A/N:
The people who love Anzu-bashing are going to be angry with me. I just know it. But anyway, enjoy chapter 11! Also, kudos to YaoifanRisaMM for being such a good sport about my mind-blowing laziness.
Note the change in the last scene if you've read this before.
Disclaimer:
Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!.
Tuesday Morning, Domino High School, Science Classroom
Yuugi was walking down the hallway towards the science classroom with a cheery smile on his face. Yesterday had been a snow day, and he had gone to the mall with Malik, Yami, and Marik. Bringing his hand up to eye level for about the fiftieth time that day, he happily watched the light catch the brilliant amethyst stone embedded in the silver band around his finger. Marik had bought Malik a similar ring. Yuugi and Malik were put out when Ryou had refused their invitation to go along. Ryou usually never missed an opportunity to be with his friends. However, these days the quiet teen was even more reclusive.
Up ahead, Yuugi could see Jirou waiting by the door, looking defeated. Standing next to him was Anzu, who was scanning the crowd of students passing through the hallway. Yuugi walked up to the two of them with a thoughtful frown on his face. "Hello?"
Anzu and Jirou both looked at him. "Ah, Yuugi!" Anzu greeted, clapping her hands together, "Just the person we were looking for!"
"Anzu said I should talk to you about something, but she wouldn't say what. Sorry, Yuugi. I'm just as lost as you are here," Jirou chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head.
"We need to wait until Yami get's here, though," she told the two boys, "This is a group meeting."
"O-Okay," Yuugi stammered, unsure of what exactly was going on.
At that moment, Yami appeared behind Yuugi. "Hello, Yuugi," he said smoothly. In a clipped tone, he addressed Jirou and Anzu. "What is it?"
"Jirou and Anzu wanted to talk to us," Yuugi told him, leaning back towards the senior. Yami took Yuugi's books for him, and Yuugi smiled appreciatively.
"Do they now?" Yami asked, quirking his eyebrow, "Go on, then."
"Yuugi, do you remember what I talked to you about before?" Anzu asked, "What I said about Yami and Jirou."
"What have you been telling him?" Yami asked, trying to hide the rising panic in his voice, "I swear, Anzu, if you've been talking about things that don't concern you."
"Yami, you know that's not my style," she said nervously, trying to placate him. She moved her designer handbag from one hand to the other, trying not to back down from the other senior, "I only told him what I thought he needed to know. Yuugi, did he ever talk to you about it?"
Yuugi shook his head. "What are you three going on about?"
"You don't need to know," Yami said harshly, grabbing Yuugi's shoulder, "Let's go."
"Ah, Yami!" Yuugi protested, shaking his boyfriend's hand off, "What's gotten into you?"
"Sorry, Yuugi," he mumbled, looking to the side so he wouldn't have to meet the small teen's eyes.
"You really would be better off not knowing if this is what I think it's about," Jirou told him glumly, "It's nothing I'm proud of."
"Yuugi, do you want to know what happened?" Anzu asked gently.
"Yeah, if you don't mind," Yuugi said, glancing quickly at Jirou and Yami, "Where can we go?"
"Anywhere but here," Anzu said quickly, "I see Pegasus coming!" She grabbed Yuugi's wrist and pulled him down the hallway, Jirou and Yami following after them.
Anzu stopped when they reached the auditorium. It was dark and empty in the large theater. Not bothering to turn on the lights, they made their way to the front row of auditorium seats and sat down on the floor.
"Feel free to add to the story, boys," she told Jirou and Yami, "Now, where do I start?"
"Don't start at the beginning," Jirou told her, twisting his hands anxiously, "Just tell him the most important parts."
~Flash Back~
The rain was coming down in torrents on a pitch black night. On the edge of an alley stood two teens under an umbrella. The one holding the umbrella had sandy blond hair and steely gray eyes. The teen next to him had spiky red, black, and blond hair framing his tanned face. Dark crimson eyes were narrowed slightly as he talked in a hushed tone into his cell phone. Both teens were clad in all black and wore identical impatient expressions.
"Hurry up, Yami," the teen holding the umbrella said, biting back his aggravation.
The one called Yami snapped his phone shut and slipped it into his pocket. He signaled for the other to follow and walked out from under the umbrella. "Let's go, Jirou."
The brunet folded the umbrella and hurried to catch up to his retreating partner. "So, it got there safely then?" he asked anxiously.
"Seems like it. We wouldn't be waiting out here in the pouring rain for hours asking ourselves that same question if you hadn't missed the guy tailing us," his partner snapped back.
"Hey! It's dark out, and it's raining! What do you expect?" Jirou defended indignantly.
"You're too soft with these people, Jirou," Yami argued back, "I would've been able to do it."
Jirou stopped walking. He stood motionless on the sidewalk, glaring at Yami.
"Hurry up, will you? We're going to get sick if we stand around out here all night."
This scene was unfortunately familiar for the two teens. They were barely sixteen, yet they had been involved with a street gang for a year already. Neither particularly liked the gang life, but neither would admit it. Under aliases to protect their identities, the two youths had begun doing these risky things in efforts to impress the other. Both knew what they were doing was dangerous, stupid, and most likely unnecessary, but their prides got in the way of stopping the twisted game.
"Are you sure the tail was taken care of?" Jirou asked nervously.
"That's what the boss said, and I trust him," Yami replied calmly.
Both teens knew very well that the boss was not to be trusted at all. Neither said a word about it as they continued walking.
A gun shot rang out, and both teens instinctively froze. Yami pivoted on the spot, drawing his handgun and pointing it blindly towards the shadows. A second shot sounded and Jirou dropped to the sidewalk with a gasp of pain. Yami fired his own gun a fraction of a second later into the dark alley they had just come out of. The shooter dropped to the pavement with a muffled cry. Flinging his gun onto the sidewalk with a clatter, Yami dropped to his knees beside Jirou. Prying his partner's hands away from his profusely bleeding wound, Yami assessed the damage quickly before pulling out his cell phone and dialing for an ambulance.
~End Flash Back~
"I blacked out after that," Jirou said quietly.
"I had to explain everything to the doctors and the police later on," Yami continued, "Needless to say, the whole syndicate was busted, and we can never be seen in that district ever again."
"Somehow, we managed to stay out of jail," Jirou mused, staring inquiringly at Yami, "I still have no idea how you managed to pull that off."
"And I don't intend to tell you," the senior stated plainly.
Yuugi stared at Yami with a horrified expression on his face. "You mean to tell me that Jirou was shot because neither of you would swallow your damn pride?!"
Yami flinched at his boyfriend's harsh tone. Jirou and Anzu watched quietly, neither daring to interrupt. "It's not like I meant to get him shot," Yami reasoned weakly.
"Both of you could have been murdered!" the small teen almost screamed.
"And I'll never do such a stupid and reckless thing ever again for as long as I live," he vowed weakly, shrinking away from the enraged freshman.
"You'd better not." Yuugi crossed his arms over his chest, an uncharacteristic scowl darkening his soft features. He turned to the other offending person menacingly. "And you."
"Me," Jirou stated miserably.
"What on Earth could you have been thinking?! Were you just going to go along with Yami's insane stunts until one of you actually died?" he asked angrily, glaring darkly.
"Hey! It was just as much Jirou's fault as it is mine!" Yami argued indignantly.
"Oh, be quiet, will you?" Yuugi shook his head, running a hand through his spiky locks. "The two of you are a pair of hopeless idiots," he concluded, "Just hopeless."
"I agree completely, Yuugi," Anzu chimed in, nodding her head in agreement, "They were bad for each other from the start. Two hotheaded boys trying to show off by participating in gang violence? Oh, please."
"Shut up," Yami growled, glaring at her.
"She's right," Yuugi said with an exasperated sigh. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Forgive me?" the senior asked hopefully. He pressed himself closer to Yuugi's side, burying his face in the teen's hair. "You should forgive me. I was just a dumb kid back then."
"Don't expect to get off so easily," Yuugi mumbled, but he made no move to push the other away.
The bell rang and faint voices could be heard from the hallway as the students moved to their next class.
"Ah, shit," Jirou cursed, "We should get going before they notice we're gone."
"It's a little late for that."
All four teen's heads whipped up to stare at the cheery form of Pegasus. He was smiling happily and looked oddly calm.
"Um, we can explain," Anzu stammered, trying to formulate an excuse.
Pegasus laughed. "No need, my dear. Just run along to your next classes, children, and don't be late!"
The four teens left the auditorium thinking the same horrifying thought. How much had he heard?
Friday, Domino High School Cafeteria, Afternoon
It was the day before winter break. Domino High School was in a constant blur of activity as teachers tried desperately to control their unruly classes, winter decorations were being put up, and students were sharing their last day together before going their separate ways for the extended break. Students everywhere were exchanging phone numbers and vacation plans, bragging about all of the places they were going to be spending the holiday at. When the bell rang for lunch, everyone piled into the cafeteria.
Yami, Bakura, and Marik were sitting at their usual table at the front of the cafeteria, but only Yami and Marik seemed to be into the spirit of the holiday. They both had Santa Clause hats perched jauntily on their heads, and were, shall we say, really enjoying the holiday.
"Come on, Mrs. Clause," Yami said with a smirk, leaning in to nudge noses with Yuugi, "Give Santa a kiss."
"Yami, for the last time, I am not Mrs. Clause," Yuugi replied, quickly becoming annoyed with his boyfriend and bashful due to the audience of fangirls scribbling furiously in their notebooks. "Now, let me get down from here so I can finish my lunch, please." He tried to pry Yami's arms from his waist so he could climb down from the senior's lap.
Yami laughed, not budging an inch. "No, no, no, Mrs. Clause. That will never do. How can I deliver presents to everyone else without giving you one first?"
Malik was in the same situation, but unlike Yuugi, the blond had no desire to stop Marik. "Oh, Santa!" he exclaimed in mock sadness, "I haven't been good at all this year."
Marik grinned suggestively and rolled his hips provocatively, eliciting a breathless moan from Malik. "I'm sure I can come up with something for you. In fact, I have just the package in mind."
Despite his friend's antics, Bakura hadn't move since they'd carried him into the cafeteria at the beginning of lunch. The senior was slumped over on the table with his head in his arms. Every so often he would twitch, letting his friends know he was still alive.
"Hey, Bakura?" Marik asked, turning his attention away from Malik, "Is it me or are you even less alive today than usual?"
Yami, not one to be left out, joined in. "Didn't you get enough beauty sleep last night?"
"Oh, leave him alone, would you?" Yuugi interrupted sympathetically, "Bakura?"
Bakura grunted in response. Yami and Marik exchanged shocked glances.
"Would it be alright if I asked you why you're so lifeless today?" the small teen asked again kindly. When he got a shrug in return, Yuugi continued, "It's Ryou, right?"
"Yeah," was the weak response Bakura gave. His voice came out strained due to not using it all day.
"For the love of-" Marik began angrily.
"If that's the only-" Yami started at the same time.
"Guys," Yuugi shushed them, pressing a finger to his lips, "I'll be back. Don't do anything stupid, and pick up your head, Bakura. Honestly, you look like a dead person." He slid off of Yami's lap and disappeared in the crowd of students.
The three friends sat in awed silence. Bakura had even raised his head in shocked obedience.
"What kind of crazy power does that kid have?" Marik asked uneasily.
"I don't know," Yami replied slowly, "I always thought he was afraid of Bakura."
A few minutes later, Yuugi returned with a skeptical looking Ryou in tow. "Okay you two. We're going to leave so you can sort things out."
"We are?" Marik and Yami asked at the same time.
"Yep," Yuugi replied, "And I don't want to hear another word about it."
"Whatever," Malik replied, sliding off of Marik, "Just don't start crying or anything, Ryou."
Ryou turned red, fixing angry eyes on his friend. Malik just laughed and left with the other three teens. An awkward silence fell over the two remaining boys. Ryou fidgeted nervously and dropped his gaze to the floor, unsure of what to say.
"Sit…please?" Bakura tried, wincing at how pathetic he sounded using that word. Bakura Necrophades was never one to be polite. Ryou quickly took the seat next to his ex and kept his gaze lowered. "Look up at me, will you? I don't like talking to the top of your head."
"I'm sorry!" Ryou said quickly, clapping a hand to his mouth. He slowly lowered his hand and met the gaze of a taken aback Bakura. "I'm sorry we haven't really talked since then. I was upset."
"Look, this really isn't my thing, but I'm sorry, too," Bakura admitted sincerely before he could stop himself, for he would surely change his mind, "I don't give a damn anymore about whether you'll let me fuck you or not. I just want you back."
"W-What?" Ryou asked disbelievingly, "You do?"
"Yeah." The senior rubbed his head, further messing up his tangled hair. "I don't expect a sappy forgiveness speech or anything like that. I just want you to know that I'd take you back. If you even want me back, that is."
Ryou smiled and stood up, moving to stand in front of Bakura. "You don't have to go on," he said, combing through Bakura's messy hair carefully with his fingers and untangling the knots, "I don't want to hear you say anything you aren't ready to say yet. I think we can work the rest out from here."
Domino High School Auditorium, After School
The director rapped his baton off of the piano angrily, signaling for Malik to stop playing. "Wrong again! How long must we sit here until you get it right?!" he yelled exasperatedly.
"Sorry," Malik muttered darkly, turning back in the book to the beginning while rolling his eyes towards the ceiling.
The director turned away, leaning against the piano. Malik glared vehemently at his back, wanting nothing more than to shove the elder man to the floor and give him a piece of his mind. They had been going over the same song for almost an hour, and the pianist was at the end of his rope.
"That is all I can stand today," the director declared with a heavy sigh. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his forehead. "At this rate, you'll never be able to play that part."
"I have nearly five months to work on it," Malik reasoned dourly, pulling his book off of the piano's music stand and jamming it into his bag.
"If you are too lazy to work on it now, what makes you think it will be any better in five months?" the director asked incredulously
Without bothering to snap back at the insufferable man, Malik tugged on his sweatshirt, shouldered his music bag, and stormed angrily out of the auditorium without so much as a glance back.
Marik stood leaning against the door of his car, a monster of a sports utility vehicle, and stared up at the sky. Soft white flakes were floating lazily to the ground. He was so wrapped up in watching the snow, he didn't notice a girl approach him slowly along the walkway. She continued walking along the curb and stopped when she was directly in front of him. "Hey, Marik?" she asked , flipping her long brown hair back absently.
Only just noticing her presence, Marik leveled his gaze at her. "Yeah?"
"Well, I figured if you weren't busy with anyone else then we could do something later. Whatever you're into is good with me," she informed him with a flirtatious smile, "So, your place or mine?"
Malik shoved open the rusty entrance door and walked away from the building. The first thing he noticed was Marik. The second thing he noticed was a girl talking to Marik. Raising his eyebrows, Malik walked over to the pair with an amused look on his face. He went around the girl and stood by Marik, looking up at all the snowflakes twirling in the sky. Marik continued to stare at the girl.
"Oh, I didn't realize you had someone today. What about tomorrow?" she asked, fiddling with the hem of her skirt.
"No, tomorrow won't work," Marik replied, smirking slightly, "Malik doesn't like it when I have others."
Her jaw dropped slightly, but the girl quickly composed herself. Marik grabbed Malik's hand and laced their fingers together. The girl's jaw dropped again. "You have an actual boyfriend?!" He nodded. Without another word, the girl whipped out her cell phone and began typing rapidly as she walked away.
"Damn right I don't like it," Malik muttered to himself. His mouth curved up in a smirk as he watched the girl leave. "And now everyone's going to know about it."
Marik opened the passenger door for Malik before going around the car and getting into the driver's seat. They drove away from the school in silence before Malik's smile turned into a scowl.
"Hey, something wrong?" Marik asked without looking away from the road.
"The idiot director was just making my life hell today. Can you believe he thought I was playing one song wrong for over an hour!?" he raged, glaring up at Marik.
"Well, were you?" Marik asked plainly.
He didn't get any for hours.
Saturday, Domino City Mega Mall, Afternoon
The mall wasn't very crowded for a Saturday. Only a few groups of shoppers milled around in the stores. In Bakura's opinion, it was damned near perfect. He held onto Ryou's waist protectively all the same. Ryou wasn't complaining. He finally got Bakura back, and he wasn't about to ask him to let go any time soon. Yami and Yuugi had left them to go look in a pet store. By the look on Yuugi's face as he dragged his boyfriend into the shop, they weren't going to come out to rejoin their friends any time soon.
"Poor Yami," Marik said sympathetically, glancing at the pet store his friend had disappeared into half an hour ago. The four friends were currently sitting on a bench across from said pet store, waiting for Yami and Yuugi to return, hopefully with no one extra.
Ryou pulled a lolipop he had bought at the candy store out of a shopping bag and unwrapped it. "I hope he has enough willpower to tell Yuugi he can't have a dog. His grandfather is allergic to pets."
"Hah, Yami has about as much willpower as a houseplant," Bakura commented, plucking Ryou's lolipop from his grasp and sticking it in his mouth.
"Hey!" Ryou cried, snatching his lolipop back.
Malik leaned over and took the candy from Ryou, giving it a lick. He laughed as Ryou smacked him on the shoulder and took it back from his friend.
Yami walked out of the pet store at that moment, dragging Yuugi behind him by his arm. The younger teen was trying his best to break free of Yami's hold so he could go back inside, but Yami just kept on walking with his eyes raised to the ceiling.
Ryou sighed, leaning into Bakura. After the school year ends, their boyfriends would be leaving for college. He didn't want to think about the three seniors leaving just yet. Being togther at that moment was all that mattered to him.
A/N:
This is the last chapter before the epilogue! I honestly can't believe it. It really seems like it hasn't been that long since I first posted chapter one. Looking back, I see that I've come a long way, and I couldn't have done it without the support of my readers! You guys are the best forever. As always, review as you please and I will get back to you ASAP!
