Chapter 56
Life just couldn't be kind to her. She had pulled Mal away from the other two in an attempt to avoid drama. Somehow she'd ended up landing them in the middle of an even bigger melt down. Jounouchi, Honda and Anzu had all arrived, and the first two were currently in a heated argument with Bakura. The man was wearing a threatening scowl, feet planted firmly apart as he stood against their accusations. Apparently they had all found out about Ryou and Bakura dating, and it was safe to say they were less than pleased with the news.
"I don't care about your opinion." Bakura was scowling. "I'd like to see you try and stop me."
Ryou was beside her boyfriend, one hand at her forehead in exasperation. Yuugi herself wanted to tear her hair out.
"I promise they're all nice people." Said Yuugi to Mal, who was standing by her, looking at the scene with an eyebrow raised.
"I'm sure." Said Mal, obviously humoring her.
Yuugi grimaced, but took it for what it was. In some ways she was glad everyone was distracted.
"Listen." Said Yuugi quickly. "Don't say anything to Yami about... you know. My hesitations."
"Whatever." shrugged Mal. "It's not like I care about your drama."
Yuugi brushed off the comment. Based on the way Mal hunched his shoulders and glanced at Yuugi told her the words were mostly a shield against getting attached. How was she able to read him so easily?
Yami and Marik had caught up with Yuugi, the former going up to the argument and telling Honda to chill. Marik came over to where Yuugi and Mal were, placing an arm on Mal's shoulder like an arm rest.
"Get off." Said Mal, shrugging the arm off and moving to the other side of Yuugi, away from Marik.
"You injure me." Marik pouted, placing a hand to his heart. "You have cemented a place in my heart and it now aches to be near you. Must you deny it so?"
Mal narrowed his eyes at Marik, then looked at Yuugi, who had to place her hands over her mouth to stop from laughing. That was a little too similar to what Yuugi had done to tease Mal a few days ago and Mal had obviously noticed it as well.
"I see you two are close." snorted Mal.
"She will be my sister in law one day." said Marik.
Yuugi chose to ignore that comment.
"When you were talking about Yami getting a girl pregnant." Said Yuugi to Mal. "Were you talking about that incident with Ryuji's sister?"
"I think that's who it was." Said Mal with a shrug. "Don't pay much attention to the gossip, but that was such a huge thing even I heard about it."
"Thought so." Said Yuugi. "That's all been cleaned up by the way. Yami didn't get her pregnant. It was a big misunderstanding and Yami and Ryuji have made up."
"And you trust Yami that's how it happened?" said Mal. "It wouldn't be the first time someone lied about their past."
"I was there when they made up." Said Yuugi with a smile. "And about him being with a new girl at each party, that was because of a deal me made with his parents. He hasn't had a date to a party since he started dating me."
"I can attest to that." Said Marik, who was still eavesdropping on their conversation. "The parents aren't too happy about it either. If he wasn't keeping his other deals they might have already pulled him from school."
"Sounds complicated." Said Mal. "Not that I care, but I still think you should dump him Yuugi. You're way too young for him."
There was a pause. Yuugi and Marik both looked at each other, then Marik guffawed, holding his sides in mirth. His outburst was so loud that Yami, Ryou and Anzu turned to look at him. The other three were still in the middle of a dick measuring contest. Yuugi huffed at him in annoyance.
"It's not that funny!" said Yuugi.
"This is brilliant. Yami, you're a pedophile!"
Yuugi's boyfriend looked insulted, while Mal just appeared to be bewildered.
"I don't get it." Said Mal, now starting to get annoyed. "What's your problem?"
"Mal, how old do you think I am?" said Yuugi.
"I don't know. 13 tops?" he said.
At that, Marik's laughter started again. This time he was accompanied by both Ryou and Anzu, who couldn't help but chuckle at Yuugi, who along with Mal was starting to get annoyed.
"What the heck is wrong with you?" asked Mal.
"Malik." Said Yami, who had abandoned the other three to their argument. "Yuugi graduates high school this year. She's actually a year older than you."
The blonde's eyes widened as he gawked at Yuugi, as if she would tell him he was lying. She had her arms folded, expression blank.
"So you thought I was a middle schooler this whole time?" she said.
"I-"
Mal was saved having to answer. Jou had made to grab Bakura's shirt and the man had dodged the grab, reversing the situation and putting Jounouchi in a head lock. Instantly everyone was on edge, calling at Bakura to stop. Yuugi was too far away to hear, but Bakura said something to Jou, who managed to shrug him off, rubbing his neck. Then he held out a hand, which Bakura took, grabbing his forearm in a determined shake. Honda was next, shaking Bakura's arm in the same manner.
Yuugi let out a breath of relief. It looked like that had managed to sort itself out without any broken noses.
"You three are idiots." Said Yuugi, finally catching Jou, Bakura's and Honda's attention.
"It's not stupid to be concerned about your friends." Said Jou. "Why didn't you tell me Ryou and Bakura were dating?"
"I believe in keeping secrets when my friends ask me to."
"Hey, Bakura, listen to this!" said Marik, who had snuck beside Mal during the scuffle. He had another arm wrapped around Mal's shoulder and was pointing at his face. "This guy totally thought Yuugi was a middle school student."
She had hoped Marik would have looked over that one, but it looked like he wasn't going to let it go. She dipped her head in exasperation as Marik and Bakura teased her. She didn't hold the grudge for long however. The topic allowed Mal to enter the conversation naturally while he tried to bat off both of their insults. They eventually got bored with teasing and Yuugi was able to pull Mal away from Marik to have him meet Anzu and Ryou.
"This is Mal you guys." Said Yuugi. "I ran into him at the store and we ended up hitting it off."
"Is he the one Jou said you gave his number to?" said Ryou.
"Wait a second Yuugi." Said Anzu, narrowing her eyes at her. "You're wearing makeup! Who put that on you?"
Yuugi grinned sheepishly. "I did. Mal actually taught me a little and that's how we met."
"What?!" she turned to Mal, puffing out her cheeks in annoyance. "No fair, I wanted to teach her how to put on makeup!"
"You've had, what? 17 years to do that, unless you're lying about her age." Said Mal. "I can't help it if she cornered me at the store and forced me to help her."
"Did you really do that?" said Ryou, chuckling. "That sounds like you. I think you met Bakura by forcing him to leave his knives at home instead of bringing them to school."
"You have a death wish." Said Mal.
Honda called to them a second later, asking them to play a game of pool. Soon, there were two tables going, and everyone was definitely not playing by the rules. Yuugi smiled, enjoying watching as the whole gang had fun messing around. They had instantly welcomed Mal into the group, half bullying him into playing with them. It was amusing to watch him get flustered anytime someone offered any sort of friendly gesture his direction.
She was so energized by the group that she almost forgot about her awkward almost kiss with Yami.
Almost.
She met his eyes and quickly glanced away, having noticed that his gaze had lingered on her more than once. She would talk to him. She would. Just after she stopped blushing.
Thanks for your reviews you guys! Hiei Dragon Girl, vcjb242, Madolche Anjelly, kaitenzero, Mistoka and, SkyNakama27. I can't wait for the next chapter! I think y'all will like it.
Mistoka: I'm not sure if another Yami chapter will sneak its way in again. I'd have to back track and maneuver because I don't want to reveal yet what Yami's thought process is. It's part of what keeps the story interesting. Both Yuugi and you, the reader, don't understand what's going through Yami's head. I'll see what I can do, but please don't be sad If I can't manage it. XD
Glad I could make your day kaitenzero!
