No Title For Now
Chapter Two
Mai watched for the rest of the day as Yugi, despite what he'd said at lunch, continued to shy away from Yami. She couldn't help but be frustrated, even though she understood that his giving Yami a chance was not going to happen overnight. Yugi, being naturally shy, combined with his fear of men, would need plenty of time to become closer to Yami at all.
Mai mentally smirked as the final bell rang. She had just gotten the most brilliant idea of her life. All she had to do was execute it without Yugi realizing it, a much trickier bit than the idea itself, as Yugi was very sharp. Oh well. She knew how his mind worked, so she could probably manuver around his awareness.
"Mai?" came a gentle voice. Mai looked down at her short brother and smiled apolocetically.
"Sorry Yugi, but I've got paperwork to do today. I can't give you a ride, unless you're willing to wait until 7 o'clock," she said.
Yugi shook his head. "Nah. I'll walk." He hugged her. "See you when you get home." With that, he turned and left the classroom.
Mai's smile turned into a smirk as she turned to the last student in the classroom.
"Yami dear?" she cooed sweetly.
Alarm bells went off in the students head. "Hai, Mutou-sensei?" he asked cautiously.
"Oh, don't be so nervous. I just want you to walk Yugi home. Since he's so small, he'll probably attract every bully and punk within a five-mile radius." She scribbled something on a piece of paper. "Give him this note, otherwise he'll think you're lying when you tell him I sent you as an escort."
Yami smiled, relieved that his fears of the sensei were unfounded. "Yes ma'am." He took the note and hurried after Yugi.
Mai smirk became an outright evil grin. "And so the seed is planted..."
-----
Yugi was trying very hard to make himself invisible so that no one would notice him. He just wanted to get home safely, because he knew how Mai would react if she any sort of injuries on her baby brother.
"Yugi! Hey Yugi! Wait up!" someone yelled behind him.
Damn. So much for inconspicuous.
"Hah! Caught up with you."
Yugi turned and saw Yami standing just behind him. Scared, he turned and ran.
Or he would have had Yami not caught his wrist.
"Relax. Your sister asked me to escort you home. She said that she didn't want you to get mauled by any bullies," Yami explained.
"Liar! Let go!" Yugi cried out, plainly terrified.
"Just read this note she gave me," Yami insisted, holding the note out to the frightened youth with his free hand. Yugi stopped struggling and read the paper. He relaxed a tiny bit, and looked up at Yami.
"Fine, if sis says you'll protect me," he surrendered, and Yami finally released his wrist. "Then shall we go?" Not waiting for an answer, Yugi turned and began walking again, not caring if Yami followed him or not.
"Uh, sure," Yami said, walking just behind him.
Neither of them noticed a pair of blue eyes follow thier movements, nor saw the scowl of tha person's face.
-----
Once they were beyond the school gates, Yugi turned just enough to see Yami out of the corner of his eye.
"I live at 23 Kururugi Street," Yugi said. (A/n: Made up that street, but I stole the name from Inuyasha: Secret of the Cursed Mask game.) "Do you know any shortcuts? I wanna get home quick."
"Oh, you live with your sister then," Yami said.
"How'd you know that?"
"I've been over before. She was my math tutor for a while. Shortcuts between here and there? I know every back path in the city. Follow me." Yami grabbed Yugi's hand and pulled him towards an alleyway across the street.
Yugi became very worried immediately. Dark alley with a (strong) man. Not good. Yugi mentally prepared himself in case Mai was wrong and Yami was going to hurt him. He did nothing however, just pulled him through the alley to the next street, then turning and leading him in another direction.
After about ten minutes of turning and twisting through narrow paths and back alleys, they arrived at the apartment building the Yugi and Mai lived in.
"Wow, we're here already," Yugi observed.
Yami smiled. "See? I told you I knew every back way. I don't recommend you taking that particular path unless I'm with you though. Sometimes creeps hang in those places. They know better than to mess with me, but they won't have the slightest reservation about trying something with you."
"I'll remember that. Thank you." There was an awkward silence before Yugi finally worked up the nerve to say, " Do you want to come inside for a minute before you head home yourself?"
Yami was about to accept when he noticed the fear in Yugi's eyes. Realizing that the young man had only asked him that to be polite, he said, " No thank you. I'm supposed to be meeting my friends somewhere soon anyway. See you tomorrow in school."
Yugi watched as Yami disappeared from sight, then pulled the note from his sister wrote from his pocket and read it again.
Yugi, I asked Yami to escort you home so don't worry, he'll protect you. Also, I noticed you still shying from him in class. We'll talk when I get home tonight.
-Mai
Grimacing, Yugi threw the note into a nearby garbage can and headed inside, readying himself for what he knew Mai would want to talk about when she got home.
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Cherry: Shoutouts to Black-Dranzer-1119, Firebenderbianca, dfgd, HOPPY-SAN2345, Ravenna's Soul, and to silverwolf407, no, you didn't make me mad at all. I seriously am grateful to you for that little splash of awareness. Remember to review!