A/N:…I have nothing to say, except the traditional I don't own not Ryou/Téa not Yaio yadda yadda…
Review Response:
Willowwind: Note I haven't wrote the second part of your name. That is because I can't spell at all, my stories are only legible if they are typed and spell checked… Both 'legible' and 'traditional' are spelt wrong right now. In short, my spelling sucks, as you've undoubtedly noticed from my reviews… Anyhoo, thanks for pointing it out… I would change it, but I'd probably just spell it wrong again. Thank you for reviewing, and I hope you enjoy the rest! (Oh, and as for the Matrix line… that came around when one of my friends, who hated and didn't understand the Matrix was taking the mick out of me. We threatened to tie her to a chair and make her watch all three in a row. For a while after that, whenever someone was confused, we said that they'd looked like they'd watched all three in a row… I haven't said it in ages, thinking about it… Oh well. Guess that part was written around that time…)
Chapter Three: Falling on a Floor Tile
"There she is."
"Duke, I don't know why you're making such a big deal of this. I-"
"Shh! Remember, you're not going to impress her if she hears you talking about her!"
"Duke! I DON'T WANT TO IMPRESS HER!" Duke blinked, surprised that Ryou was shouting. Then he regained his composure.
"Well, I guess she's pretty impressed all ready…"
"Duke. Listen. I do not like Téa in that way. I just need to figure out how to tell her…"
"Shh!"
Téa was nearly upon them. Ryou turned and quickly began fiddling with his locker. Téa noticed, but smiled gently at him, trying to let him know that he shouldn't be embarrassed to show his feelings.
Téa was smiling at him! Ryou felt his insides lurch. He liked Téa- of course he did, she was a friend; but why did girls have to make things so complicated?
From the corner of his eye, he saw Téa stumbling forward, and instinctively grabbed her, supporting her till she regained her balance. Then he let go.
"You okay, Téa?" He asked, trying to ignore Duke smirking at him.
"Fine, thanks." Téa replied, gritting her teeth. Arrgh! Stuff like that always happened! It was just such a cliché romance moment! Falling against him, and him holding her up… Téa shook her head, trying to dislodge the thoughts.
"Téa…?"
"Gotta get to class!" She ran off before Ryou could say anything else and embarrass them both more.
When she had left, Ryou rounded furiously on Duke.
"What!" Duke yelled, withering under the accusing glare. The only time he'd seen Ryou so angry was… Well, never when he wasn't possessed, actually. "I didn't do it!" Ryou deflated as Duke stamped the offending lose tile back into place. Ryou turned and headed towards the Science labs. Unfortunately for him, Duke also had that class.
"Although, I couldn't have planned that any better…"
"Please, Duke…" Ryou protested weakly. "Not now…"
"I mean," Duke continued, knowing it was getting to him "That was just too perfect. She's gonna fall, and you're there to catch her in your arms…"
"Duke."
"And you say you don't like her." You could almost hear Ryou's patience snapping. He stopped. Grinning at the idea of what Ryou could actually do him, Duke stopped to.
"Duke." Ryourepeated calmly, as though he were a conductor announcing that the train was delayed. "If you do not be quiet I shall give Spirit of the Ring leave to do with you what he will."
Duke coughed nervously "But…"
"And," Ryou continued "He will not hesitate to do to you what I could or would not."
Duke nodded "Understood." You didn't mess with an ancient spirit. "You have…errm…got it… under control, now haven't you?" Ryou gave a decidedly evil grin. Duke swallowed. He looked scarily like a vampire.
"I wouldn't say that…" He said slowly. Suddenly, Ryou started walking again; shaking his head.
"So, are you coming or not?" He asked cheerfully, as though going to a carnival rather than double Science.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Don't give me that. Spill."
"Why should I tell you?"
"…"
"No smart comeback? You're losing your touch."
"To the contrary, it's fine. You know…"
"What?"
"Some people say that verbal insults are worse than physical pain."
"Your point?"
"That they are, of course, wrong- as you will discover if you don't tell me."
"That's off a TV program, isn't it?"
"Yep, more or less. Blackadder. So, tell me."
"You're so insensitive. Threatening me. I could have had a damaged childhood."
"Duh. We all know you have 'Daddy issues'. Now get to the point before I die of boredom."
"It's just that I don't understand something…"
"And you're admitting it! Blimey, it must be bad…"
"Are you going to let me talk?"
"Sorry."
"I thought you wanted to 'Inspire' Wheeler-not that there's much to inspire-now you're trying to set Bakura and Téa up. I don't see how it's going to work…and yet…"
"And yet what? Didn't we already go through this? If Ryou and Téa end up together, I'm going to be a very popular muse with my bosses… Or, they won't follow up on their threat at least… I do not want to be fired. Again. It gets so boring… "
"Do I look like I care?"
"You don't care for anything."
"Ouch."
"It's true…"
"…Admittedly. Anyway, the point is, I thought you wanted to inspire him, not play matchmaker!"
"…"
"Hello? Today?"
"Well, Seto, I did warn you…"
"About what?"
"About me making it up as I go along."
"Oh great."
"Yup. Who knows what'll happen next?"
"…You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"Yup."
"…Can I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"You mentioned you're about to lose your job… What did you do?"
"So you believe in my work now?"
"You're avoiding the question."
"So are you!"
"Just give me a straight answer for once, would you?"
"I'll answer if you do."
"Deal."
"Of course, before I answer, there's one more question to be asked…"
"What?"
"Do you really want to know?"
-
"Ryou?" Mai scrutinised Téa carefully "Are you sure?"
Téa nodded miserably.
"But this is great!" Téa stared at her as though she was mad.
"Are you" She managed to stammer eventually "Insane?" Mai laughed.
"Think about it." She said, growing serious. "You could do a lot, lot worse then Ryou Bakura."
"I don't want to do 'it' at all." Téa whined. Then she stopped, realising what she just said. She joined Mai in the laughter.
"Okay, that came out wrong!" She spluttered. "The thing is, Mai, I don't want a boyfriend! Especially not one of my best friends!"
"Okay, calm down…" Mai said soothingly "But seriously, hon. You should consider it. Ryou's a great guy. He'd make a great boyfriend."
"For someone else." Téa said firmly. "I am not going out with Ryou!"
"Sure? You two would be so cute together."
"Oh, don't start." Téa groaned. "Especially not after today…"
"What happened?" Mai asked sympathetically.
"It's a looooong story."
"Well, in that case…" Mai's eyes twinkled "I had better order us another coffee, hadn't I?"
By the time the waiter returned with their drinks, Téa had related how she was trying to act normal.
"And then…" Mai prompted. Reluctantly at first, Téa started to tell her about falling over, and it came pouring out. Except what she had been thinking at the time…She was not telling Mai that.
"…And then," She concluded forlornly "I had to put up with Duke smirking at me all day and try to ignore Ryou!" She buried her head in her arms. "Why do guys have to make things so complicated!" She wailed.
"That's what guys do." Mai said. "Listen, Téa, don't worry. You've just got to let him down gently and he'll be over this silly crush like that." She clicked her fingers.
"Really?" Téa asked hopefully "Do you think so, Mai?" She nodded encouragingly.
"Of course. Then things will go back to normal." She stood up, and started to go toward the counter to pay. "Don't you worry about it, Téa. Leave everything to me."
"Why doesn't that make me feel any better?" Téa wondered quietly.
Chapter end-
A/N: Another short chapter… opps. Once we get past the original ones I wrote, which is maybe another chapter, they should get a little longer. Sorry again! Still, I like this chapter. Just to clear something up… the reason Azreal needed to get into the school was to vandalise the floor in the hope that Téa would…do what she did. Azreal's a muse… she knows what she's doing… sorta. I remember when I first had the idea for the tripping and falling thing thinking how cliché it was… Then I thought, well, why not? If you're trying to set people up, you would go for the clichés first… But now, looking at what I've got stored… Chapter four will be like chapter two… short and kinda pointless. But it's still one of my favourites; I just like some of the lines. Oh, and as this is a PG fic I should probably tell you all not to go around pulling up floor tiles as it's dangerous and someone could be hurt blah blah blah please don't sue me blah blah blah… How many ellipsis's am I gonna use already!
Next Time: Mai and the others begin to plot, Azreal introduces herself, and Seto gets advice on taking a chill pill! Join me on Saturday for another filler, but hopefully in Five we'll really get the ball rolling!
Sneak Preview:
"You did WHAT!"
"I think I know someone that needs to take a chill pill…"
"Oh, for goodness sake…"
"What's the problem? I only told them what was going on…"
"Yes, and shot my reputation to pieces at the same time!"
"Ah, c'mon Seto… maybe it's not such a bad thing…"
"How so?"
"Well, it'll show that you actually HAVE a soft, sensitive side…"
"Let me guess. You 'forgot' the blackmail part, didn't you?"
"Might get you a girlfriend Seto-chan…" She had never bothered with name suffixes before. Now she was doing it to tease him, despite her frequent claims that she didn't understand them.
"…"
"Seto?" Had she overstepped the mark?
"Out." Yup.
"I'm…Sorry?"
"Get out. NOW."
"Fine. Sheesh."
See ya Saturday! I hope… And now, to the cess-pit. That is, school.
A/N: Just noticed that is screwing up my formatting. There was clearer breaks between sections, with hypons and everything, but seems to reject them. Sorry if it's harder to read, but please don't hurt me! Eep!
