Foreshipping (Ishizu Ishtar/Mutou Yugi)
. . .
He dropped the books with a puff of dust onto the table, groaning.
"I told you'd I'd get them," Ishizu said, shaking her head with a smile.
"No, no, I managed all right," said Yugi, almost completely hidden behind the pile of books he had just finished carting.
Ishizu laughed softly, and Yugi's face peeked out from behind the pile, his own lips quirking into a smile.
It was a quiet day in special collections. The college library was large, but the special, restricted section of pertinent history materials was her favorite, most peaceful place on campus. Only her and a handful of graduate students could ever be found here, and all of them were all looking for precisely what they needed, never just here to hang out like in the main part of the library. Ishizu welcomed it, with its high ceilings and every wall wallpapered with shelves of tightly packed books. It was close and cramped and dusty and dim, but it was peaceful.
She had spent the last few days fielding an undergraduate class for a colleague and she was already exhausted with these students. Most of them were only taking ancient history for the credit and actually didn't give a crap. It grated on her, especially since she felt like she had lived most of it. Where was all the passion anymore?
She supposed it had probably all become condensed into Mutou Yugi.
Yugi plopped down into the seat beside her, throwing his arms back over the seat with a heavy sigh.
"All right," he said. "What kind of research are we looking for today?"
It was sometimes remarkable how much he had changed. On one hand, he hadn't grown much taller—he was still only a few inches higher than he had been in high school when she had first met him. But his round face had lost most of its baby fat, becoming lean and slightly tanned from all the field work he had been spending out under the hot desert sun. Freckles now dusted his nose and cheeks, and despite his height there seemed something of a lean longness to his frame. Even with his rumpled jacket, you could just tell by the way he held his shoulders that there were muscles underneath—it was almost surreal, honestly.
"I'm looking for more information on the trade of lapis lazuli between Punt and Egypt," she said. "I'm thinking I might be able to trace something of it so that we can finally locate where Punt actually was."
"Awesome!" said Yugi, cracking his knuckles. "I'll start on this stack, then."
"Thanks again for helping me with this."
"Hey, I applied for the position, so of course I want to help!"
Yugi laughed, and she smiled. What kind small world was it, that she ended up teaching at the school where an old friend would come to study, and that he would end up being her graduate assistant? Of course, she had picked his application out immediately when she saw his name on the stack—she almost felt sorry for the other handful hopefuls who had applied alongside him. Who knew that the King of Games would have ever found sitting among dusty piles of books and research just as fascinating as she had?
He fumbled in his pocket for a moment to unhook the reading glasses and balance them on his nose as he flipped open the first book. She couldn't help but smile again over the top of her own book.
What a crazy world it is, where we keep meeting the people that mean so much to us no matter how far away we go, she thought.
He seemed to sense that she was looking at her, and his eyes lifted briefly from the page. For a moment, his sparkling purple eyes held hers. And then a smile broke over his face, and she smiled back.
They didn't have to say anything at all before they went back to their books. Sometimes the best words could be spoken in silence.
. . .
A/N: Honestly that could work? I'm finding so many ships I could get on board in this challenge haha. Next is Foreignshipping (Leon x Rebecca).
