10-Yen Tidbits
Jounouchi had Geography with Anzu. He sat beside her Tuesday morning. "I need some advice," he said plainly. He didn't want to have to build up to it; he didn't feel like he had the time.
Anzu perked up. "Advice? You never ask for advice."
"Yea, well, this is important."
"Okay. What's your problem?"
Jounouchi looked around before answering quietly, "Yuugi."
"Oh no," she moaned wearily. "Did you guys fight again yesterday?"
"No, no, nothing like that," Jounouchi assured her. "But… well… he said he loves me."
"He does," Anzu said matter-of-factly. "Why do you need help with that?"
"I couldn't say it back."
"What?"
Jounouchi wasn't sure if she was asking in shock or genuine confusion; he elaborated, "I couldn't tell him that I love him."
Anzu seemed to take a moment to consider things. "You do love him, right?"
…
Jounouchi hadn't thought of that. He simply took it for fact that he loved Yuugi without really examining his feelings. "I… I think… I…"
"Oh god, Jounouchi!" she said exasperatedly. "You'll never be able to say it if you don't know! Saying you love someone isn't about parroting the words, it's about genuine emotion. You have to know and you have to want to say it."
Jounouchi thought about what she said as class began. Yea. That was advice. Good advice. Right?
Yuugi wasn't in school on Wednesday, which gave Jounouchi the entire lunch period to seek Anzu out for more advice… and, of course, she was nowhere to be found. After a couple of minutes Jounouchi gave up and sat down at a table to eat his lunch. To his surprise, Ryou joined him. Ryou was never around during lunch.
"Where's Yuugi?" Ryou asked, resting his elbows on his table and setting his chin on his palms. Those wide brown eyes were staring at him inquisitively.
"Home sick," Jounouchi answered, taking his sandwich from its plastic wrap.
"Ah, good. I heard about your problem with Yuugi," Ryou said, grabbing Jounouchi's sandwich and taking a bite. After mourning the loss of a bit of his sandwich Jounouchi realized what Ryou had said.
"Wait, how did you hear about it?" He reclaimed his sandwich and took a bite, watching Ryou.
"Anzu talked to me about it. Rather, she ranted. She's afraid you two will loose each other because you're quote 'emotionally constipated'."
Jounouchi made a mental note to hug Anzu for caring, even if she did call him emotionally constipated. "That's sweet."
"I thought so. Listen, I may not know much about healthy relationships, but I wanted to put in my 10 yen."
Healthy? He'd ask about that later. "And what's your 10 yen?"
"Don't say it in bed. Or afterwards."
"Never?"
"Well, maybe later, once he knows you mean it. But before then he's going to wonder if it's you or your dick talking."
Jounouchi frowned. "You sure?"
Ryou looked strangely solemn. "Trust me." He looked to the clock on the wall. "I need to go; I only came here to tell you that."
"Arigato," Jounouchi said. "It'll help. Just… don't spread the word, okay? The last thing I need is the Jou-and-Yuugi fan club to find out that I need help."
"Fan club?" Ryou asked with a raised eyebrow. Jounouchi jerked a thumb to point towards a table behind him, filled with the same group of girls from the last Thursday. "Ah, I see. Well, bye."
Jounouchi watched Ryou leave. That had been unexpected…
Thursday's Algebra lesson began with a bang… right to the back of Jounouchi's head. After a second of confusion Jounouchi realized that his assailant was none other than Otogi. "What?" he demanded irritably, rubbing the back of his head and mumbling, "Fuckin' dice…"
"Idiot," Otogi said good-naturedly. "For once Honda's right; it's all in your head."
Jounouchi sighed and laid his head on the desk. "Goddamn, do you guys sit around drinking tea and talking about my issues?"
Otogi was grinning, Jounouchi could tell by the tone of his voice. "Actually, we drank coffee, and the only reason we did it was because someone else was paying. It turned out to be a pretty good-sized shindig."
"No," Jounouchi groaned. "Who else knows?"
Before Otogi could explain further the class was called to order, leaving Jounouchi to his grim curiosities about exactly how many people knew about his problem.
Friday came and went without a shred of advice, much to Jounouchi's relief; all those 10-yen tidbits were getting him more confused than he already was. So he was almost bouncing with elation as he went to his locker… Until he noticed a folded piece of paper taped to it. He pulled it off slowly and opened it, staring down at the handwriting. It was messy, and it didn't belong to anyone he knew.
"If you break this spirit, I'll be forced to break your legs. He needs all his fighting spirit to deal with me."
It was unsigned, but Jounouchi only knew one person who would sound like that. He crumbled the paper up and threw it against his locker; it bounced off and hit him in the forehead.
Terrific! Nothing like a threat on his legs to make the situation easier.
By Saturday afternoon Jounouchi was nearing desperation. He wanted to fix whatever was wrong with him and get on with things! As it stood he was avoiding spending too much time with Yuugi, worried that he might find himself in that situation again, and if he kept making excuses Yuugi would catch on and things would go downhill again…
He called his sister before dinner.
"Jou!" she squealed into the phone. "It's great to hear from you!"
"Yea," he said, holding the phone a little away from his ear with a smile, "it's good to hear from you too." He relaxed back in the couch and tried not to fidget. "Listen, what do you now about love?"
Shizuka giggled. "Why?"
"Friend of mine asked for some advice."
"Ooh, and you couldn't help them on your own?" She sounded so… mischievous. Jounouchi squirmed; exactly how sneaky and devious was his little sister, anyway? It had been years…
"Yea, I get stuck when it comes to this whole 'love' deal."
"Jounouchi, just tell Yuugi you love him." Jounouchi's jaw dropped, and he couldn't come up with a coherent word: his sister knew! "You must," she continued, oblivious to Jounouchi's shock, "if you're willing to ask so many people for advice. You never ask for help."
"How do you know?" he sputtered, a little louder than he intended. He didn't mean to shout, but - damn it! - if anyone was going to tell his sister, it should have been him!
"Don't yell. Honda told me. Then Otogi told me. I think that between the two of them I've got the story straight."
"It ain't exactly a 'straight' story," Jounouchi grumbled. When he got his hands on those two…
"You're so stupid when you're angry," Shizuka teased. "Jou, it's not so hard as you're making it. Just speak from your heart." She paused, and Jounouchi heard talking in the background. "Mom's done making dinner, so I've got to go. Was I any help?"
Not really. "Of course," Jounouchi told her affectionately. It was okay to lie to her in this case.
"Good. Love you!" The phone clicked, and she was gone.
After that Jounouchi went for a walk, sitting on a bench in the park where he had realized he couldn't tell Yuugi that he loved him. Seemed significant to go there to think. He heaved a sigh and tried to mentally summarize all the advice he had received in the past week.
He had to say it because he wanted to, not in imitation, and he had to speak from his heart. And he couldn't do it in bed. And if he didn't do something, he was going to be out two legs. For something that sounded so simple, it sure was giving Jounouchi a huge headache.
"Hey, kid," a suave voice interrupted his glum mood, and he looked over to see Mai take a seat beside him. She crossed her legs; that meant she intended to stay for a while. He groaned. Mai! Of all people! That was as bad as his sister…
"You too?" He leaned back against the bench, letting his head roll back so that he could stare up at the stars. "Damn."
"I'm the one who had to pay for an hours-worth of coffee for a bunch of teenagers, so I think you should pity me, not yourself."
"Fine."
They sat in silence, and Jounouchi didn't look away from the stars. Wow, there were a lot of them, twinkling down at him like winking eyes, devious and conniving, watching everything and laughing at him. He was getting the irrational urge to shake his fist at the sky, but Mai interrupted him before he got the chance. "C'mon," she taunted, "you know you want to talk about it."
"Ugh," he groaned. "What don't you know?"
"Well, I don't know what you're thinking or feeling."
"I'm scared, pissed, confused… fuck, I'm feeling like a rubber band that's stretched around the world," Jounouchi blurted, letting everything spill. "I mean, goddamn, less than two months ago I didn't think of guys, or even love, but then archeology had to go and turn everything upside down!"
"Archeology?" she asked.
"Uhh, don't think about it."
Mai tittered. What a silly noise; it made Jounouchi smile. "Okay. So you're mostly confused from the sound of it. You always do act like a bitch when you get confused." Jounouchi growled, and Mai stared… "Oh! I didn't think that were… Does that bother you?"
Jounouchi shrugged. "I don't know. Sometimes it does, but when… well, when… stuff is happening, I like it." He blushed. "Not that you need to know any of that."
"Hon, what's more embarrassing for you right now: that you're so confused that you need help, or that you're talking about your feelings for a guy with a girl you once liked?"
Jounouchi turned abruptly and stared at her. Or rather, from his angle, ended up staring at her chest. He cleared his throat and looked up at her face. She'd known…? "I never-"
"Oh, can it!" she said playfully. "You used to stare at my boobs all the time." She smiled, looking thoughtful for a moment. "You're not now. That must mean something. Maybe this is a turning point for you. After all, everyone experiments, myself included-"
Jounouchi almost slipped off the bench. He righted himself, sitting properly in his seat and gawking at Mai. "Can I have pictures?"
She hit him half-heartedly, smiling. "I'm trying to give you wisdom; stop being a pervert. I'm serious, it's one thing to try something new, but to be in love…" She looked at her watch. "Well, babe, I hate to ruin the moment, but I've got places to be." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Good luck; we're all cheering for you." She stood and smiled down at him for a second before leaving. Jounouchi watched her walk away.
Damn. Mai was deep.
He thought about what she said, and realized that she was right. Experimenting implied that he could turn back at any moment and pretend it had never happened. Being in love meant that there was no pretending, no excuses. There was a frightening sense of finality to admitting love, especially to another guy. But things couldn't just hang in limbo while he sat in the park, shaking like a scared dog. He had to settle the issue once and for all. "Thanks, Mai," he murmured as he stood to walk to the game shop.
- author says -
When I outlined the story, this was my favorite part. It's just funny… and I love the scene with Mai. I wanted someone obscure and bizarre to be the one to give Jou advice that actually clicked in that pretty little head of his, and for some reason she's the one who wanted to do it.
Ack! We're almost done! Which is… sort of bad, only because I've been fighting with the last part; it's being argumentative. Hmph; I have to beat that into submission. The next update will probably be both those chapters, so… depending on how long it takes me to beat the epilogue down…
You know, that line about "healthy relationships" sort of snuck in there without asking me first, and I find myself compelled to follow it... hmmm... *thinks about that*