Misguideshipping (Rebecca x Otogi)


All it took was the right look – that carefully calculated smolder through partially closed eyelids, with the right turn of the lips into just the right size of a smile. A casual flick of the bangs. That was all it took to make a girl swoon: and Ryuji Otogi was the master of that look.

He leaned casually against a wall between store fronts, looking out at the small American town. He had been hoping to find a place to take the Black Clown overseas, and he was seriously considering to start right here. It wasn't too far away from the nearest city, Los Angeles, but small enough that he wouldn't be too swamped from the very beginning. A college town; so there'd be plenty of students that he could draw in. And there was a perfect store front open for rent.

A trio of college girls filtered by, chattering to each other. They glanced at Otogi as they passed. Otogi gave them the Look. Two of them blushed through their grins, and all three ducked their heads together to chatter even more excitedly as they passed, shooting Otogi sidelong looks and giggles. Otogi smiled back at them. Too easy. Almost boring, actually.

"Up to your usual business, I see."

Otogi blinked and looked up. A girl of no older than thirteen stood before him with her arms folded, teal eyes appraising him over the rims of her glasses. Her long blond hair draped down her back and fell neatly just above her eyes. Otogi smiled, especially when he saw the black t-shirt she was wearing under her pink cardigan, which read: No I Will Not Fix Your Computer.

"Hey, Becky," he said.

Rebecca Hopkins rolled her eyes.

"Oh, please. Don't call me that, Otogi-san."

"Feel free to call me Ryu," Otogi said with the grin.

"No thanks."

Otogi pushed off the wall to stand straight again.

"What brings you around here?" Otogi said.

"Duh," Rebecca said. "I go to college here."

Otogi was thrown off guard for a just a second. Had he known she was in college before?

"Yes, I'm thirteen and in college," Rebecca said before he could say a word. "You're not the first one to be surprised. What about you? I mean, me being in California is one thing, but you being in California is a totally different story."

"I'm thinking of expanding my store overseas," Otogi said.

Rebecca nodded.

"Here? Good choice. There's a lot of people in the college that play DDD, and a bunch of other stuff too. I hear them complaining about how hard it is to get some of your dice stuff because it's all imported from Japan through three different middle people."

Otogi blinked, and grinned.

"Wow," he said. "You certainly pay attention to things. I'm glad to hear that."

Rebecca shrugged.

"It's amazing what you pick up when no one else pays attention to you."

There was an undertone of venom to her words that made Otogi frown slightly. Rebecca looked...irritated, that was the word. Her brow was slightly furrowed and her eyes a little bit narrowed. Her arms were still folded and her stance seemed rigid. He wondered what was wrong. He didn't like to see girls angry or upset. It messed up their natural beauty.

"So what are you studying?" Otogi said.

"Computer sciences," Rebecca said, seeming to relax a little. "Programming and stuff. I'm hoping to go into security programming, because believe me, the Internet needs the help."

Yep, there was definitely a bit of sparkle coming back into her eyes. Otogi half smiled, but it wasn't part of the Look – it was just a smile. He was glad to see that Rebecca was doing okay since he had last seen her.

"Sounds pretty awesome. I don't get it, but awesome," Otogi said.

"How's everyone else?" Rebecca asked. "In Domino, I mean."

Otogi shrugged.

"Haven't seen much of anyone, really," he said. "Been busy with the store."

"Oh," Rebecca said, face falling slightly. "Yeah, I'm sure it's rough."

There she went again, looking sad. Otogi nudged her with his elbow.

"I can give you Yugi's number, if you want to text him."

Rebecca flushed.

"That – that is not what I was asking for at all!" Rebecca said.

"I'm sure you were thinking it, though."

"I don't want Yugi's phone number!"

"Yes you do."

Rebecca's blushed went even farther, turning her whole face red. It was an expression that said 'yes, I definitely do want his number but not from you if you keep teasing me like this.' Otogi had to grin at her – at least she wasn't looking so tense and angry anymore. She had definitely relaxed.

Or, rather, she was relaxed for about two seconds. Rebecca saw them first, and her blush faded, her fingers rolling into half fists. Otogi glanced over his shoulder to see the trio of college girls he had noticed earlier coming back up the sidewalk. The tallest of the group, a brunette in thin high heels, the ones that made you think the wearer was going to topple over at any second, approached first, giggling slightly.

"Hey," she said. "We saw you earlier, but we weren't able to stop before. You new in town?"

Otogi smiled graciously, giving them his best Look. The other two girls, one with a bleached pixie cut and ripped jean shorts and another with her brown hair in buns, leaned in towards each other and giggled.

"In a manner of speaking," he said. "I'm moving a new branch of my game shop into town."

"Oh, an entrepreneur?" the tall girl said, beaming. "How totally cool."

"We were wondering," the pixie cut girl said, in between giggles. "If you wanted to come with us to a party tonight."

"Our sorority's holding a big bash," the girl with buns said. "And people can bring guests, if they want."

Otogi smiled at the girl in buns and swept her hand into his, pressing it between his and looking deep into her eyes.

"Well, if such lovely ladies are asking...how could I say no?"

The girl flushed and giggled, pulling her hand away, but cradling it against her chest as though she had just dunked her hand in gold dust. Behind him, he heard Rebecca snort derisively.

For some reason, that drew him out of his fervor. These girls...they fell so easily, to someone they had barely met. The thought took some of the fun out of it for him. It was hardly even a challenge to get them to swoon. Behind him, Rebecca would be standing there with her arms folded, rolling her eyes at his antics, and for some reason, the idea of her completely ignoring his carefully calculated gestures was really, really funny in the back of his head. Rebecca, of all people, was completely immune to his charms, and that, suddenly, was far more interesting that the girls that were already falling all over him.

"Oh, Rebecca," the tall girl said suddenly. "I didn't see you there."

She smiled as though she were talking to a five-year-old. Rebecca's face was like a stone.

"Guess it's hard to see over your own nose, sometimes."

The tall girl just smiled even more sweetly, as though Rebecca was in preschool and had just said something adorable.

For some reason, the smile made Otogi feel like puking.

"Becky, these your friends?" Otogi said.

The tall girl looked surprised. Rebecca just rolled her eyes.

"I said don't call me that," she said. "And no. They're not."

Didn't think so, Otogi thought, but decided not to say out loud.

"Oh, do you two know each other?" the tall girl said, looking surprised.

But the surprise looked so fake. Calculated. Perfectly arranged to make herself look sweet and innocent.

It takes one to know one, Otogi said.

Rebecca started to answer the girl, but Otogi had a better idea. He came around and draped an arm across Rebecca's shoulder – she had gotten taller since the last time he had seen her, and so it was actually pretty easy. He didn't even have to bend over.

"Oh, hasn't Bec told you? We met at the KC Grand Prix a while ago," Otogi said smoothly. "We're pretty close."

Rebecca's face went slightly red and she stared at Otogi's hand like she couldn't understand how it had gotten there. The tall girl's expression cracked slightly.

"That sounds...cool," the girl said.

"Otogi, what are you doing?" Rebecca muttered.

Otogi ignored her, still smiling at them. After a beat, in which the two shorter girls exchanged glances, and the tall girl was chewing on her lip, the tall girl finally smiled. But Otogi knew a fake smile when he saw one – he was quite good at them himself.

"Well, you can still totally come to the party," she said. "Rebecca can come too. If she wants."

"Vanessa!" the pixie cut girl said.

"The human calculator?" the girl with the buns muttered incredulously.

The tall girl glanced back at her friends to cut them off.

"I don't like parties –" Rebecca started, but Otogi just grinned and cut her off.

"Sounds like it'll be fun. I look forward to seeing you lovely ladies there."

"Look forward to seeing you there," the girl said, fluttering her eyelashes in what was obviously a last-ditch attempt to ensnare him.

The joke was on her. Otogi was the master of snaring, and he knew better than to take the bait.

"See you later," she said, sounding slightly miffed as she and her friends left, the other two girls sending glances back at them.

Otogi didn't take his arm off of Rebecca's shoulder until Rebecca carefully extracted herself from him.

"What the heck was that for?" Rebecca said, blushing.

Otogi shrugged, twirling his bangs around his finger.

"I don't like to see girls looking sad."

"Oh really? Well, it seems like you made Vanessa kind of sad."

"I wasn't talking about her."

After a second, Rebecca blushed even more.

"Whatever," she said. "You didn't have to stick your nose into my business. You should have just gone with the invitation. You would have had fun."

"Who said I'm not still going?"

"Right, because why wouldn't you?" Rebecca said, folding her arms and looking pointedly away. "Whatever. I have homework to do."

She started to turn around, but Otogi stopped her gently by the shoulder.

"Hey, wait a minute," he said. "I think you're supposed to be coming with me."

Rebecca flushed all the harder.

"Me? You don't want me to come with you. I'm the last person you want to be associated with at a sorority party."

She paused at the grin that was spreading across Otogi's face.

"What?"

"I have a feeling that those girls have been giving you trouble," he said.

"Yeah? So?" Rebecca said, suspiciously.

"You are definitely going to this party, Becky," he said. "And you're going to knock 'em dead – so dead that they'll never think about bothering you again."

Rebecca's skeptical look faded slightly, and she just looked nervous.

"I...I don't do well at parties," she said. "I'm better off staying inside with my math homework."

"Nope. Not an option. Come on, I'm getting you something party-worthy to wear."

"Huh? Wait, no – Otogi! Where are we going? Otogi?"

He just laughed.

She might have smiled a little too, but it was hard to tell. Oh well. Just the thought was enough.


A/N: This was actually quite fun. Despite the age difference, I don't think this is too bad of a couple. I mean, if we're honest, he's only like two or three years older than her, and that's not even close to prohibitive. I still like Kiddyshipping for Rebecca best, though. Next is Mischiefshipping (Thief King Bakura x Mana).