A/N: I seriously think this site hates me, and this story. It's only this story, too! My other one updates just fine. This one has given me nothing but trouble. Ugh. Anyway, enjoy!
To say the car ride over to the coffee shop was awkward would have been a sad misconception. This was not awkward. This was downright gauchely.
Other than the snide comments about Yugi's capability to drive, There's no way I'm riding with someone who probably can't even reach the foot petals, Atem had been silent for the majority of the car ride. Not that the car ride was exceedingly lengthy, but still. The absence of conversation was starting to make Yugi squirm, but he'd already attempted and failed miserably.
He stole a glance over at Atem, who had his elbow propped up on his door's passenger window, supporting his right cheek. The look on his face feigned boredom, but Yugi really didn't know him well enough to confirm that. His passenger gazed out the window, looking at the rolling clouds that had suddenly appeared without Yugi realizing. It was going to rain soon.
"Stop staring at me." Atem commanded halfheartedly.
Yugi's face blossomed a pink shade and he could feel his ears start to burn. "But I'm not-"
"This is the fourth time you've glanced over here and we haven't even been in the car for five minutes. Stop staring at me." Although Yugi technically couldn't see his eyes, he was pretty sure if he could, they would have rolled out of annoyance.
Yugi breathed out a meek, "...okay." And turned his full attention back to the street in front of him.
Damnit. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. He wanted to at least be civil with the boy, maybe even be - . Be what exactly? Friends?
He inwardly laughed at himself. Yeah, I guess that's what he did want. He wanted to be this asshole's friend. Maybe Atem was right, maybe there was something wrong with him.
But that want was there, and his wants could be very demanding when they wanted to be, even if the world around him didn't always succumb to his wishes.
Yugi turned on his signal and pulled into the coffee shop's driveway, the Java Cup. Atem eyed the building until they pulled into a space and got out heading for the entrance when he finally asked. "Where are we?"
Yugi beamed, proud of his favorite little lounge. "North of town, Java Cup. One of my favorite places for coffee. Only a few blocks over from where I live, actually." They got in line behind three other people and waited for their turn.
The look Atem gave him was one of unimpressed. "You live in the North Side, seriously? Next to living in Downtown, it's one of the richest areas of Domino." This he spoke out loud to Yugi, then,
"Of course you're a snobby rich kid, of course. Just my luck." He mumbled under his breath.
Yugi gawked at him, offended. "Uh, excuse you, this is the far North Side, and I live above my family's only source of income, which isn't a big one seeing as how nobody really wastes their precious time with games anymore. Like you of all people have the right to judge." That cut off the first attempt at conversation they had made. Once again, damnit.
Atem went silent and other than a grumbled "decaf latte" when asked what he wanted, he didn't talk until Yugi found a table in the far back facing a window and sat both of them down.
They both sipped their coffees in silence, Yugi not particularly mad about the rash comment from a few minutes ago, but still refusing to start a conversation, because truthfully, look at how far it had gotten him.
After about five to ten minutes of alternating his gaze between his drink to take a gulp, Atem and his contemplative expression as he again looked out the window, and the table when he realized he was staring, the other boy finally spoke up.
"I still don't get this."
Glad for the break in silence, Yugi perked up and answered back. "Get what?"
"This." He turned to look at Yugi and gave a gesture to the table in between them, showing what he meant. "I still don't get why you're doing this. It's stupid, if you ask me. All you did just now is waste six bucks."
Yugi, once again, defended himself. "It's not the way I was raised. If someone does something for you, especially something so drastic as save your life, you thank them any way you know how. I didn't really know what else to do. I mean we don't know each other -"
Atem immediately opened his mouth to cut him off. "You're right, we don't. You don't know a single thing about me."
"...but I could have easily been raped or murdered or whatever else those guys wanted to do to me, and you stopped them." Yugi continued his thought, ignoring Atem.
"I'm one of them!" Atem suddenly raised his voice and it shocked Yugi. The boy deflated back into his seat. "We don't know each other kid, you're right, but you're being a dumb ass. You obviously have some growing up to do if you can't distinguish between right and wrong. And this is wrong. Completely and utterly wrong."
Yugi had had enough. "Oh, just stop! You keep acting all dangerous and mean, but this," he waves his hand at Atem, "it's just a façade. Someone like that doesn't protect some stranger they don't even know. Twice. I'm trying to be nice and you're just being an ass. I wanted to be able to thank you, be civil. Maybe even become -"
"What, friends?" Atem questions with a snide tone. "Hah! What a naïve child."
"I have a name. My name is Yugi." Yugi seethes back. Then, suddenly, he took a deep breath, trying to calm down. After counting back from ten, a cliché technique his mother had taught him when he was younger, he blew out the breath he was holding. Surprisingly, Atem sat silently across the table, waiting for him to continue. His eyes were trained on him and his hands were unconsciously fidgeting with one of the napkins Yugi had picked up from the counter before they had gone to sit down.
Yugi sighed. "Look, you're here for a reason, aren't you? Let me answer that for you – yes. You are. And I'm going to be completely honest with you, I don't know why I'm doing this. There's something about you that I just can't put my finger on. But nonetheless, I want to be your friend. God only knows why. Deep down under that exterior of yours, there's a good person somewhere. Don't you get tired of hanging around thugs all the time? Being one?"
"I'm not your charity case. Stop acting like I need help. There's nothing wrong with me, I'm not broken. This isn't some dramatic thriller. This is real life. Cold, raw life. I don't need a hero." Atem clipped, voice void of emotion.
"And I never said I was trying to rescue you. I was offering my friendship. A change of pace from your everyday life. I know more about Millennium than you think I do."
Atem shot back a quick and simple, "No." No way in hell. He didn't want to be friends with this brat. What was he smoking?
Instead of saying anything, Yugi got up and walked off. Atem stared at his back in confusion. When he came back, he had a pen in his hand.
"What are you doing?"
Yugi still didn't answer. He picked up the napkin Atem had in front of him, the one he had been toying with, and unwrinkled it. Atem watched as he neatly scrawled ten numbers on it.
Finally he acknowledged Atem, looking him in the eyes and setting the napkin back in front of him. Then, without saying a word, he pulled out the chair he was sitting in, turned around, and walked out of the coffee shop.
When Atem realized what the scrawl was, a phone number, he stood up abruptly and shouted"Like hell!" but his yells earned him nothing but startled costumers around him. Yugi was gone.
Growling profanities at himself and the brat that worked his way into his head in such a short time, he mirrored Yugi and got up to walk out. Once at the door, he glanced at the trash bin on the same wall, crumpling the napkin for the second time, ready to aim it in. Instead, half way through, he changed his mind, looked at the ball in his hand, and pocketed it.
It was raining hard when he got outside. Home was fifteen miles away. He made his way to the Dart bus stop and prayed to a god he didn't believe in that he had some spare change in his pocket.
A resounding slam could be heard throughout the flat.
A crazy, gray haired young man with fierce, mischievous eyes and pale skin looked up from his place on the couch and sniggered. "Sounds like Princess is home."
The man the statement was directed at was behind the kitchen counter, chopping up vegetables. He also looked up at the sound and with the statement, wiped his hands on a rag close by. "Huh." He pondered, then turned his head slightly toward the area the sound designated from, listening.
Atem walked into the living area, drenched from head to toe. His hair hung limply, soaked. His face held the total opposite of amusement.
"You look like shit." the one with gray hair, Bakura, snorted. The man behind the counter, Marik, tried to hide the humongous grin on his face. Finally, he gave in, and laughed. "Bad day?"
Atem visibly rolled his eyes, not in the mood in the very least. "Fuck off." and stomped off toward an entrance off to the right of the kitchen. With a growl, he tells them "Going to take a shower." and left no other further discussion.
With another door slam, Marik winched dramatically, then went back to focusing on the vegetables in front of him. "What do you think?"
Bakura turned back to watching television and answered, disinterested. "Wet doesn't suit him?" He picked up his beer bottle from the coffee table beside him and took a sip. He could feel Marik's non-humored glare boring in to him. "Who cares? It's not like it's out of character for him."
"True." Marik agreed, and used a knife to push the cut up vegetables into a sizzling pan and that was the end of that.
After his shower, Atem locked himself in his bedroom. Once dressed, he picked up his wet jeans and fished out Yugi's napkin. Fearing the worst, he was right. The writing was smeared past recognition, and Atem couldn't make out the numbers at all. He sighed and flopped down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.
But why was he even checking? Why had he not thrown away the napkin when he had the chance?
God, how was this kid doing this? He had planted himself into Atem's brain and wouldn't let the brand go unnoticed. The whole ride home and three blocks on foot Atem spent repeating their conversation over and over in his head. Was it because he was right? That Atem wanted to be Yugi's friend?
That was ridiculous. Atem was part of the Millennium. A powerful member. Living with two other powerful members, the only real friends he had and needed, besides Kaiba. He was letting a short, annoying teenager toy with him. This wasn't how this shit worked.
He was nice. Atem was not. Their worlds contrasted, opposite sides of the spectrum. This little idiot believed he had the right to trespass into his. Yugi wanted to be his friend, for whatever reason Atem did not know.
He groaned at the sporadic thoughts invading his peace. He slid the pillow out from under his head and slammed it down over his face.
Oh, what the hell.
"So class, why was the 1920's important?" Mrs. Suzuki pushed her classes up higher onto her nose with a finger and waited expectantly for some one, any one, to give her something to work with.
Finally, someone's hand shot up for the back of the room. Mrs. Suzuki looked like she was about to have a seizure. "Ah! Yes, Jeremy! What can you tell me about this time period?" Fat chance. That kid didn't know the difference between a cup and a straw.
"Uhhh...yeaaaah. Isn't that when girls starting acting like sluts...and stuff? Yeah." Jeremy's face was one of pride. Her face immediately fell. Somewhere between her initial disappointment and chastising her student for not only using the word 'slut' in class, but also being completely off the board wrong, Yugi toned her out. He was so bored. Scanning at the world longingly out the window, his eyes suddenly jerked to a halt. There, under the shade of a tree in the school courtyard, stood Atem. Yugi instantly came back to his senses. This is certainly unexpected.
When the bell for class dismissed rang, Jou made his way over to Yugi's desk. Oblivious, Yugi attempted to shove the rest of his things into his bag in one go. His gaze remained outside. Why was he here?
When Jou made it to his best friend's desk, he awkwardly coughed in hopes to get his attention. Following his gaze outside, he set down the question he was going to ask in favor of a new one.
"Who is dat, Yug'?" He questioned.
"Oh, huh?" He looked up at Jou. "Oh, no one." Jou gives Yugi an odd look, but Yugi gives him his best smile back.
"So, what's up?" Jou pulled his eyes up from the window, his eyes furrowed, and remembers. "Oh, ya! Me an Anzu wanted ta know if you wanted ta go with the rest a us to Burger World tomorrow?"
"Oh yeah, totally!" Yugi confirmed, finally getting everything orderly in his back pack and throwing it over a shoulder. "Well I have to go, Jou. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?" And without waiting for an answer, Yugi rushed past him in a hurry for the door. Jou barely had time to blink, but said out to thick air, anyway. "Bye Yug'." That was odd. Yugi sure was acting strange lately. The other day and now this. Something was going on. He figured he'd have time to ask him about it that next day, and picked up the rest of his things to leave.
When Yugi got outside of the classroom, he practically ran to the front entrance. When he reached it though, he slowed, not wanting Atem to know just how shocked he was that he was here.
He exited the building and made his way over to the tree Atem was leaning on. With the best spiteful tone he could muster, even though he was anything but angry, he asked, "What are you doing here?"
Atem didn't look at him right away. His eyes stayed on the ground beside him until he looked up."I've thought about it, and yeah. Maybe something different would be nice."
"You mean...?" Yugi's fake spite turned into a dopey smile. Atem rolled his eyes.
"Don't think this means were friends. Or that I'm going to all of a sudden be a total annoying, overly joyed sap like you or anything. I just need something to do. Living with your friends tends to make it less enjoyable being around them all the time. I need something new."
But anything Atem said had little affect on his happiness. Without thinking, he extended his arm out to him, a gesture meant to symbolize starting over, "Yugi. Mouto Yugi."
For a few seconds, Atem just stared at it like back in the alleyway two days before. But then a miniscule smile, flashed and gone as fast as it had come, unnoticeable to any one not paying attention, and a handshake.
"Atem."