Hey yall, Elfbrat18 here. I just want to say that I now have a partner in crime (it's a crime for me to write these, lol). So say hello to Whistler. She doesn't have an account on but she's willing to help co-write a lot of the fics I'm working on at the moment. Whistler's gonna pop in from time to time and take over, so don't get upset if the writing style is different. Anyway, enjoy!
"No way...no freaking way..." Tea said.
"What are you talking about?" Grandpa Mutou asked, completely clueless about what was going on.
Yugi decided that since no one was going to say anything, he might as well explain. "You remember the Pharoah? Well, here he is! He has his own body now!"
"Cool, Yug's no longer psycho!" Joey piped up. Tristan punched him in the arm, muttering something that sounded like, "You and your big mouth..."
Tea moved over to Yami's side. "That's great that you have your own body. Now let's just hope that you two aren't mistaken for brothers."
"I have a feeling that that will be hard to avoid, Tea," Grandpa Mutou said.
"Now it's even better! I have two grandsons to help me with the shop!" Fortunately, his back was turned and he didn't see the exasperated faces of Yugi and Yami.
"But what do we call you? People would be looking at us strange if we called you Pharaoh in public." Duke asked.
"Call me Yami, that's what Yugi and Tea call me by. Isis referred to me by the name back before Battle City."
"Yami! Why didn't you say so in the first place!" Joey and Tristan nearly shouted.
"Because you never asked."
"Alright everyone, let's move the party upstairs and out of the shop. Not everyone graduated from high school today and I still have customers to sell cards and things to." Grandpa Mutou chuckled, ushering the teens upstairs.
Grandpa Mutou came back upstairs a short time later. "Yugi, there's something you need to know," he half-said/half-shouted over the music.
Yugi dove for the volume on the stereo. "Sorry, Grandpa. Are we being too loud?"
"No, no, not at all. I just came to tell you that you have a visitor. They'll be up in a second." He said, then turned and went back down to his shop.
"I wonder what that was about." Duek muttered to Yugi.
"Who cares? Let's crank up the music Yug!" Joey said, turning the volume up again.
The music continued to play, the upbeat notes floating to Tea's ears resulting in her body swaying back and forth to the beat. On instinct she glided across the room, oblivious to everyone staring at her. For years she had dreamed of a career in dancing, and everyday she came one step closer to her goal. But her rythmical reverie was cut short when she heard clapping coming from the doorway. She stopped in mid-step, opened her eyes and found...
"Koga." She barely whispered.
Her gaze left from said boyfriend to Yugi, Yami, Joey, Tristan, and Duke. Joey and Tristan pulled a face that shown they were none too pleased with his mere presence. Duke just took a sip from his drink and looked the other way. Yami went stock-still, his face showing something beyond that of rage and disgust that Tea couldn't place, and frankly, she beacme a little worried. Yugi looked frustrated, like he was debating on what she told him earlier and whether or not he should say something. Tea hoped that he wouldn't, but with Yugi you never know, and that made her more nervous.
"Looks like the party already started. How come I've never seen you dance?" Koga asked, strolling up to her and kissing her cheek. Tea could have sworn she heard the sound of teeth grinding from behind her.
"What are you doing here?" Tea asked. It was more of a statement then a question.
Koga wrapped a possessive arm around Tea's waist, carefuly eyeing each of the guys in the room. "I went over to your house, but your mom told me that you came over here shortly after you got home. I met up with Mr. Mutou outside of his shop and he let me in when I told him that I was your boyfriend. But then he kind of looked at me wierd. Personnally," he said just above a whisper, "I think the old man has gone senile."
A nerve snapped in Tea and she jerked away from his grasp. "Grandpa Mutou is a good friend of mine, so don't go saying anything like that again!" she snapped.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I'll take it back." he apologized. Then he noticed Yami. "Say, your name's Yami, right?" he asked, walking over towards him.
"Yes." he said dryly.
"How come I've never seen you around at school? What are you? Some sort of dropout?"
"You'd better watch it Koga." Joey said.
"No, it's alright Joey." Yami interrupted. "He wants to know. For your information, I am attending college at the time, working part-time for Grandpa Mutou, and finding the the time to take part in Duelist tournaments. Does that satisfy you?" he asked.
"Somewhat." Koga sneered. "But something still puzzles me. Why in the hell would Tea want to hang around with people like you?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Duke challenged.
"Oh I think you know full well what I mean, Dungeon Dork Monster."
"Then elaborate. I wanna make sure that we're on the same page." Duke said, his blood was boiling now.
"Alright. Duke: you created a game that looks like little giga pets gone wrong mixed with chess. And what the hell is up with the dice! You look like you work at a casino. Joey: you're the physical shadow of Yugi. Tristan: what are you, some kind of cheerleader! You're always joined at the hip with Wheeler, and that's starting to make me wonder. Yugi: little dude, you need to find a life. Living with your gramps above his game shop and rivaling Seto Kaiba! Come on now, there has to be something going on for you besides that stupid card game. And Yami: you look like some biker-wanabe with all the black and chains. Get a new wardrobe, and a new hairstyle too. It's bad enough Yugi's hair looks like that, why do the same?"
After Koga shut his mouth the room became eerily silent. Tea was too afraid and too pissed off to speak, and she silently hoped that the guys wouldn't start something. Anyways, how could Koga be so mean to her friends! He had some nerve, she'd give him that.
"I think you had better leave." Yami finally said. Tea felt a chill run up her spine at the coldness in his voice. She hadn't heard him talk like that since the duel on the train with Weevil Underwood.
"I agree." Joey said.
"Me too." Tristan said.
"I think so too. Now how shall it be handled, the easy way or the hard way?" Duke said.
Koga cracked a miniscule smile at them. "We can do it the easy way. Come on Tea." he said, turning and heading to the door.
When Tea wasn't at his side, he turned to find that she hadn't moved. "Tea! Come! Let's go!" This time he was more demanding.
"Why?" she simply asked.
"Because I said so." He said, walking up to her and grabbing her forcefully by the arm. "I thought we were going on a date tonight?" he asked through gritted teeth.
"Maybe I wanted to hang out with my friends. Is that a crime officer?" she mocked.
Koga abruptly turned around and gripped her shoulders. "Officer, eh? That gives me an idea..." he said huskily and loud enough for everyone to hear.
A nerve in Yugi exploded and he decided that it was time to step in. "Why don't you give it up, Koga? Tea's not going to do that with you! She never planned on it!"
Koga's gaze shot back from Yugi to Tea and everything clicked. Why they were huddled together at the table before graduation, why they whispered. Yugi knew. "I don't believe you!" he roared, shaking Tea violently. Then Koga did something that no one expected, not even Koga himself.
WHAM! The back of Koga's left hand connected with the right side of Tea's face, leaving a pretty nasty scratch from the class ring. Luckily for Tea, her years of dance classes left her leg muscles strong, and she was able to balance herself to keep from falling. The whole room was silent, and no one knew what would happen. Then Koga did the unthinkable. He apologized.
"Tea...Tea, baby...I...I don't know what happened. I'm so sorry. Something just came over me and I couldn't stop it. Please, come with me and I'll take care of that scratch." he said, his voice was losing the battle to sound sincere, though.
"No." she finally said, not even lifting her head.
"What?" he asked, bewildered.
"I...I thought you...loved me..." She said, trying to keep the tears from falling. "And then you go and bad-mouth my friends. Not only that, but you try to pull me away from the fun that I was having with them, and then you...you...how could you?" Tea had trouble finishing the sentence, her voice was breaking.
Koga sighed and shrugged his arms. "See...I kind of have this thing that I say things that I don't really mean..."
"So you're saying that..."
"Love is just a word...it doesn't mean anything. Look Tea, this charade has been a lot of fun, but I think that it's time to cut it off. There's a new girl that I've just started seeing, and it gets complicated when you have to juggle two call girls at once, so..." but Koga never did finish that sentence.
BAM! Koga flew across the room and slammed against the door with a resounding THUD! The evidence of a shiner was already visible under his left eye, and his cheek was incredibly red. But who threw the punch? Tea wondered as she looked from Koga lying on the floor to see Yami. Wait. YAMI!
"What...the...fuck...is...the...matter...with...you...!" Koga managed to spit out, along with a few teeth and some blood. As he made his way to stand, Joey, Duke and Tristan hoisted him up roughly and were about to dispose of him but Yami stopped them.
"I have a few words for Koga." He said, then his calm face went cold as he looked down at the slumped figure. "Tea is not a prize that you can flaunt around. No woman is a man's prize; they are a treasure that should be cherished and protected, taken care of and nurtured. I've known Tea a lot longer than you have, and I know that she takes relationships seriously. She thought that you actually cared for her, but instead you only want one thing; the one thing that you want from all women. Tea is not a 'call girl' as you so wrongfully dubbed her; she would never succumb to something of that nature, and especially not with someone as low as you. I could care less about what you think of me or anyone else in this room, but what you did to Tea is unforgivable. So you better watch your back; I make it a point to go through with my threats, and just now was only a warning of what I'll do to you if you come near Tea again. And then you'll have to deal with Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Duke. Get him out of here."
Joey, Tristan, and Duke left with a bruised and bloody Koga, explaining to Grandpa Mutou what happened, leaving Yugi and Yami to help Tea pick up the broken pieces of her heart.
Whistler: Whoa...O.O...Yami really punched the snot outta that guy...
Elfbrat18: Yeah I know! Go Yami! Koga shoulda seen it comin'!
Whistler: (grabs pompoms and begins to madly dance around the room) Go Yami! Go Yami! It's your birthday!
Elfbrat18: So now you've met, or shall I say encountered, the insanity called Whistler. If you think I'm crazy, she's a few short of needing a tranquilizer shot. (watches Whistler bounce about the room, then grabs a mallet out of nowhere) It's for her own good folks...now while I restrain the looneytoon, why don't you review? Please? I won't konk her if you do.