Nothing to say here except I hope you enjoy this chapter.
** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh but I do own James! **
There was a stir around school- a new kid was joining their class. Yugi listened to the excited chatter with listlessness, dawdling aimlessly on the notepad in front of him. A scraping sound brought his attention back to the present, as Joey pulled up a chair next to him and leaned in close.
"So, Yug'- this new kid who's joinin'… guess who he is!"
Yugi stared at Joey, wracking his brain for any memory that might lead him to a conclusion about the new student's identity. Apparently it was a 'he'? Yugi tapped his pencil against his lip and cocked his head at Joey. "I honestly don't know, Joe… who is it?"
"Guess!" Joey gave a sunny grin, wriggling in his seat, loving the game.
Yugi sighed. He had neither the interest nor the inclination to play around, but Joey could be as stubborn as an ox. "Fine, okay. Is it someone I should know?"
"You know of him," Joey replied wickedly.
This baffled Yugi further. Who did he know outside of school, who was young enough to still be at school? His brow furrowed with concentration, but it was beyond him- he just drew a mind blank. Shrugging, and now tired of the game, Yugi turned back to his notepad. "'Why don't you just tell me, Joey? I don't really care about who it is one way or the other." Out of the corner of his eye, Yugi saw Joey's face drop, and he mentally scolded himself for being so rude. His friend loved to play these sorts of games and usually Yugi would happily accommodate him; but lately, he had not been feeling very frivolous. That's no reason to make everybody else miserable though. Snap out of it!
Smiling wanly at Joey, Yugi continued, "I just know that you'll rope them into a Duel or interrogate them on their background anyway Joe', and I'll find out all about them then! So c'mon, are you going to tell me who it is, or make me wait like everybody else?" With a gently teasing nudge, Yugi brought the smile back to his blonde pal's face. That's better. Keep it up.
"Alright alright, I'll tell ya- it's Tristan's cousin, James! You remember how he came to visit Tristan?-" Yugi nodded at him to continue, his own eyebrows raised in mild interest- "yeh, well, his mum has decided to move closer to Tristan's pop, who is sick, or something… anyway, James is relocating to here! Pretty cool, right?" In his typical manner Joey managed to make an illness in the family sound like a minor detail.
Yugi pulled an expression to indicate that the gossip was suitably interesting. "Oh, wow, so we will all get to meet him. What's he like? Has Tristan said?"
"Nah, not so much, he's just a regular dude. Doesn't play Duel Monsters though-" at this, Joey pulled a mock-horrified face- "but Trist' reckons he's alright. Kinda quiet, and they don't look anything alike, apparently. He should arrive at lunch time, so he won't come to school today, but he might come meet us at the arcade later." With this, Joey launched himself to his feet, the gossip trail having been successfully passed along. Turning to walk away, Joey hesitated, before turning back to Yugi, his facial expression more sincere and tentative than earlier. "You never know, Yug'… a fresh face and all that… he might be just what you need to, ya know… move on a bit." With an embarrassed cough, Joey scampered out of the classroom, slapping Kaiba upside the head on the way past and eliciting a barrage of insults from the brunette, who had been deeply engrossed in his phone.
Yugi sat mutely, pondering Joey's last words. The blonde had been a rock to Yugi since Yami's departure, offering support, advice and just the company of friendship to his moping friend. He had largely avoided asking questions or mentioning the fight since the initial reactions to the news, and to mention Yami now obviously meant he was concerned about his shorter friend. Yugi sighed, realising that he hadn't fooled anybody with his act; clearly his disengagement was greater than he had thought.
Pulling himself out of his seat, Yugi packed up his belongings, his thoughts dark with images of his friends' concerned faces and feelings of pity. With disgust, he stomped out of the room, his footsteps earning him a scowl from Kaiba.
Standing by his locker, Yugi pondered his school books with no real interest, retrieving what he needed to bring with him for homework that night. His gaze was distracted, swirling with snatches of image and memory. Dark purple eyes. Yami's confident smile. His voice. Unbidden, Yugi sent out his mental probe again, as he would through the connection before it was severed. Yami. Come home. There was no answer, no ghost of a reply, but he couldn't help it; it had almost become second nature to seek out his partner whenever he could.
Suddenly, a cold prickling sensation trickled down Yugi's scalp. Turning, he yelped softly as Bakura's face sat inches from his own.
"Bakura! Gods, you scared me half to death! Can- can I help you with something?"
Bakura locked gazes with Yugi, his rich brown eyes narrowed with concentration. Scowling a little, he thrust his face further toward Yugi, making the smaller teen step back.
"That asshole returned to you yet, or what?" As Yugi opened his mouth to reply, Bakura continued, "No, stupid question; of course he hasn't. I can smell it on you. He's really gone, huh? I guess Yami got sick of babysitting you after all." Sniggering, the white haired teen moved backward, allowing Yugi space to breathe.
The blood thundered through Yugi's brain, making his teeth ache and his face feel like glass. It was a stupid, useless reaction to hearing his partner's name out loud; Yugi wanted to run, to hide, to get away from the thoughts and reactions that Yami's name evoked. Dimly, he was aware that blood was pounding in his ears, making him grit his teeth. He couldn't hear what Bakura said next; something about his eyes, but it did not matter. It would likely be unkind words anyway.
"Listen, Bakura, I don't want to hear it, ok? Can you just- can you just try for once in your life to not be so horrible? Stop teasing me, please!" Bakura blinked a few times with apparent surprise, before shrugging and turning away. "Sure thing, Small Fry. To be honest I'm impressed that you're pushing through like that. Ryou would be a gibbering mess without me!" with a delighted cackle, Bakura stalked down the hall, ignoring the nervous looks he received from the other students as he murmured to himself. He didn't care if his conversations with Ryou in the Ring made him look insane. He basically IS insane, I suppose, Yugi thought.
Walking along the footpath, Yugi made his way slowly toward the games arcade where Joey had arranged to meet him. Barely noticing the encroaching crispness in the air, Yugi kicked forlornly at leaves as they swirled in the breeze around him and settled on the ground, his mind wandering. Has that asshole returned to you yet? The question echoed in his thoughts, Bakura's sneering voice and cold flat eyes boring into his mind. Ryou would be a gibbering mess…
Coming to an abrupt stop, Yugi looked up into the sky, ignoring the disgruntled grumblings of other walkers as they had to avoid colliding with him as he pulled up. The sky was clear, only a few lazy clouds remaining, a rare break in the recent rains they had been having. It would be short-lived, Yugi knew; soon the rain would return, which would eventually become snow, and later, fully fledged winter.
Why, though, would Yami return to me? I'm the one who told him to leave. Yugi's eyebrows lowered and his eyes narrowed as he considered this. He isn't returning. He is probably enjoying life far more now that he's not stuck with me. I should be happy for him. Instead I'm moping about playing the victim! I'm amazed that Joey and the others are still even making time for me; I've been so miserable lately.
Yugi began to move again, slowly, his head down and his thoughts rapidly moving forward. He felt sick with shame and longing, embarrassment and loneliness. But foremost he felt angry; angry at himself, at Bakura, at his situation.
I have to snap out of this. I can't let people like Bakura continue to think I'm the victim. I'm not! I chose to send Yami away, even though I love him. That took a lot of strength! I'm done. I'm done with being the weak one! I have to move on, and- and get over Yami. And I have to be happy again, for my friends! As Yugi's pace increased, his face took on a grimly determined expression. I'll show that lousy Bakura what I think of him! I don't need Yami! I won't be a gibbering mess! I'll show him, alright!
The games arcade was bustling, as it always was after school let out. It was a small building, with a dated interior and dark lighting, but it had great vintage and modern games and cheap pizza, so the crew used it as their regular meeting point. Entering the dim room, Yugi immediately spotted Joey's mop of blonde hair over by the Whack-A-Mole, Tea and Duke also in attendance. They had pulled a small table up and had already ordered pizza and burgers for the others. Smiling fondling at his friends, Yugi pulled out a chair and watched as Joey smashed the poor plastic moles with his mallet, laughing loudly as he did so. Kaiba wasn't in attendance- despite softening considerably toward the gang since dating Joey, they had never been able to convince him to come to the arcade. "I do have to maintain some semblance of pride", Kaiba had sneered when pressed on why he never joined them.
"Heya, Yug'! you came!" Joey cheerfully bellowed, the game over and as the machine slowly churned out prize tickets. "Hey! Wanna play some air hockey?" Joey jiggled his pocket, the clanging of coins indicating that he was flush and willing to pay for this round. Laughing, Yugi shrugged and took his backpack off. "Sure thing, Joey. Although, I think you only like it so much because you always beat me!" Joey grinned in response and ushered his friend over to the air hockey table.
Much later, Yugi groaned as the puck slipped past his defence and disappeared into the slot in the table. With a clanging chime, the scoreboard declared Joey the winner, and Yugi threw his hands up with mock disgust. "Well, Joey, I think it's confirmed- I am terrible at this game!"
As Joey laughed in response, Yugi noticed that several people had gathered around to watch them play- Tea and Duke were chuckling at the thrashing Yugi had received, and he noticed that Ryou and Tristan had also arrived. Smiling in greeting, Yugi shook his head at Joey's pleading for a fifth and final game. "Sorry, Joe- I'm beat! I might have a bit of pizza and try you again later though!" As Yugi made his way back to the table, the rest of the crew followed, and soon they were squashed in around the table, joking and jostling one another cheerfully as they fought over the last pieces of pizza. With a sudden jolt of guilt, Yugi realised he was genuinely enjoying himself for the first time since Yami left. Wow- I must have really been a bore lately! Yugi marvelled.
Suddenly, Tristan jumped to his feet, an arm thrown above his head. "Oh hey, there he is- James! Hey- JAMES! Over here! The rest of the crew surged to their feet, their curiosity palpable. Yugi slowly stood too, however he could not see through the crush properly. He heard Tea murmur "ooh! He doesn't look a thing like Tristan!" and his levels of curiosity rose slightly.
"Guys, this is James. James, the gang. Lessee… This here's Joey, Duke, Tea… this is Ryou…" Yugi could hear James murmuring a greeting to each person as Tristan pointed them out. As the group slowly began to sit back down, Yugi could make out the stranger's hair- it was brown, like Tristan's, but very long, and shot through with strange silver streaks. He was shorter than Tristan, but still quite a bit taller than Yugi and Tea. Finally James stepped forward, his eyes sweeping the group with a mixture of shyness and friendliness, until they came to rest on Yugi, still standing.
Yugi's heart skipped.
James' eyes locked with his own and the teen stepped forward until he was facing Yugi. Dimly, Tristan was talking, "Oh yeah, and this is Yugi, James- Yugi Motou".
As Yugi stood, like a rabbit in headlights, James put out a long slender hand. His eyes narrowed slightly and an ironic grin split across his face. "Oh, I know who you are. I might not play Duel Monsters but everybody knows about the famous King of Games!" Yugi forced a smile and reached out to take the other teen's hand. A small fission ran up his arm as his flesh touched James's, and his face flushed pinkly in response, causing him to groan internally at himself.
James's grin widened, and he pulled Yugi slightly closer. Pitching his voice so that only the shorter teen could hear him, James murmured cheerfully, "I knew you'd be cute, from seeing you on TV, but you're far cuter than I thought you'd be. I am looking forward to getting to know you much better!" before releasing Yugi's hand and moving to sit down beside Tristan. Still standing, Yugi blinked numbly a few times. Suddenly noticing Ryou's slightly concerned stare, Yugi shook himself and took a seat, making sure he was positioned so that he could watch James out of the corner of his eye, his face still flaming from his earlier reaction.
There's something about him. I can't put my finger on it, but he feels almost… familiar. Not at all what I'd expect of Tristan's cousin! He watched as James laughed at one of Tea's jokes, watched as James took a bite of pizza, watched as James reclined in his chair as the gang chatted and laughed over one another. Objectively, Yugi supposed that James might be considered quite good looking.
Suddenly, James' eyes met his, causing Yugi to blush again and wriggle in his seat. James gave a very faint smile, before winking at Yugi.
With a sudden rush of excitement and terror, Yugi thought to himself, this is it. I can forget about… about Yami, with James. He seems interested in hanging out, and is nice. He is good looking too. The grim determination he suddenly felt made Yugi almost grimace physically. Yes- he will do.
He will do.
As the gang left the arcade, Tea walked home with Duke. Quietly, she said to the tall boy, "James is interesting, isn't he?... He seemed to be quite taken with Yugi." Duke walked quietly for a few seconds before replying. "Yeah, well, I didn't see Yugi batting him away, either. But then again, who can blame him? Did you see James?"
Tea nodded. "He was fairly cute, I suppose-"
Duke snorted in response. "I didn't mean that, and don't lie, you thought he was very cute-" he grinned as Tea opened her mouth to argue and continued- "but I more meant, I could see straight away why little Yugi was so taken with him. And the kicker is that I don't think Yugi even knows why himself! But, whoah- his eyes, man."
Understanding Duke's meaning, Tea shook her head, but in agreement. "I know. His eyes-"
Duke's voice was leaden. "His eyes were exactly the same purple as Yami's".