Story - New and Weird.
Written by Rachel, a.k.a. VoiceOfReason
/\/\/\***/\/\/\ - Change of scene or time period.
"Person speaking"
'Person thinking'
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Rachel: Thanks for the reviews! ^_^ And since I don't want to die just yet...I'll continue.
Bakura: *Rolls his eyes* They probably just felt sorry for you. I bet they hate your story.
Rachel: You're so mean!! *Cries*
Bakura: *Looks guilty* I--I...didn't mean-- ack, stop crying!
Rachel: *Cries more*
Bakura: *Mumbles* Gomen nasai...
Rachel: *Sniffles* What...did you say?
Bakura: I said I'm sorry, okay?! *Mysteriously has flowers that appeared from nowhere and shyly gives them to Rachel as an apology*
Rachel: *Smiles* Oh, arigatou, Bakura! ^______^
Bakura: *Shifts uneasily* Yeah, well...
Yugi: *Keeps his distance from the two* Rachel does not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of the characters in this fic. She isn't getting any money out of this, she's just doing it out of her own free will-
Bakura: Because she has nothing better do to with her time.
Rachel: *Starts to cry again*
Bakura: *Alarmed* Gomen!
Yugi: *Sniggers* As I was saying..don't sue, just read!
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Chapter 4 - Rumours Previous Chapter:
Yugi, who had only just realised someone was in here with him, whirled around and came face to face with amused eyes. His breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened.
"Wh-what do you want?"
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"You know damn well why I'm here, little Yugi." Bakura smirked. He advanced towards the smaller boy, who was now shaking with fear.
"Why can't you just leave me alone?" He sighed, closing his eyes as tears rolled down his cheeks.
"My my, we've got courageous, haven't we?" He mocked, then suddenly turned deadly serious as he grabbed the boy by his collar and pushed him against a cubicle wall. He swiftly brought up his arm, but instead of hitting Yugi, he pressed his arm against Yugi's throat barely allowing him to breathe. "I'll teach you to treat me with disrespect!"
"B-but, I didn't do anything..." he whimpered, opening his eyes slightly, only to be choked further as Bakura violently shoved him against the cubicle wall again.
"Don't talk back to me, you worthless piece of shit!" He growled and put more force on the smaller boy's neck. Yugi whimpered again as he felt himself growing faint from the loss of oxygen.
Yugi felt a small wave of relief as he heard the door slowly open and someone step inside. Bakura's head shot up, not worried who it was, just annoyed someone had the nerve to interrupt him. He smirked as he realised who it was.
"Oh Yami, it's just you." Yugi's relief faltered. Yami. A friend of Bakura's. Now he would be hurt even more, no doubt.
"What do you mean 'just me'? What are you doing, Bakura?" He narrowed his eyes and stepped forward to get a better view. He gasped as he realised Yugi was with Bakura. Not having a friendly chat, oh no. He snorted at the thought. The poor boy had been pinned up against the wall, in obvious pain, with tears streaming down his beautiful face. '..Beautiful? Since when did you care about anyone but yourself?' What was happening to him? He was confused. But he couldn't just stand there and watch the poor boy get beaten up by Bakura. He was sure Yugi had been through torture like this on many occasions. He looked at the boy, who was staring back with a pleading look in his eyes. Yami melted, he didn't quite know what he was doing, but he had to do something. He growled at Bakura and pushed him, startling the white-haired boy, causing him to remove his grip from Yugi and stagger across the room in confusion.
Yugi fell to the floor, coughing due to the loss of air. He looked up to see the back of Yami, who was standing in front of him in a protective manner. Yugi then turned to look at Bakura, who had just regained his composure, looking extremely pissed. He gulped.
"Yami, what the hell did you do that for?!" Bakura glared at Yami, who was standing in front of Yugi, glaring back defiantly.
"Leave him alone." He said simply, "Or else." He left the threat at that, hoping Bakura would just leave, not wanting to get in a fight right now.
"What are you defending that social reject for? Get out of my way, Yami! He was the reason I was humiliated today!"
Yami sighed to himself; he knew things wouldn't be so simple. "Well if you hadn't picked on the boy in the first place, you wouldn't have been beaten up by a girl, tripped up, made fun of and humiliated, would you?!" He yelled, his patience wearing thin over his egotistical friend. He chuckled slightly, however. Even in a situation like this he made sure he made fun of Bakura. It was too hard to pass up.
"Just shut up, Yami." Bakura hissed. Yami blinked. That was it? He just told him to shut up? Bakura sighed, highly irritated at his friend's intrusion. "I know you don't want to fight, Yami. I wouldn't mind slamming my fist into your face right now, though. However, we both know due to the...incident I was in yesterday, you could kick my ass easily." He narrowed his eyes. "Don't think I'll forget this, though, Yami. You may have saved this kid's hide this time, but neither you or that over- confident bitch will be around to save him all the time." He smiled a slow, evil smile. (A/N: Creepy! *Hides*) He turned and glared at Yugi. "This is far from over, brat." He said, through clenched teeth. "You just wait, I'll get you yet. Think yourself lucky Yami here has a soft spot for you." With that, he walked quickly out of the boy's toilets, muttering about how Yami was getting soft.
Yugi just looked around dumbly, blinking. 'What just happened? Did...did Yami just save me?' He rubbed his small hand against his throat, hoping to soothe some of the pain away, but to no avail, he winced. He slowly looked up; realising Yami was still there with him. Purple eyes met crimson. Yugi made a small, alarmed squeak-like noise and looked at the floor.
"I...I don't understand." Yugi whispered, his voice slightly hoarse. He dared not to look up from the floor, as if he had no right to look Yami in the eye. He eeped as Yami knelt down and lifted Yugi's chin up with his right hand. Yugi had no choice but to look in his eyes again.
Yami wasn't sure what he was doing or why, but he felt he had to comfort the boy. "Yugi," He whispered softly, "Are you okay?"
Yugi's heart pounded in his chest. He was slightly uncomfortable at the distance between Yami and himself. Or rather the distance that wasn't there. Not that he was too bothered; Yami was even more handsome close up. Not that he had thought otherwise. He felt his cheeks heat up so he squirmed to try to get out of Yami's grasp and his extremely intimidating stare.
"I-I guess so..." He said weakly.
Slightly satisfied, Yami released his grip and slowly rose to his feet, extending his hand to Yugi while doing so. Yugi just sat on the floor and looked at Yami's hand, blinking a few times.
'God, he looks so cute when he does that...' He thought to himself, then shook his head slightly to get rid of his thoughts. "...Yugi? You're supposed to take my hand. You know, so I can help you up?"
Yugi blushed furiously at his stupidity and took Yami's hand and was helped to his feet. He looked at the floor and mumbled a thank you to Yami. He tried to walk past Yami but he stepped in front of the boy, causing Yugi to walk into him. Alarmed, Yugi jumped back and blushed again. Yami raised an eyebrow at the action and Yugi's face went even redder - if possible.
"Is something the matter, Yugi?" Yami asked, the amusement clear in his voice.
"Why did you do that?" Yugi frowned, staring at his shoelaces.
Yami opened his mouth to answer, then shut it again. Why did he do that? He wasn't sure himself. He shrugged. "Because I would like to accompany you to your next lesson."
Yugi's head shot up as he heard those words. "W-what did you say?"
"Because I would like to accompany you to your next lesson." He repeated, smiling down at the small boy as he blinked in disbelief.
"Um, sure. I-I have Math."
This time it was Yami's turn to blink. "You do? But...I have that class as well." Yugi shifted uncomfortably, and decided to look at the floor once more.
"Yes, I know, I'm in your class."
"You are? I-I didn't know that." He admitted sheepishly, slightly ashamed he had never noticed him earlier.
"No one ever notices me." Yugi replied sadly, daring enough to look Yami in the eyes. Yami's eyes softened and his heart melted.
"I'm sorry..." Was all he managed to say.
Despite himself, Yugi laughed. "That's okay, it's not your fault I'm so small and pathetic."
"Don't say things like that, it's not true."
Yugi snorted. "Tell that to Bakura and Marik."
Yami sighed and shook his head. "I may have to do that some time in the near future."
Yugi's eyes widened in alarm. "No! You mustn't! It's bad enough as it is, say something like that and they'll kill me for sure!"
Yami smiled softly and raised his hands, palm outwards in an apologetic gesture. "Okay, fine, if that's what you want." He said softly. Yugi merely nodded. "All right then...So, shall we get to class?" Without waiting for an answer, Yami took Yugi's hand and almost dragged him out of the toilets, much to Yugi's delight.
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Ryou gulped slightly at how close Rachel was, unable to control the blushes that seemed to appear in the most unwanted situations. Trying to think of something to prevent making of fool out of himself, Ryou looked to Yugi; only to find he wasn't there. He blinked and looked around. Noticing this, Rachel did the same.
"...Hey, where'd Yugi go?"
"I don't know, maybe he decided to stalk Yami or something." Rachel laughed, making Ryou grin, pleased with the fact he'd made her laugh. Then again...that wasn't hard. He sweatdropped slightly at the thought.
"I wouldn't put it past them. Then again..." She said slowly, as if in thought. "Yami did seem to be looking at him in the same way." Ryou nodded slightly. A scary, mischievous grin appeared on Rachel's face. Ryou gulped.
"Uh, Rachel...? Are you feeling okay?"
"Of course! I'm better than okay! Oh, don't you see, Ryou! They'd be so kawaii together! And I'm going to be the one that gets them together!" Her eyes were clouded over as she thought of the ways she could somehow get them on a date, her hands clasped together.
"My God." Ryou breathed. Rachel was broken from her Cupid like thoughts.
"Huh, what?" She looked up, to see a very frightened Ryou.
"The l-look on your face, the way you're acting...it's terrifying!" He yelled, pretending to be horrified, hiding his face behind his hands.
"Oh ha ha," Rachel scoffed, rolling her eyes. Which became clouded over once more...(A/N: *Sweatdrops* Hey! I would never do something like that! Er, well, at least not get all excited and misty-eyed...)
"No, really." Ryou said, trying hard not to burst into laughter.
"-push Yugi into Yami, yeah...that'd work..." Ryou sweatdropped once more as he realized Rachel had been ranting again. Sighing, he shook his head in defeat.
"You're one strange girl..." Looking up, Rachel grinned.
"Maybe so. But don't you agree they'd be cute together?!" She sighed, and clasped her hands together in the scary, gay-like manner once again.
"Well, personally, I've never been good with things like that." Ryou grumbled, wanting to change the subject now. Rachel caught on this and smiled sweetly.
"Hey, if you want, I'll keep my deranged thoughts to myself, okay? But if my eye starts twitching remind me to take my medication."
Ryou laughed. "What a weird thing to say!"
"I know, isn't it cool?!" She grinned at a very scared-looking Ryou, who simply laughed again.
"If you say so..." He coughed slightly, as he realised they were getting strange looks from people walking by.
Rachel looked at him and raised an eyebrow. She looked around and her gaze landed on someone who was staring at them oddly and yelled, "Hey, want a picture? It'll last longer!"
"Rachel!" Ryou hissed as the person looked at Rachel as if she were a two- headed dwarf wearing a tutu. (A/N: What?! It's something odd, isn't it?!)
"What?" She blinked innocently as Ryou gave an exasperated sigh.
"How do you plan on making new friends if you scare them away like that?"
"What are you talking about? I don't need new friends, I have you and Yugi!" She smiled and jumped up and down. Ryou simply looked on, still scared, but slowly getting used to the weird girl's antics.
"But, we're not exactly the most popular people in the school..." Ryou mumbled sadly. Rachel just looked at him as if he were the crazy one.
"Why would I want to be friends with them?" She scoffed, "They're stuck-up, arrogant, sadistic, mean, and...and stuck-up!" She grinned as Ryou raised an eyebrow, "I have the best vocabulary, don't I?" Ryou laughed and shook his head.
"I'm surprised you even know what vocabulary means." Rachel was about to retort to the comment but stopped, and looked heavy in thought.
"Ryou...?"
"Hmm?"
"What exactly does vocabulary mean?" Ryou fell anime style. Rachel laughed, scratching the back of her head, clearly embarrassed.
"I meant the dictionary definition!" She yelled in defense, pouting slightly as Ryou laughed at her stupidity. He stuck his tongue out at her and cleared his throat.
"Vocabulary - The sum of words used by, understood by, or at the command of a particular person or group." Rachel stared at Ryou dumbly, her mouth slightly open. This time it was his turn to close Rachel's mouth with his hand. Rachel blushed slightly as Ryou grinned. She thought for a second, then frowned.
"Stand up straight, feet together, arms outstretched." She ordered. Ryou simply raised an eyebrow. "Do it." She ordered once more.
"Look, Rachel, I don't know about you, but I'm not one for weird sex games..." He laughed at the shocked expression on her face.
"You hentai!" She yelled. Ryou cringed as more people turned their way.
"Rachel, shhh!"
Her face turned serious again. "Just do it, Ryou."
Sighing, he did as she said. She slowly started searching him.
"What the hell are you doing, Rachel?" He asked, slightly curious, and slightly embarrassed as she felt his body, searching for something.
"Damn." She whispered to herself. "I didn't find one."
"Find one what?" Ryou asked, once again scared by what she was doing.
"A dictionary." She frowned. Ryou fell to the floor. (A/N: Anime style! ^_^ Bakura: *Rolls his eyes* I think they know that, Rachel! Rachel: Blah, shut up!)
"What?" She asked innocently. "There was no way you could just know something like that without reading it somewhere!"
"Some of us actually have brains, Rachel." Ryou teased as he brushed himself off. (A/N: He fell, remember? ^_^ *Covers Bakura's mouth before he can say anything*)
"Hey!" She pouted, "I have one, too! It's just, er, mine isn't used that much heh heh..." She scratched the back of her head again. Ryou sweatdropped.
"I think we better get to class now." Ryou said, smiling softly as Rachel groaned.
"Ack, fine. What do you have first period?" She asked, glancing over Ryou's shoulder as he took out a piece of paper with his classes on it. (A/N: We have those...so I thought I'd put it in?)
"Chemistry." Ryou said, frowning slightly. Rachel cackled evilly, then smiled innocently as Ryou stared at her.
"Burning things! Yay!" Ryou sweatdropped (A/N: He seems to be doing that a lot.) at the scary look in her eyes; somewhat resembling the crazed pyromaniac we all know and love. (A/N: Well I know and love! ^_^)
"I take it you have Chem, too?" He took her silent jumping up and down as a yes and grabbed her hand, pulling her into the school, mumbling about how foolish he was to have become friends with someone as deranged as she was.
"Aww, you're so sweet, Ryou, holding my hand like that." He stopped dead in his tracks, causing her to fall into him. Resulting in them both on the floor with Rachel on top of Ryou. Ryou blushed furiously, and opened his eyes, which had been shut due to the fact he was going to fall. Rachel, who was also blushing, looked down at Ryou and laughed, not appearing to move any time soon. Ryou looked around to see people staring at them once again, he groaned inwardly.
"Rachel, would you mind getting off me?! People are staring again!" He hissed.
"Geez, what's with you and people staring? Why does it matter?" She rolled her eyes, still not moving.
"Because I don't like a lot of unwanted attention." He replied uncomfortably, trying to get up, but to no avail as she pushed him back down again. "Rachel," he whined, "What are you doing?"
"Giving them something to stare at." She whispered, giving him an impish smile. His eyes widened as she leaned towards him slowly, brushing her lips against his. She quickly got up and brushed herself off and looked around, grinning at the people staring at her.
Ryou, who was still on the floor, also looked around, his face a bright shade of red as people started to whisper. He slowly got up and raised two fingers to his lips, letting them hover there for a second.
"R-Rachel, why did you do that?" He asked dumbly.
She giggled slightly, something he hadn't seen her do before. "I already told you, to give them something to stare at." She replied innocently.
Ryou groaned. "You do know that rumours will be going round school now."
"So what? Do I look like I care?" She frowned at how shy Ryou was.
"In truth, I don't think you care about anything." He joked. She stuck her tongue out at him and grinned.
"That's not true. I care about you, Ryou." She replied, a little too loudly for Ryou's taste. He frowned as he realised she'd done that deliberately. "You need to be more confident." She sighed, looping her arm through his as they walked towards Chemistry.
"I like the way I am." He retorted. "And if that means I'm an insecure victim of bullying... then so be it." He removed his arm from hers and walked ahead of her to class.
Rachel sighed and shouted after him. "Geez, Ryou, if I knew you'd get so upset about what I have to say I wouldn't waste my breath on you in the first place." She said sharply, and looked around to find people looking at her...again. She rolled her eyes and yelled at them. "Don't you people have anything better to do than stare at me?!" She pushed past the people and went in the direction Ryou had gone. Mainly because she had no idea where her Chemistry class was. She was angry with Ryou, all she had done was given him her opinion. He didn't have to get so stressed out about it. She sighed and decided to forget about him. If he was so sensitive it was best that they weren't friends, he wouldn't be able to tolerate her blunt honesty.
Once she had found the room she walked in the class and looked around, noticing that people had already sat down. The room was made up of rows of wooden surfaces; the students were sat on stools. Currently there were no chemicals or Bunsen burners out. She searched the room for an empty seat.
"Well well well," a voice mocked, "Looks like you're making an impression already. And not a very good one by the looks of it." He chuckled.
Rachel whirled around to find the brown-haired boy from yesterday standing in front of her, this time in school uniform. She frowned. "I don't care what people think of me."
"Obviously not. Seeing as you seem to be making a fool of yourself all the time. And I've already heard that you kissed Ryou, that's not going to give you a good reputation. Is it true?"
She narrowed her eyes at him, hating the way he talked to her. As if everything about her was some sort of amusement to him. "Well that was a mistake. And it's not like it actually meant anything." She replied, looking over at Ryou who was listening in. He noticed she was looking at him, frowned and looked down at the desk.
The boy smiled. "Well there's hope for you yet. There's a space next to me if you're looking for somewhere to sit."
Rachel raised an eyebrow at his sudden change in tone. "Uh... sure?"
"By the way, my name is Seto Kaiba." He said simply and walked to his seat. Rachel followed him in confusion. He sure changed moods quickly.
"I'm Rachel Miller." She answered. "Do all the people here have weird names?" She asked innocently. To her surprise, Seto laughed.
"Just because our names are different to yours, it doesn't mean they're weird." His amused tone was back again.
Rachel shrugged. "I guess you're right."
Before she could say anything else, a short, fat woman walked in. She wore wire-rimmed glasses that perched on the end of her nose and a dress that reached just below her knees, showing her stubby legs. It was an awful dress in Rachel's opinion; it had pale flowers all over it. It looked like it used to be some form of curtain. She also wore a pale blue cardigan that had grown too small for her. Rachel wrinkled her nose at the woman's appearance. There was no way this woman could be a Chemistry teacher.
Seto caught her disgusted look and whispered. "And to think, I've had to put up with her all the time I've been here."
Rachel turned to face him and noticed he had an equally disgusted look on his face. She giggled slightly and whispered back, "Poor you." Rachel cringed as she heard the teacher clear her throat from the front of the room.
"Excuse me! I will not tolerate talking in my classes. You of all people should know this, Seto Kaiba."
Seto frowned and nodded. "Yes Miss Higatsu. Sorry Miss Higatsu." He apologized.
The teacher then turned her attention to Rachel. "And you must be Rachel Miller, the new student here at Domino High. Stand up so the class can see who you are."
Rachel groaned and rose to her feet, hating the fact all eyes in the room were on her. Miss Higatsu sneered and spoke in the annoying, high-pitched tone that was her voice. "Class, this is Rachel Miller."
"I think they know that, Miss. You did just say my name moments before." Rachel sneered back, already not liking this teacher. Seto snickered at her comment, as did others in the class.
Miss Higatsu narrowed her eyes. "If there's something else I won't tolerate, it's wise cracks." She said sharply, raising her voice slightly. "And you will call me Miss Higatsu, not just Miss." She paused for a moment. "That is my name, by the way." She added dumbly, instantly regretting it.
Rachel laughed out loud and added, "Really, Miss Higatsu? Is it some sort of new craze? Addressing people by their names?"
Fuming, Miss Higatsu shouted at the disobedient student. "I will not take anymore of your cheek, young lady! If you have anything else to say you can say it to the Principal!" She took a deep breath to calm herself down, then continued. "I do hope you won't be like this all the time, or I may have to have you removed from my class. And it would be a shame for you to fail Chemistry so early in the year. Do I make myself clear?"
Rachel rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Yes, Miss Higatsu. Crystal."
"Very well, then. You may sit down."
Relieved, Rachel took her seat as Miss Higatsu started giving instructions on what the class had to do for the lesson. Only half listening Rachel looked over at Ryou, who gave her a warning look. She glared at him and looked away. Did he expect her to behave just because some teacher threatened to kick her out of one crummy class? She snorted and looked back at the teacher who was explaining how Electrolysis worked. She sighed and wrote some notes down, willing the lesson to end quickly.
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Deciding not to look for Yugi, as he'd probably be with Ryou, Rachel decided to eat her dinner outside, away from all the stuck-up 'popular' people she loathed. Plus, it was a nice day and she didn't want to be stuck inside. She sat underneath a tree and took her bag off her shoulders. She rummaged round, then cursed out loud as she realized she'd left her lunch at home. Today was definitely not her day.
"Today's not been a great day for you, has it?" A voice asked, obviously amused.
Rachel knew who it was even before she looked up. There was only one person she knew that spoke to her like that. Speaking her thoughts out loud, she replied, "Seto Kaiba." Chuckling, he nodded. He was stood in front of her, arms crossed with an amused look on his face. Definitely a sexy pose in her opinion. She frowned at her thoughts.
"Am I intruding on your lunch or something?" He asked, his amused tone gone.
"No, of course not. It's just, err..." She couldn't tell him what she'd been thinking; she'd die of embarrassment. "Never mind." She added quickly. "Besides," She continued, "I have no lunch. I kind of...left it at home." She sighed.
Seto raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "You can have some of mine if you want."
"You sure it's no trouble?" She asked uncertainly.
He took his bag off his back and sat down beside her. "Of course not. Besides, I don't need to eat as much as I'm given, and I have work to do." Before Rachel could ask what he meant Seto produced a small laptop that had a logo with the letters KC on it from his bag and turned it on. He then pulled out a lunchbox, opened the lid and placed it on the grass beside him. "Help yourself." He mumbled, engrossed in whatever was on his screen.
"Thanks," she smiled gratefully and helped herself to a sandwich.
They sat silently for a while, Rachel choosing certain foods from Seto's lunchbox as he continued his work.
Frustrated with whatever he was doing, Seto frowned and slammed his laptop shut. "Uh...something wrong?" Rachel asked, raising an eyebrow.
Sighing, Seto raked a hand through his hair. "You could say that. Running a corporation isn't easy, you know."
Rachel's eyes widened. "You run a corporation?" She asked in disbelief.
"You mean you haven't heard of Kaiba Corp.?" Someone from behind the tree asked.
"No I haven't." Rachel replied, frowning, and looked up to see a tanned boy with long, light blonde hair and purple eyes walk round and stop in front of her.
"Hey Marik." Seto grinned at his friend. Marik smiled and nodded a greeting.
"Marik, Seto, Yugi, Ryou, Bakura, ack! So many str- I mean... different names, I'll never remember them all!" She frowned.
Marik and Seto exchanged amused glances. "And what is your name?" Marik asked, in the same annoying, amused tone Seto uses.
"Rachel Miller." She answered.
Marik sniggered. "The Rachel Miller that's dating Ryou?"
Rachel's eyes widened in alarm. "What?!" She yelled. "I am NOT dating him!"
"Sure, sure." Marik mocked. Seto sniggered at his friend's comment.
Rachel sighed and mumbled, "Stupid school rumours..." Frustrated, she rose to her feet. "Thanks for the lunch, Seto, but I'm not exactly hungry anymore." Before either of the boys could say anything, she had slung her bag on her back and walked off.
"Way to go, Marik." Seto sighed. "You got her pissed off."
"Hey," Marik retorted defensively, "It's what I heard, okay? What's it to you, anyway? Do you like her or something?"
Seto glanced at the figure that was now quickly walking away, shrugged, and simply said, "She's different."
Marik raised an eyebrow, but decided not to bother asking any more questions. He looked in Seto's lunchbox, took out an apple and took a bite. Seto shook his head and decided to give his work another try.
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Rachel: Sorry it's been so long since I updated, and sorry that I didn't really end that chapter properly, but it was getting long! Also, my Internet broke so I couldn't update. I did think about e-mailing it to school and doing it there, but by the time I'd finished writing this chapter it was the Easter holidays. No school for 2 weeks, yay! But that meant no school computers to upload my chapter. *Shrugs* Ah well. R and R, please! ^_^
Written by Rachel, a.k.a. VoiceOfReason
/\/\/\***/\/\/\ - Change of scene or time period.
"Person speaking"
'Person thinking'
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Rachel: Thanks for the reviews! ^_^ And since I don't want to die just yet...I'll continue.
Bakura: *Rolls his eyes* They probably just felt sorry for you. I bet they hate your story.
Rachel: You're so mean!! *Cries*
Bakura: *Looks guilty* I--I...didn't mean-- ack, stop crying!
Rachel: *Cries more*
Bakura: *Mumbles* Gomen nasai...
Rachel: *Sniffles* What...did you say?
Bakura: I said I'm sorry, okay?! *Mysteriously has flowers that appeared from nowhere and shyly gives them to Rachel as an apology*
Rachel: *Smiles* Oh, arigatou, Bakura! ^______^
Bakura: *Shifts uneasily* Yeah, well...
Yugi: *Keeps his distance from the two* Rachel does not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of the characters in this fic. She isn't getting any money out of this, she's just doing it out of her own free will-
Bakura: Because she has nothing better do to with her time.
Rachel: *Starts to cry again*
Bakura: *Alarmed* Gomen!
Yugi: *Sniggers* As I was saying..don't sue, just read!
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Chapter 4 - Rumours Previous Chapter:
Yugi, who had only just realised someone was in here with him, whirled around and came face to face with amused eyes. His breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened.
"Wh-what do you want?"
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"You know damn well why I'm here, little Yugi." Bakura smirked. He advanced towards the smaller boy, who was now shaking with fear.
"Why can't you just leave me alone?" He sighed, closing his eyes as tears rolled down his cheeks.
"My my, we've got courageous, haven't we?" He mocked, then suddenly turned deadly serious as he grabbed the boy by his collar and pushed him against a cubicle wall. He swiftly brought up his arm, but instead of hitting Yugi, he pressed his arm against Yugi's throat barely allowing him to breathe. "I'll teach you to treat me with disrespect!"
"B-but, I didn't do anything..." he whimpered, opening his eyes slightly, only to be choked further as Bakura violently shoved him against the cubicle wall again.
"Don't talk back to me, you worthless piece of shit!" He growled and put more force on the smaller boy's neck. Yugi whimpered again as he felt himself growing faint from the loss of oxygen.
Yugi felt a small wave of relief as he heard the door slowly open and someone step inside. Bakura's head shot up, not worried who it was, just annoyed someone had the nerve to interrupt him. He smirked as he realised who it was.
"Oh Yami, it's just you." Yugi's relief faltered. Yami. A friend of Bakura's. Now he would be hurt even more, no doubt.
"What do you mean 'just me'? What are you doing, Bakura?" He narrowed his eyes and stepped forward to get a better view. He gasped as he realised Yugi was with Bakura. Not having a friendly chat, oh no. He snorted at the thought. The poor boy had been pinned up against the wall, in obvious pain, with tears streaming down his beautiful face. '..Beautiful? Since when did you care about anyone but yourself?' What was happening to him? He was confused. But he couldn't just stand there and watch the poor boy get beaten up by Bakura. He was sure Yugi had been through torture like this on many occasions. He looked at the boy, who was staring back with a pleading look in his eyes. Yami melted, he didn't quite know what he was doing, but he had to do something. He growled at Bakura and pushed him, startling the white-haired boy, causing him to remove his grip from Yugi and stagger across the room in confusion.
Yugi fell to the floor, coughing due to the loss of air. He looked up to see the back of Yami, who was standing in front of him in a protective manner. Yugi then turned to look at Bakura, who had just regained his composure, looking extremely pissed. He gulped.
"Yami, what the hell did you do that for?!" Bakura glared at Yami, who was standing in front of Yugi, glaring back defiantly.
"Leave him alone." He said simply, "Or else." He left the threat at that, hoping Bakura would just leave, not wanting to get in a fight right now.
"What are you defending that social reject for? Get out of my way, Yami! He was the reason I was humiliated today!"
Yami sighed to himself; he knew things wouldn't be so simple. "Well if you hadn't picked on the boy in the first place, you wouldn't have been beaten up by a girl, tripped up, made fun of and humiliated, would you?!" He yelled, his patience wearing thin over his egotistical friend. He chuckled slightly, however. Even in a situation like this he made sure he made fun of Bakura. It was too hard to pass up.
"Just shut up, Yami." Bakura hissed. Yami blinked. That was it? He just told him to shut up? Bakura sighed, highly irritated at his friend's intrusion. "I know you don't want to fight, Yami. I wouldn't mind slamming my fist into your face right now, though. However, we both know due to the...incident I was in yesterday, you could kick my ass easily." He narrowed his eyes. "Don't think I'll forget this, though, Yami. You may have saved this kid's hide this time, but neither you or that over- confident bitch will be around to save him all the time." He smiled a slow, evil smile. (A/N: Creepy! *Hides*) He turned and glared at Yugi. "This is far from over, brat." He said, through clenched teeth. "You just wait, I'll get you yet. Think yourself lucky Yami here has a soft spot for you." With that, he walked quickly out of the boy's toilets, muttering about how Yami was getting soft.
Yugi just looked around dumbly, blinking. 'What just happened? Did...did Yami just save me?' He rubbed his small hand against his throat, hoping to soothe some of the pain away, but to no avail, he winced. He slowly looked up; realising Yami was still there with him. Purple eyes met crimson. Yugi made a small, alarmed squeak-like noise and looked at the floor.
"I...I don't understand." Yugi whispered, his voice slightly hoarse. He dared not to look up from the floor, as if he had no right to look Yami in the eye. He eeped as Yami knelt down and lifted Yugi's chin up with his right hand. Yugi had no choice but to look in his eyes again.
Yami wasn't sure what he was doing or why, but he felt he had to comfort the boy. "Yugi," He whispered softly, "Are you okay?"
Yugi's heart pounded in his chest. He was slightly uncomfortable at the distance between Yami and himself. Or rather the distance that wasn't there. Not that he was too bothered; Yami was even more handsome close up. Not that he had thought otherwise. He felt his cheeks heat up so he squirmed to try to get out of Yami's grasp and his extremely intimidating stare.
"I-I guess so..." He said weakly.
Slightly satisfied, Yami released his grip and slowly rose to his feet, extending his hand to Yugi while doing so. Yugi just sat on the floor and looked at Yami's hand, blinking a few times.
'God, he looks so cute when he does that...' He thought to himself, then shook his head slightly to get rid of his thoughts. "...Yugi? You're supposed to take my hand. You know, so I can help you up?"
Yugi blushed furiously at his stupidity and took Yami's hand and was helped to his feet. He looked at the floor and mumbled a thank you to Yami. He tried to walk past Yami but he stepped in front of the boy, causing Yugi to walk into him. Alarmed, Yugi jumped back and blushed again. Yami raised an eyebrow at the action and Yugi's face went even redder - if possible.
"Is something the matter, Yugi?" Yami asked, the amusement clear in his voice.
"Why did you do that?" Yugi frowned, staring at his shoelaces.
Yami opened his mouth to answer, then shut it again. Why did he do that? He wasn't sure himself. He shrugged. "Because I would like to accompany you to your next lesson."
Yugi's head shot up as he heard those words. "W-what did you say?"
"Because I would like to accompany you to your next lesson." He repeated, smiling down at the small boy as he blinked in disbelief.
"Um, sure. I-I have Math."
This time it was Yami's turn to blink. "You do? But...I have that class as well." Yugi shifted uncomfortably, and decided to look at the floor once more.
"Yes, I know, I'm in your class."
"You are? I-I didn't know that." He admitted sheepishly, slightly ashamed he had never noticed him earlier.
"No one ever notices me." Yugi replied sadly, daring enough to look Yami in the eyes. Yami's eyes softened and his heart melted.
"I'm sorry..." Was all he managed to say.
Despite himself, Yugi laughed. "That's okay, it's not your fault I'm so small and pathetic."
"Don't say things like that, it's not true."
Yugi snorted. "Tell that to Bakura and Marik."
Yami sighed and shook his head. "I may have to do that some time in the near future."
Yugi's eyes widened in alarm. "No! You mustn't! It's bad enough as it is, say something like that and they'll kill me for sure!"
Yami smiled softly and raised his hands, palm outwards in an apologetic gesture. "Okay, fine, if that's what you want." He said softly. Yugi merely nodded. "All right then...So, shall we get to class?" Without waiting for an answer, Yami took Yugi's hand and almost dragged him out of the toilets, much to Yugi's delight.
/\/\/\***/\/\/\
Ryou gulped slightly at how close Rachel was, unable to control the blushes that seemed to appear in the most unwanted situations. Trying to think of something to prevent making of fool out of himself, Ryou looked to Yugi; only to find he wasn't there. He blinked and looked around. Noticing this, Rachel did the same.
"...Hey, where'd Yugi go?"
"I don't know, maybe he decided to stalk Yami or something." Rachel laughed, making Ryou grin, pleased with the fact he'd made her laugh. Then again...that wasn't hard. He sweatdropped slightly at the thought.
"I wouldn't put it past them. Then again..." She said slowly, as if in thought. "Yami did seem to be looking at him in the same way." Ryou nodded slightly. A scary, mischievous grin appeared on Rachel's face. Ryou gulped.
"Uh, Rachel...? Are you feeling okay?"
"Of course! I'm better than okay! Oh, don't you see, Ryou! They'd be so kawaii together! And I'm going to be the one that gets them together!" Her eyes were clouded over as she thought of the ways she could somehow get them on a date, her hands clasped together.
"My God." Ryou breathed. Rachel was broken from her Cupid like thoughts.
"Huh, what?" She looked up, to see a very frightened Ryou.
"The l-look on your face, the way you're acting...it's terrifying!" He yelled, pretending to be horrified, hiding his face behind his hands.
"Oh ha ha," Rachel scoffed, rolling her eyes. Which became clouded over once more...(A/N: *Sweatdrops* Hey! I would never do something like that! Er, well, at least not get all excited and misty-eyed...)
"No, really." Ryou said, trying hard not to burst into laughter.
"-push Yugi into Yami, yeah...that'd work..." Ryou sweatdropped once more as he realized Rachel had been ranting again. Sighing, he shook his head in defeat.
"You're one strange girl..." Looking up, Rachel grinned.
"Maybe so. But don't you agree they'd be cute together?!" She sighed, and clasped her hands together in the scary, gay-like manner once again.
"Well, personally, I've never been good with things like that." Ryou grumbled, wanting to change the subject now. Rachel caught on this and smiled sweetly.
"Hey, if you want, I'll keep my deranged thoughts to myself, okay? But if my eye starts twitching remind me to take my medication."
Ryou laughed. "What a weird thing to say!"
"I know, isn't it cool?!" She grinned at a very scared-looking Ryou, who simply laughed again.
"If you say so..." He coughed slightly, as he realised they were getting strange looks from people walking by.
Rachel looked at him and raised an eyebrow. She looked around and her gaze landed on someone who was staring at them oddly and yelled, "Hey, want a picture? It'll last longer!"
"Rachel!" Ryou hissed as the person looked at Rachel as if she were a two- headed dwarf wearing a tutu. (A/N: What?! It's something odd, isn't it?!)
"What?" She blinked innocently as Ryou gave an exasperated sigh.
"How do you plan on making new friends if you scare them away like that?"
"What are you talking about? I don't need new friends, I have you and Yugi!" She smiled and jumped up and down. Ryou simply looked on, still scared, but slowly getting used to the weird girl's antics.
"But, we're not exactly the most popular people in the school..." Ryou mumbled sadly. Rachel just looked at him as if he were the crazy one.
"Why would I want to be friends with them?" She scoffed, "They're stuck-up, arrogant, sadistic, mean, and...and stuck-up!" She grinned as Ryou raised an eyebrow, "I have the best vocabulary, don't I?" Ryou laughed and shook his head.
"I'm surprised you even know what vocabulary means." Rachel was about to retort to the comment but stopped, and looked heavy in thought.
"Ryou...?"
"Hmm?"
"What exactly does vocabulary mean?" Ryou fell anime style. Rachel laughed, scratching the back of her head, clearly embarrassed.
"I meant the dictionary definition!" She yelled in defense, pouting slightly as Ryou laughed at her stupidity. He stuck his tongue out at her and cleared his throat.
"Vocabulary - The sum of words used by, understood by, or at the command of a particular person or group." Rachel stared at Ryou dumbly, her mouth slightly open. This time it was his turn to close Rachel's mouth with his hand. Rachel blushed slightly as Ryou grinned. She thought for a second, then frowned.
"Stand up straight, feet together, arms outstretched." She ordered. Ryou simply raised an eyebrow. "Do it." She ordered once more.
"Look, Rachel, I don't know about you, but I'm not one for weird sex games..." He laughed at the shocked expression on her face.
"You hentai!" She yelled. Ryou cringed as more people turned their way.
"Rachel, shhh!"
Her face turned serious again. "Just do it, Ryou."
Sighing, he did as she said. She slowly started searching him.
"What the hell are you doing, Rachel?" He asked, slightly curious, and slightly embarrassed as she felt his body, searching for something.
"Damn." She whispered to herself. "I didn't find one."
"Find one what?" Ryou asked, once again scared by what she was doing.
"A dictionary." She frowned. Ryou fell to the floor. (A/N: Anime style! ^_^ Bakura: *Rolls his eyes* I think they know that, Rachel! Rachel: Blah, shut up!)
"What?" She asked innocently. "There was no way you could just know something like that without reading it somewhere!"
"Some of us actually have brains, Rachel." Ryou teased as he brushed himself off. (A/N: He fell, remember? ^_^ *Covers Bakura's mouth before he can say anything*)
"Hey!" She pouted, "I have one, too! It's just, er, mine isn't used that much heh heh..." She scratched the back of her head again. Ryou sweatdropped.
"I think we better get to class now." Ryou said, smiling softly as Rachel groaned.
"Ack, fine. What do you have first period?" She asked, glancing over Ryou's shoulder as he took out a piece of paper with his classes on it. (A/N: We have those...so I thought I'd put it in?)
"Chemistry." Ryou said, frowning slightly. Rachel cackled evilly, then smiled innocently as Ryou stared at her.
"Burning things! Yay!" Ryou sweatdropped (A/N: He seems to be doing that a lot.) at the scary look in her eyes; somewhat resembling the crazed pyromaniac we all know and love. (A/N: Well I know and love! ^_^)
"I take it you have Chem, too?" He took her silent jumping up and down as a yes and grabbed her hand, pulling her into the school, mumbling about how foolish he was to have become friends with someone as deranged as she was.
"Aww, you're so sweet, Ryou, holding my hand like that." He stopped dead in his tracks, causing her to fall into him. Resulting in them both on the floor with Rachel on top of Ryou. Ryou blushed furiously, and opened his eyes, which had been shut due to the fact he was going to fall. Rachel, who was also blushing, looked down at Ryou and laughed, not appearing to move any time soon. Ryou looked around to see people staring at them once again, he groaned inwardly.
"Rachel, would you mind getting off me?! People are staring again!" He hissed.
"Geez, what's with you and people staring? Why does it matter?" She rolled her eyes, still not moving.
"Because I don't like a lot of unwanted attention." He replied uncomfortably, trying to get up, but to no avail as she pushed him back down again. "Rachel," he whined, "What are you doing?"
"Giving them something to stare at." She whispered, giving him an impish smile. His eyes widened as she leaned towards him slowly, brushing her lips against his. She quickly got up and brushed herself off and looked around, grinning at the people staring at her.
Ryou, who was still on the floor, also looked around, his face a bright shade of red as people started to whisper. He slowly got up and raised two fingers to his lips, letting them hover there for a second.
"R-Rachel, why did you do that?" He asked dumbly.
She giggled slightly, something he hadn't seen her do before. "I already told you, to give them something to stare at." She replied innocently.
Ryou groaned. "You do know that rumours will be going round school now."
"So what? Do I look like I care?" She frowned at how shy Ryou was.
"In truth, I don't think you care about anything." He joked. She stuck her tongue out at him and grinned.
"That's not true. I care about you, Ryou." She replied, a little too loudly for Ryou's taste. He frowned as he realised she'd done that deliberately. "You need to be more confident." She sighed, looping her arm through his as they walked towards Chemistry.
"I like the way I am." He retorted. "And if that means I'm an insecure victim of bullying... then so be it." He removed his arm from hers and walked ahead of her to class.
Rachel sighed and shouted after him. "Geez, Ryou, if I knew you'd get so upset about what I have to say I wouldn't waste my breath on you in the first place." She said sharply, and looked around to find people looking at her...again. She rolled her eyes and yelled at them. "Don't you people have anything better to do than stare at me?!" She pushed past the people and went in the direction Ryou had gone. Mainly because she had no idea where her Chemistry class was. She was angry with Ryou, all she had done was given him her opinion. He didn't have to get so stressed out about it. She sighed and decided to forget about him. If he was so sensitive it was best that they weren't friends, he wouldn't be able to tolerate her blunt honesty.
Once she had found the room she walked in the class and looked around, noticing that people had already sat down. The room was made up of rows of wooden surfaces; the students were sat on stools. Currently there were no chemicals or Bunsen burners out. She searched the room for an empty seat.
"Well well well," a voice mocked, "Looks like you're making an impression already. And not a very good one by the looks of it." He chuckled.
Rachel whirled around to find the brown-haired boy from yesterday standing in front of her, this time in school uniform. She frowned. "I don't care what people think of me."
"Obviously not. Seeing as you seem to be making a fool of yourself all the time. And I've already heard that you kissed Ryou, that's not going to give you a good reputation. Is it true?"
She narrowed her eyes at him, hating the way he talked to her. As if everything about her was some sort of amusement to him. "Well that was a mistake. And it's not like it actually meant anything." She replied, looking over at Ryou who was listening in. He noticed she was looking at him, frowned and looked down at the desk.
The boy smiled. "Well there's hope for you yet. There's a space next to me if you're looking for somewhere to sit."
Rachel raised an eyebrow at his sudden change in tone. "Uh... sure?"
"By the way, my name is Seto Kaiba." He said simply and walked to his seat. Rachel followed him in confusion. He sure changed moods quickly.
"I'm Rachel Miller." She answered. "Do all the people here have weird names?" She asked innocently. To her surprise, Seto laughed.
"Just because our names are different to yours, it doesn't mean they're weird." His amused tone was back again.
Rachel shrugged. "I guess you're right."
Before she could say anything else, a short, fat woman walked in. She wore wire-rimmed glasses that perched on the end of her nose and a dress that reached just below her knees, showing her stubby legs. It was an awful dress in Rachel's opinion; it had pale flowers all over it. It looked like it used to be some form of curtain. She also wore a pale blue cardigan that had grown too small for her. Rachel wrinkled her nose at the woman's appearance. There was no way this woman could be a Chemistry teacher.
Seto caught her disgusted look and whispered. "And to think, I've had to put up with her all the time I've been here."
Rachel turned to face him and noticed he had an equally disgusted look on his face. She giggled slightly and whispered back, "Poor you." Rachel cringed as she heard the teacher clear her throat from the front of the room.
"Excuse me! I will not tolerate talking in my classes. You of all people should know this, Seto Kaiba."
Seto frowned and nodded. "Yes Miss Higatsu. Sorry Miss Higatsu." He apologized.
The teacher then turned her attention to Rachel. "And you must be Rachel Miller, the new student here at Domino High. Stand up so the class can see who you are."
Rachel groaned and rose to her feet, hating the fact all eyes in the room were on her. Miss Higatsu sneered and spoke in the annoying, high-pitched tone that was her voice. "Class, this is Rachel Miller."
"I think they know that, Miss. You did just say my name moments before." Rachel sneered back, already not liking this teacher. Seto snickered at her comment, as did others in the class.
Miss Higatsu narrowed her eyes. "If there's something else I won't tolerate, it's wise cracks." She said sharply, raising her voice slightly. "And you will call me Miss Higatsu, not just Miss." She paused for a moment. "That is my name, by the way." She added dumbly, instantly regretting it.
Rachel laughed out loud and added, "Really, Miss Higatsu? Is it some sort of new craze? Addressing people by their names?"
Fuming, Miss Higatsu shouted at the disobedient student. "I will not take anymore of your cheek, young lady! If you have anything else to say you can say it to the Principal!" She took a deep breath to calm herself down, then continued. "I do hope you won't be like this all the time, or I may have to have you removed from my class. And it would be a shame for you to fail Chemistry so early in the year. Do I make myself clear?"
Rachel rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Yes, Miss Higatsu. Crystal."
"Very well, then. You may sit down."
Relieved, Rachel took her seat as Miss Higatsu started giving instructions on what the class had to do for the lesson. Only half listening Rachel looked over at Ryou, who gave her a warning look. She glared at him and looked away. Did he expect her to behave just because some teacher threatened to kick her out of one crummy class? She snorted and looked back at the teacher who was explaining how Electrolysis worked. She sighed and wrote some notes down, willing the lesson to end quickly.
/\/\/\***/\/\/\
Deciding not to look for Yugi, as he'd probably be with Ryou, Rachel decided to eat her dinner outside, away from all the stuck-up 'popular' people she loathed. Plus, it was a nice day and she didn't want to be stuck inside. She sat underneath a tree and took her bag off her shoulders. She rummaged round, then cursed out loud as she realized she'd left her lunch at home. Today was definitely not her day.
"Today's not been a great day for you, has it?" A voice asked, obviously amused.
Rachel knew who it was even before she looked up. There was only one person she knew that spoke to her like that. Speaking her thoughts out loud, she replied, "Seto Kaiba." Chuckling, he nodded. He was stood in front of her, arms crossed with an amused look on his face. Definitely a sexy pose in her opinion. She frowned at her thoughts.
"Am I intruding on your lunch or something?" He asked, his amused tone gone.
"No, of course not. It's just, err..." She couldn't tell him what she'd been thinking; she'd die of embarrassment. "Never mind." She added quickly. "Besides," She continued, "I have no lunch. I kind of...left it at home." She sighed.
Seto raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "You can have some of mine if you want."
"You sure it's no trouble?" She asked uncertainly.
He took his bag off his back and sat down beside her. "Of course not. Besides, I don't need to eat as much as I'm given, and I have work to do." Before Rachel could ask what he meant Seto produced a small laptop that had a logo with the letters KC on it from his bag and turned it on. He then pulled out a lunchbox, opened the lid and placed it on the grass beside him. "Help yourself." He mumbled, engrossed in whatever was on his screen.
"Thanks," she smiled gratefully and helped herself to a sandwich.
They sat silently for a while, Rachel choosing certain foods from Seto's lunchbox as he continued his work.
Frustrated with whatever he was doing, Seto frowned and slammed his laptop shut. "Uh...something wrong?" Rachel asked, raising an eyebrow.
Sighing, Seto raked a hand through his hair. "You could say that. Running a corporation isn't easy, you know."
Rachel's eyes widened. "You run a corporation?" She asked in disbelief.
"You mean you haven't heard of Kaiba Corp.?" Someone from behind the tree asked.
"No I haven't." Rachel replied, frowning, and looked up to see a tanned boy with long, light blonde hair and purple eyes walk round and stop in front of her.
"Hey Marik." Seto grinned at his friend. Marik smiled and nodded a greeting.
"Marik, Seto, Yugi, Ryou, Bakura, ack! So many str- I mean... different names, I'll never remember them all!" She frowned.
Marik and Seto exchanged amused glances. "And what is your name?" Marik asked, in the same annoying, amused tone Seto uses.
"Rachel Miller." She answered.
Marik sniggered. "The Rachel Miller that's dating Ryou?"
Rachel's eyes widened in alarm. "What?!" She yelled. "I am NOT dating him!"
"Sure, sure." Marik mocked. Seto sniggered at his friend's comment.
Rachel sighed and mumbled, "Stupid school rumours..." Frustrated, she rose to her feet. "Thanks for the lunch, Seto, but I'm not exactly hungry anymore." Before either of the boys could say anything, she had slung her bag on her back and walked off.
"Way to go, Marik." Seto sighed. "You got her pissed off."
"Hey," Marik retorted defensively, "It's what I heard, okay? What's it to you, anyway? Do you like her or something?"
Seto glanced at the figure that was now quickly walking away, shrugged, and simply said, "She's different."
Marik raised an eyebrow, but decided not to bother asking any more questions. He looked in Seto's lunchbox, took out an apple and took a bite. Seto shook his head and decided to give his work another try.
*********************************************************************
Rachel: Sorry it's been so long since I updated, and sorry that I didn't really end that chapter properly, but it was getting long! Also, my Internet broke so I couldn't update. I did think about e-mailing it to school and doing it there, but by the time I'd finished writing this chapter it was the Easter holidays. No school for 2 weeks, yay! But that meant no school computers to upload my chapter. *Shrugs* Ah well. R and R, please! ^_^