A/N: And so the editing continues! -soldiers valiantly forward-
Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh, I will probably never own Yugioh along with its completely sexy collection of hot bishies...but thats OKAY.
Chapter 2: The Art of Escorting
Part I
"Seto Kaiba will show you around the school."
Yami felt himself stiffen as a slight amount of blood drained from the visage of his face. Seto Kaiba? Of all the people present within the classroom, his arch-rival was the one that had to be picked? Turning his head towards the crowd of students seated before, Yami sent a brief glance towards Seto. To his surprise, the young CEO seemed to be at perfect ease; an exemplary picture of flawless simplicity as he rested his chin elegantly against his fingers. The brunet appeared to be cool and utterly tranquil; the same charisma identically present with in the startling blueness of his highly defined eyes. Though a splash of…amusement was cunningly displayed within the azure gaze.
Yami frowned, slightly ticked off. What Kaiba found so incredibly amusing about this little turn of events was lost to him. I certainly don't find anything so interesting about this, the former Pharaoh thought furiously.
Their relationship, if defined in terms of vocabulary, was a bit...problematic. To be blunt, it was downright complicated. Yes it was true that they were fierce rivals, each one pushing the other to his outermost limits of talent and ultimate skill. Seto Kaiba was indeed his most worthy opponent, that the former Pharaoh had to admit with a grudging sense of respect and acceptance. Adversary, challenger, counterpart...any of those words would have defined what exactly the blue-eyed duelist was to him.
Yet Yami had always felt that their rivalry went beyond the ties of a contender. He had always hoped that the cold business man would perhaps consider them to be more than that. Friendship possibly? Extending his hand towards the hardened brunet was an action he had committed numerous times, yet each occasion had been met with either a slight sneer or a smooth biting reply.
At times Yami was almost ready to give up on his stubborn rival. Anzu's exasperating comment on Jounouchi and Honda's scuffles from earlier flashed through his mind.
"Honestly! The immaturity of those two! You'd think enduring 3 years of high school would teach them a thing or two, but nooo! They haven't changed a bit."
And it seems that 3 years of dueling, fighting side by side as partners had taught Seto Kaiba almost nothing.
But Yami knew that there was an actual human being behind that barrier of solid ice. True, he could unbelievably sarcastic and cynical at times, drawling voice full of insults and short of praise. Yet there were those occasions, those unbelievably rare moments when his eyes would soften and Yami would be absolutely certain that emotion was capable of existence. He had seen it. A glimpse of passion, affection, regret and…
It was after the duel against Lumis and Umbra. Yami was anxious to find Jounouchi and Anzu, afraid for the safety of his two dearest friends. Marik! You will pay for this if you even think of harming my friends! Whipping toward the flying helicopter, Yami rushed towards the entrance. Turning around he saw Seto Kaiba standing on the building, a lone and solitary figure against the rippling wind.
"Kaiba! We have to find Jou and Anzu!"
Something flickered in the inner depths of the blue-eyed duelist as Seto raised his face to meet the crimson eyed youth.
Yami's breath caught.
Sadness…?
But as quickly as it had come, it had vanished, replaced instead with a hard sheet of cobalt.
Eyes narrowed indifferently, Seto Kaiba responded, "Let's go."
Cold and finite.
He had seen it though. That fleeting look.
But why sadness?
Yami had promised himself - right then and there - that somehow, he would be the one to reach out to the cold-hearted CEO and find out.
Whoever knew that it was actually himself who was the cause of that short-lived instant?
"Yami. Please take a seat next to Kaiba-san. For now, you will have to look on with him, at least until your required materials arrive to the school."
Yami sighed and hitched his book bag higher against his back. He was about to start to his seat when Jounouchi suddenly brought a hand upon his shoulders. Bending down, he whispered:
"Yo, Yami. If Kaiba over there gives you any trouble, just tell me, alright?"
Yami raised a questionable eyebrow towards the blond.
"Err…are you sure about that, Jou?"
He winked at the quizzical tri-color haired boy.
"Positive! I can take that snobby rich boy on anytime, right Yug'?" Jou declared, turning to the shorter of the two for back up.
Yugi rolled his purple eyes. "Good grief, Jou, Kaiba-san would crush you before you had a chance."
"See, Yami? Good ol' Yugi here sure thinks—hey! What's that suppose to mean?"
Grabbing onto the back of Jou's uniform, Yugi said, "Don't worry, I am sure that Yami is in perfectly good hands!" Smiling at his darker half, he dragged the blond towards his seat, cries of "Whaddya mean he'd crush me?" or "Thanks Yugi, I totally feel the love" followed the duo down the aisle.
Feeling a bit irked at the dazzling smile his other half had given him, Yami made his way towards the seat next to Seto Kaiba.
To the spirit's paranoid mind, this all seemed a little too…coincidental.
What is the least positive integer that is divisible by both 2 and leaves a remainder of 3 when divided by 11?
Ra, HELP me out of this pit of agony…
Yami was dying. And not just metaphorically. What was this that Yugi had originally called it? Math? Algyberger?
It's Algebra, Yami, gently corrected Yugi through their mind link.
Yugi I don't care what this…this thing is called! The only thing that I'm certain of is that my brain is literally liquefying into a pile of mush!
Mush? Yugi laughed through the link. And it's only MATH. Don't worry! There's only about 10 minutes left in class anyway!
Yami huffed and attempted to concentrate on what exactly the teacher was trying to get by. What was the point of all of this anyway? Tired, red eyes gazed at the clock over head, a shadow of a hopeful look flitting pass as the large hand moved once. I'll probably die of boredom before the period ends, Yami thought sullenly. He looked around the class room.
Anzu seemed to be doodling on the corner of her notebook.
Yugi appeared to be giving some sort of effort to pay attention, but judging from the glassy stare it looked like the information wasn't sinking in.
Honda just stared off into space.
And Jou had promptly tucked his head neatly between his two hands and fallen asleep.
"Class! Please turn to pg. 45 in your textbook and read the chapter till the bell rings!"
There was a flutter of movement as students got out their books and attempted to accomplish something in the last minutes of class.
Jou merely snored away.
"You should probably move closer."
Yami snapped out of his daze as he turned and looked at Seto Kaiba. Blue eyes looked at him expectantly as Yami attempted to reorganize his thoughts into coherence. He had almost forgotten that he sat next to him.
"What?"
Seto let out an irritated exhalation.
"Fine."
He reached towards the shorter duelist and wrapped one of his long arms around the curve of Yami's waist.
His mind froze at that precise moment. Ah?
"I'll do it."
And with that, the CEO drew the stunned spirit towards him, along with his desk and notebook. His arm still wrapped around Yami's waist, Seto pulled him even closer until the two were practically joined at the hip. It was an extremely uncomfortable position.
At least according to Yami.
Shaking his head slightly, the crimson-eyed duelist scowled and removed the arm that was still curved around his midsection. "Thank you, Kaiba but I think I am quite capable of moving my own desk." And with that Yami placed the textbook in the middle of their conjoined desks and began to read.
Seto looked nonplussed. "Whatever you say," drawled out the billionaire. But the CEO was not about to let him get off the hook that easily. He was Seto Kaiba. And being Seto Kaiba, he never accepted anything other than a full victory.
Leaning in closer to his rival, the brunet murmured in the shell of his ear, "Then next time I suggest that you do it before I have to move you." Seto flicked a dangling golden bang with the tip of his finger.
Crimson eyes narrowed the slightest bit. Yami fiercely turned to his partner and met the cool glint of the young CEO with ferocious intensity. Forcing a sweet smile the Ex-Pharaoh calmly replied, "Then next time I advise that you actually use your arms to move my desk instead of myself. Common sense, yes?"
Ha.
Sapphire eyes darkened. Far from being intimidated, Seto smoothly responded, "Screw common sense." He leaned in closer. "I prefer my method." A dangerous gleam sparked through the deepness of his azure gaze.
Yami blinked.
Checkmate.
There was a sudden screech of noise as the flustered duelist immediately separated his conjoined desk with its neighbor. Then getting up, he snatched the textbook from Seto's table and with it, marched back to his seat. However, despite his golden bangs hiding the majority of his features and his determination to remain indifferent, it was unable to hide the splash of red that was seen painted among the cheeks of the fiery duelist.
...something which Seto noticed with a sense of satisfaction.
The bell rang. The blue-eyed billionaire smirked.
Perfect timing.
Yami felt extremely unsettled. Mind you, emphasize the extremely. He was recollecting the exact moment when Kaiba had reached out his arm and encircled the curvature of his waist. It had been a slow and almost casual movement, natural as if the CEO was accustomed to the austere act. That by itself had been most unnerving. His mind had seemingly gone into shock and shut down, hence the reason as to why he had not reacted sooner. Subsequently he had responded back in defense, followed by an argument that had appeared out of nowhere, and before one could even — one thing led to another…
"Screw common sense."
A sort of finality had rang in the air, assailing at every particle of matter surrounding them, generating a vibration that shook the very fiber of his wholesome being. It was like the aftermath of the dropping of a stone. Ripple by ripple, the arcs and curves would widen and spread until its sphere of fluidity would stretch out into perpetuity.
He had stared at the intensity of the brunet's darkened eyes, the blaze of his crimson eyes clashing against the bright blueness of his opponent's gaze.
I prefer my method."
Yami coughed embarrassingly into his hand as he flushed at the statement. He simply did not know what to make of it. One part of him told him to forget about it and that the previous situation was just a weird event that probably occurred every single day in this modern day world. Maybe it's just how people communicate around in this century, thought Yami lamely in an attempt to make logic of all this.
But no matter how much he tried to reason with himself, there was the other part of him, the more realistic halve that had felt it. IT. The cold fact that there had been something. A something that Yami was unsure if he wanted to find out about. The feel of Kaiba's hand around his waist and the dangerous gleam flickering in those eyes were still freshly engrained in the Game King's mind.
It had been almost…seductive.
"Yami!"
He jolted back into reality as Yugi, Anzu, and Honda rushed towards him, a look of worry apparent on their faces.
"Yami! What happened during class?" explained Anzu. "We heard this awful screeching noise—"
"Was that Kaiba refusing to share his textbook with you?"
"Oh Honda! I'm sure Kaiba isn't that immature!"
"Hey, you never know, Yugi…"
"Enough with this nonsense!" Anzu boomed. She looked around at the three of them, but then stopped as a quizzical look settled into her sky-blue eyes. Giving them an apologetic stare, she said, "Ummm…Sorry if this seems a little random, but have any of you guys seen Jou by any chance?"
All of them frowned and proceeded to shake their heads in unison, only to stop when they heard a huge yawn coming from the back of them.
They all turned around.
Jou stretched his two arms behind his back to drive the sleep from his system. Rubbing the cloudiness from his brown eyes, he mumbled, "Mannnn! That was a damn fine nap if I should say so myself! And just when class ended!" Smiling refreshingly, he turned around in his chair only to face the stares of four disbelieving students.
Waving energetically he replied, "Morning peoples, did I miss anything by any chance?"
The group glared at the blond.
"Eh?"
"Oh, you didn't miss a single thing, Jou!" replied Honda in a bland tone. "A couple of equations, the properties of functions, chapter 11 in the textbook, Kaiba molesting Yami…"
Yami started as he turned a slight shade of pink. Did they see? Fortunately, Yugi, Anzu, and Honda were too busy looking at Jou to make out his reaction.
"Oh, is that all? Well I'll just be going..." muttered Jou as he made his way towards the classroom door. But then he stopped as the statement sank in and was absorbed into his brain.
"Wait a sec…Kaiba did WHAT?"
About five students went air barreling as Jou darted back to his group of friends.
Talk about delayed reaction. A feat that only Jounouchi was capable of.
"Looks like we finally have your attention," smiled Anzu as she observed the explosive reaction. "And by the way, we were just kidding."
The words were at a total loss to the stirred up blond.
"Argh! That sniveling goddamn!"
"Jou, it was a joke."
"Arrogant, conniving…!"
"Jou…"
"No good, bigheaded…!"
"Hello?"
"Ethocentric piece of!"
"I suggest that you not finish that sentence, Katsuya."
Jou froze in the middle of his zealous rant and turned around slowly.
Tall, and forbidding he stood, his outwardly appearance unruffled and meticulously composed. Disarray was a term that was definitely not associated with Seto Kaiba.
"Ehh...paper?" finished Jou lamely as he handed a blank sheet of loose-leaf to the towering youth.
Seto Kaiba gazed at the blonde, a look of irritation and annoyance outlining the framework of his pupils. Grabbing the piece of loose-leaf, he brought the object to his face and examined the sheet as if arrested by some sort of convoluted math problem. His other hand was placed on a nearby desk; two fingers placed tranquilly together, the rest splayed out in absolute indifference.
"I've been called many things in the course of my life…but never have I been described as an "arrogant, conniving, bigheaded, no good, ethnocentric piece of paper," recited the CEO softly, sarcasm intertwined in every syllable as he slowly enunciated the depiction.
He ripped the paper cleanly in half. The sound of tearing sliced through the air like silver-tipped knives.
Yami, Anzu, and Honda all slapped a hand to their forehead. Yugi winced for Jou's sake, hoping he had enough sense to ignore the comment.
No such luck.
Glowering at the frosted youth, Jou daringly slammed his foot on the closer halve of the torn paper.
"Well congrats 'cause it looks like I've just added another one to your list."
Violet eyes opened hesitantly and then closed in disbelief. Oh Jounouchi, don't…!
Thankfully, it was the blond's lucky day.
Seto shut his eyes in impatience. "Look Katsuya, I don't have time to play name games with a pitiful wannabe like you." Four pairs of hands grabbed onto the back of Jou's jacket as he attempted to launch himself at the lean brunet. "I came here to escort Yami around the school as I was assigned to."
Oh…
Realization dawned on Yugi's mind as the morning's occurrence came into thought. Lifting onto his feet, Yugi confirmed the phrase. "Kaiba is correct."
"Of course I'm right," said Seto arrogantly. Wasn't it obvious? He turned and faced the quiet tri-color haired boy, the only one sitting within the area.
"Come, Yami."
Crimson eyes lifted to meet the brunet's. There was a pause.
Seto raised an eyebrow at the Ex-Pharaoh's sense of hesitation. He decided to try a slightly bolder method.
"Or do I have to move you again?"
For the slightest second, there was a tightening in the string of muscles lining the curve of Yami's hand. His fists clenched at the reoccurrence of an earlier incident.
Déjà vu. How quaint.
Yugi, noticing a sense of restlessness in his darker half, frowned slightly.
Springing up to his feet, Yami briskly made his way towards the CEO. Leveling himself with his rival, he replied, "It's quite alright." Refusing to back down from the stare and in an attempt to redeem himself, he continued. "Shall we?"
The blue-eyed billionaire allowed a slight smirk to settle on his lips. Making a minor sweep with the arc of his hand he answered:
"After you."
To be Continued...