Hi again, everybody! Much joy--I actually got reviews right away after posting! Very exciting…though actually, I have no idea when I usually get a first review for a chapter….oh well. Maybe I'm just happy. Whatever.

Disclaimer: same as before, no real changes….

To all reviewers: Thank you so much for reviewing! It's so…happy to come online and see that I have a review….

To all people who wish to review anonymously: It is now against the rules to answer reviews in the chapter…sorry! So if you want a response, leave an email address (or log in if you have an account); I do read all reviews, though! Even if I can't answer them anymore…

I do apologize for the late update! Our computer completely busted—we had to replace the hard drive—so I've been trying to get all my files back to normal. Not an easy task….especially since the rest of my family is trying to do the same (we only have one computer, so between my brother's homework and mine, plus stuff our parents have to do, there's not that much time that the computer's free; I get about half of that, because my brother likes computer games and claims the other half of the time. In fact, he probably gets more time, due to my high homework levels. Oh well…) Plus I've had massive writer's block. Which is unhelpful. AND EXAMS ARE COMING! AHHH! Okay, random outburst is over.

The few translations go: Japanese (English translation).

Chapter 5

Even though they were walking slowly, Yugi and Ryou soon reached the Kame Game Shop. They entered, seeing Yugi's grandfather behind the shop's counter. Looking up at the pair, the old man smiled, saying, "Oh, hello, Ryou. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Smiling, the teen replied, "Yes, I suppose so. How have you been?" Of course, this was formal polite stuff, but whatever…the man must have been in his fifties at least, after all. It was just…normal to be polite to a person that much older than you. At least, for Ryou it was.

Soon after, the two friends went upstairs to Yugi's room. Catching up on what had happened over break, they simply sat and talked for an hour or so before Yugi asked, "Hey Ryou?"

Looking over at his friend, the pale hikari replied, "Yes?"

Looking slightly uncomfortable, the shorter boy said, "I never really got a chance to get to know Malik after Battle City, and it looks like you're good friends. What's he like?"

Ryou blushed, wondering what Yugi would think if he knew just how close he was to Malik. "Well…he's nice….and….thoughtful. Battle City was mostly his yami's fault, I think. He's not the kind of person who'd want to take over the world, or really to hurt anyone, unless they were threatening someone he cared about." Smiling slightly, the pale teen continued, "He'd really like to make friends here….but I think he's afraid people will hold what happened in Battle City against him. Anzu really didn't help with that…"

Yugi smiled slightly. "He sounds like a nice guy." Now almost smirking (though no hikari, it seemed, could smirk effectively…), the short teen asked, "So why are you blushing, then?"

Looking up suddenly, Ryou turned bright red as he exclaimed, "Wha--I--" Biting his lower lip, he looked down again. "I…" He sighed.

He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Glancing over at his friend, Ryou saw his friend's gentle smile. "You can tell me. Don't worry so much." Looking down, the pale teen muttered under his breath, quietly enough that Yugi couldn't hear a word. Looking confused, the younger teen asked, "What was that again?"

Ryou, still barely audible, whispered, "We're dating." He had no idea how his friend would react to that news; quite frankly, he hadn't even told the others that he was gay, much less dating. Despite what he'd told Malik before school, he had no idea how his friends would react to finding out….

However, Yugi's reaction surprised him. "Really? That's great!" the shorter teen exclaimed. "I mean…I'm happy for you." He smiled. "I hope it works out well!"

A small smile appearing on his face as he stared at his friend, Ryou sank into a slight state of shock. Yugi didn't even seem especially surprised by all this…though perhaps that was a good thing. "Thank you, Yugi," he said, smiling happily. Then he glanced outside. Startled, the teen exclaimed, "Oh my! It's getting dark already. I'd better head home." As he walked away from the Kame Game Shop, he whispered, "Thanks for understanding, Yugi."

()()(The Next Day)()()

Ryou arrived at school early, as usual. Looking around, he saw a few people standing around; most of them were talking to friends or flipping through notebooks. However, he didn't see any of his friends yet. Sighing, the teen walked over to a nearby bench and sat down, pulling out a book.

Suddenly a group of boys came over to him, surrounding the bench. They looked only a little older than Ryou, but were obviously much stronger. Glancing up, the young teen asked, "Can I help you?"

The leader, who stood directly in front of the young teen, smirked. "All alone, are you?" he asked in a mocking tone. Ryou flinched slightly, startled by the older teen's words. Looking around, he saw only a wall of people closing in around him. He whimpered slightly as he was pulled upright, the first punch hitting his shoulder.

Suddenly the attacks stopped and Ryou felt someone pick him up from where he'd fallen; someone was holding him. Looking up slowly, he found himself staring into his boyfriend's lilac eyes. Malik smiled slightly, obviously relieved, as the younger teen relaxed against him.

"Shh, baby…it's OK, I'm here now, it's all right…." The Egyptian whispered, rocking slightly as Ryou curled into his chest. He could tell that the younger teen wasn't too badly hurt physically, but worried anyways. Well, that was kind of his job, wasn't it?

Neither of them noticed the group of people standing behind them.

Jou stared the pair, his mouth seeming like that of a fish out of water; gasping, but unable to make a sound. Yugi quietly covered it up and dragged his friends (minus Anzu, remember…) over to the other side of the schoolyard before letting the golden-haired teen speak. Said teen immediately exploded, having finally grasped what he'd seen. "Wha—Yug, they were…were…oh, geez." Hearing Yugi's giggle, Jou asked, "What's so funny? I mean, they aren't…ya know…together, are they? I mean, I didn't think Ryou swung that way…" Yugi simply smiled, which caused Jou's eyes to bug out in shock. "They ARE? Wha—since when?"

The shorter teen couldn't help but giggle as he answered, "I think most of the summer. Ryou only told me yesterday, though, so I'm not sure." Noticing that Honda hadn't said a word yet, he poked the teen.

Shaking his head, the spiky-haired boy exclaimed, "They're….what? Wait…Ryou's gay?"

Yugi just groaned and shook his head in defeat.

()()(Back to Ryou and Malik)()()

Huddled close against his boyfriend's chest, Ryou calmed down quickly. 'This is comfortable,' he thought. However, it was getting late enough for other people to start arriving, so he slowly pulled away, smiling at the Egyptian to let him know he was all right. Standing up, the pair walked into the school and towards their first class.

As they walked in, Ryou noticed his friends watching them. Yugi seemed to be trying not to laugh, while Jou and Honda were trying to look like they weren't staring. Overall, it was rather unnerving. However, the bell was ringing, so he walked over to his seat and sat down.

This was one of the most boring classes of the entire day. Not only was it hard to concentrate in math, but the teacher tended to drone on and on, not noticing when the students began to fall asleep. It also didn't help that this was first period, so no one was really fully awake anyways….suddenly a note landed on his desk, causing the pale teen to wake up fully. Looking around, he saw the teacher hadn't noticed, so he opened it.

Hey buddy

So, what's it like to hug another guy?

Jou

The young teen gasped, blushing brightly as he stared at the piece of paper. He glanced over at his friend, who was staring a little too intently at the chalkboard, before tearing a piece pf paper out of his notebook and beginning to write.

Jou

I'm not sure I understand what you mean…could you

be more specific, if it's not a problem?

'Better to find out what's going on before freaking out completely,' Ryou thought as he passed the note back to the blonde teen. Watching the blonde out of the corner of his eye, he saw some kind of mix between embarrassment, apprehension, and general uncomfortableness cross his face. Confused even more, he looked over at Yugi, who sat a few seats behind him. The short teen was still holding back giggles, but he began to write as well. Soon a fairly large sheet of paper (larger than Jou's, at least) landed on his desk.

If I'm not mistaken, Jou's probably asking about something we happened to see earlier…if you get what I mean. Maybe hugging in the middle of the school isn't such a great way to hide a relationship! . No harm meant—but after that I kind of had to explain a little…you know those two, they can be as dense as trees sometimes.

Yugi

Ryou's eyes widened in astonishment and embarrassment as he read. 'They—they saw…oh, kami-sama…' He groaned softly, resting his head in his hands.

By the end of the class, Yugi was giggling uncontrollably, Ryou was blushing hard, and Malik was extremely confused. Jou and Honda looked slightly less dazed than before, but both were still staring at Ryou and Malik, which was still rather unnerving.

The Egyptian ended up walking close to Ryou, trying to find a chance to ask what was going on. Unfortunately, they were heading for different classes, so Malik was forced to stop questioning his boyfriend.

()()(later)()()

When lunchtime finally arrived, Malik walked into the cafeteria, searching the large, crowded room for someone he knew. He saw Yugi's noticeable hair halfway across the room and began to push his way towards him; the others would probably be nearby. As he walked up to them, Ryou turned around and smiled at him, scooting over to make some space.

Sitting down, he felt his boyfriend lean into him. Glancing down at him, confused, he saw the other boy relaxing against him, still talking to his friends. 'Weren't we not saying anything just yet?' he thought. 'He's gonna give it away…'

Suddenly, Ryou looked up at him, still smiling. He giggled slightly at Malik's baffled expression, then leaned up and whispered in his ear, "Is something up? You seem confused."

The Egyptian couldn't help but smile at his boyfriend, and whispered back, "You know, your friends are going to assume something with you acting like this." He was surprised to hear the pale hikari laugh.

"I forgot, no one told you, did they?" Malik looked even more confused than before. Smiling somewhat sheepishly, Ryou continued, "They kind of…saw us this morning…so yeah. They figured it out."

Malik blinked. "Oh. Well. In that case…" He smiled as he wrapped an arm around the hikari, who simply relaxed against his chest. "No wonder Jou and Honda kept staring at us…"

Ryou just laughed softly. "They're still kind of in shock."

()()(the next day)()()

School was over for the day and everyone had gathered at Yugi's home. Well, almost everyone—Tea was at work and Bakura avoided anything to do with Yami like the plague. But other than that, everyone.

As usual, Jou and Honda were busy plundering the fridge and Yami and Seto, who had been dragged along by Mokuba (and the promise of another chance to beat his arch-rival), were dueling. Malik and Ryou were sitting on the sofa, talking to Yugi, who was sitting in a chair nearby.

Suddenly, in the middle of a conversation about schoolwork, Yugi's eyes lit up. "You know what we should do?" he asked.

Ryou and Malik looked at each other. They looked back at Yugi. "That was random…but no, what?"

"We should have a party!" the short teen chirped. (A/N: Can't you just imagine Yugi chirping? Kawaii! Ok, sorry, randomness…) "We can have everyone come over and play games and stuff. It'll be fun!"

Ryou smiled, saying brightly, "That's a wonderful idea! But it should be on a weekend, not when we have school the next day."

The short hikari was bouncing in his chair now, excited. "This weekend! To celebrate surviving the start of school!"

Just then Jou walked over. "Who says we're gonna survive?" he asked, smiling.

"Good point." Malik joined in the conversation, continuing, "It's a good reason to party, though." Ryou elbowed him gently, whispering that it was only the first week. The Egyptian pouted slightly before replying, "So? It's still a good reason!" Ryou just smiled gently and rolled his eyes.

"Well, the weekend it is then. Whose house?" he asked. "Not mine—I can't keep up with the rate Bakura destroys appliances. We're currently without a microwave or vacuum." This drew some laughter from the others.

Suddenly Mokuba drew his attention away from the duel long enough to say, "How about our house?" Seto groaned. "Please, nii-sama?" the raven-haired boy asked, turning on the dreaded puppy-dog eyes.

Without looking up (apparently he had learned how to handle Mokuba's methods of persuasion), the CEO replied, "No." Mokuba pouted. "Still no." The boy leaned over and whispered something to his older brother (A/N: please insert random blackmail of your own choosing here). Seto immediately looked up and glared at his otouto (younger brother). "Fine," he agreed with a sigh, looking back down at his cards. "But if anything gets wrecked it won't happen again." The boy jumped up, grinning.

"Well, that's settled then. Kaiba's place at…umm…" Jou said.

"How about 4 on Saturday?" Ryou asked.

"At 4 on Saturday!" Jou finished triumphantly. Seto shook his head, muttering something about not usually letting dogs in the house.

()()(end chapter)()()

All right, people. Sorry again for the long wait and shorter chapter! I will try to post the party chapter ASAP. Yes, we will be skipping to that. I can't write more school, I used up all my ideas for that for now. Fact, this story in general may be slowing down, because I don't have much planned out after the next chapter or two…but anyways. Please read and, as always, reviews are much appreciated!

Arigato gozaimasu! (Many thanks!)