Play Your Part, Yugi
Chapter 25
Plotting and Planning
It seemed that the events of the previous Friday had Katsuya somewhat on the defensive. The blond had been avoiding Seto the whole day and whenever Seto had attempted to approach the boy, the shorter teen had blushed a deep crimson and scurried off. Even though he was disappointed about not getting to speak to Katsuya, Seto was relieved that Katsuya did not seem to be holding a grudge about Seto's actions during their 'study date'. Because of that Seto decided to carry on with his plan when Yami told him that the play practise had been cancelled so that the whole class could participate in getting the stage set finished.
Making his way to the art class, Seto slid the door open with outmost confidence and elegance, like he was supposed to be there, and glanced around to see that Katsuya was not present at the moment. He then made his way to the teacher in charge of the students and cleared his throat to gain her attention and a surprised gaze fell upon him.
"Excuse me, sensei", Seto spoke in the most pleasant tone of voice he could muster. He would have to get this right with his first attempt or he would have to come up with another plan. "I would wish to be a spare actor but I seem to have some trouble with memorising all the lines."
"Is that so, Kaiba-kun?" the teacher said with a friendly smile. "Well, we can't have that. I'm sure someone can go through the script with you."
"I would prefer someone who knows the script well", Seto put in immediately. He knew who he wanted as his partner but he could not just go and demand the teacher to pair them up, even if the woman would probably do anything he told her to. Seto preferred not to have the whole class gossiping about him. No, he could not be as hasty as to outright demand Katsuya, since the blond would not like to have everyone whispering about him.
"But of course", the teacher said and looked around the room with a thoughtful frown. Just then the door to the classroom opened and Seto smiled to himself as a familiar blond head peeked inside and Katsuya informed that he had found the paints needed for the sets.
"Ah, Jounouchi-kun!" the teacher said with the widest smile Seto had ever seen on a person. "Just the man I was looking for!" The woman had her hands clasped in front of her and Seto felt a sudden urge to move away from her. She was acting too much like a fan girl at the moment for the brunet to feel comfortable standing right next to her.
"Oh?" Katsuya's voice questioned as the blond walked inside and closed the door behind him. "How so?" he asked while he piled the cans of pain on top of a nearby desk.
"I need you to got through the script with our newest actor", the teacher said simply, going straight to the point. "Can you spare some time after school for private practise?"
"Sure thing", Katsuya replied with a helpful smile, done with his task. Grabbing a script from the bag lying on the floor next to the desk, clearly the blond's own, Katsuya looked around a bit as he tried to find a new face, his eyes widening when they fell on Seto. "W-who do I have to teach?" the boy questioned, even though he probably knew the answer already.
The teacher smiled before patting Seto's shoulder slightly and saying: "Kaiba-kun here."
The shocked look Katsuya was giving Seto turned into an incredulous one as the blond asked: "Are you saying that Kaiba actually joined in?" He tugged his copy of the script against his chest like he wished to hide behind it. "You're kidding, right?"
"I most certainly am not", the teacher stated firmly as she let go of Seto and grabbed Katsuya's arm. She then pulled the boy over to Seto and fixed the blond with a stern glare. "You're going to help Kaiba-kun study the script since he is so interested in helping with the play. You know we are short on spare actors." That said she marched off to instruct a pair of students that were working on a background set.
"You? Interested in acting?" Katsuya huffed at Seto as soon as the teacher was out of hearing range. "I believe that the day pigs fly."
"How would you know about my interests?" Seto shot back with a slightly smug smirk. "I happen to like watching plays very much. It was only natural that I decided to try acting myself."
"Yeah, right", Katsuya said with distaste as he glared at Seto from beneath his bangs. "Even if that part might be true, you sure as hell don't need help with memorising anything." The blond rolled up the script in his hand and smacked Seto lightly on the chest with it. "Do you honestly think anyone's going to buy that one, Mr one-hundred-percent-correct-child-genius?"
A slight smile tugged on Seto's lips as he grabbed the hand holding the script. Surprisingly Katsuya did not attempt to pull himself free as Seto started to speak: "I am very flattered to hear that you think so highly of me." He smirked slightly. "But, as you can see, the teacher believed it without a second thought."
It was after Seto had finished speaking that Katsuya yanked his hand back from Seto's grip. With a distrusting snarl and a challenging smirk the blond said: "Well, I'm not going to fall for it. You're up to something and I'm going to find out what it is."
"Or I could simply just tell you", Seto added in, basking in the way the heated brown eyes absorbed every detail of his face. "I just want to talk with you, that's all." He reached out and flipped a couple of blond strands with his fingers, causing a small blush to pass across Katsuya's face. "And you're making it extremely difficult to do so."
Something flickered in Katsuya's eyes but before Seto could see what it was the blond looked away and flipped his script open. With a loud enough voice for the people standing closest to them to hear he questioned: "So, what parts did you need help with?"
It was a good diversion technique; Seto gave the blond credit for that. But he was not going to be brushed off that easily. Placing his hand on the script Seto leaned closer to Katsuya and said: "I really need to go pick up Mokuba right now, but maybe you could come over to my house later on so we can practise properly?"
"No", Katsuya snapped defensively as he shot Seto a warning look. "There's no way I'm stepping onto enemy ground without any means of self-defence."
"'Enemy ground'?" Seto questioned with a light laugh, somehow knowing that the blond was not serious. "I'm hurt, Katsuya, that you hold so little trust in me."
"Shut up!" Katsuya snapped, his cheeks now adorning an angry and embarrassed blush. "Stop treating me like that!"
"Oh? Like what?" Seto asked with a lifted eyebrow. Katsuya flipped his script shut before replying: "Like I was stupid, like you could manipulate me with your words." Brown eyes flashed with fiery anger. "I won't loose to you in your little mind game."
"But Katsuya", Seto spoke softly, grabbing the blond's arm and pulling him closer. "This is no game. It's a dance." He gave the shorter boy a vicious smile. "And a dance needs both parties to participate." Seto released his grip on the blond at that. "Or aren't you skilled enough to follow the beat?"
"You're saying that I'm a coward, aren't you?" Katsuya snapped, his eyes narrow as he fixed Seto with a glare. At Seto's self-satisfied smirk the blond growled: "Well, guess what! I am not afraid. Of you or anything else at that matter!" Katsuya prodded Seto's chest with his finger. "So you just wait for me at four! I'll show you to underestimate me!"
Fighting back laughter had never before been so difficult to Seto, but he did manage it. How easy it was to control Katsuya sometimes. He did not even manipulate the blond, merely angered him enough to have his thoughts jumbled enough for him to make a hasty decision. It truly was a dance, this thing they were doing. And Seto was the one leading said dance.
Ten minutes earlier…
"This is a nice change to rehearsing lines all the time", Yami commented and Yugi nodded his head in agreement before saying: "I really hope that we will be able to get the sets done."
"Sure we will", Bakura's voice came from Yugi's other side. "Everyone knows that I will get unpleasant if we don't."
"Damn it, Bakura", Jou snapped from ahead of the group, turning his head around so that he could glare at the albino over his shoulder. "You already threatened everyone to not head on home after we told them that there would be no practise today. There's no need to traumatize everyone beyond repair."
"Oh, you know you appreciate it when I make things easier for you", Bakura shot back as he took a couple of longer steps in order to walk next to the blond. "Even though you and Mazaki both say you disapprove with my methods, you never really try to stop me."
"That's still no reason to go overboard", Jou replied deadpan while pushing the other male on the shoulder, clearly not liking the way Bakura was leaning towards his face.
Even though he was amused by the interaction, Yugi could not help but wonder just why it was the four of them who had been landed with the task of fetching more supplies from storage. It was like some upper power was forcing Yugi into the company of the three people he felt the most awkward with at the moment. Yami made him nervous for obvious reasons, while Bakura simply scared Yugi. Jou, on the other hand, Yugi was still feeling guilty about even though Jou seemed to have brushed off Yugi's words to him easily. It just was in his nature to worry, Yugi mused.
"Here we are", Jou spoke suddenly before opening the door with the key the teacher had given the them. The door was pushed open and the lights flicked on as the blond made his way inside first, followed first by Bakura and then by Yami and Yugi.
Never having been inside the school's main storage before, Yugi marvelled at the size of the place and almost missed Jou's instruction speech: "Alright, the cardboard is at the back of this room on the shelves next to the wall, close to the coloured paper. You and Yugi can handle that, Bakura." Brown eyes glanced at Yugi in a meaningful manner and Yugi felt outraged that Jou would think that he would jump Yami in a place like this. Before Yugi could make a retort that would have very likely embarrassed him, Jou spoke to Yami: "The wise-ass in charge of this place decided to store the rice paper with the toilet paper for who knows what reason. It's on the leftmost isle. Could you get it, Otomya?" Yami merely needed to nod his head before Jou finished: "I'm going to grab the paints, since they need them ASAP and I'm the fastest." The blond handed the keys to Yami. "Remember to lock up before heading out." And with that the blond stepped to the rightmost shelve and piled his arms with cans of paint. Bakura held the door open for the blond, who quickly disappeared down the hall.
"Let's get going then", Yami spoke before heading into the direction Jou had pointed to him while Yugi led the way to the shadowed back of the storage room.
Without a word Yugi and Bakura got to work to gather the largest pieces of cardboard available, Yugi going through the lower shelves while Bakura was reaching up to the topmost ones. Glancing up a couple of times, Yugi found his eyes trailing the taunt muscles on Bakura's back and blushing at the realization that he was staring. Still, he could not help but think about the things he did when he was so very curious and Jou had already denied him. And Bakura had actually offered…
"Um, Bakura?" Yugi questioned and immediately those piercing eyes locked with his own. Yugi wondered if Bakura somehow knew what he was thinking, judging from the almost predatory look on the other's face. But then again, Bakura always looked predatory.
"Remember how you said that you wouldn't mind helping me out with experimenting a bit?" Yugi questioned and one white eyebrow arched in interest as the taller teen blurted out: "I thought you weren't interested."
"I changed my mind", Yugi huffed, getting defensive. "Am I not allowed to?"
"Sure, whatever", Bakura grumbled before seizing a hold of Yugi's shoulders and pushing the boy against the shelves. "But there's no changing your mind after this."
Mutely, Yugi nodded his head at the other's words and waited for the move from Bakura. But, suddenly, the white-haired teen hesitated for a moment, a strange and unreadable expression on his face. The next thing Yugi knew was that Bakura had grabbed him again and turned around with him in tow before bringing their lips crashing together.
It was not nice, not nice at all. Bakura was forceful and his lips clamped over Yugi's own in a manner that could have only been described as angry. The taller teen was skilled, Yugi noted, when the other's tongue caressed his lips in a pleasurable manner. But, even so, Yugi did not find it nice, and Yugi preferred his kisses nice. That was they way Yami kissed him.
"How do you like that?" Bakura's voice came before Yugi was even aware that the other had pulled away from the kiss. Yugi glanced up at the albino to see the other looking somewhere past Yugi and the boy turned his head around to see Yami blinking at the two of them in shock.
Now Yugi really regretted doing this, even more so than when he had realized that he did not like kissing Bakura. He had not wanted Yami to know about his inexperience, and even more so about his ill-fated experiments. Suddenly Jou's advice seemed like a good one.
"What's wrong?" Bakura spoke, still aiming his words at Yami. "I just kissed little Yugi here. Why aren't you trying to tear my head off?"
"I'm not Yugi's boyfriend, neither is Yugi mine", Yami spoke gently, but somehow brokenly. Yugi's heart ached hearing that tone. "Yugi can kiss whoever he wishes."
"It's not like that, Yami!" Yugi suddenly blurted out, tearing himself away from Bakura and rushing over to Yami to grasp the crimson-eyed teen's arms. The other's hands were occupied with the rice paper he had been assigned to find.
Not really knowing what to say, Yugi tried to keep an awkward silence from forming by uttering: "I was just, I just…" The boy sighed deeply then, knowing that he would have to reveal his fears to Yami in order to make the other understand. "I was so confused about my feelings. I had never been kissed before and I wondered if it felt the same every single time. It doesn't, Yami!" Yugi looked up, glancing desperately into the taller teen's eyes. "The things you make me feel are wonderful and unique. I know that know, but before I had no way to know that." The boy felt himself grow shy as he finished: "I'd love to be your boyfriend."
Ruby eyes had widened at the admission and their gaze softened as a small smile came over Yami's lips, followed by the other uttering adoringly: "Yugi…"
"I smell fluff coming up", Bakura's voice snarled from a short distance away. "I'm out of here."
Hearing the other's voice brought Yugi's thoughts back to the kiss, and the taller teen's strange behaviour before it. He turned his face towards Bakura as he spoke: "You knew Yami was there, didn't you?" The smirk on the white-haired teen's face was all the answer the boy needed. "Why? What did you hope to accomplish?"
"You're both novices in this kind of a thing", Bakura replied with a shrug. "You two needed all the help you could get, so I gave you some." Those sharp eyes looked right into Yugi's own without a hint of an apology. "You needed to know that your playing around would hurt your lover boy." The gaze shifted onto Yami. "And you needed to learn that sometimes you will have to fight for what you want and not just wait for it to drop into your lap. Had I been another person, Yugi could have ended up seriously hurt." Once again Yugi became the object of scrutiny. "I hope you learned something about that as well. A worse person would have used you shamelessly."
"You're saying that you were actually trying to help?" Yami questioned incredulously. "What makes you think we would buy that?"
"He likes Jou", Yugi commented before turning his attention to Bakura. "I don't think he's going to change his mind despite what you do, Bakura-kun."
"I've already figured that out", the teen spoke with a huff. "I did what I did for a different reason, one which I don't care to share." And with that he turned around to grab the pieces of cardboard. "You two can finish working things out later. For the moment I would like to avoid Mazaki's wrath over being late." Both Yami and Yugi agreed with the statement and got to work.
To be continued…