AN: You guys are getting this chapter a bit early because of this VERY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
It's been pointed out to me that this fic is suspiciously similar to another called "angel undercover". I'm sorry for the strange similarities, but until I was told I hadn't even heard about this other fanfiction, much less read it. But since it had been pointed out, I would like you all to know that I've had my sister read this other story (I try not to read from a fandom I'm actively writing in) and I can tell you my story is going a completely different direction. Sorry for the weirdness, I didn't realize something so similar had already been posted...
(I'll be putting this on the first chapter too, for an explanation)
Standing outside were four people who seemed to be waiting for them. They were all annoyingly tall, other than the one with tri-toned starfish hair and slightly tinted skin that hinted at his Egyptian heritage, who was only about two inches taller than Yugi (If you didn't count his hair). Another looked like an angry, messy, Ryo with ambiguously brown skin. He was scowling and his hair was as long as Ryo's actually was, he was also about two inches taller than Joey. The third was Egyptian like Malik, the same light blond hair in a messier, gravity defying cut and his eyes were narrowed menacingly, though that seemed like his normal look. He was only about an inch taller than Joey. The last was like six foot two, slender, and checking his watch, his dark brown eyes apathetic and his brown hair neatly cut.
The only one actually wearing the uniform perfectly was the tall brunette. The shortest one had his coat on like a cape and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows (the tattoo on his left arm looked familiar to Joey, but she couldn't quite place it), the white-haired one's was unbuttoned and messy like Joey's, and the Egyptian's was unbuttoned, as well as the first few dress shirt buttons.
"Ah, there they are." The shortest said, straightening up and smiling at the four newcomers, three of which seemed to be hiding behind the tall blond.
"About time." The white-haired Yami said rudely.
"Well, sorry PJ got a bit chatty." Joey sneered, shoving her hands in her pockets. Seeing that the Yami was going to reply rudely and probably get Joey to start yelling, Yugi hurried forward.
"I'm Yugi! This is Ryo, Malik, and Joey." She said hurriedly. Ryo waved meekly, Malik waved distractedly as she took in her surroundings, and Joey merely scoffed while inclining her head a bit. "What are your names?"
"I'm Atem." The short one replied, seemingly the only one who had any interest in even trying to be civil towards them. "This is Bakura, Marik, and Seto." He gestured to each in turn, Bakura giving them suspicious looks, Marik scoffing and turning away, and Seto merely nodding impassively. "We're going to show you around the school and then you'll each come with one of us to all of our classes," he said. Joey didn't like this plan at all. So far, the only one she would even consider trusting her friends to was Atem, maybe Seto if he could show that he wasn't a robot. "Come on, we'll start with the cafeteria." At this Joey perked up, causing her friends to smile fondly, Atem to chuckle, and Seto to scoff. Joey instantly glared at him.
Usually she would be halfway to the lunchroom by now, having forgotten everything else she was supposed to be doing, but being in a school full of Yamis that she wouldn't trust as far as she could throw was making her nervous and hyperaware. Which came in handy a moment later, as they were walking towards their destination. Atem was talking about what they were passing, though only Ryo, Yugi, and Malik seemed to be listening at all. Malik did like learning, though Joey wasn't sure why. So they were walking, Joey's senses all on high as if she was back in her gang instead of in school, when Bakura walked casually by Yugi. Usually Joey wouldn't have seen a thing, but she knew what had just happened. That white-haired idiot had just pick-pocketed her friend.
She reached out and clasped Bakura's shoulder from behind, glaring with one of her more high-grade melt-your-head glares. Her friends all watched with wide eyes and Bakura's watched with theirs narrowed as they all stopped and the two glared at each other.
"Give it back." She growled. Bakura smirked.
"Give what back?" He mocked, hand stealthily dropping whatever it was in his pocket.
"Joey, what's this about?" Atem asked sternly, stepping forward.
"Bakura just pick-pocketed Yuug." She growled again, tightening her grip so it had to be painful but Bakura showed nothing other than slight surprise at being caught. The three other girls gasped or blinked in surprise as the boys looked at Joey with grudging respect. Bakura was a kleptomaniac and had been pick pocketing since he was a kid, so he was pretty much an expert. It was pretty darn impressive that Joey had caught him, even if it did make the other boys wonder somewhat about her.
"My deck's gone!" Yugi cried after checking her pockets. Joey growled, about ready to sock Bakura and then take the deck back herself, but was stopped by Bakura himself.
"Huh. Whatever, here it is." He muttered, pulling the deck out of his pocket and throwing it to Yugi who fumbled it before placing it carefully in her pocket and smiling at Bakura. Joey pulled her fist back, about to show him a thing or two about what happens when someone picks on her friends, but was stopped by Yugi.
"Joey, he gave it back! Don't hit him!" She yelled, running over and looking pleadingly at her friend. Joey, despite looking like she really wanted to sock him, let go and merely glared.
"Good dog." Seto muttered under his breath with a small, almost unnoticeable, smirk.
"What'd you just say?" Joey snarled at the tall Yami.
"Calm down, Mutt." He said impassively, only making Joey angrier. As soon as he said that word, there was a spark of near-panic in Joey's eyes, as if she was afraid that Seto knew something that she didn't want him to. Which he didn't, but he liked that look. "Mutt" would forever be the blond's nickname, and he made a mental note to smirk knowingly when he said it.
"My name ain't Mutt, rich-boy! It's Joey!" She shouted, but Seto didn't so much as flinch. Atem, seeing how badly this could go and deciding (unlike Marik and Bakura) that he didn't want it to go that way, stepped in. It took almost a full minute, but he managed to get everyone moving and continued the tour. The Yamis did notice, however, that they seemed to be banished to the left side of the hall and Joey was standing firmly between them and her friends. Atem found this amusing, but he seemed to be more on her good side than the others so he didn't laugh for fear of incurring her wrath.
After the tour was done, which involved several more moments of Joey shouting, it was finally time for them to pair off and go to class. Joey, who didn't like this idea in the first place, now hated it even more as there was only one in the group of four Yamis that she may even consider trusting her friends to. She didn't want any of the other three alone with them.
She made the executive decision that Ryo, being the most delicate in her group, would go with the only person she maybe trusted: Atem. Then she decided that she would go with Bakura because anyone else would miss if they had been pick pocketed and she didn't want him stealing another deck. For some reason the two Egyptians decided to pair off, leaving Yugi (the shortest) and Seto (the tallest).
Joey may have found this amusing, had she not already hated the tall boy with a passion.
Luckily, they all had the first class together. They were brought in, introduced, and made to sit next to the people they were paired with (much to Joey's chagrin). Oh, and Seto and Joey figured out each other's last names and started referring to each other as such. First class was math, which Joey totally thought was ridiculous because it was a dueling school. Seto, being the smart-arse know-it-all he is, decided to take it upon himself to explain to the "Mutt" that dueling school didn't mean only dueling, just that it was a large part of the curriculum. All of the Hikaris-turned-Yami had interesting reactions to the fact that their school books were in prime condition, the school looked like a palace, and none of the chairs creaked.
Hikari schools weren't exactly high-class.
The teacher was rather young, seeming to be in his early twenties. He had wild black hair that he kept in check with a ponytail and a strange headband, along with one ear pierced with a dangly-dice earring. He seemed to like probability a lot, especially when it was in his favor. Joey didn't like him; he was too overconfident and annoying. His name was Duke Devlin, and he didn't seem to like Joey much either.
The second class didn't go much better. On the upside, Yugi was there. On the downside, Bakura was too. Also on the downside, none of the other friends where there. On the really really really downside, Seto also had the class. But currently Yugi and he were a package, so Joey really shouldn't have been so surprised. Another reason it sucked was that it was language arts, and Joey simply didn't read. At all. Like, seriously. Good news was that Bakura seemed just as bored, but he entertained himself by annoying Joey.
This didn't sit well with the teacher, Anzu Mazaki, a Yami woman in her early twenties with a huge attitude. She was shorter than Joey and her brown hair was styled in an A-bob of sorts that would get you glared at if you were a Hikari. And she yelled quite loudly, as Joey found out.
Third was phys. Ed. This was probably the best class of the day, in Joey's opinion, even if only Ryo (and therefore Atem) was able to join her and Bakura. Atem, Bakura, and Joey were all extremely good at all of the physical side of things, and at one point Joey picked up Ryo and ran carrying her because she was being too slow. This caused instant amusement in the Yami students and teacher alike, though Ryo had turned cherry red.
This teacher was her favorite so far, but that wasn't exactly hard to beat. She was a female Yami, a bit taller than Joey, who had an hourglass figure and cascading blond hair. Her name was Mai Valentine, which made Joey laugh. That revealed the best thing about her though, as instead of yelling at Joey, she had laughed too. Finally, a teacher with a sense of humor! In the back of her mind, there was a little niggling feeling, like she was forgetting something important, but she shrugged it off.
The last class before lunch was science. Not really Joey's best class, but not her worst either. Seto and Yugi were in the class too. The teacher was one of those teachers. You know, the ones who hate kids and teach just to see if they can make the students cry? Yeah, that describes Ushio pretty perfectly. They were learning about the solar system or something like that, so Joey wasn't really paying attention. She did fall out of her seat when Ushio shouted her name for not paying attention, though. Then she spent the rest of the class trying to be inconspicuous because, while she wasn't sure, she could have sworn that person behind her had been in her gang.
"Aww man, my back still hurts!" She whined as they tromped out of the classroom. "That's the second time today!"
"Maybe if you had been paying attention, that wouldn't have happened, Mutt." Seto scoffed.
"Yeah, well, whatever Money-bags. I don't even see why we need to know that the gravity on the moon is only a sixth of earth's." She muttered, throwing in one of the few things that she had managed to pick up just to prove Seto wrong. "It's not like we're ever gonna go there. Now let's go, I'm hungry!" She said, picking up the pace as she marched ahead.
"Other direction, Mutt." Seto said almost smugly when Joey reached a hall and turned left. Joey spun around and glared.
"I knew dat!" She snapped. "I was takin' the scenic route!" Seto merely scoffed quietly as she stomped past again, Bakura looking amused and Yugi running over to keep up with her friend.
"Wrong direction."
"SHUT IT KAIBA!"
Factoid #4: I was gonna pass the Hikaris and Yamis looking like each other off as a side effect of having two bits of the same soul, but then I remembered that Joey and Kaiba look nothing like each other, and neither do any of the side character soul pairs like Joey's parents. Plus it would take out the hilarity of Joey trying to keep Kaiba from seeing her tattoos as all they would have to do was see if they looked like each other. Boring!