Slam dunk
***
Warnings/notes : AU, Yami/Yugi, Seto/Joey, Otogi/Honda and possibly slight Bakura/Ryou, oocness.
Disclaimer : I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.
written at 29th january 2004, by Misura
Thanks to the people who reviewed the second chapter :
To killian : Well, it *is* Seto, you know. He's stubborn. ^^; Hope you'll like the 'more'!
To Hillary : Hmm, it'll probably be another one or two chapters. Thank you! :)
To Star Light Shadow : I'll do my best. Thank you! ^_^
To Carmen5-Nemrac : You said the magical word so ... thank you! :)
To DarkShadowFlame : Sorry, no Yugi in this chapter. Though there *is* a bit of Yami. ^_^; Hope you'll like it! Thank you!
Yami : Nice to have a fan. ^_^
To Suppis Tenshi : More Yami coming up. Yugi's debut will be a while, but I'm working on it. ^^; Thank you very much! ^_^
To Ryasha : Thank you, I'll do my best! :)
To HieiTheLostSoul : Sure looks that way, doesn't it? ~.^ Thank you! :)
To BlueEyesjammys15 : Thank you! ^_^;
To Jackie : Thank you very much for the encouragement! (Dare I ask who/what Nikantropov is? *coughs* ^^; Just curious ... ). I'll do my best to finish this fic ... eventually. ^_^
To Kiawna : Yes, poor Joey! Though at least he gets to glomp Seto. That should make up a bit, ne? ^^; Thank you! :)
To Miami-chan : Say 'please'? ^^;
To DerangedButMagic : Uhm, no, he's just being a shy, dutiful teenager I think. ^^; Thank you! :)
To Koishii No Tenshi : Yami's not a donkey, I promise. Next chapter should explain a few things about why he acts a little ... unsympathetic sometimes I hope. ^^; Thank you! :)
To Silentia : Yugi's talent will remain hidden for a while, mostly because I planned some other stuff first. ^^; Glad you don't mind Otogi designing games in this AU too. Thank you very much! ^_^
To Seto-Kaiba's-fan : Glad you like your competitor! ~.^ Thank you! :)
To Kaira-chan : Well, one might wonder who's stalking whom here. ^^; Glad to hear you like the way I wrote Otogi ; I like writing him like that. ^_^ Thank you!
To duenna : I'll try to update every Monday. Thank you! :)
To s.h.i.r.o.i.k.e.t.s.u.e.k.i : Being evil's going to be one of my unfulfilled ambitions I fear. ^^; Thank you very much! ^_^
To Sansi : Thank you, I'll do my best. :)
To hieiandkuramalover : Honda, Ryou and Bakura are going to be introduced ... at some point. Probably. ^^; Thank you! :) (PS Do I want to know who Karasu is? ^^;)
To Leaf Zelindor : Thank you! :)
To Pikpik246 : Say 'please'? ^^;
To Temptress Nagisa : I'll do my best, thank you! :)
To Romennar : Not much romantic action yet, sorry. These things take time! ^^; Thank you!
To foxfiregurl1002 : Glad you like the way I wrote Yami! : )
To Grimmy : *blushes* Thank you! Slash … well, it's going to be shounen-ai. Does that count? ^_^;
To Sleep Walking Funky Chicken : Yes, poor Otogi, ne? But he'll get something to cheer him up soon! ~.^ Thank you!
To Yugi-obsessed : Thank you!
To EternalDarkFlame : Thank you! ^_^
To Icy Flame : Thank you very much! Though the idea of basketball was Kaira-chan's not mine. ^_^
To Cicatrice : Well, you never know what might happen. Fanfiction.net could decide to go weird on me, for example. But I'll do my best to continue and, eventually, finish! ^_^ Thank you!
To Digimagic : Thank you very much! ^_^
**********
Joey sighed, gnawing on his pen and checking the clock for what had to be the tenth time in half an hour. His book-report was nowhere near finished, but he was bored. He felt like he could fall asleep any moment if he'd force himself to keep writing it.
"I just need a little break, something to make me feel awake again," Joey reasoned with himself. His gaze wandered around the room, lingering on the basketball that was lying in a bag near the door, practically screaming at him to pick it up and go outside for a bit of practice.
"There's plenty of time to do the rest of that stupid book-report when I get back." Joey grinned, closing his books with a snap. He'd probably regret the action later, since he hadn't left any book-mark in them, but right now he didn't care much.
Grabbing the ball and his jacket in passing, he sprinted down the stairs. A quick peek into the living room told him his father was fast asleep on the couch, in front of the TV, so that nicely spared him the trouble of having to explain anything. With luck, his absence wouldn't even be noticed.
Sometimes it bothered him how little attention his father paid to him, yet tonight it came in quite handy. And he was used to it anyway.
Joey whistled softly, walking to the basketball-field near school. He hoped there'd be some other people, though he could amuse himself on his own as well. Still, he liked playing in company better. Basketball was supposed to be a team-sport after all, no matter how a certain tri-colored boy tried to pretend otherwise.
*****
" 'Describe how the different characters in the book interact with each other and show how this interaction reflects the age in which the book has been written, using quotes.' Who the heck comes up with questions like these?" Otogi sighed, listlessly leafing through the book he had picked.
Or rather : the book that had been picked for him by their teacher, Miss Honai, since the book he had wanted to read had been judged to be 'insufficiently educative' for Literature. He was sure she was just picking on him.
All right, so maybe she had been right about his original choice not belonging to the height of classic literature. Still, that didn't mean she had to assign the thickest and most boring book to him instead.
He could have used the time spent on reading through this monstruosity much better. Of course, he hadn't told her that outright, though he *had* protested that he had to train for the upcoming basketball match. She hadn't been impressed with that.
In fact, that objection had appeared to make her even less inclined to change her mind. Perhaps she didn't like sports, Otogi mused sourly. He had to admit he couldn't really picture her on a basketball-field.
"I can't even remember the *names* of the main-characters, let alone the manner of their 'interaction'!" Otogi groaned. "What's that question supposed to mean anyway? They were just talking a whole lot. Does that count as 'interacting'?" If it did, he had the answer to at least the second half of the question. And he couldn't think of any reason why it *wouldn't*.
Maybe it wasn't the way she had *wanted* him to answer, but it wasn't *his* fault the question was so vague, was it? Now, he'd just have to find some names and he'd be done with this report. Perhaps he'd even have some time to work on his game!
Considerably cheered up, Otogi quickly scribbled down some names. He couldn't really recall how important they had been in the story, but at least he'd have something to prove he had completed the assignment as instructed. That ought to be enough to make him pass Literature, if only with a meagre C or D. It wasn't like he cared. Merely passing the course was good enough for Otogi, at least when it came to Literature.
*****
There was only one person playing basketball as Joey arrived, the sound of his dribbling interrupted when he took a shot at the basket, the ball almost soundlessly falling through. For anyone else, Joey would have applauded. That he didn't do so now wasn't because he didn't admire the skill needed for the feat that had just been performed, but rather because he knew the one who had performed it wouldn't appreciate it.
Yami might be cocky and arrogant, but for some reason, he hated to be fawned over. Or perhaps, Joey amended, he merely liked to *pretend* he didn't like all the attention he got. After all, it was Yami's own doing that he was noticed so much. If he'd simply tune down his achievements a bit and stopped being so obsessive over being the best at everything, Yami could have been just another student, as much left alone as he wanted to.
"Are you going to stare at me for the rest of the evening or did you come here to actually *play*?" Yami's cool voice interrupted Joey's thoughts. His ruby eyes were gazing at Joey, challenging him to come over. A ball of much better quality than Joey's was lying in Yami's hands, prompting Joey to drop his bag in the grass next to the field, making a mental note not to forget it later. He had saved his lunch-money for months to be able to afford the thing.
"You wish. Prepare to be crushed by a *real* basketball-star, amateur!" Joey grinned. He knew he wasn't as good as Yami (and probably never would be either) and Yami knew it too, but it was fun to joke around a bit. If Yami had one flaw, it was that he laughed or even smiled so little.
"Says who?" Yami snorted, tossing the ball at him. Joey caught it easily, dribbling a short distance before throwing it back.
"Says me." Joey struck a pose. Yami chuckled and lifted the ball in his hands, seemingly effortlessly sending it through the basket again.
"Big words. What about your book-report? I thought you were going to spend this evening on finishing it. Or rather, knowing you, starting it."
Joey shrugged. "It's halfway done. Unlike *some* people, I can't study for hours in a row and finish my homework for a whole month in one weekend."
"You're never going to let me forget that, are you? Me and my big mouth." Yami sighed. "Listen, Joey, I don't want to lecture you or something, but if you plan your assignments a little in advance, instead of putting them off till the last moment, you'd - "
"If you don't want to lecture me, then don't. I didn't come here to be lectured anyway. I came here to play basketball," Joey interrupted him, slightly annoyed. For a few seconds, he thought Yami was going to finish his little preaching anyway, but then Yami's eyes hardened.
"As you wish."
~tbc?~