A/N: Sorry for the wait! Have some more CosmicInferno stuff!
DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. That goes to the respective owner. I only own my OC(s).
Facing Stigma:
(Yusei's POV)
Ren had a rather strange way of handling what others said. Anything directed at him might as well go in one ear and out the other. At someone he knows? Let's just say there's a reason he isn't allowed to go into the city by himself. He tends to be a bit...extreme when it comes to defending the people he cares for.
Though, compared to early on in our relationship, he's calmed down quite a lot. Well, at least enough that he doesn't try to throw anything that's in his hand at the offender. He mainly uses his words now and rude gestures (trust me, I've tried to get him to stop, but there's some things with Ren that's not easy to make him grow out of). The best example was a recent date we were on. A guy and his girlfriend had called us out when I had put my arm around Ren's shoulders while we were waiting on our food. Instead of his usual throwing anything at hand or even flipping the bird at them, he slid onto my lap and yelled at them, "If you don't like it, then don't watch!"
"What are you smiling about?" Ren asked, snapping me from my thoughts. He looked up at me from where his head was resting on my shoulder.
"Nothing, just last week's dinner date," I replied.
"Oh, you mean with that couple that decided to ruin it 'cause they can't handle two people of the same sex dating? Geez, with how they were acting you'd think we were trying to do the deed in front of 'em."
"I'm just surprised you didn't blow up like you usually do."
"Yeah, well, I was almost tempted to take my water and pour it on their heads. Almost."
"Well, I'm glad you didn't. It shows you're starting to mature."
"Me? Mature? Pff, you're literally saying that to the guy who's a sore loser when it comes to video games."
"You're not that of a sore loser."
"Yeah, sure. Tell that to AJ. I'm sure she's recorded one of our sessions with me screaming my head off."
I chuckled. "Okay, so there's a bit more to work on as far as that goes."
We were quiet for a few minutes before Ren stood up and stretched. "Right, I think I'm going to get a drink from one of those vendors we spotted here. You want anything?"
"Water's fine."
"Got it." He went off to get the drinks.
I leaned back against the bench, grateful that we found one under some shade. It was starting to slowly warm up lately. We were almost tempted not going out, but this would be one of the more mild days for the next few weeks. Might as well head out on a date before it gets too hot.
I almost dozed off when a sharp voice yelled, "Hey, you!" I jolted upright, looking to see a guy roughly my age with dark green hair and silver eyes glaring at me. "Are you the guy dating Ren Mori?"
I blinked, a bit confused as to why he asked that. "Uh, yeah, why?" I replied.
He looked me up and down, like he was sizing me up for a fight. After a minute or two, he let out a 'tch' and walked off. O...kay? What was that about? And how does he know Ren? Old crush, perhaps? I thought. I sighed, leaning back again. I'll have to ask Ren when he comes back. He's usually pretty open about people he knows.
I opened my eyes again to the sound of voices shouting not too far off. I looked to see Ren talking with the guy from earlier. Looks like Ren does know him...wait a minute... Judging from how Ren was holding himself, he wasn't exactly on friendly terms with this guy. I've seen how Ren usually reacts to his friends. He's always very open with them and doesn't seem to hold himself back like he's nervous. With this guy, though, it looked like Ren was trying to find some way to get away from him.
Judging from the way the guy kept gesturing behind him toward me and glaring every now and then, they were talking about me. More on the guy's side than Ren. He must have said something really nasty because Ren's expression went livid. He took one of the bottles of water in his hand and dumped it on the guy's head, storming away from him and back to the bench.
"That's what you get for being a jackass!" he shouted behind him before sitting back down next to me. He handed me the remaining bottle. "Here."
"Thanks," I replied. Now or never, I guess. "Who was that guy?"
"Ugh, one of the exes that I'm definitely not on friendly terms with anymore...if we ever had been on them."
"That doesn't tell me much, Ren."
"Fine. His name's Micheal and I dated him a bit before I left school to strike out on my own. Though, I somewhat use that term loosely as we were one of those on and off couples. We'd break up for a few days and get back together again, but I had enough of his bullshit when he tried to keep me away—he claims he was 'protecting me—from my best friend Eric."
"Was he jealous?"
"No, or at least I don't think it was one of his reasons. He said he didn't like me hanging around with a psychic duelist, especially when I got this-" He pointed to the scars over his right eye. "-from dueling one, so he tried to make me cut ties with Eric. A bit of screaming and me almost calling Security pretty much ended anything I had with Micheal."
"Huh. So what did he say to make you dump water on him?" Ren slightly looked away with a small pout, crossing his arms. "Ren." He sunk down a little further before sighing.
"He pretty much pulled one of those you're from the Satellite so I shouldn't be with you bullshits and made me really pissed he'd say that. I'm getting sick of him! He's been trying to ruin whatever future relationships I have just 'cause I dropped him for being an ass in the first place."
I knew that was going to come up eventually. I'm just surprised it hasn't come up sooner (then again, most of the people Ren knows either don't care about that or just shrug it off). I sighed, setting the bottle next to me. "Ren-"
"Don't you DARE say 'it's fine' because it's not! I don't like hearing people say hateful stuff about the ones I care for, especially when I can hear them. So what if you're from the Satellite? You're worth it more than Micheal ever was!"
"I wasn't going to say that."
"Hu-" He yelped as I pulled him up to where he was sitting on my lap (much like what he did to irk the couple at the restaurant). I turned his head to look at me.
"I know it upsets you when someone says hurtful things to the ones you love." Ren had his 'oh really' look on when I said that. "What I'm wanting you to understand is that it doesn't matter to me what they say. As long as I'm with others that do accept this, then it doesn't matter what others have to say."
"Are you talking about our relationship or..?"
"A bit of both, actually."
I pulled him closer to kiss him. He relaxed a bit, returning the kiss. I pulled back to rest my forehead on his. "Well...I'll try to keep that in mind and might not react as strongly."
"I think I can handle that." I then remembered Ren only brought back one water bottle. "Oh wait, do you want a drink out of this before me?"
"Naw, I drank some of the water that I dumped on Micheal's head. Wish I had spit in it, though, if I knew he was going to be saying all that."
"...that's gross, Ren."
A/N: I really didn't know how to end this completely, so I threw in a bit of an extra scene I suppose. XD
