Chapter 2: Getting away with…peeing?
He fell down with a slight thud as he rubbed his face, his cheek stinging from the hard slap across the face. The still teary eyed teen looked up at Mariku and then back to Bakura, an unsettling fear sitting in the pit of his stomach. It was as clear as anything, the tension now growing in both of the older boys.
Out of nowhere, a loud and echoing smack filled the air, soon followed by a dark skinned teen hitting the floor. The impact from the hit wasn't what brought Mariku down, but more the fact he was caught off guard. Gulping in fear, Yugi scooted back as far as he could, till his back touched the wall again, sending chills, pain, and everything else through his body. He pulled his legs up, his knees now touching his chest. This wasn't going well. 'I just wanted to use the bathroom. Why this?'
Mariku got up off of the floor, his dark purple eyes flashing only a glimpse of the anger dancing through his blood. Bakura hit him, and with no real reason either. "What the fuck was that for?" Rubbing his left side of his face, the mere touching of his own hand sent chills down his arms. It felt numb, and tingling, not to mention different, as his best friend had never hit him before.
"What do you think? You told me to back off. I figured the phrase, 'pick on someone your own size,' might have come out of either your mouth or his. So I did." Bakura said, the cocky and smug tone melting with his voice with ease. "So you gonna kick my ass now, or you gonna beat the brat for making me hit you?" It was clear he was trying to get Mariku to hit Yugi, but would it work?
Yugi went to open his mouth, about to protest that he didn't make Bakura do anything that he didn't want to do. But his better judgment told him otherwise. For his sake, and possibly Mariku's.
"I'm gonna kick someone's ass alright," said Mariku, his eyebrows scrunched forward as he focused on the white haired male before him. Raising his right arm up, his fist was curled up tightly; ready to aim straight for Bakura's face. But just as he reared his arm back, a voice rang into the background, causing everyone to look at the source of the sound.
"What's going on here?" A slender man, with spiky hair, stood with his hands crossed over his chest in a way that almost demanded respect. Wearing black-rimmed glasses, along with a matching black chocker around his neck, gave the boy the sense of a Punk or Goth. Though that was far from the truth. Black shoes with black pants, with a purple shirt, and blue school uniform jacket finished his outfit, making this teen different then his 'brother.'
"Pharaoh." Bakura hissed, glaring deathly at the man. He gritted his teeth, his fist clenching tightly, as wanting to beat the life out of him. From the corner of his brown eyes, he spotted Mariku lowing his arm, his fist clenched tightly as the thief's. It was apparent that the trio didn't get along very well, but that had more to do with their history really.
"Atemu!" Yugi shouted, getting up with no hesitation to his Aibou's side. Almost twirling around, he grabbed at Atemu's waist, and hugged it tightly, almost tipping the man down. The boy shook slightly, more out of relief. He hated being around Bakura and Mariku too long, and it didn't help that he was merely a yard away from the bathroom, but with no means to use it.
A gentle smile greeted Yugi, as well as a pat on the head to let him know it was safe. "I don't like repeating myself, so I'd like an answer from either one of you." He stated, a deep voice that screamed arrogance and royalty pouring from his lips while his smile turned grim. Atemu tapped one of his feet in annoyance. Yugi was very much like a younger brother to him. They spent a lot of time with one another, and it grew a bond much like brothers would have. They even called each other the respective terms.
"Nothing, Pharaoh." Mariku said, not sure how he should go on with this conversation. It was obviously a lie that nothing was going on. He was attempting to hit Bakura square in the face, and Atemu had busted him doing so. "Nothing that concerns you any further." From the corner of his eye, the Egyptian could see Bakura glaring at Atemu, forgetting the fact that he almost pounded into Yugi. It was all about the Pharaoh now.
"Really?" He asked, feeling the shaking figure of Yugi directly behind him. The boy's reaction clearly stated otherwise, and he'd get the true story out of him later.
Suddenly a deep roar fell from Bakura's lips as he kicked backwards into the boy's bathroom door, causing a boy who was listening in on the fight on the other side of the door, to fall backwards on his rump. "You need to learn how to stay out of other people's business, Pharaoh!" Bakura shouted.
"If it involves Yugi, it's my concern." Atemu said defiantly back at the pale skinned male. "And from what I gather, it does." A death like silence filled the hallway. Moments passed when finally the bell rang, filling the air with something other than tension.
"Then collect your Hikari and go." Mariku replied, his voice dripping with annoyance and anger, as he was deprived of releasing it, the sounds of doors opening and releasing teenagers into the hallway overpowering him. "You should teach him it's not safe to walk the hallways alone." With that, Mariku turned around, shoving his hands into his pockets, and walked away, leaving the fight behind him.
"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" Bakura yelled after him, his attention drawn onto the Egyptian once again.
Turning around, and walking backwards as the hallways were still slightly empty, he smirked. "Figured I'd give the teacher a heart attack and show up for class on time." He gave a mock salute to the trio, and turned around, walking to his classroom. Turning the corner, he was lost to the masses of students flooding the hallways.
Bakura just growled, then faced both Atemu and Yugi. "You live…for now." He stated, as he turned and walked in the opposite direction.
Large purple eyes were wide in slight confusion. Yugi wasn't quite sure how to take the scene that unraveled before him. Watching the tan backside of Mariku walk off was kinda cool in his eyes. It was like a hero walking away from battle, a cool demeanor dancing around him, the aura of cool that simply embraced him. Then his eyes looked up at the backside of Bakura, and he could feel the anger behind the words. It was obvious that he wasn't going to get away with his show of backbone; Bakura was making that a point.
Without saying a word, the small teen hugged Atemu around his waist, and bolted off, almost slamming into the crowd of people. Hearing his name coming from his Yami, he ignored it, with only one thing in his mind and that was to thank Mariku. Sure the dark skinned male was close to beating him down, or at least watching and doing nothing about it. But in the end, he showed a glimmer of kindness, and that's all Yugi wanted. In that brief moment that Mariku showed he cared, if that's what you wanted to call it, the chibi felt safe, which was odd, especially if it was because of the Egyptian.
Atemu stood in the hallway, dumbfounded. He didn't know what to do just then as fellow students walked past him, bumping into him every which way. Pushing the black-rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose, the taller of the two 'brothers' slide his way to the side, near the bathrooms. Waiting until things thinned out in the hall, Atemu just bided his time. What was up with Yugi? Why was he chasing after Mariku? From he saw the guy was about to hit him, so why go after him? Slightly confused at his musings, Honda randomly popped up, with a backpack and a slip of paper.
"Sup?" He asked, grinning at the pharaoh. "Listen, I obviously don't have much time, but if you see Yugi, give him this. He left his stuff when he went to use the bathroom. Oh and here's his detention slip. Yugi has to pick the date. Later." Honda spoke quickly before dodging back into the traffic that was high school madness.
"Wait, detention? What's going on?" But before Atemu could get an answer, Honda was seen laughing with Jou's sister, the pair flirting with one another. Sighing, he figured that he'd spot Yugi, since he and Mariku shared the next class. Slugging the black backpack over his shoulders, he followed after his Hikari.
Random thoughts ran through Yugi's mind as he tried to chase after Mariku. He tried to argue with himself that he was insane to try and talk to the other male. His inner self even went as far as to remind himself that Mariku was insane. So why was he bothering to find the Egyptian? Easy; to say thank you to his 'savior'. Well one of many.
Since he was slender and small in height, it was easy for Yugi to slip in and out of the traffic, dodging book-bags and arms swinging around, like gorillas on parade. Though in the large crowd, as it began to thin out for it neared the class start time, large sand colored spikes were seen almost floating in the hallway. 'Only two minutes,' he thought. 'Should I continue on?' With his resolve in check, Yugi moved forward, sure of himself and in what he was about to do.
Mariku yawned, bored out of his mind. He was once again robbed of his fun. As much as he liked Bakura, the thief got annoying after a while, and sometimes didn't know when to stop. Yugi was just a brat, nothing more, nothing less. He looked the pharaoh, but was nothing like him. Except when he held that small fire in his eyes; the eyes that told you that he'd win, no matter what. That was one thing he admired about Yugi. What? Admire? Did he just think that?
A loud yet squeaky voice called out his name, breaking the Egyptian out of his thoughts. Pausing in mid step, Mariku turned around, being greeted by a strange sight. It was Yugi, out of breath, and bent over, hands resting on his knees as he panted. 'Was he running after me?' He asked himself, not sure if he wanted to know the answer or not. "What do you want?"
Yugi took a moment to gather his breath. Mariku was much taller than him, thus making one step of Mariku's equaling about four of Yugi's. "I just wanted…to thank you…" He panted out; standing up straight now, though a pain in his side was growing. "You didn't have to help…but you tried to. I just…I don't know if you meant to or not, but…thank you anyway…And I'm sorry that he hit you...because of me." Purple eyes shined slightly, trying their best to show they meant the truth.
Two pairs of purple eyes locked onto one another, and it felt like time froze. Suddenly the shorter of the two blushed, looking down. Fingers found the bottom of his shirt entertaining, and eyes found the floor more interesting.
Mariku quirked up an eyebrow. "Um, sure. Don't mention it." 'Why is Yugi blushing like that? Is there a cute girl nearby? Looking around, he didn't find anyone that was interesting enough, and merely shrugged it off. "Later, short stuff." Turning to leave, the Egyptian yawned again until he felt a tug on the bottom of his uniform jacket. Looking down, he spotted a small thin hand grabbing at it, much like a young child would grab a father's shirt. "What now?"
Yugi cleared his throat and looked up, blushing a bit still, but not as bad as before. "Here. Take this." The chibi dug into his jacket pockets, and pulled out a $20 bill. "Take it. Please?" Large child like eyes looked into Mariku's eyes, pleading with him to take the money as a token of gratitude.
Mariku blinked at the chibi, perplexed at what to do now. "Uh…" Was all that came out of his mouth. What was he suppose to say now? Then it came to him. "Shorty, Bakura didn't take your money, so why will I?"
"Because it's a gift. And you can't refuse a gift, can you?"
A deep chuckle fell from light tan lips, curling the corners into a smile. A large dark hand reached down and ruffled through thick black and golden locks. "Keep it. I don't need it, really. Now if you don't mind, I have a heart attack to give." Laughing, Mariku tugged his jacket free and went on his merry way to class, actually whistling as he did so. 'Yugi can be so cute sometimes.' He thought.
A dumbfounded looked was on Yugi's pale face, not sure on how to handle what just happened. 'Mariku just…ruffled my hair?' His inner voice said, confused and bewildered. 'Nah, that's not possible…is it? Well of course it is, it just happened.' Recalling back, the chibi could have swore he saw a smile pulling at the corners of light brown lips. 'And he smiled at me.' For some odd reason, this thought gave Yugi chills, but not in the bad way. Goosebumps trailed up and down his arms, as the warm feeling of butterflies danced on the inside of his stomach.
Suddenly feeling giddy, Yugi giggled and turned around, bumping into a tall slender figure. His first thought was Bakura, and so the small boy put his arms up to cover his face. But a gentle voice spoke instead. "Hikari, it's me."
"Atemu?" Asked a confused Yugi Moto. Looking up, he saw that it was Atemu and he quickly straightened his posture. "Thanks for saving me! Oh and give this to Mariku. Love you bye!" He bolted to his next class after shoving the $20 in his Aibou's hand.
"Wait, Yugi! Your stuff!" Atemu shouted to the retreating figure, causing the boy to stop in his tracks and go back the way he came. "What's going on? Why are you all red in the face? Did Mariku or Bakura get you?" So many questions yet so little time. It was about a minute left before the bell rang.
"No, he didn't. I don't know, and I'm sorry but I'm in a rush. I have to pee." Yugi grabbed his things quickly and ran straight down the hallway to the bathroom where the headache all started. He needed to go, and damn if he went in his pants.
Leaving Atemu alone again with nothing but a raised eyebrow, the pharaoh thought on what his younger 'brother' asked of him. Why would Yugi want to give Mariku his lunch money? Why was he red in the face? And what was with that odd little smile on the pale face? Looking down into his hand, his purple eyes stared at the face on the $20 bill, beginning to be lost in thought as the school bell rang.
"Mister Moto, if you please, enter your classroom. Unless there is something more interesting out in the hallway," his science teacher said, thick turtle glasses to match with a round baldhead.
"Hai." Atemu looked back in the direction his Hikari went, then down the hallway and to the left, going to the same history class he shared with Mariku.
Mariku-san: Well here it is, the awaited chapter of lore. Hard to believe after how many years, it's finally updated. I've typed out chapters, 3-6, so I'm working on editing and adding more. Sorry each of them is so short. I'm actually making them a lot longer than they originally are. But the smut chapters will be long. Promise. R&R and all that jazz. Flame if you want, but you won't discourage me. It's called FANfiction for a reason. Meaning I can do just about anything I want.