A/N: Warning! Hints of yaoi ahead. Actually more than hints, but whatever, I love angstshipping, it's completely adorable in my opinion so I'm sorry if offends some people but this story is still a revolutionshipping story, so don't worry to people who aren't a fan of angstshipping, I'm sure you can mostly ignore it if you really dislike it although that would make me very sad :(
DEDICATION: This chapter is for Sarah Darkotter who is not only an awesome reviewer but also was nice enough to give me 100 pounds of milk chocolate :D How awesome is that? Very awesome! Thank you, this one is all yours! (Hope you like angstshipping...)
Disclaimer: Not Mine!
"Sorry! Yuugi insisted on talking to me," She said, quickly striding to the centre of the room where she started stretching alongside him.
"What about?" Marik asked casually and she flicked her hair back with a sigh.
"He figured out that I like Mutou-san. So did Miho...and apparently Bakura-kun knows too! How do I get myself in these situations?" She exclaimed, raising her hands then letting them fall again.
"You should relax," He advised.
"I know, I know, it'll make me stiff when I dance," She mumbled and he actually laughed a little. It was quiet and barely audible but she definitely heard it, giving him a surprised look. He avoided her gaze but there was a smile on his face. Evidently he found it amusing that she knew him well enough to quote him.
"That's not what I meant. We're not practicing today." She stopped stretching, a baffled look on her face.
"You don't want to practice?" She asked disbelievingly. There was no way Marik didn't want to practice! Dance was his whole life!
"It's not that I don't want to, I just have an interview for a new job."
"You have time for three?" He shook his head, straightening with a regretful sigh.
"I do this every year when I have dance. During exams I get a third job and work a couple shifts until I get fired for skipping work to practice but meanwhile I make some extra cash," His voice was emotionless but he didn't seem particularly happy about it.
"Well...good luck..." She said doubtfully and he just shrugged, turning towards the change room door.
"Oh! Marik-kun!" She called, remembering what she wanted to ask him earlier. He paused raising an eyebrow at her to continue.
"Um...well...it's just...Mutou-san did me a favour of sorts before and I wanted to return it with a gift of some kind but I have no idea what sort of gift that would be. Do you have any experience with that sort of thing?"
He looked surprised by the request but didn't embarrass her by pressing for information. It was one of the things she admired about him. He respected other people's privacy.
"Well I wouldn't call it experience but...flowers are often considered a gift of gratitude and respect. In your case I would suggest a single rose," Marik said hesitantly, feigning innocence quite well.
"Why?" She asked suspiciously and he could help another small laugh. Perhaps his acting wasn't quite so good after all.
"Because I can smell how much you like him from here, and roses are romantic," He said over his shoulder then quickly escaped into the change room as she started ranting at him once again.
Closing the door with a relieved sigh, he looked up and was both surprised and embarrassed to see another young man in there, wearing just his boxers.
"Um...I can leave and wait for you to finish," He offered quickly, willing to take Anzu's rage over his joke any day over the uncomfortable looks that screamed 'queer' whenever he entered the change room. It wasn't that he was afraid of being judged, he didn't care what people thought about him personally, he just didn't like to be stared at or for others to feel he was staring at them.
Every second he was in there he felt like he had to watch his every move in case someone thought he was hitting on them.
"No, I don't care," Said the other guy with a shrug, looking away from him nonchalantly as he grabbed his jeans and put them on, not in a rushed way but in a you-can-stare-or-not-whatever-floats-your-boat kind of way.
Marik recognized him from class and knew exactly why he hadn't noticed him coming or going. Ryou Bakura, despite his shocking white hair and soulful brown eyes, was 'the nice guy' non-judgmental, a classic friendly nature who many girls found attractive with his feminine looks and graceful attitude.
Choosing not to stare thank-you-very-much-I-am-not-a-man-whore Marik put his bag down on the bench, quickly peeling off his body suit and changing into a pair of dress pants and a lilac coloured button down shirt. Picking up the crumpled tie that Ishizu had insisted he wear he looked at it doubtfully.
How in the world did you go about tying this thing without choking yourself?
"You have no idea how to put that on, do you?" A soft voice asked, floating across the room from the other corner. Turning around Marik willed himself to think of something slightly better than his usual antisocial response but ended up with a simple, miserable, "No."
Ugh! The words never came out right! He turned away again, mentally slapping himself for trying to break out of his shyness even knowing it would fail when he heard the footsteps approaching from the other side of the room.
He turned in time to see the shorter and smaller boy with his sweet smile on his face padding towards him on bare feet, his snow white shirt which matched his hair still unbuttoned at the top.
Stop! Stop noticing!
Marik ordered himself, looking anywhere but at the other boy. His first time in a change room with another human being in months and he was already trying to get himself thrown out as a 'fag'. He shuddered internally at the derogatory term.
Well not being able to tie a tie had to count for something right?
"Here, let me help you," Bakura offered, holding out his hand for the material. Without thinking Marik handed it over, just the same as he would have to Ishizu. He didn't really think about what he'd done until after the other boy had slung that material around his neck and started tying with lithe pale fingers.
Wow, when did he get so close?
Marik felt the temperature from his neck up shoot through the roof and knew he must be blushing. How was that for awkward? The one guy who never judged him helps him out and...and...He was helping him out.
He was tying his tie for him.
Even though they were basically strangers.
Marik felt a little like he was waterlogged but he couldn't get over the fact that someone could be so...so...
"Done!" Ryou Bakura said cheerfully, stepping back respectfully.
"Thank you..." Marik mumbled, feeling pathetic. Well it was a totally pathetic response. He was the best and most confident dancer in the school and all he had in the way of socializing was 'thank you'.
"Are you...going somewhere special?" Bakura questioned after a moment as he walked away, gathering his dance clothes into his bag. Marik startled out of his silent suicide and realized he was doing it again.
Standing. And staring. At another guy.
This was why he didn't go into change rooms anymore.
"I have an interview," He said, the longest sentence he had managed so far.
"Oh, well, good luck, I'll have to find out how it went tomorrow!" The white haired boy faltered in his steps then suddenly blushed, the scarlet colour very clear against his creamy cheeks.
"N-not that I make a habit of meeting guys in change rooms after class...I meant I would find out tomorrow in class," He said quickly, glancing at the blond nervously and Marik sighed quietly to himself, looking away again respectfully.
Of course, he had to make sure that they were very clear that there was only one not-so-straight boy in the room. Why did everyone assume that because he was bisexual it meant he was automatically in the 'mood for men' when he was with other men?
"Don't worry about it, I'll see you in class tomorrow," Marik said shortly, cutting to the chase to avoid the awkward beating around the bush.
"R-really? I mean, um, sure!" The other guy tripped over his words sounding like a very awkward younger child for a moment then shook it off, disappearing out the door. Marik stared after him confused.
What just happened...?
...
"Moshi-moshi?"
"Hey, Yuugi-kun," She said nervously staring at the rows of flowers in front of her.
"Oh, hey Anzu! What's up?" He asked and she shifted uncomfortably, not quite sure what to say.
"Well...it's about Mutou-san..."
"You mean your crush on him?" Yuugi questioned good naturedly and she already regretted calling him.
"Yah, it's just, he's been so helpful especially with helping me get to know Marik-kun better so I wanted to thank him and I thought it might be nice to buy him a flower, you know, in thanks, but I have no idea what he'd want," She blurted, just getting it over with as quickly as she could.
"Wait, you're buying my cousin flowers?" He demanded and she sighed into the phone.
"Yes Yuugi, I'm buying my teacher assistant flowers as a thank you," She stressed and he just laughed.
"Right, because he's just a teacher's assistant," He teased and she rolled her eyes.
"Please Yuugi?" She begged and he tried to muffle his laughter.
"He doesn't know how lucky he is. I don't know anyone else who would put up with his grouching Anzu," He said in affirmation.
"Yuugi, flowers, remember?" She insisted, utterly embarrassed by the strange conversation.
"Fine, fine," He said becoming serious again. "Well...um...I don't know much about flowers but a rose might be kind of weird if you're trying to pass it off as 'friendly'," He couldn't resist a small jibe and she rolled her eyes.
"Already had that pointed out to me," She mumbled.
"I would get him something unique, you know something special. It shows you care about him while not being too...weird," He said thoughtfully and she couldn't help smiling as she caught sight of exactly what he was describing.
"Thanks Yuugi," She whispered.
...
The doorbell rang again insistently and Yami dragged himself over to the door, blinking painfully as the sunlight shone in along with a million watt smile from his younger 'cousin'.
"Morning Yami!" He shouted way too cheerfully for seven o clock on a Sunday morning.
"How can you be awake so Ra damned early..." Was all he mumbled, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Yuugi viewed his wardrobe critically, noticing from the rumpled state of his clothes that he had probably slept in them.
"You know, you wouldn't be so tired if you didn't go to bed so late," He criticised and Yami just shrugged, yawning.
"That's what happens when you have to work, aibou," He said to his former partner.
"Well, flower for your trouble?" Yuugi offered with another bright smile, offering him the three blue tinted purple flowers tied together by a chocolate brown ribbon.
"Very funny," The older Mutou growled, still unhappy about being woken up. Yuugi hadn't been lying when he said Anzu was probably the only person who could put up with him. His mood swings were worse than a girls!
"Come back less early if you want your grades raised," He said half jokingly and went to close the door but Yuugi held a hand out to stop him.
"No really, I'm serious this time, the flowers are a present for your troubles, just not from me," He said quickly and Yami finally hesitated, looking at the flowers closer this time. They were quite beautiful, appearing sky blue in the centre then spreading to dark blue and then a bluish purple in the tips.
"Who're they from then?" He asked suspiciously, still staring at the flowers.
"Well, she's a student of yours after school...you gave her some advice that worked out well for her and she was extremely grateful so she wanted to give you a gift in return...she's a dancer..." Yami blinked in surprise, knowing only one person that that could be.
"Mazaki-chan?" He asked curiously to confirm and Yuugi sniggered a little as he nodded though Yami ignored it.
"Mazaki-chan huh? Guess you guys are getting kind of close..." Yuugi trailed of suggestively and Yami gave him a strange look.
"We're not that close, I'm still her teacher after all," He said quickly but Yuugi interrupted with a roll of his eyes.
"Stop worrying about her as a student and start worrying about her as a friend then, and a girl to."
"What do you mean as a girl?" Yami asked suspiciously, narrowing those intense crimson eyes on Yuugi who looked completely unperturbed. He was one of the few it had no effect on whatsoever.
"Well she's practically your girlfriend!" Yuugi exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air for dramatic effect. Screwing with his cousin was one thing he was very good at, and enjoyed in his own impish way.
"N-Nani? Anzu isn't my girlfriend!" He stammered loudly, and Yuugi raised an eyebrow at the light flush climbing into his pale cheeks. He must really like her if he was that embarrassed, he was normally so calm and collected.
Internally Yami felt uneasy at the observation, mostly because looking at the flowers in Yuugi's hand he was a little touched by the thoughtful gesture and couldn't bring himself to regret the symbolism of their blossoming relationship.
He wasn't stupid, he had noticed the way he could make her blush so easily and it might have been his ego talking but some of him suspected that she had a crush on him. A lot of him suspected that he had a crush on her.
It certainly would complicate things but it wasn't like there was anything he could do about it. He couldn't avoid her and not being friends with her just seemed cruel. His jealousy over Marik stealing some of his favourite student from him only made him more suspicious of his own feelings.
Was it worth even trying to avoid anymore? It was obvious from the gift that they had already crossed into the grey zone.
"Um...why did she ask you to bring it?" He asked awkwardly and Yuugi grinned.
"Well, it wasn't like she could give it to you in class and she was probably too embarrassed to give it to you after school, she is a girl after all. Plus I'm the only one who knows where you live let alone what your phone number is." Yami rolled his eyes at his teasing, knowing it was a jibe at his 'antisocial' attitude.
He couldn't help it if he didn't get along with most people! Being an ex-pharaoh who had the power to judge people's minds with sadistic shadow games made it a little harder to get along with others. Taking the flowers out of Yuugi's hands he said, "I'm going to back to bed."
"Alright, just don't crush the" –the door slammed in his face –"Flowers..." Yuugi finished in a slightly disgruntled voice but he didn't really care about being locked out. That was just Yami's way of retreating into his 'soul room'. He'd had so much privacy for so long that he wasn't to not having it.
Still, Yuugi was sure he had gotten through to him with something at least.
A/N: I hope people enjoyed this chapter, I tried to cover a lot in it! Also, do people like the angstshipping? If so, then I strongly suggest you read the 'stories' section of my profile, you might read something you like there under the title "Everything". Feel free to check out my other stories to! ;)
Here's a preview of the next chapter:
Anzu stumbled in shock at her words, stopping just long enough for the girls next turn to send her foot firmly right into her face. She grunted under the impact and fell back, landing on the ground hard as she gripped the left side of her face in pain.
"What the hell is your problem?" She demanded out of reflex and most of the dancers around them were forced to stop as the girl looked down at her in mock surprise.
"You shouldn't have gotten in my way," Was all she said and Anzu would have to be completely stupid to miss the double meaning behind those words.
Hello, you've just arrived in DRAMA TOWN xD Get ready for a chapter full of set ups for future drama!