Rave: ARIGATOU MINNA-SAN! I got WAY over 5 reviews, and that made me so happy! thanks again! (hugs everyone)

Jou: Cos they're afraid of what you'd do to them if they didn't review...

Rave: (glares) Go play with Seto. Anyway, sorry it took so long to update! I went to a college open house this weekend, and I had to get up REALLY early on Saturday, and go to Mass today. Ugh. But anyway, here's the juicy stuff! Hope it's hot enough for ya!

Yuugi: Do we finally get to some action?

Rave: (giggles) A bit. But don't get too carried awa- HEY! Get out of here!

Anzu: I'm protesting unfair treatment! MARY-SUE ABUSE HAS TO STOP!

Rave: I hate Mary-Sues. Just like I hate yaoi-haters. (glares) DIE!

Yami: hide me, aibou! (ducks behind Yuugi)

Anzu: I found you! (squeals)

Seto: (shoots her) Bitch. You don't own anything...

All: HUZZAH!


Chapter Six: Try the Awkward Approach

"I play Mirror Force! Your Orgoth is destroyed"

"No! My Life Points"

"Any last words before you lose again"

Yami drew a card, and smirked. "Thousand Dragon, attack his Life Points directly"

"Ahhh...not again" Otogi sighed. "Good game, Yami."

Yuugi looked up from his sketchpad and shook his head sadly.

"Otogi, that's the third duel you've lost."

"I told you, I'm better at dice. Not Duel Monsters"

"I never knew you were into Duel Monsters, Yami." Yuugi said whilst concentrating on his drawing again.

They were in lunch again, and there were about fifteen minutes left.

"I played it a lot when I was younger, and I still enjoy dueling." Yami said, shuffling the deck again and handing it back to Jonouchi. "Thanks for letting me use your deck."

"It's pretty awesome, isn't it" The blonde grinned. Yami nodded.

"You have a strong theme of warriors and dragons. Maybe if you add a few more trap cards, you could modify it a little more." He suggested. Jou smiled.

"I'm going to the Game Shop after school to buy some more cards. Wanna come with us"

Yami looked down at Yuugi, and said lowly"I can't today. And Yuugi can't either."

Yuugi coughed. He had hoped Yami had forgotten about after school tutoring.

"Nani? Why can't he?"

"Tutoring." Yuugi said tiredly. "Maybe tomorrow I will. Just go without me, Jii-chan won't mind."

"You sure?" Jou asked, leaning on Otogi's shoulder. Otogi seemed to be brooding over his loss to Yami, but recovered and looked up.

"Yami, you should come with us sometime. I'd wanna see you duel Yuugi- he won the Duelist Kingdom tournament, and beat the Battle City tournament."

"Really?" Yami said, looking into Yuugi's eyes. Yuugi flushed crimson.

"Ano, that was a while ago, though." The boy said modestly. Yami smiled at him, remembering his days as a teen back in Egypt.

"That's incredible! I heard about those tournaments overseas, and I wanted to play in them. Of course, I was still in college then, and I didn't have the time." He said, the slightest hint of jealousy edging his voice.

"Yeah he's good. He even beat Kaiba." Jou quipped, shuffling his deck again and going through every card subconsciously.

"Twice." Otogi added.


Before Yuugi knew it, it was the end of the day, and he was glad it was over. The remaining classes- Physics, and Anthropology had left him with an even heavier workload than usual, but since the assembly when he had been talking to Yami, and lunch hour, his heart lifted at the thought of at least being with someone he liked.

Wait- like? Had he thought, "Liked"? Yuugi meant it only as a friend, nothing else. Yes, that was it. Yuugi shook his head to banish the thought as he made his way down the rapidly emptying hallway, heading to the History classroom.

He had just reached the door when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around, expecting Jou to have come back to tease him before finally leaving.

It was Anzu.

"Yuugi…You were online last night, right?" She asked, looking down at the floor absently. He noticed that the end of her skirt was wrinkled; possibly from her nerves getting the best of her.

"Yes…Why?"

"Well…Are you going to help me or not?" she asked softly. Yuugi thought of her plea for him to help her break up Jou and Kaiba, and then of her reaction to his answer. Fearing that Anzu would explode if he told her again, he remained silent for a while. Then the idea came to him: but would he be being too cold? Might as well try it, Yuugi reasoned, rationalizing that since her intentions were wicked, he didn't have a reason to help her.

"What are you talking about?" He questioned, stepping towards the door. Anything to get out of this mess was good, and better if Yami would intervene. But that hope was crushed when he heard, faintly at first, progressively louder music coming from the classroom. There was no way anyone could hear about that noise level.

"Yuugi, I IM'd you last night, and I asked you if you could help me with your friend Jonouchi. You even replied back and said you felt bad about my problem. Remember?" Anzu said shakily in a mixture of fear and uneasiness.

"When was that? Look, I'm sorry, but I have to go somewhere. I think you have me confused with someone else." Yuugi said hurriedly, and before Anzu could say a word, ran down the hall and around a corner.

Catching his breath, the teen peered around the corner. He saw Anzu stand there; dumbfounded look of confusion crossing her face (which, on her, was an expression Yuugi couldn't help but laugh to himself about.). She then turned on her heel, and stormed off down the stairway.

Taking his cue, Yuugi walked briskly up the hall, which was now completely empty, and flung open the door to the classroom. Rock music was being blared from a small stereo near Yami's desk. It's occupant glanced up from his papers, and held up a finger. He reached over, and stopped the music.

"I grade papers better when I have music on." Yami explained apologetically. "Although it's not always to the other teachers' tastes. But I hate the silence after school!"

Yuugi laughed.

"At least you have taste."

"I was never one for popular trends, I just do what I feel like doing." Yami said, putting down his pen and getting up out of the swivel chair.

Yuugi noticed for the first time that Yami was wearing reading glasses. They were wire-rimmed, and smaller than the regular round ones; these were almost half-moon lenses. They made Yami's crimson eyes appear darker and a bit narrower, but they also looked quite good on him.

In fact, Yuugi couldn't take his eyes off of Yami. He had never imagined what his teacher would look like with glasses, and upon seeing him like this, perched on the edge of a desk with his jacket off and just a button-up white shirt on, Yami looked markedly different from his usual self. This other side was more relaxed and more…

Intriguing.

"I know you've been dreading this, but we have to do something or I could lose my job here too soon." Yami said, breaking the silence. Yuugi averted his gaze, aware that he had been caught admiring Yami.

Uh oh. Admiring! What was going on? Had he been seriously thinking about his teacher that way…?

Yuugi had a feeling the next hour or so was going be very interesting.

"Yeah…" the teen said, blushing a little. Dropping his school bag down next to a desk across the row from where Yami was sitting, he sat down low in the chair. Yami got up, and approached the blackboard in the front.

"We can start on page 601 in the book, and we'll go through it together." Yami said, smoothing his shirt out somewhat awkwardly. He waited patiently for his student to take out the book and refer to the index.

Yami noticed the tactile fingers flipping through pages in effort to locate the assigned page. His wrists effortlessly bent and unbent and his arm gracefully moved to go back to an overlooked section. Those shoulders seemed broader now that Yami had the chance to look at them; despite his comparatively small stature, Yuugi was by no means skinny and weak looking. His wrist, Yami noticed, his left in particular, had a few smudges across the palm, perhaps from pencil lead remnants. It seemed like it was frequently used for drawing or crafting of some sort, but Yami couldn't be sure.

"Found it." Yuugi said, his voice a bit brighter than when he had first arrived. Yami broke his concentration on the boy, and nodded.

"Before we go through the chapter and read a bit, we'll go through some questions." He said, still a bit distracted. "You didn't do the homework from last night, did you?" A shake of the head, and Yami sighed. "We'll do it together."

Yuugi blushed at what he had said, and concentrated as hard as he could on the page. He had no idea why that comment had make his cheeks warm- it didn't hold any implications.

Yami crouched down next to the desk, and glanced at the book. "Remember when we took notes in class on the causes of World War Two?"

"I have them with me, if you want them."

"Yes, I want you…" Yami, having no idea of what he had said, regarded Yuugi's wide-eyed expression strangely. "What?"

Yuugi giggled.

"I think we're both a bit tired today." He said, still laughing. Yami nodded, grateful that he hadn't completely scared him off. Yuugi reached down, and retrieved the paper from his bag. When he came back up, his arm brushed Yami's shoulder accidentally.

"I never knew you were an artist." Yami said. Yuugi looked down, and instead of notes on WWII, he had pulled out his drawing of the Kaiba Corp building. Blushing again, he covered the paper with his arms.

"Wrong thing…" He muttered. Yami tugged at the boy's arm.

"It's beautiful." The taller of the two murmured. "Can I see it again?"

"I-It's…not that great," Yuugi said modestly, "It's only a sketch."

He hesitated, not moving his arm so that Yami could see, but he did relax his muscles slightly.

"You're very talented, Yuugi." Yami said softly. "So don't be so modest."

Yuugi leaned back in the chair and again stared at his knees. Yami gently took the drawing off the desk, and looked closer.

Every detail was accented and bold. The top of the tower came to a symmetrical point, with the windows all the way up reflecting the sunlight. The street with its heavy traffic, the people walking by the office building clearly in awe of the structure- it seemed to him that not a single thing was overlooked. The drawing itself could pass for a black and white photo.

Similarly, Yami was is awe of what he held in his hands. He lowered the paper, to see Yuugi now leaning forward with his face a mere two inches away from his. He noticed the teen's eyes with a glimmer of hope for appreciation. The look in Yuugi's eyes seemed to be pleading him to do something; to say a simple phrase that he yearned to hear. Amethyst eyes so full of longing- how could he have so suddenly taken an interest in what Yami had to say?

But the question remained: what was it he wanted?

"This…" Yami stammered, still lost in Yuugi's gaze, "is…"

"Whydo you keep sayingmy artwork is beautiful?" Yuugi asked, a small hint of impatience in his voice.

"Because I know you are."


Rave: AWW! I loved writing this chappie! Especially what Yami said at the end. A warning for Chappie Seven- it's gonna get pretty complicated, so watch out for the explanations of each chapter at the end. If I get requests for clarification, I'll do it. (shrugs) As always, I appreciate feedback, and check out my bio at the bottom (you'll see why when you look)