Sorrows of the Heart 1:

The End of Summer's Sweet Freedom

Author's Notes: Yeah, I know another High School Yu-Gi-Oh story. Well in thins one instead of the Popular student denying the "outlawed" relationship between her and an unpopular student; the unpopular student caves under pressure coming from his own group of friends. I mean after all surely they would have had friends that were against the relationship between him and a popular student right?

Yami blinked up at his bedroom ceiling in annoyance; summer had already ended which meant one more final year at Domino High. He pursed his lips and sat up, slamming his fist down on his alarm clock to shut off its insistent ringing. He rubbed his ears in annoyance and climbed out of bed; trading his black, cotton sweatpants and white undershirt for his navy blue school uniform and a matching tank top. He hurried downstairs to find his younger twin brother, Yugi, waiting for him with two of their friends, Joey and Mai; Serenity, Joey's younger sister, by two years, went to an all girls' academy on the other side of town.

Mai it seemed had colored her hair again since last weekend, this time adding little purple streaks into her bangs. Evidently she had stayed with Joey again because she was now sporting one of his uniforms and her wild blonde hair had been pulled into a messy bun with chopsticks, while her bangs hung in her eyes. Joey was wearing the boy's uniform like always and his jacket was unbuttoned and his feet were on the table allowing him to lean back on the chair.

"Your dad get smashed again last night at one of his poker buddies' houses?" asked Yami, taking a seat next to his twin and snagging a free bowl, cereal, and milk.

Joey just grunted in reply and swigged down the black coffee in his cup looking annoyed. Yami exchanged a look with Yugi but let the subject drop; they knew better then to press their blonde friend about matters at home when he was like this.

"Ignore him," said Mai, waving her hand at her boyfriend. "He is annoyed because he didn't realize that the summer reading book wasn't the erotic version of the story."

Yami raised an eyebrow and smirked enjoying the chance to tease his best friend, "hoping to get a few pointers?"

"Shut up," growled Joey.

"Joey get your feet off the table and put that chair back down on all four legs," said Solomon Motuo, coming into the room swatting at the blonde's head. "Mai why aren't you wearing the girl's uniform? Did you grow out of it again? Why aren't your parents buying you more sets? Yugi try to be more outgoing this year; this is your last year at school so make it count. Yami do try to do better in Composition this year, won't you? I am an old man and can't keep track of your papers the way I used to; but that still doesn't mean I will allow for slack. Try not to beat anyone up to badly all of you." This was directed at Yami, Mai, and Joey; then without even pausing for breath he went on. "This is your final year of high school before you go off and I want to see you enjoy it; but not too much to where you forget your already dangerously close to getting below average on a few of your subjects to below average."

"Yes grandfather," said the four teenagers in amusement.

"And don't give me that sass," snapped the old man, swatting all of them with yesterday's rolled up newspaper that had been on the kitchen counter. "Now off to school with you; enjoy the year but keep your studies up. And STAY OUT OF TROBULE ALL OF YOU!"

"Yes sir," said Joey and Yami, giving the old man a mock salute as the four of them grabbed their bags from the entrance way, slipped on their shoes, and sailed out the door.

"The final year of high school," said Yami, stretching his hands above his head and letting his school bag dangle behind his head. "I can not wait to get out of this dump and away from the shallow social structure that is our school."

"Well, I am off to design school when this is over," said Mai, who was good looking and loved clothes enough to be in the popular crowd but choose to remain with her friends instead of hanging out with the shallow people that hid their true feelings behind false smiles and white lies.

"You've already started applying?" asked Joey, surprised by this news. He always knew that his girlfriend loved to design clothes and knew she was talking about going but it never really registered until now.

"No," said Mai. "Don't be silly I haven't started applying yet. I have just been looking around for good design schools; right now I have my sights set on a Design school in Paris and one in New York. Come on Joey its our finally year, surely you have been thinking abour where you wanted to go, right?"

Joey remained silent for the rest of the walk to school letting his friends carry on conversations around him. The fact of the matter was, he hadn't thought much about it at all; he always assumed that he would just end up working at metal working plant his dad used to work at. After all, what skills did he really have besides from doing something that required nothing but hard work and a High School Diploma?

Domino High School loomed above them and the four of them came to a stop at the entrance gate looking up at it. It seemed wierd this being the last year they would set foot instead the gate as students; then the rest of their friends appeared at their side and whatever feelings of remorse they had been feeling drifted away with the wind.

It was lunch time when he first got a look at her, a real good look at her at least. Sure he had seen he, but then again, who wouldn't notice someone like Arora Kendra? She was definately one of the popular students; yet was surprisingly well liked by most of the student body. Her black hair was constantly in a long braid and her dark blue eyes were constantly alert and seemingly happy. She liked being around people; but also liked to have her space with them. She got decent marks in everything she did, with little to great effort depending on the subject, and she was also a cheerleader at the school and was supposedly dating the Captian of the Soccer team.

Yami found her irratatingly happy and optimistic; because that was basically all she seemed to be for the past ten years.

It had happened outside, when she had been walking while reading a book to meet her friends so she could eat her lunch under one of the many trees on the school grounds. He had also been walking and hadn't been paying attention because he had been looking around for Joey and Mai. Then it had happened they had walked into each other; causing Arora to drop her book and her lunch.

"Oh," she said, peering up at him beneath long lashes and low black bangs. "I am sorry Motou-san," she told him, smiling she crouched down and gathered her ruined book and lunch and then continued to head towards her original destination tossing her ruined lunch into the garbage and trying to get the rice and tofu off her book.

Yami was watching her go when the same people he had been looking for walked up to him. "What are ya doin watchin her for?" asked Joey.

"We walked into each other," said Yami, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"So?" asked Joey.

"She is not nearly has dense has I first thought."

"What does that have to do with anything?" asked Joey.

"Nothing," sighed Yami, watching her friends join her.

Joey and Mai exchanged a look and then shrugged their shoulders dismissing it and leading Yami to where the rest of their friends were waiting, seeing how it seemed to change daily over the past two years.

They wouldn't think of the popular girl and her friends until next class, in which would be announced that they would have to put on a play.