AN:
A very good point has been brought to my attention by an anonymous reviewer recently that I would like to share with you all.
"And exactly what is wrong with being gay and cross-dressing? Frankly I don't see the problem...Seems to me that Ryou and Josh shouldn't be in therapy...Josh's interests aren't that strange, I've seen worse interests…"
Setting aside the fact that I've changed Josh's name to Yurichi, Nameless Reviewer brings up an excellent point. Seniors, Freshmen, and a Learning Experience covers a wide variety of controversial topics, and I don't express my views through the characters. That is to say, what the characters believe may not necessarily be what you or I believe. Thank you for your comments!
Disclaimer:
Despite the overwhelming evidence that Yu-Gi-Oh! belongs to Kazuki Takahashi and not me, you still ask anyway? Go away! I'm not buying anything you're selling! Unless it's Yu-Gi-Oh!…
Gymnasium, First Period, Tuesday, Morning
Ryou walked into the gymnasium clutching his books to his chest. Bakura walked next to him with his typical unfriendly scowl on his face.
Their hands were linked between them, fingers entwined together tightly.
They headed to the bleachers and Bakura automatically dropped his books. The noise echoed across the large room with a resounding bang. Ryou took a seat next to Bakura's carelessly discarded books and kept his in his lap.
"You coming?" Bakura asked, motioning towards the locker rooms.
"Not today, sorry. I forgot to bring my gym clothes," Ryou smiled apologetically up at the older boy.
"Whatever," Bakura replied nonchalantly and leaned in to place a light kiss on his forehead.
"Necrophades and Bakura, you're late!" the teacher chided as he strode towards them wearing a disapproving frown.
"So?" Bakura asked with a cocky grin and headed into the locker room.
"I'm sorry, Coach. We got a little caught up in the hallways," Ryou explained with an innocent look. Oh, they were caught up, all right. Caught up in each other. Ryou's head was still spinning.
"That's okay, Ryou," the coach said understandingly, "Aren't you going to get changed?"
"Ah, I would, but I don't think I should today. I'm feeling a little under the weather," he told him truthfully as the other students eagerly charged out of the locker rooms.
"Hey, don't worry about it, then," the coach replied easily and turned to the other students. "Line up, people!" he bellowed at them, blowing his whistle loudly. Everyone hastened to comply and formed one long line on the court. "Today, we're going to be playing football. Marik, hurry up in there!"
"I'm coming already! This place is fucking disorganized!" Marik walked out of the equipment closet dragging a mesh bag full of footballs. He was dressed in his gym attire and wearing a scowl.
"Language," the coach mumbled halfheartedly under his breath before raising his voice to address everyone else, "Marik has generously offered to teach you all how to play football."
"Lazy bastard," Marik mumbled under his breath.
The coach went on as if he hadn't heard Marik, "I expect you all to treat him as if he were me."
Bakura raised his hand with a devilish look on his face, "Does that mean we can ignore him and treat him like dirt?"
"Shut up, Necrophades," the coach sighed, "Marik, they're all yours."
"Aw hell no! I'm not taking orders from that pansy!" Bakura objected loudly.
Marik growled low in his throat and launched himself at Bakura, tackling him to the gymnasium floor. The white haired senior's head cracked off the floor and he blinked dazedly. His blond friend straddled his hips with a triumphant smirk. The gym teacher shouted a protest, but neither of them paid him any mind. Bakura grabbed Marik's shoulder and swung his fist at his face. It collided with his jaw, making the other Senior fall backwards from the impact. The two grappled on the gym floor, throwing punches and displaying an unnatural amount of flexibility.
"Stop it!!" the gym teacher finally yelled as loud as he could. His voice echoed off the walls and the high ceilings. Both boys stopped their efforts, and Marik wordlessly stood up. He offered a hand to Bakura and pulled him up quickly. "That's better. What the hell has gotten into you two?"
"Marik," Bakura said in an uncharacteristically caring voice, "Your lip is bleeding."
Marik brought his hand up to his face and touched his split lip. Bringing his hand to eye level, he gazed at it blankly. "I see that."
"Let me get that for you," he said. Without another word, he placed his hands lightly on Marik's hips and ran his tongue along the blond's bottom lip.
Marik closed his eyes and parted his lips, "Aah, Bakura," he said and moaned low in his throat.
"Will you two quit it?" the gym teacher asked exasperatedly, covering his ears. The fangirls had just hit maximum volume.
They immediately separated and gazed proudly at their handiwork. Seven students had passed out from severe nosebleeds, three were still conscious and about to pass out, and the rest were shrieking with joy and jumping up and down. The coach was shaking his head and paging the janitor.
"Ah, our favorite pastime," Bakura began.
"Seeing how many fangirls we can knock unconscious!" Marik finished for him, "A record time today, I think."
Chuckling, Bakura looked back to the bleachers, wanting to see Ryou's reaction. What he wasn't expecting was for Ryou to be completely unconscious himself. "Ryou?" he ran over to the bleachers, quickly followed by Marik.
"I didn't think he'd be the type who goes for that stuff," Marik mused.
Bakura put the back of his hand on the small boy's forehead. Frowning, he turned to Marik, "He's burning up, idiot." Being careful not to jostle him too much, Bakura picked him up gently. "I'll take him to the nurse's office."
"What should I do?" Marik asked, "Now that everybody's unconscious…wait…"
"Don't even think about it, man whore," Bakura answered sharply, having been around the bronze-skinned teen far too long to not miss his blatantly obvious innuendos.
"Damn…"
Bakura headed over to the gymnasium doors and forcefully kicked them open with his foot.
Domino High School Nurse's Office, First Period, Morning
Bakura slouched down in the plastic chair he was sitting on. His eyes were fixed firmly on the clock and he blinked in time with the incessant ticking sound it was making. The nurse had been with Ryou for fifteen minutes now, and neither of them had come back out from the back room. "What the hell is taking so damn long?" he growled quietly.
"Mr. Necrophades?" the nurse asked in a surprised tone as she emerged from the back room, "You're still here?"
"Yeah, so?" he replied impatiently, "Is Ryou alright?"
She breathed a sigh of relief, "He's fine. It's just a slight fever this time."
When Bakura only gave her a blank look, she continued.
"Ryou has health problems, Mr. Necrophades, so I see him here quite often. The poor dear," she finished and glanced back at the door, "Would you like to go talk to him?"
Without sparing her so much as another glance, Bakura brushed past her and strode quickly towards the back room. The nurse just shrugged and headed into her office, shutting the door behind her quietly.
The inside of the room was shockingly white. The walls were off-white, and the floor was covered with hard white linoleum. There was a single bed pushed off to the far corner with crisp white sheets. Huddled under the covers was the small form of Ryou. He was curled up in a ball on the middle of the mattress.
"Ryou?" Bakura asked, moving to stand at the foot of the bed.
Ryou stirred from under the covers and poked his head out, blinking to clear his bleary eyesight.
"Were you asleep?" he asked worriedly.
"No," Ryou lied, "Why are you still here?" he asked, though not unkindly.
"Can't a guy be worried about his boyfriend?" Bakura asked with mock hurt and dropped down onto the bed, "So why'd you come to school if you knew you were sick?"
"If I did that, then I'd be missing more school than I should," he replied with a grimace.
The nurse came back in then. "Here, Ryou. Take these, and I'll be back in ten minutes," she said kindly and handed him two pills and a glass of water.
"Thanks," Ryou replied as she left the two alone again. He popped both pills into his mouth and quickly washed them down.
"What were those? Vitamins?" Bakura asked with a horrified look.
Ryou laughed. "Hardly. Those are special pills to bring down fevers. I figured you of all people would know what they are. Didn't your family sort of invent them?"
"Yeah." He shuddered. "My mom. I'm like her guinea pig or something."
"Do tell," Ryou asked with a crooked smile, "You have piqued my interest."
"I'm going to pretend that I know what you just said. Anyway," he began, "My mom's been experimenting on these new vitamins to make you more alert or whatever. They are the absolute worst-tasting shit I've ever had shoved down my throat everyday." Ryou laughed as Bakura continued his rant, oblivious of his rising volume, "I don't fucking need to be more alert, damn it! I don't fucking need her to force feed me health nut products down my throat everyday, but does she fucking listen?! No!"
"Language, Mr. Necrophades!" the nurse chastised angrily, poking her head into the doorway, "Don't upset my patient!"
"Are you upset?" Bakura asked skeptically. He knew the freshman was used to his usual tirades of foul language by now.
Ryou shrugged and laid flat on his back, the pills already beginning to work, "I'll get used to it, because I have a feeling you won't be going away anytime soon."
"Aww, that's so sweet of you!" Bakura replied with a grin.
"I can't imagine those pills are as bad as you say," Ryou said, shaking his head, "Nothing can taste that horrible, can it?"
"Yes. Yes they can. In the words of one of her patients, it's the fucking worst-tasting shit he's ever had the misfortune to have slithered down his throat. That batshit crazy bitch doesn't know what the hell she's doing, making us poor bastards eat that shit."
"That's it! Out with you, Mr. Necrophades!" the nurse charged into the room and grabbed Bakura by the ear, fuming as she dragged him out of the room, "You need to learn some manners! Such foul language, why I never!"
Ryou laughed and followed them out, feeling much better already.
Second Period, Science Classroom, Morning
Yami walked down the hallway to Mr. Pegasus' Science classroom with Yuugi at his side. His arm was draped casually over the little one's shoulders, and he carried both of their books under one arm. As they made their way down the hallway, everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at the couple. Shocked whispers rang through the building as rumors quickly circulated, most of them true. It was official. Yami Ahknemkhanen was going out with Yuugi Mutou. Not that many people even knew who Yuugi Mutou was to begin with.
Yuugi fidgeted nervously. "Yami, they're all staring at us."
"Let them. You're mine, and I want everyone to know it," Yami said pridefully with a smug smirk.
"Yours?" Yuugi asked shyly, looking up at him.
Yami held the door to the Science classroom open for his light. "Mine and mine alone."
They headed over to the lab table, but Yami stopped halfway and grabbed onto Yuugi's forearm when he saw who was already sitting there. Yuugi gave him a questioning look.
"Hey, guys," Jirou stood up and took a step toward him. Yuugi took a half step behind Yami, and Yami's lip curled in a ferocious snarl. "Yeah, I probably deserve that. Could I just explain myself?"
"Hell no you can't!" Yami barked out harshly.
Yuugi placed his hand lightly on his boyfriend's shoulder, immediately calming the senior. "Let's just hear him out, alright?"
"Yuugi…" Yami said softly, but obediently backed down.
"Thanks," Jirou said gratefully, "I just wanted to apologize for my behavior on Friday. I had a little too much to drink, and I got a little carried away."
"A little," Yami repeated angrily.
"Okay, a lot. A whole lot. True, the fact that I wasn't completely in control of my actions doesn't excuse anything I did, but if I was in my right mind I swear I would never even think of doing something like that. I know I have no right to ask for your forgiveness, but I'm hoping you won't completely hate me for what I've done," he finished, looking forlorn.
"I could never hate anyone, least of all you," Yuugi said warmly, "You weren't in your right mind. I get that, and while I'm not saying that I totally forgive you for Friday, I can't really hold it against you if you were drunk, right?"
"Yuugi!" Yami exclaimed, shocked.
"Everyone deserves a second chance, Yami," Yuugi asked, gazing up at him with his wide eyes radiating innocence, "Right?"
Yami's rage crumbled. "Everyone," he repeated with a curt nod.
The bell rang and Mr. Pegasus shut the classroom door, telling them elatedly about the fantastical things they were going to learn that day.
Fifth Period, Cafeteria, Afternoon
Malik, Ryou, and Yuugi walked leisurely towards the cafeteria, wrapped up in conversation. Yuugi and Malik walked on either side of Ryou just in case he would collapse again. The trio of Freshmen hadn't had a lot of time to speak together lately, and they had much to catch up on.
"I can't believe your parents would send you to therapy with a bunch of crazy nut jobs and anorexic chicks," Malik said, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Oh, it's not that bad, Malik," Ryou reassured him, "Everyone's really friendly."
"I still can't believe you stood up to Marik like that!" Yuugi exclaimed, "I'm so proud of you!"
"Well, I'm not. It doesn't matter how good I am or how sexy I am," he informed his friends dejectedly, not even cracking so much as a smile at his own narcissistic comment, "Marik won't come back for me."
Ryou gave his friend a quick one-armed hug, "He will, you'll see."
"Malik," Yuugi told his friend in a determined tone, "Marik would have to be blind, heartless, and the world's biggest idiot to turn his back on you for good."
The blond smiled at his friends. "Where the hell would I be without you guys?"
"Hey, Yuugi?" a high-pitched voice called from behind him, "Got a sec?"
Yuugi turned around in surprise as Anzu Makazi came sauntering up to the three of them, eyes firmly fixed on Yuugi.
"Uhm," Yuugi turned to his friends, asking a silent question. When they nodded, he turned back to her, "Alright."
Ryou and Malik headed on towards the cafeteria. Malik looked back and gave Anzu a warning glare before grabbing onto Ryou's elbow as his friend teetered on the spot.
"So, Miss Makazi, what can I do for you?" Yuugi asked politely.
She laughed melodically, "Such a gentleman! You can just call me Anzu, Yuugi. I just wanted to have a little chitchat with you. That's all."
"Okay then, Anzu," Yuugi said, testing out her name on his vocal chords.
"So, I saw you came to my party on Friday," she began conversationally, "Did you have fun?"
Yuugi blinked in surprise, "Oh! Uhm, I mean, yes. I'd never been to that kind of party before, so it was all pretty different for me."
Anzu looked pleased. "I also saw Yami come in with you back then, and just now today in the hallway second period you two looked pretty cozy."
A light pink blush rose to his cheeks. "Y-Yeah, I guess so."
"Moving rather fast, isn't he?" she asked in a concerned manner, "I hope he hasn't tried anything without your consent like with poor Jirou."
"With Jirou?" Yuugi asked in surprise, "What about Jirou?"
"Oh! Didn't you know? Yami and Jirou were dating just last year."
Thursday, Tokoshie Mansion, Upper-Domino City Land Development, Afternoon
Yami pulled over by the curb at an enormous mansion. Switching off his sleek black sports car, the Senior stepped out onto the pavement and breathed in the clean air. He pulled his sunglasses off of his face and put them in his coat pocket before slamming the door to his car shut and hurrying up the path to the doorway. Ringing the doorbell three times in a row followed by two knocks, he listened for the telltale sounds of someone coming to the door.
No one answered.
"Fuck, Marik," he cursed angrily and fumbled for his keys, jamming a yellow one into the lock on his friend's door. It clicked open.
Yami entered the house, careful to hang his coat on the rack and remove his shoes so as to not anger the housemaids. His black socks made no noise on the pristinely polished marble floors as he crossed the foyer and into the expansive living room. Flicking on the lights, Yami winced inwardly at the sight he was greeted with. Marik was laying on the couch dressed only in a pair of black sweatpants, staring blankly at the plasma screen television across the room. His normally gravity-defying hair was completely flat and tangled into knots. Black rings around his eyes were the result of a poor make-up removal job.
Crossing the room, Yami smacked the off button on the television set and moved to stand in front of his distraught friend. "What the hell, Marik?"
"Go the fuck away, Yami," Marik groaned with a hand over his eyes, but he made no move to kick the other male out.
Yami grasped his friend's wrist and swiftly pulled him off of the couch. "You didn't show up at school today, idiot. How long have you been lying there?"
Marik stumbled a bit as he tried to regain his balance. "Since three this morning, I think."
Without further comment, Yami dragged Marik by his hand out of the living room, across the foyer, and into the spacious kitchen. While Yami bustled about making a bowl of cereal for his friend, Marik dropped himself limply into a stool at a granite counter. "I can't do this, Pharaoh."
"Can't do what?" Yami asked loudly from inside the kitchen's enormous pantry.
"I can't live like this. First my parents and now Malik. Everyone I care about is gone from my life," his head dropped to the countertop.
"Don't Bakura and I count?"
"I don't care about you two in that way. We tried before, remember?" Marik replied with a moan.
"Oh, so you care about Malik in that way?" the spiky haired senior asked curiously, crossing the room to the refrigerator, "Now we're getting somewhere. You lumped him together with your parents. Does that mean you love him?"
"Love…" Marik repeated, "Somehow, I don't think it's that simple."
"Love isn't simple, but elaborate for me," Yami demanded rather than asking, setting a bowl of cereal in front of the blond and climbing up into a stool, "And while you're at it, eat something."
Marik picked up the spoon and stared at it for a good ten seconds before putting it back down. "I don't know, man. I've never felt this fucked up over one kid before," he lamented, "I didn't want to get attached, but Malik made it so damn hard."
Yami sighed. "Marik, what is it about Malik, or rather losing him, that makes you like this?" he asked, trying to extract conclusive information out of him.
"It's everything, Pharaoh," he admitted glumly, rubbing at his eye tiredly, "Whenever I even think about fucking someone, I think about how horrible and used it would make that brat feel. I'm either insane or in seriously deep shit."
Yami nodded at him, "Go on."
"It's a long explanation."
"I have time."
Marik locked his eyes on the spoon, finding it easier to talk to the utensil than to Yami. "Before I met Malik this summer in Cairo, I thought I knew myself. I was Marik Tokoshie. A football player, a Senior, a millionaire, and a user. Malik was…he was just…" Marik stopped to think a moment, "Actually, I don't really knew all that much about him. I just sort of knew he was different. From the others, I mean. He was beautiful, smart, and damn good at what he did, but somehow I always felt like I was missing something important."
Yami nodded in thoughtful silence as Marik continued.
"When summer was over, I got this terrible feeling when I knew we would probably never see each other again. Like I wasn't really in one piece anymore. Malik was more than some slut I screwed around with. You have no idea how happy I was when I saw him at the pep rally that first day back," Marik poked the cereal with his spoon, "I'm not making much sense, am I?
"It seems plain to me," Yami stated.
"Really?!" Marik shot up in his seat, gaze fixed intently on Yami.
"You," he said, pointing at Marik with his index finger, "Are most definitely in love."
A/N:
Okay, it was a little shorter than the other chapters, but it had to be done! Trust me. You'll thank me later. Probably. Big shoutout to all the lovely people who helped make this happen. Also, I'm sorry for the slow update. I CONVEINENTLY started failing a major subject RIGHT when this was almost done…
