A Bowl of Cherries
by Black Cherry Bomb

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AN We've reached the 100 alerts mark! :D Thank you each and everyone of you lovely readers, and extra thanks to those of you who took time to drop a review! Love and kisses, Cherry

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Chapter 21

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Yugi would have had a hard time concentrating on second period if it weren't Science, which he quite enjoyed. His mood was pretty low throughout the class.

Luckily for him, Joey and Tristan had plenty of stories to share with him over the lunch break. It brightened his mood a little. That, plus their enthusiasm over Anzu's plan to go to the arcade later this week (date to be announced). Everyone was going to hang out like in the good old days and have a good time. No butterflies in the stomach, no crushes, no rivalries, no worries. Just good old-fashioned electronic gaming fun!

Yugi went to trig after lunch, his heart a little lighter, and feeling ready, maybe, to confront Yami about yesterday's fugue and this morning's avoidance. The shorter teen walked straight to the back of the classroom where the not-so-new transfer student was sitting, book in hand, as usual.

"Hi Yami," our short hero chirped. "What are you reading?"

Yami took a moment before closing his book around his finger and looking at Yugi. His movements were calm and calculated, as always, but his gaze was on the cooler side.

"Hello, Yugi," he said evenly.

Next to him, Kaiba was settling down, plugging the various devices that were to him as necessary as oxygen. He was ignoring the pair completely. Yugi's gaze returned to Yami's, who was sporting a faint, polite smile.

Had Yami's smile always been like this, was this his neutral? Or was Yami... upset? Yugi had a hard time telling which.

"So how are you today, Yugi?"

"I, erm..." Yugi lost all of the willpower that had inhabited him upon entering the classroom. Which was filling up rapidly with students - potential onlookers. He got even more nervous. "I'm okay, I guess," he said evasively.

"That's nice." Yami dove back into his book.

Yugi felt unwanted, but he pressed on nonetheless. He had to get it out. How bad he felt for having run away from Yami like that. Of course, he couldn't just come out in the open like this, in class, and next to Kaiba. This stuff was pretty intimate.

"Yami, what- what are you doing after school?"

"I already have plans for tonight, little Yugi," he said quietly, still reading, or at least pretending to read his book.

Yugi had never been so happy to hear his quirky nickname like that. Maybe Yami wasn't angry after all! Perhaps just a little upset. Yes, that made more sense. He was bound to have been hurt by Yugi's... escape.

Yami flipped another page, still feigning to look disinterested. The bell was about to ring and they both knew it.

"Maybe we can talk later, then," said Yugi, eager to end their conversation before anyone became suspicious.

"Maybe," Yami acquiesced, sounding neither for, nor against, the idea.

Yugi walked to the front of the classroom, where he usually sat with Anzu.

Much to his dismay, his usual seat by the window was taken. By Anzu of all people! And Anzu's own usual seat was taken by none other than Weevil. Yugi had no choice but to go and sit behind them, in the last available chair the room had to offer.

And it was next to Brian The Great. You have to know that ever since the 'incident' with Yami, people had become more and more reluctant to sit with the Brian, whose fanbase had naturally dwindled, as well.

Yugi squeezed past him. The bell rang at the very moment he sat, next to the window. Yugi nodded to Anzu when she turned around to greet him silently, giving her friend an apologetic shrug, pointing at Weevil behind his back.

'Can't be helped', Yugi shrugged back. But truly he was pissed. Pissed? Is that even part of Yugi's palette of emotions? Maybe that was a little strong. But when you look at it closely...

From this moment on, yes, pissed he was. Well, a little bit at least. Weevil had most certainly taken that seat on purpose just to be close to Yugi; Anzu had visibly done nothing to prevent him from doing so; the man he'd tried to apologize to had given him the cold shoulder him and next thing Yugi knew, he had to sit next to Brian during his favorite class: trigonometry.

So in conclusion, yes, Yugi could allow himself to be a little angry. Not that he'd act upon it. It was him to actually 'get' angry. Big difference!

He began unpacking his backpack as the teacher started going over the homework. Just to annoy his favorite new neighbor, Brian pushed his own textbook and pencil case over to Yugi's side of the table, encroaching on the boy's personal space for no reason.

"Knock it off, Brian," Yugi let out, irritated, before he realized what he said - and before a flabbergasted Anzu could defend him herself.

"Yugi, Brian, is something going on?"

Yugi's first reaction to the teacher's remark was to shrink. Well, that was his first desire, anyway. He actually stayed quite immobile, still unsure why he'd actually spoken up, and what he was going to do next. Thus, it was Brian who had to speak up to break the awkward silence.

"No, sir." Really, there was nothing Brian could say or invent this time to save himself. It's not like he could accuse Yugi of assaulting him; even if he had, no one would believe him.

Anzu gave Yugi one last appreciative look before turning back to the teacher. Weevil seemed detached from the whole situation, and for the rest of the class, well, Yugi didn't dare give his classmates a panoramic glance. He was actually blushing! But it wasn't a romance-induced blush. It wasn't a crush-blush. Just a 'I'm proud of something I did' -blush.

A few people were whispering behind Yugi. He even heard a few muffled laughs, which the teacher seemed to notice but not pay actual attention to.

Gathering all the resolve he could muster, Yugi pushed Brian's stuff away coolly. It was clear by now he wouldn't do it himself. To his surprise, all Brian did was something between chewing his lower lip and... pout.

Yugi didn't act on his surprise. So not only he could actually stand up to Brian, but he could also do so without having to fear any consequences!

Not that pouting was going to do Yugi harm anytime soon.

The homework was dealt with quickly, and soon the teacher delved into some new theory, which Yugi was not, for once, familiar with. Thanks to - or because of - all the recent emotional turmoil in his life, he hadn't had time to do his school readings in advance. What was going to happen next, was he going to start coming late to class? Yugi felt he should be fearing for his academic future, but that fear was short-lived. Or maybe he was just numbed inside by the prospect of meeting Yami again in an unspecified future to discuss the unspecified relationship that bonded them (or not).

Yugi listened to the math teacher with rapt attention.

He didn't notice at first, when Brian started kicking Weevil's chair, much like he'd done to him a few weeks ago.

Yugi didn't want to do anything about it at first, once he realized what was going on. Not that he wanted Weevil to have to go through the same ordeal he had. He didn't have anything against the little guy. Weevil just had this strange vibe to him, a vibe that didn't make Yugi want to stand up for him for some reason.

Yugi actually felt relieved when Anzu turned around to give Brian a long, hard stare, stopping all leg activity for a few minutes at least. Yugi mentally thanked Anzu for her generosity.

Who knew, maybe it was just for herself that she'd done it; maybe she was actually bothered by the noise and not the bullying per se. Maybe she wasn't really standing up for Weevil at all.

Then Brian started kicking again. No one could hear, for they were now starting a team practice session. The sound was thus covered by the increasingly loud chatting of the students.

Was there anyone in the world who was willing to stand up for Weevil? Yugi started to wonder.

But he didn't have the guts to take a risk and confront Brian again, so he settled for one: feeling bad for Weevil, and two: hoping really hard Brian would stop kicking soon.

But he kept kicking, and had that nasty look on his face, as if he really was enjoying this. Really? Do you really need that in your life to feel better about yourself? Yugi thought. Ridiculous. Just like that ugly grin of his.

"So, let's do the exercises," Yugi said reluctantly to his arrogant neighbor, who turned to him, giving him a confused look.

Neither of them spoke. But at least, the kicking stopped. Perhaps Brian had been distracted by Yugi's prompt. So he just kept talking. Maybe at least Yugi's sacrifice wouldn't be in vain, if it could relieve weird little Weevil for a moment.

"We have to pretend, at least. The teacher's gonna suspect something if we don't talk."

"What do I care?"

"I don't know," answered Yugi meekly. Be brave, Little Yugi! He shook the meekness away.

"You're weird," Brian said dismissively, turning to his own textbook.

"You- so you think kicking someone's ch- chair for fun isn't weird?" Yugi retorted.

Wow. Maybe that wasn't the most witty retort he could come up with, but it wasn't bad. Oh, and it made Yugi's ears boil, too. Gosh, when would the blushing just stop?

Brian snickered. "Got a crush on me, midget?"

"Ew," Yugi said immediately, by reflex. And then, with a bit more courage: "Don't- don't flatter yourself."

"Well fuck you, midget," he spat. "Fag."

"Whatever, Brian," Yugi murmured hastily, seeing the teacher walk in their direction. "Yeah, I think that's the answer," he said loudly enough to be overheard.

When the teacher looked away, he gave Brian one last, dark look, and buried his nose in his textbook. Figuratively, of course.

He didn't look at the bully for the rest of the class, and interestingly enough, the bully didn't bully Weevil for the rest of the class, either. Maybe his pride had gotten wounded. Maybe he just lost interest. You had to praise Weevil for one thing: he either had really thick skin, or he simply didn't realize what was going on, for he didn't give Brian any kind of reaction. None at all.

Which is exactly what all bullies are going for!

Regular class resumed for ten minutes, and then the bell rang. Yugi had English; Anzu had Phys Ed, Yami had whatever else. (So did Weevil, but Yugi wasn't too interested in knowing).

Brian was the first to leave the classroom. The rest of the class emptied slowly and Weevil left quickly, not looking at Yugi even once. Yugi almost felt bad for not even saying hi to the platinum blue haired boy.

Anzu nearly jumped on Yugi when no one else was seeking her attention.

"Who are you and what did you do to my friend Yugi?" She poked him on the shoulder and smiled brightly. "Seriously, where'd that come from? That was awesome!"

"Indeed," came Yami's cool voice behind Yugi's shoulder.

"Oh, erm, thanks," Yugi whispered, turning to Yami right away.

He gave Yami one shy smile.

Yami gave him one apologetic smile.

What they didn't see was Anzu's smile falter until it wasn't a smile at all anymore.