Play Your Part, Yugi
Chapter 21
Deception
"Oh?" Bakura questioned in a curious manner, lifting an eyebrow at the shorter teen. Yugi nodded his head in affirmation to both Bakura and himself that he was going to do this and then asked: "Do people ever kiss just for the fun of it?" In movies people only kissed when they were in love but with so many people around Yugi having gained experience in kissing without having been in love the boy was starting to doubt that observation.
"I've never kissed for any other reason", Bakura replied instantly, without a moment's hesitation. "I've never had sex for any other reason either." The way the taller teen said this indicated that he did not think much of it but Yugi was surprised as he gasped: "You don't have to be in love in order to kiss?"
"Hell no", Bakura said with a loud and rude snort. "Kissing is pleasurable. That's why it's done." The teen shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "I could kiss even you. You look just my type: submissive and soft to the touch."
Ignoring the blush that rose to his cheeks from Bakura's admission Yugi questioned: "What about Jou then? He doesn't really fit that description so why are you so focused on him?" Jou was anything but submissive and soft, at least as far as Yugi knew. He was able to only guess but the blond in question was in such a good shape that he should be expected to have a harder body more than a soft one.
"That's an easy question to answer", Bakura said in an amused manner, grinning widely at Yugi. "I like him, that's all."
"Right", Yugi muttered more to himself than Bakura. "So kissing feels good every time you do it? No matter who it's with?"
"It depends on whether you find that person attractive or not and how good of a kisser they are", Bakura replied easily. "I mean, I wouldn't enjoy kissing a person I think is not my type, no matter how good at it they were, yet I can kiss an inexperienced person if they look good enough."
"So it all comes down to looks and skills?" Yugi questioned, feeling a bit of sadness creep into his mind. Yami had both of those two features so who was to say that Yugi was not simply enjoying the kisses instead of liking Yami as a person?
"No, there's more to it than just that", Bakura grumbled in a slightly displeased tone. "Didn't you listen to me properly? Your tastes also matter. It depends on what kind of style of kissing you like and also what kind of a partner you like and the latter is determined by both looks and personality." The albino sighed and ran a hand through his long hair. "Seriously, didn't we go through this just a moment ago with that Jou-issue?"
There was a hum of acknowledgement from Yugi but the boy did not make any further sounds. He was now thinking about all the things Bakura had told him and compared them to his experiences, trying to find out just what it had been about Yami's kiss that had gotten him so hot and bothered. Had it been Yami's skill, his body, his presence or a mix of all three?
"Is there anything else you need to ask?" Bakura asked and Yugi was brought out of those musings to try and come up with an answer to the question. Finally the small boy came to the conclusion that he was confused enough already and shook his head, saying: "Nah, that would be all. Thanks for the help, Bakura-kun."
"Don't mention it", the other male said as he got up from his seat. "Just remember to tell Jou that it was me who answered your questions."
A sigh was blown out from between Yugi's lips before the boy replied: "Of course", and watched Bakura make his way to the door. "Bye, Bakura-kun."
"Yea", the albino answered and lifted his hand in something that was probably supposed to be a wave. "See ya."
After the other boy was gone Yugi could not help but wonder if this made him and Bakura something akin to friends, although he was not completely sure if he wanted the answer to be yes.
&
The next day at school was pretty hectic since all teachers seemed to have gotten the same brilliant idea of handing out an independent study assignment to the students to see how well they could find and use information that was not only written on the blackboard for them to copy. To put it simply, they were supposed to do research on a subject given by the teacher and hand in a complete report by the next week. And as if that were not enough, this process would be repeated for three or four different subjects.
Even though Yugi did not have anything particular against studying, this new load of work was stretching even his tolerance. Surprisingly enough, out of their group it was Jou who attempted to stay positive, commenting cheerfully on how happy he was that the assignments were to be completed independently. The answer to the question of why that would possibly be a good thing was that if the assignments had been ordered to be done in pairs, Jou would have had to fight Bakura and Kaiba off with a stick. This statement was followed by Anzu making a comment about Jou being very unlikely to actually mind the latter one of his suitors, after which Jou flushed scarlet and refused to say another word to the brunette for the next five minutes it took for him to forgive and forget.
To his great disappointment Yugi only saw Yami momentarily throughout the day. The taller teen did not seem to have time for anything more than to just greet Yugi in passing, even though those greetings were accompanied by the other's irresistible smile every single time.
By the time the classes were over Yugi had decided that he would seek Yami out. Since the two were studying chemistry, the last class of the day, in different groups Yugi would not catch Yami by simply sticking around his classroom after the lesson.
When Yugi was making his way to the classroom where Yami's lesson was supposed to be held in he did not run into the crimson-eyed youth. It should have been easy for Yugi to spot the other teen with his distinguishable haircut but since there was no sign of Yami's wide mane of hair, or the towering form of Kaiba that always accompanied it at that matter, Yugi was forced to conclude that Yami had left before Yugi's arrival.
Disappointed, Yugi was so focused on pouting his frustrations out that he did not notice the person approaching him until said person spoke to him: "Ah, there you are, Yugi-kun. I've been looking for you the whole day."
Surprised, Yugi jumped a bit before turning his head to look at the cheerfully smiling face of Misa, managing to utter out a greeting without sounding too startled: "Hello, Misa-chan." He offered the girl a friendly smile. "What did you need me for?"
"Uh, I just needed to tell you that Otomya-kun won't be making it for our practise today", Misa replied and Yugi fought back a disappointed expression. He did not want to hurt Misa's feelings by acting too disappointed even though he was not too keen to practise alone with the girl if Yami was not there at all.
"Oh", came out of Yugi's mouth and there was a tinge of a putout tone in his voice even when the utterance was so short. He went through extra-trouble to control his tone and succeeded in sounding casual as he questioned: "Does that mean that the practise is cancelled?"
"Well, there is not reason for it to keep the two of us from practising, is there?" came Misa's answering question. "There are plenty of scenes in the play that we can go through with just the two of us." The girl's tone sounded hopeful to Yugi's ears and the short boy really hated to let people down. Because of that the amethyst-eyed teen replied with: "No, I suppose there isn't." He attempted to look enthusiastic. "Shall we get going then?"
"Certainly!" Misa cheered and took a hold of his arm, starting to drag him towards the exit. "We should not be wasting time."
&
"Weren't you supposed to have practise with that girl and Yugi?" Seto questioned when he and Yami were walking away from the school. "I'm rather surprised that you would throw away time that could be spent with Yugi."
"I hardly call kicking your behind to the next week as throwing away time", Yami shot back. "And Misa said that the she had to cancel the practise for some family business she needed to attend to."
"Did she now?" Seto muttered, deciding not to grant Yami's comment about beating him in any game with an answer. "I wonder what could possibly be so important?"
"Well of course a family obligation goes before something like this", Yami commented in a tone of voice that neared on outraged. "Are you implying that she lied?"
"I don't imply, I accuse", Seto corrected with a frown when his eyes narrowed at something on another street. He spotted two people, one with an easily recognizable haircut, but the pair disappeared behind a corner before the brunet could even consider pointing them out to Yami.
"Okay, so why are you accusing Misa of lying to me?" Yami asked in a displeased tone and Seto turned his gaze back to his companion. "Do you once again know something that I don't?"
"Perhaps", Seto mumbled, partially to himself as he wondered if he should tell Yami just what he knew or not. On one side the information might be useful to Yami but on another the crimson-eyed teen could ruin everything he had managed to achieve with Yugi if he dealt with the situation in the wrong manner.
"I have to wonder how you can be so informed about the gossip going around when you avoid the entire female population of the school like the plague", Yami muttered in a dark tone, to which Seto replied with a brief: "Hn."
"So", Yami drawled expectantly and Seto knew what the shorter boy was about to ask even before he did. "Are you going to tell me what you know about Misa?"
"I know for sure what I just saw", Seto replied, deciding that it would be better if he told Yami what he had discovered, since the other teen would be very persistent to know anything that had something to do with Yugi. Seto gave the shorter male a stern look as he spoke: "I saw that Misa-girl and Yugi disappear around a corner a couple of moments ago. She lied about a family commitment in order to get a chance to be alone with Yugi." The brunet smirked slightly, knowing that the girl held little interest to Yugi. Katsuya had said that Yugi was without a doubt homosexual. "Quite the resourceful girl, isn't she?"
"More like a dead girl", Yami growled and made to turn around but Seto seized him by the arm before the other could storm off to bring his revenge upon anyone. At Yami's scorching glare Seto started to explain his reasoning: "I wouldn't go there if I were you. Misa is very unlikely to have shown her attraction to Yugi just yet and you would confuse Yugi greatly if you rushed to the scene to 'defend his honour' when nothing is going on."
There was a brief pause, after which Yami breathed out: "Damn", and Seto saw it fit to release his grip on the other teen. The crimson eyes turned to Seto and Yami questioned: "What do you suppose I do then?"
"The question is: do you have to do anything", Seto advised in a pleased manner. "Would Yugi even be interested in her? This might all be just one-sided."
"Good point", Yami muttered and crossed his arms as a thoughtful look came on his face. "How do I find that out?"
"Observe Yugi's behaviour", Seto spoke. "If she makes a move Yugi's attitude towards her will not stay neutral. If there is a change you need to see if he seems to be responding to her more openly or in a more closed-off manner. Acting distant means he's not interested and is keeping a distance to avoid giving her the wrong impression."
"Have you read some manuals or something?" Yami asked in an incredulous tone. "You're like a fountain of knowledge on this matter even though you're the most anti-social person I've met."
"It's not my fault that you don't know the least bit about interaction", Seto said nonchalantly with a shrug. "I've been breaking hearts for years now."
"And you still expect Jou to warm up to you with that kind of a reputation?" Yami uttered in a biting manner and Seto answered simply: "I mean I've been rejecting girls' affections for years. I know what to do to make sure that they understand that I don't want what they are offering."
"That's right", Yami said with a nod. "Because you want someone with a di -" A loud yelp cut Yami's words short, coming from the short teen himself when Seto whacked him on the side of his head, hard.
"What's with you and being crude?" Seto questioned in a bored tone of voice. "It's like you have no sense of class at all."
"Well", Yami started, stretching the word in a manner that made him sound lazy, a way the shorter boy did not speak in often but seemed to be the master of. "I used to be a delinquent in my previous schools. That might have something to do with it."
"Schools?" Seto questioned carefully, not sure if he really needed, or wanted, to hear this. "You've been to more than one before Domino High School?"
"Sure", came Yami's flippant answer. "You see, the thing with being a delinquent is that you get suspended and even expelled a great deal of times." The boy starched his hands over his head before clasping them behind his back. "I've been to three schools before Domino High and since my mother was so distraught I decided to try and turn over a new leaf."
"Ah", Seto commented, not really having much to say to anything like this. "I suppose that has been going well enough?"
"All thanks to you, pal", Yami said with a wide grin and patted Seto on the shoulder, even though he had some difficulties with reaching the body part in question. Seto only groaned before speaking out: "Whatever. I'll never mention the topic again if you just keep from referring to me as 'pal' ever again."
A bright laugh came as the first response Seto received, soon followed by Yami speaking out in a tone of voice that was far too smug: "It's a deal, Seto."
&
"I heard that you've been practising alone with Otomya-kun as well", Misa commented when she and Yugi were taking a short break from their practise to drink some soda. Yugi gave the girl a look that told her to carry on and Misa immediately questioned: "Have you two gone through the scene with that kiss already?"
"Um, yeah", Yugi replied and was very thankful that he did not blush at the memory. Misa nodded her head and then gave him a sympathetic look as she spoke: "It must have been a bit awkward, having to kiss another boy and all."
"No, not really", Yugi replied and Misa looked at him incredulously before asking: "You mean it did not feel uncomfortable at all?"
Shaking his head for emphasis Yugi confirmed: "No, it didn't." 'Only between my legs', was what the boy thought but he was not going to be sharing that bit of information with anyone any time soon.
"Do you mean it felt less uncomfortable than kissing a girl?" Misa questioned and Yugi had to wonder just why the girl was interrogating him about the matter. He did not voice those thoughts, however, and replied: "I wouldn't know. I have never kissed a girl before."
"Well", Misa spoke out, leaning forward in her seat slightly. "You could always try kissing me." She gave Yugi a wide smile. "We're friends, right?"
"I suppose…" Yugi muttered, not at all sure if he wanted to do this. But how else would he know if he felt anything special towards Yami if he did not have anything to compare his experiences to? The boy looked warily at Misa and the girl looked so harmless that the idea of kissing her was actually starting to appeal to Yugi, even if only in the name of getting the answers he needed.
Finally Yugi came to a decision, swallowed a sudden nervous lump in his throat and spoke out: "Okay. Let's do it."
There was an agreeing hum from Misa before the girl moved around the coffee table and sat on the sofa beside Yugi. The close proximity made Yugi feel nervous all over again but the boy forced himself to stay calm as he awkwardly placed his hand on the girl's cheek and started to lean in.
To be continued…
Ending Notes: Dun dun dunn!