-Chapter 8-
Yuugi scanned the lunch room. No sign of them... where would...?
Wait. Jounouchi-kun and Honda-kun had been fighting, which meant...
He quickly headed up for the roof, grimacing as he could hear the pair arguing before he even got the door open.
"You're not even helping!"
"You told me to stay home!"
"So that he'd stop hitting on you!"
"Ryou-chan wasn't--"
"Stop calling him that!"
"That's her NA--"
"You stay out of this!"
Oh hell...
Yuugi pushed the door open, seeing Jounouchi and Honda looking to be seconds from getting into a fist fight, even with Anzu standing between them. In fact, it almost looked like Jounouchi was readying to take on Anzu as well...
"I will NOT! Can't see you're making her miserable?"
"I am not! You just think I am because you want him to change!"
"She wanted to before I even found out!"
"Bullshit!"
Yuugi's fists clenched. "STOP IT!" he yelled, entire body tense. "Just everyone STOP!"
The group froze, looking over. "Yuugi..." Jounouchi said in a startled voice.
"Just stop fighting about it! What Bakura-kun does is Bakura-kun's choice, not any of ours!" Yuugi continued, voice upset. "You're going to pull him apart and he'll leave us behind thinking he can't be who he wants to and be our friend at the same time!"
"But-- but I--"
"This isn't about you fighting against Anzu-chan, it's not about Anzu-chan having a friend she can shop with, or Honda-kun's crush. It's about Bakura-kun and what she wants to be and if Bakura-kun wants to be Ryou-chan, we should be supporting her, not fighting about it! We'll all fall apart this way!"
The group was silent, neither of them looking at each other. Yuugi took in deep breaths, trying to calm down again, rubbing his eyes. Damnit, he was NOT going to cry...
After a long while, Honda picked up his bag, heading for the door back to school.
"Where are you going?" Jounouchi asked, voice sounding almost afraid.
"Bakura's." Honda replied, hand on the door.
"Honda--"
"No! Listen to me for once!" the brunet said sharply, turning. "I've been thinking ever since we found out. I'm not gay, but I like Bakura. So Bakura has to be a girl, no matter what. You dragging her along to bar fights and monster truck races isn't going to change that." He looked at Jounouchi a long moment. "You're only going to lose if you keep fighting. This isn't a duel, and Bakura isn't the bad guy, and isn't being brain washed by a bad guy. Things happen. Things change. And if you can't deal with that change, you'll wind up like your goddamned father, loosing yourself in a bottle every night."
Jounouchi flinched, looking as if he had just been slapped.
Honda watched him a long moment before turning and heading down the stairs.
Jounouchi cursed under his breath, turning to kick the cement wall violently.
"Jounouchi-kun..."
"Leave me alone!"
Yuugi flinched, at the words and at the tone. It almost sounded like the blond was about to cry... "Sorry," he said softly, turning to head down the stairs as well, giving Anzu a small look, indicating she should follow. "I'm going to get lunch... maybe afterwards, we can talk...?"
The blond muttered something Yuugi couldn't hear. "Maybe," he finally said, voice sulking.
Yuugi looked at his friend a long moment before heading down the stairs.
"Yuugi! Get the door!"
"Coming!" the boy called as he hurried down the stairs. He slid to a stop before the door, pushing his bangs back to the side before opening it. "Jounouchi-kun...!" he exclaimed, eyes going wide. "What happened?"
The somewhat battered looking blond gave a small, cocky grin. "Got into a fight. You shoulda seen the other guy," he boasted, kicking off his shoes as he came in.
Yuugi looked almost worriedly at his friend. "Here, let's get you cleaned up before mom sees you..."
"Ne, Yuugi? Have I been an ass?" Jounouchi asked as his friend carefully placed a bandage over a freshly cleaned cut. He gave a small chuckle as Yuugi hesitated. "That's a yes, isn't it? I know you, Yuugi, you're too nice to flat out say anything like that," he smiled slightly, looking down.
Yuugi fidgeted slightly, not quite knowing what to say. "I think you've been trying too hard to change something that wasn't your decision," he finally answered, closing the first aid kit.
Jounouchi gave a small nod. "I just-- Bakura's always gotten lost in the shuffle, ya know?" he sighed, looking up. "The entire time we've known him, really. Duelist Kingdom, some how that creepy bastard came back and took him over again, then Battle City when he just-- vanished and wound up with that stab wound in his arm, freaking Malik!" He scowled, fist clenching. "And I swore to myself that I'd never let him get lost like that again, and than that bastard Ring spirit went and did all that shit in Atemu's memories and they we were, looking at him across the table, passed out again like with Monster World. He needed someone to look out for him and I was always so damned caught up in everything else that I never even noticed something was wrong til he wasn't him anymore. With the Ring gone, it wasn't as important. Everything was better, ya know? And then-- Then this shit happens and I'm the last freaking one to know and it's already too late to do anything about it and he's turning someone different again!" He ran a hand through his hair in agitation.
Yuugi was quiet a moment. "Bakura-kun's still Bakura-kun," he said softly. "Even when she's Ryou-chan."
Jounouchi shook his head. "Honda's went on and on about 'Ryou-chan' for near a freaking WEEK, Yuugi! And once he found out it was Bakura in drag, he's been freaking...!" He gave an agitated growl. "We've already got a girl in our group, ya know? How in hell are we gonna stay the same when Honda's too busy trying to get in Bakura's pants to pay attention to anything else!"
"Would it be any different if Bakura-kun stayed a boy and still went out with Honda-kun?"
Jounouchi fidgeted a bit. "Honda wouldn't do that. He isn't gay. He has to have said that a good 50 times this week alone."
"So if Bakura-kun likes Honda-kun, wouldn't it be better for Bakura-kun to be a girl?" Yuugi asked gently.
Jounouchi was quiet a long moment before giving a loud sigh. "It had to be freaking Honda, didn't it?" he half muttered. "Why in hell couldn't he be going after like-- Otogi or something. Otogi's fruity enough to be gay as well."
"Otogi-kun's been after Shizuka-chan for the past year, Jounouchi-kun, I don't think he's gay," Yuugi pointed out with a smile.
"He aught be, damnit!" Jounouchi scowled. "Keep him the hell away from my sister! And now without Honda to keep him honest it'll make everything more freaking complicated there too!"
"... So you've been making Bakura-kun miserable all week because you want Honda-kun to pay more attention to you and to keep Otogi-kun away from Shizuka-chan?" Yuugi said with disbelief. "That's the most selfish thing you've done in a long time, Jounouchi-kun!"
"It's not like that!" Jounouchi protested, looking hurt. "I just-- I mean-- Gaaah, fuck it all, I don't know!" he finally exclaimed, getting up. "Its just-- everything, ya know?" he tried to explain, starting to pace the length of the bathroom. "I don't want Bakura to be lost or left behind again, I don't want to loose Honda or Bakura and I don't want things to change cause everything's GOOD for once, ya know! And all I'm doing is fucking up left and right so now Honda's pissed at me, everything thinks I'm an asshole and Bakura--" He shook his head. "I just wanted to spend more time with him and do stuff and convince him to stay with us as he was and all it just all blew up in my face!"
"Because you just grabbed Bakura-kun and treated him like he was Honda-kun when he's not," Yuugi pointed out. "You even took him to that burger place with the boobs when you KNOW he's gay!"
The blond fidgeted a bit. "I forgot," he defended in a small voice, hands deep in his pockets.
Yuugi nearly groaned, pressing his hand to his palm. "You forgot!"
"Hey, I don't think about the sex lives of my friends that much, okay!" Jounouchi defended. "And it isn't like he's hitting on me or anybody so I just didn't think about it."
Yuugi sighed, shaking his head. "Either way, I think you need to go apologies to Bakura-kun."
Jounouchi fidgeted again. "But Honda's over there..."
"So?"
"What if they're... ya know... doing stuff?"
"... Bakura-kun's NOT going to let Honda-kun get that familiar just because she's a girl!" Yuugi exclaimed, face slightly red.
Jounouchi rubbed the back of his neck slightly. "You don't know Honda though..."
"But I know Bakura-kun VERY well," Yuugi said firmly. "And I know YOU well enough to know that you're just making excuses."
The blond fidgeted again before giving a heavy sigh. "Yeah, I know..." he half mumbled. With another sigh, he headed for the doorway. "I guess I should get on that now..." he paused, looking down slightly before turning back to his friend. "Thanks for putting up with me," he smiled slightly.
Yuugi smiled. "You're my friend," he said simply. "It's what friends do."