Mokuba sighed and looked back down at his watch for what felt like the hundredth time since school let out. He'd been standing against the wall in front of school almost as soon as the bell had rang... and it had been twenty minutes. That was a long time when all he could hear in his head was "it's a date," like an incessant loop, teasing him... not to mention he was impatient to get along with his plan before he lost his nerve. He'd been taught how to keep his cool from the best, but he hadn't exactly been schooled in the ways of love and war. He hadn't wanted to ask Anzu; he could only handle asking for advice so many times before he started feeling ridiculous.
Whistling to pass time, resisting the urge to pace, counting the seconds... It wasn't keeping Mokuba calm. Luckily, a little beat-up white car pulled in front of him – peeking into the open passenger window revealed it to be Yuugi's car.
"Sorry!" Yuugi said as Mokuba entered the car and tossed his bag in the backseat. "I spaced the time."
"Busy, eh?" Mokuba teased, smiling and buckling up. "Well, it's okay, but another twenty minutes and I might have given up on you."
Yuugi laughed and took off; instinctively Mokuba clutched his seat – did all twenty year olds drive like raging psychos? Was it that important to get somewhere? "Who could abandon you?" Yuugi teased, letting go of the wheel enough to nudge Mokuba in the side with his elbow. Despite his first instinct to shout, 'Keep your hands on the wheel!', Mokuba felt his heart skip, and he smiled. It was the closest to flirty that he had ever seen Yuugi act, which said a lot in a good way, and a bad way. "So, is there some sort of dress code I should be aware of?"
"Nope, just be dressed."
"Damn it, and I planning on showing up in my birthday suit," Yuugi teased again, making a sharp turn towards the mall. Mokuba joined his laughter, grip on the seat tightening. Still, that was definitely flirting.
Yuugi was flirting with him, and if he was flirting, then he probably remembered the deal... but even if he didn't, flirting meant that Mokuba at least still had an opportunity. That made Mokuba feel much better; Friday wouldn't have to be so frightening after all.
They exchanged random banter along the way, but Mokuba was spending more time thinking about what he was going to show Yuugi when they arrived at the mall. Or what he hoped to show Yuugi; it wasn't like it was something he had seen himself. But if it all worked out...
"Hey! Did you hear me?"
Mokuba looked out the window – the car was parked between a truck and a purple convertible. "Oh!" He scurried out of the car, taking a second to make sure his wallet was in his pocket. "Sorry; I guess it's my turn to space." Yuugi laughed again – he was obviously in a good mood. Regardless, that was enough spacing for Mokuba; there was nothing sexy about zoning out.
For some reason being there in the parking lot was enthusing, and Mokuba wasted no time in making his way to the mall itself – he challenged Yuugi to a race just so he could have a good excuse to run into the building – and even if Yuugi was just a little shorter than Mokuba, he was also just a little faster. It didn't matter who won, though, because Mokuba was quickly able to make his way into the first Yuugi-ish clothing shop that he saw. The interior was dim, but not necessarily dark, and there were clothes on racks and the walls – it all just oozed of the exact fashion Mokuba was looking for.
"You think this'll be a good place?" he asked, looking over at Yuugi... only to discover that his companion was already inside the store, scouting a rack of pants.
"I've been here; it's an awesome place," Yuugi said.
Mokuba grinned and joined Yuugi at the rack, looking around for some pants that didn't look like they'd cut off circulation. At least there appeared to be some non-leather clothes in there too. "Good to hear; I've never been in a place like this before." He looked at a pair of pants – they were leather, which he wasn't too thrilled about, but they looked nice, and they were his size. "It doesn't look very comfortable," he admitted, internally adding, but it looks great on you. Yuugi's clothes had been one of the first things that caught Mokuba's attention, even at eleven. At first he had just been surprised by his style of dress, and after a while, he had confusedly liked it.
"It's not as bad as it looks."
"I'm sure." Mokuba winked and left the rack, finding some shirts to look through. There was one that caught his attention almost instantly; it was a silvery white, and it had a matte sort of shimmer to it. It looked good on the hanger, and it wasn't so flashy that Mokuba felt ridiculous... He grabbed it and turned to Yuugi, who was still ardently looking at pants. "Come on, I want your opinion on this." He held up the clothes and headed back towards the dressing room, locking himself in before Yuugi caught up.
Okay, so he was nervous; he'd never purposely dressed up for attention, and he'd never worn anything quite like what he was going to try on... He had no assurance that it would look right on him, and he'd feel like a complete ass if it didn't work out after he had taken such care to bring Yuugi along. "No guts, no glory," he grumbled to himself, stripping out of his uniform and putting on the pants. They were snugger than what he was used to, but Yuugi hadn't been lying; they weren't as bad as they looked either. Next came the shirt; he left the top two buttons undone, more out of laziness than for any aesthetic reason. He stared at himself in the mirror, looking at his reflection. Despite all his worries, he looked a lot better than he had hoped, and he didn't look as over the top as he had been worried about either. In fact, he'd go so far to say he looked good; he'd never noticed how much he'd grown. He didn't look at all twelve anymore; he was leaner than he had realized, and taller – he was sort of starting to resemble his brother more.
And it had taken a pair of leather pants to get him to notice.
"Let's see already," Yuugi said impatiently. Mokuba took a deep breath and opened the dressing room door, standing there and feeling like a display. Yuugi whistled low, looking over the outfit from head to feet; Mokuba had to try his damnedest not to squirm under the scrutiny.
"Well?"
Yuugi looked up at him, flashing him a lop-sided grin. "You've got good taste, but..." He stepped forward, messing up Mokuba's hair a little; the teen felt the nerves up his spine tingle as Yuugi's hands brushed his shoulders. "It looked a little too neat."
"I fix it for school," Mokuba said, nodding. "So it looks good?"
"Yeah. You're going all out for your fifteenth birthday; you'd think it was a big milestone." Yuugi laughed, wrapping an arm around Mokuba's shoulders, and turning them towards the mirror. If he hadn't promised to wait until he was fifteen, Mokuba would've tried to make a move then and there. As it stood, he just blushed and grinned proudly, examining the picture he and Yuugi made in the mirror. Come to look at it, Yuugi was taller too – weird, the things he noticed when he had to look. "I can't wait until your eighteenth birthday – if this is the celebration just for fifteen..."
Just for... Damn it! "Heh, yeah," Mokuba answered, laughing just a little nervously. "I – "
"Hey, Yuugi, Mokuba!"
Mokuba looked over to see Jounouchi coming towards them, smiling. Almost immediately Yuugi's arm fell from around Mokuba and he went to meet Jounouchi, wrapping him in a half-hug. "Where've you been?" the shorter male asked, lingering for a second before letting Jounouchi go. Mokuba felt that stupid pit in his stomach again; it was almost as upsetting as the fact that he wasn't happy to see Jounouchi. "I haven't seen you for a couple days."
Jounouchi answered, "You know, here, there – we'll make up for it tonight. So, Mokuba, is this for Friday?" Mokuba nodded, and Jounouchi whistled much like Yuugi had. "Well chosen; looks like you've been taking advice from the best." Jounouchi winked, and Mokuba smiled, turning to go back in the dressing room.
It looked like Jounouchi knew all about who was the best. "Thanks." Mokuba had to leave them for a second – little things bugged him, like Jounouchi's comment about making up for not being around – that seemed implicative enough by itself, even without that lingering little hug... And the fact that Yuugi had been sort of hugging him when Jounouchi showed up... He was jealous.
Positive thinking, Mokuba – positive thinking...
Just as he exited the dressing room, Yuugi caught him. "Hey, are you hungry? If you're done here, we can go order some food at the food court for you and meet you there."
We. As in, all three of them. Together. Mokuba forced a little smile and shifted the clothes in his hands. "Sounds great; I'm gonna buy this."
"Alright," Jounouchi cheered. "Anything you want?"
Mokuba shook his head, heading for the cashier. "Anything. Thanks."
"Not a problem." His two elders went to the exit, and Mokuba waited in line, scowling to himself.
Dinner hadn't been something he expected, and wasn't something he was sure he could handle... He looked over towards the exit, and was greeted with the sight of Jounouchi leaning down and whispering something to Yuugi as they walked out. Just when Mokuba was pretty damn sure that he couldn't feel any worse, the blond swatted Yuugi's backside. That was when Mokuba turned back to the line so fast that his hair nearly caught him in the face. In the span of ten minutes he'd managed to go from excitedly thinking that Yuugi remembered to being sure once and for all that he had forgotten – and not just forgotten, but hooked up with Jounouchi in the mean time.
No amount of positive thinking was going to fix that.
Mokuba bought his clothes, meandering towards the food court. If it was like he suspected, then he'd just have to be a bigger man and accept defeat with a smile...
Somehow.
notes
Again, thank you to Elsalhir for beta'ing! She roxx0rz!
I like this chapter more than the rest; the next two I'm rather fond of two... that it takes me four chapters to get to a point where I kinda like it, I think might be odd, but that is o-kay. XD Anyway... yeah, that's all.