent for a second before breathing raggedly. "You stupid jealous little prick! You and Tea, you're both so fucking stupid with envy half the time."
"Yami, stop—"
"So goddamned perfect for each other, aren't you? Why don't you go kiss her ass a little and let her show you why you belong together?"
"Yami—"
"Shut up!"
"I—"
"Shut up, you stupid fucking bastard," she snapped, head spinning again before she managed to straighten herself and push away from the wall, breathing hard. "You and her are just the most pathetically jealous pieces of shit I have ever met! Goddamn it, Yugi, if you're always going to be this stupidly influenced and listen to her every little bitchy moan, then stop wasting my time already!"
"Yami, knock it off," Yugi spat. "You know that's not—"
"Let's think about this for a second, shall we, Yugi? You're practically accusing me of being a fucking moron in all of this too."
"What? What the fuck are you—?"
"You think if I was fucking cheating on you that I would go to Tea's little family flower shop to see if someone had bought flowers for me?" Yami spat, staring at the table and feeling her spine grow cold beneath her skin; the goddamned necklace was right there, lying with a single little note and a formation of eleven roses. "You think I would really do that if I was going to be two-timing you? How stupid do you take me for?"
"Goddamn it, Yami, shut up," he snapped. "That's not what I meant and—"
She took a shaky step towards the table and stared at it, eyes catching the note of Don't lose it again, and don't try to get rid of it. You belong to me and the necklace is just proof of that. Belonged to him? Bullshit.
"—you fucking know that! I—you're acting strange! And you aren't talking to me anymore! What the hell am I supposed to think?"
"Wow, so I don't talk to you about every little thing that goes on and all of the sudden I'm cheating on you because that's what Tea thinks, right?"
"Stop it. It's not like that—"
"Oh my fucking god. You thought I was cheating on you before Tea told you about the flowers, didn't you?" she laughed in disbelief, waiting for him to deny it and cracking up after a long minute of silence. "You stupid fucking piece of shit."
"Yami, please—"
"Right, so how long has that been going on?"
"Yami…"
She reached out and grabbed the pendant, plucking it off the table and resisting the urge to snarl in anger. "I always wondered why you got so fucking jealous so often. Turns out you've been thinking I was cheating on you too. Way to go, Yugi."
"You don't under—"
"Don't insult me," she spat. "I understand this perfectly, you stupid prick."
"Yami, stop—"
"Shut the fuck up already. I'm going to say this once and only once. Whether you listen is your choice but it would be wise to do so."
Yugi stayed quiet.
"I have never cheated on you."
Yami pressed the end button and tossed the phone onto the table, the roses cushioning the fall and making her stare at the arrangement of her name with the flowers. Three for Y, three for A, four for M, one for I. How lovely.
She stared at the note and the necklace and clenched her jaw in frustration. A stalker and a potential breakup. How nice a Monday.
She pressed her palms into the table and felt the diamonds and metal pressing into her skin to the point that it stung and she swore she was going to break skin.
Why so many roses?
She tipped her head to the side. Eleven roses. The last two times flowers were delivered, it had been two. Two the first day, two the day after even though they were technically tied together, and now eleven.
Why the sudden increase in roses?
"Evermore, evermore," Nightshade crowed from his cage, tapping his beak against the metal for a moment; vaguely she wondered if her dad had fed him yet or if she needed to instead. "Y is for Yami. Don't lose the necklace again. Don't lose the pendant. Y is for Yami."
She glanced at him through her lashes and tilted her head slowly, grinding her teeth together. He'd taught him a new phrase yet again, huh?
How long had he been there? How long had he been in her house, talking to her raven and feeding him, teaching him phrases that made her skin crawl? How long had he been tailing her today?
She whined low in her throat and shook her head, bowing it and scraping her nails over the wood; first she nearly got arrested, then she found out that Weevil was working for him, then that Vivian wasn't pulling a prank on her with this, and now there was her possible breakup with Yugi and this bullshit.
She breathed hard, chest feeling weak and caved in, and struggled to breathe for a moment; her head was spinning and her legs felt weak and her eyes stung.
If she cried, she was going to feel like shit, but if she didn't, she felt like she was going to be sick. The cameras were still on her; she knew that. She didn't have to look, just like she knew that he had moved them at some point while he was there, because she hadn't seen it on the windowsill anymore.
No, he had swapped them around and now he was watching her.
If she broke down now…
Gods, she couldn't even cry now.
That was oddly more upsetting than him having even broken into the house in the first place.
What a Monday.
She shook her head, rolling her eyes, and sighed loudly.
Breathe, breathe, all she had to do was breathe…
And get rid of this crappy little display this fucker had made on her table.
She ground her teeth together, reaching forward and slapping them off the table; they hit the floor and she debated stomping on them for a long minute before shaking it off. Something in her head was still telling her that the roses meant something, anything, though she had no idea what.
She studied them; all the thorns were cut off as they had been the first time.
What was the point of making her bleed onto a flower?
What was the point of making himself bleed onto the same one?
She wondered if they could get DNA off a flower after what seemed to be two days.
Then again, she still had no idea what she would say if she were to consider it…
And what were the odds that she would be taken seriously?
Yami shook it off and grabbed them off the floor anyways, taking them upstairs and dumping them into the drawer in the nightstand again.
Screw it.
If her instincts said there was something she was missing and it was the roses that made that difference, then she wasn't about to get rid of them.
She looked the pendant over and then dropped it in as well, kicking the drawer shut and falling back on the bed.
Fucking Mondays.
"Yami?"
She hesitated, sitting up and really debating the odds of wanting to see him there, of whether or not she should just stay quiet and pretend she wasn't home or just chase him off…
"Aibou?"
Yami cringed. "Bedroom."
She swore she could hear his relief as he started up the stairs immediately and slipped into her room, eyes wide; she wondered if he had expected her to be sobbing her eyes out and then wondered why she wasn't. Shouldn't she have been?
Then again, Yugi didn't look like he had shed a tear either…
The blue-violet-eyed teen picked his way cautiously across the room, hesitating to sit on the bed and chewing his cheek as she ignored him for a moment; did she even want him there?
"I…"
He trailed off for a moment and then moved to take the seat next to her.
She fought off the urge to shake her head at him, instead gesturing for him to sit and ignoring the way that he hesitated in favor of watching her face.
"I'm sorry."
"Doesn't matter."
"What?"
"I said it doesn't matter."
"Yeah, I…What the hell does that mean exactly?"
Yami gave him a cold look, studying him through her lashes for a long minute before turning away again. "Figure it out, Yugi," she snapped, moving away from him when he scooted a little closer.
"I'm not sure I can but I'm going to guess that either you mean you don't want this anymore or that you're just willing to move past it…"
"You know which one it is," she snapped. "Don't bullshit me."
Yugi stayed quiet for a moment and then moved close, grabbing her into a hug and laying his head on her shoulder "I'm sorry. I just…" He shook his head. "I don't really have an excuse…"
"You could blame it on Tea if you want."
He flinched at the snide note in her voice and sighed softly, closing his eyes. "Talk to me. I can't read your mind," he muttered, voice growing desperate.
"How long?"
She felt him cringe and narrowed her eyes into slits.
"I…You started acting weird last week. I got worried and then I guess it just kind of escalated after Tea said that today—"
"Fucking hell, Yugi," she snapped, turning her head. "Don't fucking blame her for your idiocy, damn it. Now tell me how fucking long this has—"
"God, two hours, damn it," Yugi snarled, pulling away and rubbing at his temples. "Two fucking hours. Since I found out about the damn flowers, okay? I never actually fucking considered it until then. I got a little worried last week but not to the point that I thought you were cheating. I figured you were just a little stressed last week. I figured you would tell me what the fuck was going on before now. And then Tea told me about the fucking flowers."
"Up on the roof. You were thinking it then too."
"It wasn't…" He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before sighing. "Tea said she was worried about me getting hurt. She mentioned it on Friday. I just…I guess it just stuck in my head."
"And here I was thinking that you actually trusted me."
"I do," Yugi snapped immediately. "I do fucking trust you. If I didn't, do you think I would be here right now?"
Yami studied him for a minute. She honestly hadn't given it much thought how much the small distance between them would get under his skin like this.
She acknowledged her own part in this little argument that they were having. And she accepted the fact that she had fucked up when she hadn't been open with him in the first place. She had set up the perfect little trap for herself and Yugi to fall into.
Regardless of Tea's help in making Yugi even more insecure, she was just as at fault and she couldn't ignore that.
She had set it up and Tea had more or less thrown Yugi straight into it. Being the concerned friend or not, she'd pushed him and he'd cracked.
Not that she hadn't given him reason just the day before with Nightshade talking about the necklace.
Yami closed her eyes for a moment.
So much of this situation was all hers to place the blame on….
Maybe if she just told him…
"Yami…please…I don't…"
"Look, just…I didn't cheat. You didn't cheat, I didn't cheat. No one cheated," she finally muttered, opening her eyes into slits and looking at the way his miserable expression turned quizzical and then hopeful, sitting a little straighter. "We're all good. Unless you get in your stupid jealous little prick mind that I'm cheating. I don't care if it's entertained for a second. I find out, I'm done."
I can't deal with you not trusting me on top of this stalker…
Yugi flinched and nodded immediately. "I won't."
Yami nodded slightly and fell back into the mattress, closing her eyes. "Good."
The other teen hesitated for a moment and then traced a pattern over her stomach and it took her a moment to recognize it was a heart.
And THAT is the fourth chapter of Umbral Oath. Just note that the story is probably going to get confusing at times but it'll be for a reason. Anyways, feel free to ask questions or tell me how I did. Because female Yami is not a common thing so it feels a little strange xD