Aria: It's my birthday today! I'm finally sixteen! *dances* But… *blushes* It's so embarrassing to be sung to by my entire class!

Bakura: I wish I could've seen that…

Aria: Hush you .

Bakura: ^_^

Aria: Now, I realize the idea is a bit unoriginal, but I've had this idea stuck in my head for months and I think it would make a great fic.

Yami: *knows the end* Me too ^^

Yuugi: *blush*

~*~

'Attention students. The schoolboard has organized a new lunctime activity called the school newspaper. Any students interested can report to room 108 during the lunch period to help out. No one can drop out of the activity out of boredom and any students reporting must not attend as a joke. That is all.'

Most of the teens in class groaned. "How dorky," "What a lame idea!", "BO-RING!" and "Haha, I feel sorry for the nerds in charge of this," were common reactions.

Yuugi Motou groaned inwardly. 'What fool came up with this idea?' He asked himself, twirling his pencil between his index and thumb.

An elbow poked into his ribs and he looked up to meet Ryou's eyes. "Wanna try?" Ryou asked.

Yuugi shook his head. "You're kidding, right?"

"Nuh-uh. I think it would be a good thing. Come on, at least come with me," Ryou coaxed, knowing he could eventually drag his best friend into it.

"Fine, but you know I'll have your soul for lunch," Yuugi replied as the bell rang.

"I love you too," replied Ryou sarcastically.

~*~

After inhaling their lunches, Ryou dragged Yuugi, literally, by the wrists, to room 108. A few more teens were there, and Yuugi felt a little less like shrinking into his seat, shrivelling up and dying.

Then the big boss teen in charge of the whole operation walked in.

"Otogi? You're in charge of this op? Why?" Yuugi gaped that Otogi was the boss. Of almost all people Yuugi knew, Otogi was pretty far down on the list of qualifying individuals.

"I could ask you why you're here, too. The principal said that since I have my own Game Shop, running this thing would help me. Then again, I guess maybe we're both just nerds," Otogi replied with a lopsided smirk. Yuugi smiled back weakly. 'Great… my friend thinks I'm a dork,' Yuugi sighed to himself.

"Okay, gang. My name is Ryuuji Otogi," Otogi wrote his name on the blackboard for good measure. A buzz went through the class.

"Otogi? Doesn't he own that Dungeon Dice Monster Game?" Yuugi heard one boy whisper.

"This is Otogi-kun? He's way hotter than I thought." A girl in the back giggled.

Yuugi rolled his eyes. "Ryou, if you love me, you'll kill me now," Yuugi pleaded.

Ryou shook his head. "Sorry, Yuugi. You're a friend to me and nothing more."

Yuugi blushed immediately. "T-That's not what I meant!" Yuugi blushed, shrinking down in his seat a bit more.

Otogi was rattling on about this and that, and Ryou listened with interest. Yuugi wanted to see if his height could sneak him out of there. Otogi finished his long lecture with, "Okay, now we need to pick a position on the newspaper. Once you have an idea, come up here and tell me."

People got up, forming small groups with each other. "I think I want to be an editor. I get to see all the things that go through." Ryou mused. "What about you, Yuugi?" "A murder victim for you to write about," Yuugi replied.

Ryou chuckled. "Come on, I know you can do better…" Ryou thought for a minute. "Hey, why don't you ask Otogi what kind of positions there are?" Ryou scratched the back of his head, "Cuz I've got nothing."

"Thanks a lot," Yuugi muttered under his breath, going up to Otogi. "Otogi? I was wondering what kind of positions are on the paper because somebody can't give me advice on what to be."

A bulb went off in Otogi's mind. "Advice…? Hey, I know! What if you were the advice columnist? You're the most levelheaded person I know, and you always know the best thing to do in a tight spot…" Otogi trailed off.

"Watch it, flattery will get you nowhere." Yuugi snapped. "Ok, fine. I'll be the 'advice columnist.' What could it hurt?"

Otogi grinned. "There's a good boy. I'll set up an email on the school's website for you and we'll see what happens!" Otogi scrawled something on the clipboard he was holding and Yuugi went back over to Ryou.

"So?" Ryou asked.

Yuugi puffed his chest. "You're looking at the new advice columnist for this school's newspaper." Then let the air woosh out.

Ryou giggled. "Now this I gotta see!"

~*~

Aria: I know it looks bad, but hey, the plot makes an advance bit by bit, and this happens to be the major event that triggers everything.

~

Yuugiou is copyrighted by Kazuki Takahashi since 1996