Chapter 55
Yuugi pushed through the crowd, exiting the dance floor. She aimed for a random empty table, quickly siting down. What had happened? One second they had been enjoying themselves and the next second, Yami had run off.
Her fear whispered to her, insecurities surfacing again to torment her.
Maybe the answer was simple. He wasn't interested in kissing her, or interested anymore in general. It seemed silly, especially since he had seemed so happy to spend time with her today, but what else was she supposed to believe? His signals were so mixed. One second he seemed to be glowing in her presence. The next, he ran off, closing himself to her.
She grimaced. It was time for something to change. She needed to talk to him about this. What was the point in having a boyfriend or even being best friends if they couldn't be honest with each other? It was better than no knowing. Her heart couldn't take much more of this.
The presence of someone approaching brought her out of her thoughts. She looked up, not recognizing the person in front of her. It was a guy, with dark green hair and large muscles. He grinned at Yuugi.
"I haven't seen you here before. This your first time here?" he asked,
"Yeah." Said Yuugi, blinking at him.
"Thought so. I wouldn't forget a pretty face like yours." The man winked at her.
Yuugi stared for a moment, then shook her head. Woman Yuugi, remember? It was possible, however unlikely that she was currently being hit on.
"Thank you." Said Yuugi, smiling politely at him. "But I have a boyfriend."
The comment was supposed to deter him.
"Of course you do." said the man. He sat down in the seat beside Yuugi, leaning closer. "And where is your boyfriend right now?"
"He's in the bathroom." Yuugi lied, feeling uncomfortable. What part of having a boyfriend did this person not understand?
"Well, he can't exactly be upset for his own carelessness, leaving such a lovely thing like you all alone." said the man. "What's your name sugar?"
"None of your business." Said Yuugi, standing up. Her instincts were telling her to leave. She needed to find Yami or Bakura. She tried to walk away, but the guy grabbed her wrist.
"Oh come on girl, don't be like that." He said, standing up as well. "I'm just being friendly. No need to get so riled up."
"Thanks, but not interested." Said Yuugi, shrugging off his arm. She glanced around. Where were those guys?
She spotted someone she knew, sitting only a few tables from her. She walked briskly towards them, plopping down in the seat next to them and scooting closer.
"There you are dear." Said Yuugi loudly enough for the guy to hear. "I wondered where you went."
Yuugi's "dear" sputtered in their drink, staring at her in shock.
"Yuugi? What the-"
"Just play along until he goes away." Yuugi quickly muttered, looking back towards where she had been siting. The man was thankfully gone, having disappeared into the crowd. She gave a relieved sigh, looking back at her savior who was scanning the crowd as well. Then they looked at Yuugi, their face becoming serious.
"You shouldn't be here."
"Oh come on Mal." Said Yuugi, rolling her eyes. "It's not like I'm the only person who's snuck in that's underage. Thank you by the way. That guy was giving me the creeps."
Mal scoffed at her, wearing his signature eyeliner and gold earrings. He was sporting a short tank top, showing off a set of well-toned abs. He looked much better when he wasn't in his work uniform, though she wondered how he wasn't cold.
"That's exactly why you shouldn't be here." said Mal. "It's dangerous for a girl to be here by themselves. Especially a small young one like you with no experience."
"How do you know I don't have any experience?" she said. "And besides, I didn't come here alone. I came with some friends and my boyfriend. They were the ones that got us in."
"Then you need to get some new friends." Said Mal, glaring into his drink. "Who lets a girl like you into a club then abandons them?"
Yuugi laughed, thinking about Marik and Barkua. Yeah, not the best behaved friends that was for sure.
"I was with my boyfriend, dancing." Said Yuugi, nodding towards the dance floor. "But… he just ran off for some reason. I'm not sure why. I wonder if I did something wrong."
"Since when did I become your confidant?" said Mal. "I don't want to hear your sob stories."
"Oh, are your waiting for someone? Did I interrupt your date?"
"No!" Mal half jumped, face becoming flustered. "I'm not here on a date!"
Yuugi held up her hands in defense. "Sheesh, I get it. Sorry. I just-"
Before Yuugi could finish, someone flew out from the side and collided with Mal. It took a second for Yuugi to first register that they were hugging Mal and second later to realize it was Marik.
"Found you!" shouted Marik happily, "You couldn't stand hiding forever and finally came out."
"Get off of me!" said Mal, his face turning bright red as he struggled to push Marik off of him. Yuugi watched dumbly as they fought for a few seconds before Mal managed to get his hand on Marik's face, pushing him completely off.
"Now that wasn't a nice greeting." pouted Marik, sliding into the other seat by Mal. "I thought you'd be happy to see me."
"Who the hell would be happy to see you?" growled Mal, but Marik wasn't paying attention anymore. He had just spotted Yuugi.
"Yuugi? What are you doing here?" he asked, looking between them. Then he smirked at Mal. "Are you interviewing my friends about me Malik? That's cute. If you wanted to know more about me all you had to do was ask."
"I'm not asking people about you!" Mal practically shouted. "I had no idea you and Yuugi were friends." Mal shot Yuugi a quick look, then glared back at Marik. "I bet you were the idiot that let Yuugi in weren't you?"
"Guilty as charged." Said Marik, holding up two fingers in victory. "The little squirt and her boyfriend are such prudes. I thought a night out would do them good."
"That, or you wanted a wingman." Said Yuugi, grinning at the two of them. "Is this the guy you were talking to me about the other day Mal?"
Mal's head snapped towards Yuugi, murder in his eyes. That was a big yes. Marik's own face split into a large grin as he scooted closer to Mal.
"Awww, Malik. You have been talking about me to others. I'm flattered."
"I have not!"
"And why does Yuugi get to call you Mal? I want to as well."
"No! You haven't earned that right!" said Mal, standing up. He walked over to Yuugi, dragging his chair with him and setting it down by her. He then scooted closer to her, using her as a shield against Marik.
The man stayed where he was, leaning back onto the chair's back two legs as he leered at Mal. An evil gleam had entered his face, one Yuugi recognized when he was up to no good.
"I wouldn't sit so close you Yuugi if I were you." he said.
"I'll do whatever the hell I want." said Mal.
"Oh really now?"
A new person had entered the conversation. Yami had returned, arms crossed as he stared coolly at Mal. There wasn't any heat in the glare, but there was a twinge of confusion and anger in it.
The sight of Yami back brought a mixture of emotions in Yuugi. She was very glad to see him, but she was also uncertain what had happened on the dance floor. Thank goodness they weren't alone at the moment.
"You!" said Mal, talking to Yami as he pointed at Marik, still seething. "Keep this idiot away from me. He's your adopted brother. Do something about him."
Marik cackled as Mal pointedly ignored him. Yami looked at Yuugi for a moment before sighing.
"When I told you to man up and do something Marik, I didn't mean stalk him like an idiot." said Yami. "Why must you barrel into everything like a steamroller?"
Yuugi turned in her seat to talk to Mal, ignoring Marik's retort. "So you know Yami as well? And that they're adopted brothers?" Only a few knew that, and they tended to be in that upper society Yami was a part of.
"That's my line." said Mal, brow furrowing in confusion at Yuugi. "Who are you that you know these two idiots?"
"Please don't put me in the same category as Marik." said Yami.
"Hey!"
"And she's my girlfriend, just so you are aware." continued Yami, his light glare back on Mal. That seemed to surprise Mal the most. He squinted at Yami for a second before looking at Yuugi then back again.
"Are you being serious?" he asked.
"As serious as a heart attack." said Marik, letting the legs of his chair fall back down to the ground with a thunk. He leaned across the table, ignoring Yami as he pressed on. "The poor pharaoh is completely smitten with her. Can't spot one without the other on most days."
At the comment of him being smitten with her, Yuugi couldn't help a twinge of pleasure. It would be very nice if that were true.
Apparently she wasn't the only one that was skeptical.
"Like I would trust your word." snorted Mal. "You wanted my opinion Yuugi? If Yami's your boyfriend, dump him. He's totally using you."
Fear pumped quickly through Yuugi, chilling her insides. She saw Yami's eyes widen in surprise. Oh heck, this could get bad really quickly if Mal decided to spill all her insecurities to Yami right here.
Before she could say anything, Marik's loud laughter boomed through her thoughts.
"Oh? Did you hear that Pharoah?" he said. "The squirt's getting cold feet. You'd better woo her again before she finds a new sugar daddy to pamper her."
"That's not-" sputtered Yuugi, unsure where to start defending herself. "I'm not getting cold feet!"
"Well you should." said Mal, his comments not helping at all. "Apparently he knocked up some chick a few years ago, ruining the family then throwing her away. Then he has a new bitch on his arm every other week, parading her around society as-"
Marik stood up so quickly his chair fell to the ground. He stalked over the Mal, irritation evident. Yuugi jumped to her feet as well, Yami quickly wrapping one arm around Yuugi to pull her away from the potential fight.
"You may have a pretty face." Said Marik, his own close to Mal's. "But that doesn't mean I won't smash it if you don't stop talking shit."
"I'm just telling Yuugi what I've heard and seen." said Mal, not even flinching. "I don't even know you or Yami."
"Marik." Said Yami, "That's enough."
Yuugi then noticed something that would be a perfect distraction.
"What about this!" said Yuugi, bursting through Yami's arm to smack her hands on the table. The sound brought everyone's attention to her. All three of them were looking at her as if she were crazy.
"I promised to introduce you to my friends Mal." Said Yuugi, grabbing Mal's arm. She wrenched him to his feet, knocking Marik out of the way in the process. "You've met Yami and Marik, but you need to meet the rest of the gang."
Yuugi then pulled Mal away, making distance between her and the potential disasters waiting to explode.
Holy cow guys, I just realized this has almost hit 100,000 words…. This was supposed to be a twenty-chapter story tops! Ugh. Oh well, at least I know how I'm going to end it. Now to get to that point…
Thank you guys! Hiei Dragon Girl, Madolche Anjelly, KisaraTheDragonCharm, ForeverWildfire2.0, ll Kairi ll, and Mistoka. Hopefully you will never have to have as long a wait as you just had again! I happy to hear that updating made you excited. XD And for the rest of you that want to smack Yami, I'm right there with you!
