EDITED ON: September 26th, 2014

~ Chapter X ~

Changes

The air was crisp, yet warm, as Mutou Yuugi approached the school building. Never before had he been so happy to see the structure of Domino City High School. The three-day suspension was boring - he'd been banned from any and all communication with the outside world, and only allowed to leave his room for the necessities, or to mind the Shop. Or chores.

Yuugi shuddered quietly.

Dear Ra, so many chores.

Oh, not to mention that he had been unable to speak to Ryou the entire time. It reminded him all too much of the first few weeks after the Pharaoh's passing. Lonely, lost, empty, quiet. Nothing but him, alone, and the thoughts rattling around his haunted mind. It had been so quiet. Yuugi closed his eyes with a small exhale.

In short, the current form of his own, personal Hell.

He blinked, and quickly began to search the growing mass of bodies outside for a familiar mop of snowy-white hair... His breath caught when his violet eyes spotted it. Ryou was near the entrance of the building, gaze obviously scrutinizing the crowd for something. Or, someone. Warm brown eyes were scanning over the waves of students with painstaking slowness, and a glimmer of hope. It both startled and warmed Yuugi as he found himself almost desperately pleading that his hunch was correct, and that it was him the other teen was looking for.

His feet moved with an eager swiftness, bringing him closer to his recent flame. With some uneasiness, Yuugi noticed several of his peers eying him cautiously – some even tried none-too-subtly to scramble away from him as he passed. It was ignored, the the time-being, however. As of this moment, he only had eyes for Ryou. The albino had caught sight of him and was vainly trying to keep from grinning like a giddy idiot. He raised a hand, and waved with an almost bashful aura. The spiky-haired teen detected hints of a soft rosy blush tinting his pale cheeks. Yuugi grinned.

So cute... he mentally swooned, now mere paces away. His balance was thrown off as two arms suddenly found themselves swung over his shoulders. Yuugi beamed, and was quick to return the embrace, not loosening his hold until he felt Ryou try to pull away.

The pale adolescent smiled, cheeks still flushed in an adorable, almost delicate, pink shade. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that for," he giggled, for once blatantly ignoring the odds looks sent their way after the pair's bizarre, 'touchy-feely' greeting.

"Actually," Yuugi replied, turning towards the doors of Domino High, eyes a silent beckoning for Ryou to follow, "I think I do. I missed you like crazy, Ry'."

Ryou made a small noise - of what, Yuugi wasn't sure - and began to fill him in on what he had missed during his three days of absence. He nodded along absently, lavender gaze drifting. Now that the warm glow of his and Ryou's little reunion had died down to a pleasant hum in his pulse, Yuugi began to fully notice of the looks he was being sent. They were cautious, wary, some lined with disgust or even fear. Ryou seemed to take note of this, and gave a minuscule sigh.

"There's been a lot of talk since the fight between you two, Yuugi," he murmured, almost hesitant with his word choice. At Yuugi's glance, he stammered out, "I-I mean, it's just... you're not a violent person. A-At all! And everyone knows that. But, af-after the fight between you and Jou..." his voice trailed, catching the dark, almost disappointed glint in the Gaming King's gemstone irises.

"They're scared of me," he concluded, in an almost bitter whisper. Ryou sighed, shrugging meekly. "Are you, Ryou? Scared of me, I mean," he inquired, adding the last sentence after all he received from the other Hikari was a puzzled look.

The Brit bit his lower lip. "N-Not necessarily," he murmured. Yuugi felt his heart clench painfully. Ryou's eyes widened in surprise at his choice of words. "N-Not that I'm scared of you, Yuugi!" he stumbled out, voice dropping in volume, to nary a murmur. "I'm frightened... for you, more like."

Yuugi blinked, not really caring that they seemed to have stopped walking. "I..." he muttered, allowing Ryou to turn him into homeroom as an overwhelming wave of insecurity flooded him, "I don't understand... What do you mean, you're 'frightened for me'?" The room they were in was currently barren of all other life, for which the teen silently thanked Ra for.

"W-Well..." Ryou's fingers plucked nervously at his backpack strap.

"Ryou," the young duelist murmured. The pitch of his voice was serious, almost seeming to drop an octave, "I've told you once and I'll tell you again; don't feel you have to hide anything from me. I can take it."

The boy sighed, eyes closing in a flutter of sooty lashes. "Well," he uttered again, "Ev-Ever since... since he left-" Yuugi did not need emphasis to guess who 'he' was "-you've... changed, Yuugi."

Okay, that didn't do much to enlighten him on the situation... "Changed?" he echoed. Ryou nodded, looking unsure.

"You've become..." another puff of breath, "The only way I can think to describe it is... darker. You don't smile or laugh as much as you did when Yami was here." Unwillingly, Yuugi flinched at the name. "Your eyes don't shine – th-they don't seem as bright as they were. Your mannerisms aren't as childish or trusting. You're more... severe, than before." There was a tiny shrug, "Not that it's a bad thing, necessarily, but... you hardly even seem like the same person anymore. People have noticed, but I think the fight between you and Jounouchi-kun finally made them aware of it. They... They can tell something's wrong, they just don't know what. Most of what I've heard was just... you having finally snapped after all the bullying you've gone through." He paused, looking as if he were still digesting the information himself. "Was..." Yuugi looked up sharply at the other's quiet voice. "Was it really that bad?"

The gamer grimaced, casting his gaze absently to the window at the other side of the room. "You have no idea..." he mumbled, an almost sour undertone to his voice. He saw Ryou frown in concern, but, to his credit. dropped the blatantly unwanted subject.

Gods above, the bullying had been awful. With his childlike nature, and overly-trusting, game-obsessed mindset – not to mention his formerly-short stature – Yuugi had been a huge target. There were more times than could bother to count that the aftermath of near-daily beatings had put him on bed-rest, or even sent him to the hospital, on more extreme occasions. In fact, the day he had solved the Puzzle, and released Atem's spirit... He remembered, the hulking upperclassman, Tetsu Ushio, having threatened him with a knife. It was a very real fact to Yuugi that, if not for Atemu, he could very well have been killed by the psychotic brute.

His eyes dimmed individual, an unnerved, haunted fog falling over his mind. Ryou, obviously noticing Yuugi's quiet descent into dark memories, quickly reached over, and took a lightly shaking hand into his grip. The young man blinked, the contact having jarred him from his musings, and glanced dazedly to the albino at his side. He smiled weakly, giving a grateful squeeze, before twining his fingers with that of his-...

Friend?

Boyfriend?

He liked the sound of that.

"Hey, uhm... Ryou?" he spoke up suddenly, trying not to stammer. The albino blinked at the break of silence.

"Hm?" came an inquisitive hum for his reply.

And all attempt to remain calm was carefully chucked out the window. "Considering it's Friday, and we don't have school tomorrow, do you..." He his damnedest not to blush. Failing miserably, of course. Just go drop an anvil on that specific idea. "Do you want to... go somewhere, after school, or something?"

His blush mirrored itself over Ryou's own face. "D-Do you mean..." he swallowed, "L-Like a... Like a date?"

Yuugi grinned sheepishly, chuckling a little bit. "Uh..." he cleared his throat. "Y-Yes? I was thinking we could... go to the park, or walk around town, or something. Just hang out, y'know...?"

There was a timid silence between them, before Ryou finally spoke up. "Y-Yeah, sure. I-I'd love to." Yuugi smiled brightly, heart soaring as the two shared another moment of bashful silence. The Brit suddenly laughed. Yuugi threw him a curious look.

"What's up?"

Ryou stifled his gigging with his free hand, as the other was still preoccupied with holding Yuugi's own. "I'm in trouble," he replied cryptically. There was a protective flare inside Yuugi's chest, blazing brightly with the desire to guard this wonderful aspect of his life. His hand instinctively gripped Ryou's a little bit more securely, before the whitenette continued his sentence. "I'm the boyfriend of one of the world's most lusted-after teenaged celebrities."

He snickered again, and Yuugi felt his chest clench at the open mention of their pair's newly-developed relationship. Chocolate brown gazed with amusement and affection into brightening amethyst. They simultaneously broke into grins.

"Your fangirls are going to kill me."

Class passed by without a hitch, for the most part, though Yuugi was rather reluctant to part with Ryou when the warning bell sounded. Sure, they were only a classroom apart, which was little to nothing after three days, but it still seemed much too far away. He found himself constantly glancing in the accented teen's direction. And, on more than one occasion, their eyes met, causing both to blush and quickly look in the opposite direction. He couldn't help but smile to himself at those moments, falling into a foolish, giddy stupor.

Yep. He had it bad.

But, of course, the illusion had to be shattered.

A ruler snapped over the back of his hand, which had been stretched laxly over the desk top. Yuugi snatched the limb back with a sharp noise that sounded suspiciously like the beginnings of an f-bomb, only to be quickly stifled. Instead, the adolescent substituted pain for rage, sending a chilling glare up at his teacher, Chono-sensei. A rather lovely bruise was already beginning to rear its head over his knuckles, as they pulsed hotly with pain. "What was that for?!" he snapped boldly, unable to keep the dark growl out of his demanding tone.

"I believe I have warned you before about daydreaming during my class, Mutou-san," Chono hissed coldly, returning his leer with one of her own. "To detention with you, boy. Now."

"So, what, being a little out of it is enough of an excuse for you to damn near break my fingers?" he spat, but stood up promptly, quickly gathering his supplies with barely-concealed anger in his tight, jerking movements. Well... his good mood was officially spoiled. Approaching the doorway, the young Game King gave a muttering hiss of "freaking psychopathic bitch," beneath his breath.

"What, did you say, young man?!"

Yuugi glanced over his shoulder to meet enraged, dark eyes. Any other day, he'd have probably turned tail and left, submitting fully to Chono's intimidating sneer. But, he didn't quite consider that day to be like any other one. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said with sincerity so false it was almost painful. "I didn't know you were deaf. I said you are a psychopathic bitch."

And, leaving several shocked, deadpanned expressions behind him (and a certain whitenette trying to stifle a fit of hysterical laughter), Yuugi strode (rather pleasantly) from the room, and down the halls to his designated classroom for the day. An almost foreign sense of confidence radiated from his aura. He gave a small chuckle, though it sounded bland and apathetic. Back in the days before Atemu and the Shadow Games, being sent to detention would have devastated him. Though it was quite a shame to mar up his otherwise spotless student record (excluding the suspension, of course), Yuugi was rather surprised at just how very little he cared.

He opened a door, which had a little piece of paper labeled "Detention" taped to it at about eye-level, and stepped inside. The teacher in charge of keeping tabs on sentenced students glanced up from the pages of a book he was reading, an expectant tilt to one of his brows. Yuugi closed the door behind him, and brushed past the man to seat himself at one of many desks. He saw the staff member's eyebrows shoot up into his hairline with what could only be described as astonishment, before hesitantly returning his attention back to the reading article in his hands. The Gaming King almost laughed at the dumbfounded, unsure expression hidden behind the faculty person's dark, strict eyes.

"Psst."

Yuugi blinked, and glanced towards the quiet hiss that whistled to his ears. A student, one he did not recognize, was staring at him widely. The tri-color-haired teen raised a brow elegantly – something he vaguely registered as being a very Atem-like reaction – head tipping slightly to one side. "Can I help you?" He murmured back under his breath.

The kid was somewhat muscular, with squared features and a strong jaw. Judging by badly tousled raven hair, dried blood over his lip, and a nice shiner forming over his left cheek, the boy was there for fighting at school. Yuugi quietly scoffed to himself. What, no suspension? he joked mentally.

"Oi, Mutou-kun," the other mumbled back, voice no more than a whisper, leaving Yuugi quietly cursing his nationwide publicity, "What the Hell are you in here for?" The wide-eyed, disbelieving look on the young man's bruised face almost made him laugh, and he honestly prided himself on his ability to hold said laughter at bay. But, Yuugi found it was impossible to bite back a smirk.

He lifted his struck hand – which was now marked in blooming red-and-purple bruising over the knuckles – into view. "Chono smacked my hand with a ruler for not paying attention," he explained quietly, "I told her she was a bitch before I walked out." The upperclassman's face was blank for a moment, before he broke into a humored grin, snickering quietly under his breath. He gave Yuugi a quick thumbs-up, whispering "nice," then turned away. Feeling rather satisfied with himself, Yuugi settled for leaning back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other.

He was brought to awareness as an object in his pocket vibrated. With a fleeting glance over his shoulder to make sure the teacher wasn't watching, the adolescent quickly slipped the offending object from his uniform jeans' pocket. His cell phone lit up, the screen announcing in incandescent words, "one new message". He opened it, pleasantly surprised to find that it had been sent to him by Ryou.

Hey.

Yuugi smiled softly, and typed out a quick reply.

Hey, what's up?

Pressing send, he leaned back in his chair again, phone held by his hands as they rested over his chest. The silence of the classroom, broken only by the occasional cough, yawn, or typing of keys from the teacher's laptop, was dull, making Yuugi feel drowsy with its lack of stimulation. His daze was broken, however, as the cellular device in his palms sprang to quiet life, buzzing against his skin

Nm. Chono's in the midst of a fit, lol.

She's taking it out on the class, isn't she?

He stifled a yawn.

Nah. Just goin out of her way 2 use u as an example 2 every1. -3-

*rolls eyes* She had it coming. My hand hurts ;n;

Aw~ U poor thing! Yuugi smirked to himself at the obvious sarcasm the message held.

Smartass.

Oh, like ur so innocent?

Point taken :P

c(:

There was silence over his new, electronic connection to the world beyond the boring room. Yuugi sighed quietly, absently poking a finger, gingerly, at his injured knuckles. He hissed in an almost-silent intake of breath, quickly coming to the conclusion that it was a bad idea to be doing such a thing and that he was a complete idiot. He winced as his hand gave another hot pulse of pain, even though it wasn't quite as intense as before. Still ached, though. Shouldn't this count as child abuse? Or assault? Something?!

His phone, still in-hand, once again revived itself with soft tremors. Yuugi opened his new text.

So... this isn't going 2 get in the way of our date, is it...? The spiky-haired boy's smile grew warm and tender, eyes lightening to a delicate orchid.

Nope. I'll meet u after school gets out. By the front gates good?

Sounds like a plan. G2g. Don't want 2 get in trouble.

What? Don' t want 2 come visit me? XD

Lol, not rlly!

Pfft. Fine then, be that way. :P C u after school, Ry.

C u then! :D