Behind the Pixels

By Zelia Theb

A collection of side stories to the fanfiction Beyond the Pixels. They won't make much sense (and may contain spoilers) unless you've read that story.

:::WARNING:::

This work will contain male/male romances. If for some reason this offends you, do not bother reading. Reviews or other feedback that results from ignoring this warning and reading anyway will be deleted/ignored.

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! is the property of Kazuki Takahashi. The disclaimers for these side stories are the same as all of the disclaimers for the parent story Beyond the Pixels. Radiant Eclipse, the land of Virei, and all other characters belong to me.

--------------

I: The Other Game Store

"So I think that we should order two boxes of them," a man with glasses, blue slacks and a white polo shirt suggested.

"You have a point there," Ryuuji Otogi remarked, "I was thinking of that myself. Very few stores carry them." He tapped his left index finger on the glass desk and said, "Plus, I want to get a copy of it myself. I simply don't have enough time on my hands to go out looking for one." He leaned back in his black chair and stared at the fluorescent lights on the ceiling of the office, exhaling a deep breath.

"Um, Otogi, sir," the store manager said, nervously jingling a pencil in his fingers, "I'll order the shipment right away." The man pushed his glasses back up his nose; "But haven't you checked your friend's store? I don't mean to advertise for our competition, but…"

"That's a great idea!" Otogi blurted, jumping from his chair suddenly. The manager dropped the pencil out of fright. The boy chuckled and announced, "I'm going to head over there right now! I have to tell them what happened last night anyway."

"Okay, sir…" was all that the boy heard as he left the office of the store and headed towards the Kame Game Shop.

A limousine passed him as he walked down the sidewalk to the triangular corner of the store. He glanced through the glass door; passed his own reflection for once; and saw Yugi standing behind the register, dressed in his usual punk attire. Jounouchi was there as well, in nothing but a plain white tee and a pair of blue jeans. Otogi smirked as he opened the door, thanking the Heavens that he always looked hot. He was, after all, wearing his favorite outfit. The bells attached to the door jingled as he walked over the threshold of the door, stepping right into the middle of his friends' conversation.

"Did I make too much noise when we slept together?" Yugi asked Jou, an innocent look in his eyes.

Realizing that he hadn't yet been noticed, an evil cackle floated through the vain boy's head. He gasped loudly and put on his most surprised expression, accesorizing it with an accusing finger pointed at his two friends.

"You…two?!" he exclaimed, "You two…you're…dating?! You guys…AHH!" He hoped that his eyes weren't giving him away.

"What?" Yugi asked, not having realized what the boy was referring to until a moment after he asked the question. He blushed wildly, which was a secret victory to Otogi. He was keen with his 'radar' so to say, and knew that the show would definitely put Yugi on the spot.

"No! No! I'm staying with Yug over the break! I just didn't sleep last night! It's not what you think!" Jounouchi shouted, waving his arms frantically all over the place. The blonde's face had turned a shade of red that competed with his own clothing. Otogi grinned slightly as he noticed the boy's brown eyes trace briefly over his body.

"Then why is your face so red!" the black-haired boy began laughing hysterically at the end of the exclamation. He wasn't expecting an answer.

"So why are you here?" Yugi asked him.

He shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I just wanted to stop by and ask if you two would play again today. I was running around last night and ran into Bakura's character."

"Ryou Bakura? I didn't know he was into that sort of stuff!" Jounouchi said.

"Oh, you bet he is. You know how much of an introvert he is," Otogi responded. For a brief second he wondered if the pale boy had a wild side. He continued; "It's the perfect place for people like him to break out of their shell. He actually is level fifteen!" He was a bit jealous, but he hoped to catch up to him soon enough.

His friends both exclaimed, "WOW!" It was almost as if they had planned the outburst ahead of time.

"Yeah, I know," he nodded back, "He has a dark knight. Looks pretty neat." Looks pretty neat? The character was just as hot as his own. The conceptual and graphic artists really did wonders with the half-elves in that game. He blinked the naughty thought out of his head and said, "He said that he would help us level more over the week if we wanted to."

"Well, I'm going to go log on now," Jounouchi suddenly said, seeming to have been inspired to play the game when Otogi mentioned Bakura. It almost made him slightly…jealous.

Otogi had always been bi-curious, but never knew anyone that he could experiment with. He knew that it wouldn't be that hard to find someone, what with his stunning good lucks and his game inventing fame. He knew that Jounouchi was probably an easy target, but if anything bad happened, the 'Yugi crew' would jump all over his back in an instant. It was safer for him to explore outside the core of the group, or at least on the outskirts of it.

"So…" Yugi interrupted his thoughts, "Are you here for anything, Otogi?"

"Oh! Right," he remembered the other reason he stopped by; "There was another reason that I came by. I'm looking for the strategy guide to the game. D'ya have it here?"

"You don't have it at your store?" the shorter boy blinked.

"We just ordered it today," he revealed, "But I take it from your comment that you do have it."

"On the shelf to your right." Otogi grabbed the last copy off of the shelf and stepped toward the register.

"It's actually hard to find in Domino," he remarked as Yugi processed the transaction.

"Ah." The boy handed Otogi a bag with the magazine inside.

"Well, thanks Yugi," he smiled, "Catch ya later tonight? I'll send you a message at around eight." Yugi nodded in response as Otogi left the store.

After a few minutes, he arrived at his own building. During the entire walk, all that he could think about was logging back into the game and catching Bakura again. When he realized where he was, he stopped a moment to gaze at his own reflection in the glass, but then noticed said acquaintance walking out of the door he was gazing into.

"Oh, hey Otogi," he said cheerfully. Bakura certainly was a pleasant sight to gaze upon. He was dressed in a baby blue theme; light colored boot cut jeans, a light blue knight sweater, complete with turtleneck, and a denim jacket to match the jeans.

"You didn't buy anything?" Otogi questioned as he noticed his classmate's empty hands. Unfortunately for him, the question sounded more like a pick-up line than an accusation.

"Why use en when I can pocket everything?" the pallid boy joked. Otogi smiled; it was funny after all.

"I never knew you had such a sense of humor!" He pondered going into every pocket of denim himself, just for an 'innocent' search.

Bakura's face showed a glint of pink for a moment. He looked down at Otogi's own hands and asked, "I never knew that you were so friendly to your competitors."

"What ever gave you the impression that I wasn't friendly?" he flirted back. He certainly was feeling the hormones rush through his body at the moment.

A small yet meek giggle escaped the throat of the very attractive boy in front of him. He looked at him, his pure brown eyes speaking volumes, and said, "Actually, I came here looking for the strategy guide. I was just about to head over to Yugi's and check…"

"Don't bother," Otogi intervened, "I bought the last copy. We just ordered two shipments today, though." Since the willpower part of his brain had already left on spaceship to Pluto, he decided to leap on this small opportunity, and suggested, "If you want…you could come up and look at it with me." Both the good and the bad conscience in his mind were crossing their fingers in hopes that the lame attempt at getting to know Bakura better would work. Out of flirtatious Otogi nature, he began twirling locks of his own black hair as he lustfully (and impatiently) awaited a response.

"When do your shipments come in?" Otogi dropped the strands in shock. Had his charm really backfired on him? Perhaps he had overdone it; it wasn't as if he knew enough about Bakura to judge his sexuality. Then again…he could swear that he had sensed something in their conversation. Perhaps he was getting a bit rusty? Perhaps…

"Otogi?"

"Oh, a week from now." He shrugged those negative thoughts aside as if they had never existed, and stated, "But just because I don't ever like seeing a customer leaving empty-handed…" He flashed a devilish smile; "I can reserve a free copy for you if you come back in a week."

"Well…I s'pose that I can do that," Bakura winked, "However…" However? Otogi suddenly became nervous again.

"I do like getting to see what I am buying ahead of time, if given the opportunity." The words rang true throughout Otogi's mind, erasing all traces of doubt. Maybe Bakura was going to be his first 'lab' partner.

The small amount of chatter on the way up consisted of possible zones to fight in that night, and whether or not to play the game again tomorrow. Finally, they had reached their destination, and sat next to each other on the low sofa. Otogi was on Bakura's right.

"Let's take a look here," Otogi said, wasting no time in removing the bag that the strategy guide was in. The sooner they finished browsing, the sooner he could make some sort of move. He randomly flipped the book open to a page that had a map of a lava filled zone.

"Wow, that's an amazingly intricate zone!" Bakura remarked, tracing his slender finger around the outline of the map.

"Look here," Otogi said. He pointed to a drop off on the map that touched the right edge of the page.

"To the Inner Sanctum and Caverns…" Bakura read, "The asterisk says that they purposely omitted the second part of this map so that high level players would have more of a challenge reaching the boss of the dungeon."

"It seems like it would be a fun place to go to someday." Otogi placed his hand on the edge of the page, ready to flip it. He looked up at Bakura who just smiled and nodded, showing that he was done looking at that page. The next page seemed to be the end of the zone maps and the beginning of a race encyclopedia.

The right page had a large picture of a female Dark Elf, dressed as a fighter type. The opposite page featured a male Dark Elf, wearing the equipment of a spellcaster. The page was littered with information about the race; what classes they could be, their starting statistics, which deities they could choose, and what towns they could start in.

"Do you want something to drink?" Otogi suddenly offered, "Pick anything, I probably have it." He stood from the sofa and made his way toward the kitchen.

Bakura blinked for a second, then answered, "Coffee?"

"Brewed, instant, or a can?" Otogi followed up, leaning on the doorframe.

"Umm…can?"

"Regular, Mocha, French Vanilla, Almond, or Irish Cream?" He was proud of his hosting skills.

"You don't have hazelnut?" Damn, of all the things that he had, hazelnut wasn't one of them. As he opened his mouth to disappoint the boy, he noticed that a very wide grin had gradually made its way onto his face. Waving his hand in front of himself playfully, Bakura joked, "I'm just kidding. You really looked disappointed there for a moment. I like vanilla."

"Vanilla it is," Otogi mumbled to himself as he retrieved two cans of said flavor. He noticed that Bakura had removed his denim jacket and placed it next to him. He also noticed the way his wonderful azure sweater clung to every supple curve of his torso. After opening a can and handing it to Bakura, he sat himself back down next to him and glanced at the page that was currently open, secretly stealing looks at the well-dressed boy whenever he could.

"Half-Elves really are neat, aren't they?" Bakura commented.

"I like their look," Otogi said, sipping his beverage, "So many choices too. They really made the game cool for something that wasn't virtual reality."

"Well, they had to do it that way," Bakura stated, "Not everyone can afford something like that."

It was half past seven o'clock. After the first two of the seven hours that Otogi and Bakura had spent together, they had ended up putting the guide down and just talking. They conversed about various classes, their friends, and what they planned on doing with their characters in the game. The coffee table had six empty cans of French Vanilla sitting on top of it.

"So why do you wear make-up, Otogi?" How could someone have asked him that question! Wasn't it obvious? It made him look hot, of course!

"I like it," Otogi replied.

"Anzu says that it makes you look feminine," Bakura informed him.

"Like she should talk…" Otogi scowled, "Her hair is shorter than mine!"

"Are you saying that I look like a girl?"

Otogi's eyelashes fluttered a moment. He answered, "No…though it was girly of you to ask that." He tossed him a flirty glance.

"Well, my hair is longer than hers too…" Bakura remarked, pulling the longest strand of his layered hair straight out from his head. When he reached the ends, he let them fall gracefully back onto his shoulders, and said, "Possibly longer than yours!"

"I don't think so," Otogi replied smugly. He crossed his arms and turned away from the boy next to him, mischievously darting his eyes to his left to see if Bakura would play back.

"Oh really?" the pale boy asked sarcastically. He had spun on his side and draped his right arm over the back of the couch. His other hand was placed arrogantly on his hip, impatiently awaiting a reaction.

"Yes, really." Otogi primped himself and flashed his ponytail with a flick of his wrist, then went back to his smug pout.

"Silly," Bakura let out a loud sigh, "I'm trying to get you to take off that ridiculous headband and let your hair down for once." Ohh…so that's the game he wants to play. Upon request, Otogi willfully pulled out the blue hairband, then pulled the red and black checkered band over his long hair. He placed the accessories on the table next to the empty cans.

"Oh, half-way down your chest, and wavy!" Bakura remarked, "Oh yes, you have definitely got me there." Otogi smiled again, then glanced over at the clock out of force of habit. It suddenly hit him.

"Oh, damn!" he cursed, "I told Yugi and everyone that I would introduce them to you online tonight!"

"Oh, right!"

The two boys leapt off the couch and headed for the door. Though nothing had occurred thus far, Otogi was happy that he had gotten a chance to spend some time with Bakura. He was certain that the boy was attracted to him. He had even alluded to it several times during the day, especially when he had mentioned loving his sleight-of-hand dice tricks before class.

"Um…" the ex-shy-boy said before they opened the door, "Is it possible that I could have a Vanilla for the road?"

"Oh, you're still thirsty?" he asked, "Sure, hang on one second." Before he could dash off into the kitchen, the white-haired boy grasped his wrist and pulled him back.

"I'm surprised that you haven't gotten used to me yet," he whispered, bringing his own body surprisingly close to Otogi. He hadn't expected Bakura to be so bold; he figured that his own outgoing personality had intimidated the boy enough to let his guard down and be himself. Before he could think another thought, their tongues were dancing together, taking in the sweet taste of French Vanilla.

"Mmm…" Otogi moaned, pulling away from the boy. He wondered where he had learned to kiss like that.

"That was rather pleasant," Bakura murmured as he licked his lips.

"Come over tomorrow?" Otogi asked, hoping for a positive response. He exhaled in disappointment when he felt his wrist come free.

Bakura winked back and opened the door, saying, "See you online in a few minutes!" before leaving.

So that is how they got together. Next story will probably skip to Mokuba and Seto, unless I don't feel like doing things chronologically. I really want to make a short chapter that coincides with the shopping trip, revolving around Yami and Honda making silly conversation. Possibly mostly Yami's curiosity with various items that one would find in a pharmacy (picking them up off the shelf, reading the back label, etc.). I'm really not sure! There will definitely be a story about the drinking party.

Let me know what you think!

-Zelia Theb