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 24th february 2004, by Misura
Thanks to the people who reviewed the sixth chapter :
To Leaf Zelindor : Yup, but it's all in good fun. Thank you for making my Yugi-muse blush! ^_^
To Kaira-chan : I think you're the first to say that about Yami (but hopefully not the last). Thank you very much! ^_^
To Sleep Walking Funky Chicken (Sarah, Siya, Strings and Pegasus) : ^_^; I'm glad to hear you liked the chapter. My Yugi-muse thanks you for your ardent support.
To Suppis Tenshi : A *Mokuba*-plushie! You are too kind! *beams and huggles plushie, ignoring the deathglare from her Seto-muse* Poor Yami was quite surprised indeed. But he'll get over it, I hope. Thank you! ^_^
To twinklefaerie, Koishii no Tenshi and Macduff's Mistress : Thank you, I hope you'll enjoy this new chapter as well. : )
To Ril : Thank you for cheering! : )
To Seto-Kaiba's-Fan : Great? Hm, I hope you won't be too disappointed then. Thank you! : )
To Anime-Ali : *glomps the Otogi-plushie* Now I just need a Honda one … *coughs* Thank you! ^_^
To Pikpik246 : Only took me six chapters, ne? ^^; Thank you! : )
To Sugar Kat : Saa, don't scare my muses, please! They are doing their best. Thank you! ^_^
To Yugi-obsessed, EternalDarkFlame and Strega : Thanks for cheering for Yugi. And for your encouraging reviews as well. ^_^
To lostlover1 : Thank you very much. ^_^
Seto : I am to be pitied indeed. But what can I say, me and the mutt … we're destined to come together. At least in the mind of Misura … -_-;
Otogi : What about me? Aren't I cute too? ;_;
To Yami's Girl : Sorry, this fic is an AU with oocness. I did warn you. Thank you for the encouraging remarks! : )
To BlueEyesjammys15 : Thank you, I did my best.
To UnknownDarkMystery : At the end of this chapter, there's a hint at Ryou's arrival. Bakura will only pop up *after* Ryou's actual arrival, so he'll be absent for a little while longer, sorry. Thank you! : )
To Kiawna : Uhm, sorry if this chapter disappoints. Thank you. : )
To Star Light Shadow : Believe me, you're not the only one. *I* want that too. ^^; Ransom? That's an … interesting idea. Thank you! ^_^
To DerangedButMagic and Kitty Neko : Thank you, I did my best. ^_^
To DarkShadowFlame : -_- Thank you very much for those mental images …
Rare Hunter : *moves towards Joey*
Seto : *jumps out of the shadows and practices his karate-moves, as seen in Duelist Kingdom*
Joey : o.O;
… and for the kind praise of the chapter. ^_^
To Nekocin : I hope your wish will be granted! ^_^ Thank you!
To Anonymous : *blushes* Thank you! ^_^
To Icy Flame : 'Play together'? *turns red and giggles* Thank you for *that* mental image. Sorry for not being able to give you a Joey-muse. Mine just popped up one day. ^_^;
**********
Joey whistled a cheerful tune as he walked home, his hands shoved in the pockets of his jacket. He hadn't intended to return home this late, but Yugi's and Otogi's enthusiasm had been catching, and before he knew it, they had agreed to order a pizza for dinner, to be able to keep playing.
Besides, it wasn't as if there was anyone waiting for him. Otogi had offered him the use of his cell-phone to call, which Joey had accepted. He didn't want Otogi or Yugi to get suspicious after all. So he had withdrawn to make the call, waited two minutes and reappeared with a big grin to report it was okay. Which it was, really.
Yugi was almost as crazy about games as Otogi, though he hadn't yet designed any of his own. And now it looked like he also had a talent for basket-ball ...
Joey smiled. Today had been a pretty good day. If only he hadn't lost his ball, it would have been perfect. But, alas, it looked like the person who'd found it hadn't been fair or virtuous enough to turn it in with any of the teachers.
With a sigh, he climbed the stairs to his apartment. Quietly walking inside, he headed for his own room, not really feeling like getting into some shouting-match with his father about him not being home earlier. Odds were, his absence hadn't even been noticed, but Joey preferred not to take any chances.
"Joey? That you?"
Cursing softly, Joey turned. In theory, he *could* pretend he hadn't heard his father. That would be acting as if he was afraid of the man though, and that wasn't the case.
"Yeah. I was at Otogi's. I already ate there. Sorry if you waited up for me." That last was very unlikely, Joey knew. It was one of the reasons why he hadn't felt too guilty about not calling.
He sauntered into the living-room, unsurprised to see his father nestled in front of the TV, an empty bag of chips and an empty beercan informing him what dinner had consisted of this evening.
"Never mind, never mind. Boys wanna have fun too, eh?" His father grinned broadly. Joey answered the grin cautiously. It was nice to see his father in such a good mood, but he had no idea what had brought it on. "Someone dropped off something for you."
His father pointed at a famliar bag, lying in a corner. Joey sprinted over to it, opening it to check its contents. "Who? And did they tell you where they'd find it?" The bag didn't have any adress or name on it, which meant the finder had to have known it was Joey's. Had to have known where Joey lived too. There weren't too many people who knew that last bit of information.
"He didn't give me any name," his father shrugged. "Just handed over the bag, saying it was yours and that you'd probably want it back. He seemed in a bit of a hurry."
"What did he look like?" Joey asked curiously. Otogi and Yugi were out, since they had been with him all afternoon, but hadn't said a thing about having found the bag. Anzu was out too, since she was a girl, and his father had said 'he' when he described the finder, not 'she'. Yami then?
"Uhm, pretty tall." His father frowned. "Brown hair and blue eyes. He also wore a trenchcoat, a pretty expensive one at that. Is that any help?"
Joey stared at him, his mouth hanging open in a silent 'oh'. *Kaiba* had returned his ball?
"You know him? One of your friends from school perhaps? He seemed nice enough. A little stiff, but not too bad." His father studied his face, searching for some sort of clue.
Joey shut his mouth, shaking his head. "Yes, he's just someone I know from school. I'll thank him tomorrow."
" 'Just someone'?" His father stared at him slyly. "It looked to me like he wasn't 'just someone'. I thought for a moment he was going to ask me not to tell you anything about him. He got this really weird expression on his face, like he wanted to be anywhere else but here. And then he opened his mouth and I was all ready to reassure him that you weren't going to beat him up or anything for bringing that bag back. But he just left, without another word. That was kind of strange."
"Oh, he definitely *is* a bit strange," Joey mumbled absent-mindedly.
"Well, there's nothing *wrong* with that. That other friend of yours, Otogi, sounds like a bit of a nutcase too. Why don't you invite him over some time?" his father beamed at him.
"Uhm ... I'll think about it. He's rather busy," Joey replied evasively. Rising, he picked up the bag, to put it back into the safety of his room.
*****
The distance was the same, the quality of the ball was the same. Their height too was practically the same. So rationally, Yami should be able to do what Yugi had done.
It didn't matter that it was evening. That just meant there was no sunlight to blind him. It was an advantage, rather than a hindrance.
Yami stared at the basket. It seemed far away. Too far away. He wondered if Yugi had felt like this too.
But Yugi had, in the end, managed the shot. At his first try, possibly even his very first time to play basketball in a long time, if he was to believe Joey and Anzu. For it was impossible that Yugi had never played before at all. *No one* could be so good without any experience to draw on.
Not even a 'natural talent'.
Yami raised his hands, lowered them again. The ball seemed too heavy.
Scowling, he lifted it again. This was downright ridiculous! Here he was, generally acknowledged as the best player in the whole school by far, getting sweaty hands over a simple shot. No one who was yelling at him, no one who was trying to knee him while the referee was looking the other way, no one who was jumping at him ... it should have been a piece of cake.
He threw. He could do anything Yugi could. No, wait, he could do *more* than Yugi could. Yugi had just had a bit of beginner's luck, that was all.
His gaze was glued to the ball as it hit the rebound, spinning on the rim of the basket ... dropped off without falling through.
He'd missed. Again.
*****
"Yugi? Is something bothering you?" Yugi looked up, to find his grandfather eyeing him worriedly. He shook his head with a faint smile.
"No, I'm fine, really. Sorry for not paying attention. I guess I'm more tired than I thought."
His grandfather smiled back fondly. "Well, I suppose it's been rather busy for you these past few weeks. And I'm sure an old man's babbling's not helping you to keep awake either is it? Though perhaps this once the subject might be of some interest to you."
Yugi blushed crimson. "You're not boring me at all, grandfather! Never!" he protested quickly. "I love hearing your stories about Egypt and those other faraway countries. But especially Egypt. That's where Mom and Dad are, aren't they?"
His grandfather nodded solemnly. "I'm sure they must be missing you a lot, Yugi."
"I miss them too," Yugi sighed. He felt a bit guilty actually. When was the last time he'd thought about his parents? Most of his time seemed to be spent thinking on games and puzzles, in particular Otogi's game and the puzzle of Joey and Kaiba's 'no-relationship'. And now basketball had been added to that list as well.
"But not all day long," his grandfather added softly, as if reading his mind. "That's okay, Yugi. They wouldn't want you to either. They'd want you to have fun and be happy. Maybe even find a girlfriend? No? You seemed pretty taken with Anzu." He chuckled at Yugi's wide-eyed expression.
"Anzu is a good friend. Just like Joey and Otogi," Yugi stammered.
"Oh well, I can always hope, ne?" His grandfather winked.
~tbc~
A/N : Since I won't be on-line during Easter, the next chapter will probably take two weeks to get posted. Sorry.