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 17th february 2004, by Misura
Thanks to the people who reviewed the fifth chapter :
To youko-moon : Yup, Yami's going to be surprised. ~.^ Thank you!
To Leaf Zelindor : Otogi will get his revenge, don't worry. Thank you! ^_^
To Digimagic (and Sarah) : *is glomped and can't type* ^_^; Thank you! Please don't spill the beans on who's got Joey's ball! I want to keep it a surprise for him. :)
To Lethe Seraph : I've mostly based 'my' Otogi on the DDM-episodes, probably fluffed up a bit. So I'm not sure if he's ic, but well, I love writing him like this. Thank you very much! :)
To Kaira-chan : Ah yes, Honda. *scribbles something in her plot-planner* I like writing Otogi and Joey as friends, really. Their characters seem ... compatible. Or maybe I just write them like that. ^^; Thank you very much! ^_^
To A. Hailan : Sorry, no Seto in this chapter. Just Otogi, Yugi, Joey and Yami. ^^; Otogi is, next to Mokuba, my favorite character, most of the time. I think it shows in my writing, making me portray him somewhat ooc, but I'm glad to hear you like him. Thank you! ^_^
To Suppis Tenshi : Yugi is innocence personified. And cuteness. ^^; Joey ... might get a bit worse before he gets better. But he'll cheer up a bit in this chapter too. Thank you very much! (Oooh, plushies!) ^_^
To EnternalDarkFlame : Sorry, my inspiration's limited. Thank you, I did my best! :)
To UnknownDarkMystery : *checks plot-planner* Uhm ... define 'soon'? ^^; Thank you! :)
To Yugi-obsessed : Thank you! :)
To Nekostar 2 : Thank you, I did my best. :)
To Star Light Shadow : Well, considering his popularity, someone *might* write a book about him, ne? Plenty of fanfics already. ^^; Thank you! ^_^
To Koishii No Tenshi : Wouldn't you, if Seto was in your class? ^^; Thank you!
To Johnny-Depp-Luv : Sorry, no Seto in this chapter. Perhaps the next one ... Thank you! :)
To Taz-San : Thank you I did my best ... are you all right again now? ^^;
To Seto-Kaiba's-fan : Excepting the readers, of course. ^^; Thank you!
To Kiawna : You're clairvoyant. ^^; Thanks! :)
To Sleep walking funky chicken (Sarah, Siya, Strings and Pegasus) : ^^; Thank you! :)
To DarkShadowFlame : Ah yes, Michael Crichton. Brilliant at keeping me up all night reading for just *having* to know how it ends. ^^; I'm sorry to inform you you seriously over-estimated my niceness. Yami will remain moping for quite some time. ^^; Thank you very much! ^_^
To DerangedButMagic : Hmm, would he forget the ending? Maybe. ^^; Thank you! :)
To Sugar-Kat : If you read this, be proud for having accomplished the impossible. ~.^ Thanks!
To Romennar : Thank you!
To Kitty Neko : Yup. Hope you'll like it! Thanks. :)
To Carmen5-Nemrac : Glad to hear you liked it. : )
To BlueEyesjammys15 (sorry, I think ff.net cut your review ;_;) : Thank you very much! ^_^
To Nekocin : Well, Otogi has recently made it to the second place in my 'List of YuGiOh characters I love'. So I guess that maybe that seeps through a bit in the way I write him. ^^; And well, he's supposed to be adorable after all. Kaiba can't *keep* Joey's basketball. That'd be theft. But how to give it back without … giving it back? He'll think of something, I'm sure. Or else *I* will. Thank you very much for your comments! ^_^
**********
When Yugi reached the basketball-court, there was no one around anymore, as far as he could see. The only trace that remained of the person he had heard earlier was a basketball, left lying in the middle of the court.
He picked it up curiously, wondering if he ought to leave it here or turn it in as a 'lost object'. In fact, this might even be Joey's beloved ball, although Yugi assumed the blonde had looked for it here already. Still, maybe it had been found by someone who had wanted to play with it first.
Deciding it would be easiest just to ask Joey, Yugi turned around. To find Otogi standing there, staring at him with a wide grin on his face. Joey was nowhere to be seen, which Yugi took to mean that he had -at least temporarily- escaped Otogi's wrath.
"So ... you *do* play too." Otogi looked smug. Or rather, smugger, considering he always wore an expression that stated he knew things before anyone else.
"I just found this. Do you know if it's Joey's?" Yugi held up the ball.
Otogi shook his head. "It's way too expensive. Not school-property either though. Perhaps it's ... nah, that guy probably wouldn't forget something like this."
"Do you think I should bring it back to school?" Yugi asked. He wasn't entirely sure who Otogi had been referring to, but apparently Otogi hadn't wanted to call any names and Yugi wasn't *that* curious anyway.
"I guess." Otogi shrugged. "But not before letting me play with it a bit." His tone of voice made the words more of a plea than a statement.
Yugi bit his lip. "I don't know. What if - "
"Oh, come on, Yug. Just let him fool around a bit. He'll whine at you for the rest of the day if you don't." Joey had appeared on the other end of the court, looking ready to spurt away at Otogi's first wrong move.
"I do not whine!" Otogi whi- protested. Yugi noted he didn't sound too angry anymore, just a little annoyed. "Especially not since you two solemnly promised to come over this afternoon for a bit of game-testing."
"All the more reason to put off going home a bit," Joey chuckled. "Besides, a small game might refresh my mind after all those boring classes."
"You mean you were actually *awake*?" Otogi inquired mockingly. "I thought you were fast asleep during most of them."
Joey glared at him, gesturing for Yugi to throw the ball at him. "I'll let you now just how *awake* I've been all this day. First one with ten points wins?"
"Sounds fine with me," Otogi turned to Yugi. "How about you?"
"I ... " Yugi stammered.
"Don't be a spoil-sport, Yug! We'll go easy on you. And you can have the first shot, since you found the ball." Joey smiled coaxingly. It was practically impossible not to nod agreement.
"All right then." Yugi put down his backpack, placing it carefully next to the exit, where he couldn't possibly forget it. Walking back to where he had been standing before, he stared at the basket, trying to estimate the distance between that and the ball in his hands.
It seemed impossible to throw that far. He didn't stand a chance of scoring. He was too short, just like Yami had said at their first -and only, really- meeting. If you could even call it that.
"Go for it, Yugi! You can do it!" Joey gave him a thumbs-up.
Yugi flushed, feeling his spirits sink even further. It was nice of Joey to be so supportive, but he was sure the blonde's trust was misplaced. He was only going to disappoint Joey, he simply knew it. With a sigh, he refocused on the basket, trying to force it to come closer.
And threw.
*****
Yami sighed, studying the scene that was unfolding on the court with a scowl on his face. He had hoped for Joey to come and find the ball he had 'forgotten' on purpose. The blonde was too honest to keep it, but Yami had hoped the temptation to 'borrow' it until Joey's own had been refound would be too great to resist.
Instead, it had been that small kid who looked a little like himself. Who was too short to ever be good at basketball, too shy to ever speak up for himself and in general too sweet for his own good.
When Otogi and Joey joined him on the court, apparently intending to play a little basket-ball, Yami found himself sticking around to watch. He didn't have anything important to do anyway, and it might be useful to see what would happen to his ball. He had more than one, of course, but Yami still liked to know whether or not he'd have to think up another ploy to get Joey a new ball.
If truth be told, Yami was feeling a bit guilty about not having reminded Joey not to forget his ball as they parted the previous night. He *knew* Joey could be a little forgetful at times. He should have checked. Yet he hadn't and now someone else had taken Joey's precious basket-ball.
The least he could do was offer a replacement. Without making it *look* like that. In the first place, beause Joey'd refuse a 'pity-gift' (Joey's words, not Yami's) from him and in the second, because he had a reputation to keep.
As Joey hollered encouragements at Yugi, Yami rolled his eyes. Typically Joey, to try to convince people to try for the impossible. Yami himself might have made the shot from where Yugi was standing, but Joey probably wouldn't. Yugi was absolutely chanceless.
The boy seemed to know it too, judging from the expression on his face.
Still, his face became determined a few seconds later, his mouth drawing into a thin line when he launched himself at the basket, the ball flying through the air ...
Yami unconsciously held his breath, studying the graceful arc of the ball as it rose and descended again. Spun around on the rim of the basket for a few seconds, before falling through.
*****
Joey was the first to break the silence. ('Predictably', Otogi would mutter later.)
"If *you* aren't a natural talent for basketball, I am a mutt!" Joey beamed at Yugi.
Otogi snickered. "Coming from you, that's not saying much. But I must agree. You're *good*, Yugi."
Yugi opened his mouth to reply, but Joey interrupted him.
" 'Good'? He's way better than merely 'good'. I bet that even Yami wouldn't have managed to score from that distance! You *have* to come to our next practice, Yug! Why didn't you tell us before that you were this great?"
"It was just luck." Yugi blushed, thoroughly embarrassed. "I'm sure I couldn't do it again."
"Let's see." Otogi retrieved the ball, tossing it at Yugi.
"But - " Yugi began, holding the ball out to Joey.
The blonde shook his head. "You scored, so you get to go again." Noticing the nervous look on Yugi's face he added : "If you manage it again, it'd be fantastic. But if you don't, it's no biggie. Just do your best. Stop being so scared of attention."
"Besides, remember that the sooner this game's over, the sooner we can go play-test my game!" Otogi grinned.
"Oooh, like *that*'s going to motivate him!" Joey grumbled. Otogi's face darkened and he took one threatening step in Joey's direction. The blonde took one step forwards, to show he wasn't impressed by Otogi's display of temper.
And Yugi threw the ball, relieved at an opportunity without anyone watching him, unaware of the fact that there was still one pair of eyes that was studying him with rapt attention.
And the ball dropped through the basket with a resounding 'thump'.
~tbc~