Princess Strawberry: *eyes sparkle* Thank you so much, minna-san! I had absolutely NO idea how much you guys like this story! *glomps reviewers* Honestly, I have never achieved 53 reviews in two single chapters! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Yami Strawberry: -___-;; Alright, that's quite enough. Get a hold of yourself, aibou, and start the story. You wouldn't want to scare away the readers, right?
Princess Strawberry: Of course not! But yeah...hang on. I need to thank YamisGal, VegetasGurl, Nicola Meskhenet, chibi-ai, and ShadowYamiQueen for putting me on their "Favourite Authors" list. Arigato! It seems like that everyone wants swimming for the sake of seeing them in swimming suits...*drools* I will have to admit, they do allow you to expand your imagination. ^____~ Gomen for the late update...and now, on with the story!
~*~ "Speaking"
'Thinking'
_stress of word_
/Yugi speaking to Yami telepathically/
//Yami speaking to Yugi telepathicaly//
\Ryou speaking to Bakura telepathically\
\\ Bakura speaking to Ryou telepathically\\
=Malik speaking to Marik telepathically=
==Marik speaking to Malik telepathically==
((Us interrupting you readers for a few seconds))
Feeling Sporty?
Yami sat down on one of the hard seats of the swimming place, his swimming bag being thrown carelessly on the seat beside him, and watched through the glass as children splashed each other, looking happy. He heaved a sigh. He didn't quite forgive his aibou, yet who could resist those adorable puppy dog eyes?
*Flashback*
"Yah..." Yugi yawned. His hand smacked something plushy beside him. "Eh...Oops..." The light half of the Millennium Puzzle sweatdropped as his darker half emerged from the blanket with a scowled face. "Eh...good morning, Yami."
Yami blinked as realization dawned on him. Yugi, his light, his cute little aibou, had smacked him on the face as a morning greeting!
"Aibou..." Yami growled. "Why did you do that for!?"
"That was by accident, Yami! I didn't mean it!" He did his puppy dog face. "Besides, I promised Ryou and the others that we'll meet them at the swimming pool today. Come on, it's only morning...how are you going to last throughout the day with that face of yours?"
Yami blinked. They were going to the pool? He didn't know that...
Yugi took the opportunity of Yami thinking and got out of bed, heading for the closet. He pulled out two small swimming bags, and stuffed a pair of trunks and a towel into each of them. "Hey, Yami! It's eight-thirty now! We have to be there at nine! Let's go!" Yugi bounced out the door and down the stairs, greeting his Grandpa in a high energetic voice.
Yami shook his head and dressed.
*End of Flashback*
A mass of black tinged with magenta blocked Yami's vision. A weight was deposited on his lap as the creature continued to sit there. Yami blinked furiously. Didn't his hikari say he was going to the bathroom? He wasn't gone for more than two minutes and now he's back? He tapped the person gently on the shoulder, but they didn't turn around. The person just giggled and continued to look at the children splashing water at each other in the pool. Yami was confused. His aibou would answer him...right?
//Aibou, why are you sitting on my lap?//
/No, I'm not./ Yugi sounded surprised. /I'm still in the bathroom./
//Really?//
/Yes. Why do you ask?/
//Err...no reason. Just wondering.//
/Really?/
//Yes. It's fine. I'll get rid of it.//
/Alright. I'm calling Ryou afterwards. Now, are you sure about handling this alone?/
//YES.//
/Fine. I'll leave you to it. Don't cause TOO much trouble, though./ Yami sighed mentally. His aibou could be really mother-ish sometimes. He roughly turned the person in front of him around and gasped. This person had bright cerulean blue eyes and shoulder length brown hair. That could only mean one thing...
Yami dropped Téa on the ground and ran screaming like a banshee towards the entrance. Téa, recovering from the unexpected fall, took off after him. That began the great chase.
Yugi walked calmly out of the men's washroom and into a phone booth. He inserted a quarter and quickly dialed Ryou's cell phone.
Hey, Yugi. Don't worry, we're almost there. I had to literally drag Bakura for three blocks before he finally surrendered and decided to walk on his own. Why don't you and Yami go into the pool first? We'll be there shortly. We includes the others as well.
Alright, Ryou. See you in a couple of minutes. Bye.
See ya.
Yugi blinked as a blur of black, crimson, yellow, and blue flashed past him. Followed by a mass of brown, pink, and blue. Not to mention flesh. Hmm...wonder what's that? He gave his head a little shake to clear his vision. It cleared to reveal Yami being chased by Téa.
"Leave me alone, Téa!" Yami yelled as he passed by the front doors for the sixth time.
"NO!" she squealed as she ran after him like a mad fangirl.
"Leave him alone, Téa," Yugi interrupted quietly. They both stopped and turned to look at the person who spoke. Yami recovered first and threw his arms around his aibou's neck as a sign of gratitude. Yugi blushed faintly at the close contact.
//Thank you so much for getting that annoying idiot off my back, aibou!!//
/No problem./ "Anyways, I just called Ryou's cell. He said he'll be here shortly, and told me that we could go into the pool first."
"Anything to get away from this deranged girl." The two hurried into the men's changeroom before Téa could react. And when she did, the door was locked tightly shut and muffled laughter came from it. She whipped around sharply as the joyful clatter of voices walked towards her.
Ryou and the others walked down the hall, each with a bag either slung over their shoulders or half-dragging it along the ground. Some of them still looked drowsy, as though had not enough sleep.
"Hey, wassup, Téa?" Ryou said brightly, obviously at the height of his best spirits.
Téa growled and stomped off to the women's changeroom. Mai shrugged and followed her at a safe distance behind. The others sweatdropped at Téa's behaviour, but since they know that she's like that, they just changed into their swimming attires, chatting excitedly.
Yugi made a neat dive into the deep end of the pool with Yami standing on the deck, looking on in awe. He didn't know that Yugi was such a great swimmer, and had an excellent body that was kept in shape!
Yugi surfaced, his hair sloppy wet and clung on to his face. He impatiently swatted his blonde bangs out of his wide, violet eyes that Yami adored so much and turned to face his darker half. "Come on, Yami. Get into the pool."
Yami just stood there, not moving in his green polka-dot trunks. He looked nervously at his hikari and shook his head.
"Oh, come on! It's not THAT bad! You wouldn't want Bakura, Malik, and Marik to see you looking all scared, would you?" Yugi teased, knowing full well that anything that had to do with those three would bring the confidence, fire, and determination back into his crimson eyes.
Those words touched a nerve in Yami. However, either that he was getting cold from cold air blowing through the vent or just he was stupified by his aibou's antics, he didn't move a single inch. Yugi's gaze softened a bit and continued.
"It's okay to be afraid, Yami. But I'm sure you've swam in the Nile when you were back in Egypt..."
"SWIMMING, SWIMMING, IN A SWIMMING POOL. WHEN DAYS ARE HOT, WHEN DAYS ARE COLD, IN A SWIMMING POOL! BREASTSTROKES, SIDESTROKES, FANCY DIVING TOO! AND DON'T YOU WISH YOU EVER HAD ANYTHING ELSE TO DO!!!" Ryou's energetic voice came from the changeroom and the blurred vision of a silvery-white-headed boy in light blue trunks dunked into water and fought violently across the pool to meet Yugi. Bakura, Malik, Marik, Seto, Joey, Mai, Yami, Duke, and Tristan all sweatdropped at the teen's strange actions. Yugi laughed softly and tugged on Yami's hand. Yami let a smile grace his lips at Yugi's expression and slipped into the rippled pool.
"GAHHH!!!" Bakura screamed as a "tidal wave" washed over him. "This water is possessed!"
Ryou sighed, his spirits dropping a bit. "Bakura, didn't you know how to swim when you were in Egypt? Ever swam in the Nile?" He raised an amused eyebrow at Bakura's hair.
"Yeah, Tomb Robber, didn't you learn how to swim in the Nile? Or did you drown when the water was up to your knees?" Yami sneered.
/Yami, be nice!/
"Shut up, Pharaoh! For your information, you couldn't swim either!"
And Yami shut up at that statement.
/I told you so~!/ Yugi sighed in the real world. "Looks like we'll have to teach them swimming, ne, Ryou?"
Ryou heaved another loud sigh. "I don't know about the teaching part...but if it means having water fun afterwards, go for it!"
Yugi turned to his yami. "Ok, Yami, first lay on your back in the water and relax." Yami reluctantly laid on his back and floated on the calm water. Yugi smiled. "Great, Yami!"
Ryou looked his yami and sighed. \Oh God, here we go.\
\\ Shut up, hikari. Is being my aibou embarrasing? Watch me do better than that Pharaoh no baka!\\ Bakura unconsciously fell backwards with a loud PLOP.
"Ha! Look at me, aibou! I'm floating! I'm floa-AHHHHHHHH!! Help me, aibou! I'm sinking! I'm sinkin-" the rest of Bakura's sentence was silenced by the bubbling of water covering him.
Ryou's eyes widened in horror as his yami clawed at the water, trying to reach the surface. The hikari searched frantically in the water for his beloved yami's arm and tugged with all his might.
"Bakura! Bakura! Are you okay? Did you drink any water!? Oh no! You might get secondary drowing! Please! Someone call the ambulance!" Ryou dragged his unconscious yami out of the pool and onto the dry deck. "Bakura! Answer me!" Tears welled up in Ryou's chocolate brown eyes. "Bakura, don't leave me, please. I need you, don't go, please! WAHHH!!!"
((Me: Oh God, that dialogue sounded so pathetic...-__-;;;))
"When will you shut up and stop being so retarded?" Bakura sat up and smirked at his hikari. Ryou gasped and stared at his yami, eyes sparkling with tears. He hugged Bakura tightly and started sobbing. Bakura frowned. "What's your problem? OK, there there, it's okay." Ryou pulled away from his darker side and sobbed silently, burying his head in the crook of his neck. Bakura smiled and tilted his lighter half's chin up.
((Me: And you'll probably guessed they kissed and yeah...but I want to leave them alone for a while and return to Yugi and Yami. KAWAII!!! ^.^))
Yugi looked at Ryou and Bakura on the deck, making out, and sighed. "I swear, aren't we here to do sports? They could do that very well at home."
"Aibou," Yami grunted from his position. "Can I stand now?"
Yugi whipped around at the sound Yami's voice. He relaxed as Yami was still floating peacefully on the water. "No," he said firmly. "Turn around on your stomach and hold your breath. See how long you can last."
"I feel like a dog," he muttered before he flipped over on to his front obediently. Almost instantly he was flipped back to his original position.
"Oh?" Yugi asked 'innocently'. "Then am I the master? Since I'm the one who solved the Millennium Puzzle and freed you from darkness and bonded with you..." The supposedly innocently teen grinned mischieviously at Yami's shocked face.
"Wh-at?" Yami spluttered, water dripping into his mouth. In an attempt to push it all back out, he coughed violently. "Did I hear correctly? My sweet little aibou saying this stuff while looking all sweet and stuff?"
Yugi's grin grew bigger. "You heard right, Yami! Now, back to holding your breath before I have to shove it in there!"
"That just sounded SO wrong!" Yami growled and dunked his head into the pool. Deciding to play a trick on his hikari, he moved off a bit.
Thirty seconds passed and Yami still haven't surfaced for air. Yugi began to worry. Normally after fifteen seconds people pop out of the water and would be gasping for breath right now.
"Yami? Yami! Where are you!?"
~ To be Continued ~
Authoress' Notes:
Princess Strawberry: I know I'm cruel. Not updating as fast as you guys hoped, leaving off a cliffhanger (even though you know that Yami's okay anyways), and a short chapter at that. But hey, I had to leave it SOMEWHERE!
Yami Strawberry: Make up all the excuses you want, it's not going to work.
Princess Strawberry: T__T You're SO supportive. -___- Anyways, look for an update in "Ski Trip" after this...I'm almost done. Just a couple more pages to go...heehee...
Yugi: Now what happened to your history textbook?
Yami: Yeah, and your notes?
Princess Strawberry: That reminds me. I have my music history exam on May 9th, so I'll be cramming in for that. Don't expect TOO too much updates...but check my bio! I have some more ideas up, just don't steal them! Or else you'll have to answer to my Frying Pan of Doom!
Yami Strawberry: And my Flamethrower!
Yugi: And my all powerful CHIBI EYES!!
Yami: *sweatdrops* Hey, don't look at me! I won't hurt you...maybe except to send you to the Shadow Realm. *winks* Read and Review, peoples! *blows kisses*