~*~

*******Chapter Two********

The first hour class had been very uncomfortable. Yami had felt like Seto had been watching him the whole time, but then again, maybe he was just being paranoid. Well, better paranoid than not. He made a quick mental note to be careful after school, in case this kid was one to be feared. Seto didn't seem violent or hostile, but you could never tell, especially with the stoic ones. Once they put up a facade, it was impossible to tell their real thoughts and motivation. He saw Seto once or twice in the hallways between classes, and in his last class of the day (chemistry), but until an incident at lunch, the day passed uneventfully. Near the bathrooms, Yami heard the familiar sounds of a fight in the making. He sighed, knowing that he should probably just keep walking, but curiosity got the best of him. He went to investigate, finding a small group of burly sophomores ganging up on one small freshman boy, laughing at him and every now and then landing punches. 'Dammit,' Yami thought wearily as he pushed his way into the squall.

"Okay, guys. That's enough. Just go to lunch." He knew the pacifistic approach wouldn't work, but eh, it was worth a try. Not surprisingly, they only laughed at him. This was not a smart move on their parts. Feeling irked, Yami stepped in between the antagonists and their victim, who had tripped and sat cowering against the wall. As the boys' laughter intensified (apparently they found the idea of Yami fighting all four of them quite amusing), they made it clear that they had never heard any of "those" stories. 'Shit,' Yami said to himself. 'I've been letting my reputation slip.' He narrowed his eyes at the leader, a fat blond kid who didn't look smart enough to tie his own shoes.

"Alright, listen up, you mother fuckers," Yami hissed venomously. "Don't fuck with the freshmen, or anyone else, for that matter, because I will not stand for it." He noticed a tall man at the desk in the office, behind the transparent glass barrier. He smiled to himself.

"Or what, faggot?" The fat one countered, just serving to piss Yami off more. "You gon' tattle on us, er what?" His cronies laughed stupidly. Yami put on his best condescending smile.

"Oh, no, fatty mc-fatkins. I would nevmpff-" Yami's sentence got cut off as the fat one threw a hearty blow that connected directly with Yami's jaw. Fuck it hurt, but if things had gone as planned...

"MR. WEST, WHAT IN THE NAME OF GOD ARE YOU DOING?!?" Mr. Wheeler, the principal, stormed out of the office towards the conflict. Yami smirked, looking fairly sinister with blood on his teeth and hell in his eyes. Porky finally figured out that he had been set up.

"You miserable son-of-a-bitch!" he snarled, throwing another savage blow that landed on Yami's eye. Ok, that one had not been part of the plan. But whatever worked, because Mr. Wheeler was super pissed now, and he hauled the fat one away viciously. "You watch your fuckin' back, you piece uh shit gaywad!" the fat one screamed insults at Yami even as the principal yanked on his arm to shut him up. Dragging himself off the ground, Yami simply flipped him the finger before turning to the fat one's accomplices.

"Alright then," he addressed them, none of which were looking particularly brave now that they were leaderless. "Does anyone want to try me? Because I would be more than happy to beat the living shit out of you. And trust me, I could take all three of you at once. So? Whaddya say?" He smirked as they backed away nervously. "Good. I don't wanna have to get blood on my hands again." With that, they turned tail and fled. He chuckled quietly before turning to the little freshman, a short boy with long, dark, bushy hair who was trying to crawl unnoticed to the bathroom. "Come on," Yami said, hauling the boy to his feet and earning a look of sheer terror. "Don't worry, we'll go to the nurse." He tried to smile encouragingly, but his swollen lip, quickly blackening eye, and bloody teeth only terrified the boy further. He nodded violently, not wanting to anger this demonlike being. Aware that the boy was frightened, Yami attempted to put him at ease. "So,uh, what's your name?" he asked awkwarly. What? He wasn't exactly a social butterfly. He wasn't good at this kind of thing.

"M-Mokuba," the boy managed to squeak. Yami nodded.

"Good to meet you, Mokuba. I'm Yami." they walked in silence for a few moments before Mokuba let out a small noise that Yami almost missed. "What was that, Moku?" he asked, shortening

the boy's name to match his size. Mokuba flushed scarlet, stuttering in fear.

"T-t-thank you, Y-Yami," he managed to get out. Yami blinked in surprise. He didn't know how to respond to that. People didn't thank him. Ever.

"Uh, y-your w-w-welcome?" it was his turn to flush scarlet and stammer out a response. Unsure what to say after that, they made the rest of the journey in absolute silence. Although his speech was slurred from his swelling lip, and he could no longer see out of his left eye due to it being swollen shut, he felt awesome.

When Yami had made sure that Mokuba would be okay, he slipped out of the nurse's office as quickly and discreetly as possible. He didn't mind the school nurse herself, but he didn't like the idea of her trying to take care of him and being in his face so much. If he couldn't figure out how to take care of his injuries himself, then he probably deserved them. He did skip fifth hour, P.E, spending the hour in the bathroom, holding a cold towel to his eye instead. By the time the bell rang, signaling passing time, the swelling had gone down a bit, to the extent that he could see out of his eye once again. He sighed. It was best not to miss two classes in a row... and especially not chem. That class was a bitch even with perfect attendance and perfect notes.

As he walked through the hallway, a few people caught sight of his face, snickering and whispering, but most just ignored him. Upon entering the chemistry room, he shuffled to the desk in the front right-hand corner of the room. He had found that he preferred being in the front row as opposed to being in the back row, but not in the middle of the row. The teacher usually paid more attention to the back row, where all of the trouble makers sat, and since Yami was in the corner, the teachers rarely ever paid him any mind. Which was perfectly fine by him. As he was about to take his seat, a tall form appeared in front of him.

"Hello," the boy with the blue eyes from earlier said. What the hell did this guy want?

"Hi..." Yami replied skeptically. Surely this kid didn't want to be seen talking to him. He might not know it yet, but Yami knew that that would be the case sooner or later. Better to let him down now than to wait until it would hurt to lose his attention...

"I'm Seto Kaiba. You are...?" he held out his hand for Yami to shake. Yami pointedly averted his gaze.

"I-I'm Yami. Please, leave me alone." If Seto was taken back by the response, he didn't show it, merely nodding.

"Alright. It was good to meet you," he concluded pleasantly, making Yami feel slightly guilty.

"Uh- You too. Thanks." He wasn't sure how to respond to this kind of response. If he had gotten angry, and yelled at Yami, he would have been able to handle that, but this polite acceptance of it threw Yami. He sat down quickly, ignoring Seto for the rest of the hour, and rushing out of the room the second the bell rang. When he made it outside, he thought he was safe from uncomfortable conversations (or silences).

"Hey, Yami!" he turned toward the familiar voices, stopping dead in his tracks.

"Uh, hey, Mokuba. Hey, Seto."

~*~

Thanks for reading... suggestions are always welcome. Also, the more reviews in general I get, the better I will be able to figure this out...

:)