A/N: This chapter makes me happy, because many good romantic things happen in it! I wanted to wait before uploading it so people could have a chance to read the last chapter but I simply couldn't wait anymore! Hope people enjoy ;)
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW: In Season 0, Yuugi, Honda and Jounouchi get very average/low grades on a test/exam thing. They have the marks posted and people mock them for it. Also, Yami doesn't say his name in the Season 0 anime or the first seven chapters of the manga, so no one knows it except for Yuugi and Ryou in this story!
Disclaimer: Not Mine!
"Do you have any idea what we're supposed to be doing?" Anzu whispered desperately to Miho who was also struggling helplessly through the sheet.
"I think I sort of get the first part...maybe," She replied, biting her lip and tugging a purple strand of hair in frustration. At the same time they both turned to face Yuugi who sat behind them, humming cheerfully to himself as he whipped through questions.
So he wasn't always top of the class but when it came to science he was pretty far ahead of his female companions. Slapping her paper down on the desk, Anzu dragged her chair closer, now sharing his desk. He barely had the decency to look surprised as he looked up.
"What's up?" He asked simply and Anzu groaned with frustration, rubbing her temples.
"Help," She mumbled wishing the floor would swallow her up –or better yet, swallow all these stupid science sheets.
"Why don't you ask Mutou-san?" He asked innocently but with a small snicker as she glowered at him. Miho seemed to find her reaction funny to as she giggled conspicuously.
"It's not funny," She insisted at Yuugi's impish expression.
"Are you kidding? It was so funny, he was hanging off of you the entire day," He stressed the words, obviously for Miho's sake as she continued to crack up.
"He was not hanging off me! He wasn't even flirting," She replied though her voice was weak. Even she had a hard time doubting that his actions toward her weren't completely innocent.
"Anzu, Y –um...Mutou-san...was practically drooling when I told him you were actually fixing my car. And when he drove you home I seriously wondered for a minute if he was going to take you back to his apartment," He teased in a semi-serious tone and Anzu shook her head firmly.
"There is nothing sexy about being a mechanic," She denied heatedly. "And I still don't even know his name!"
"Are you keeping up alright?" She gasped and stiffened in her seat, feeling someone leaning over her shoulder.
"Hm..." He said, drawing out his judgement as he checked her work which was thoroughly lacking as she reached the same point and got lost each time.
"Yuugi was about to help me," She squeaked fearfully as he folded his hands behind his back leaning to the side to glance at her doubtfully.
"It's minus, not plus," Was all he said, standing by silently as she picked up the sheet, scouring her work to try and figure out what he meant. His younger cousin watched in amusement at the system they had created over their time working together, making something of a game out of it –plus it aloud to her to actually figure some of it out for herself.
"Wait...ugh! In the second step...that's even more pathetic than usual," She mourned, pressing her forehead to her palm but quickly made a note on her paper underneath all her grumblings reminding herself that it was indeed a minus, not a plus.
"It's not pathetic, it's a simple mistake," He corrected with a frown and she glanced at him with a sheepish expression.
"Right...that's what I meant," She assured him weakly. It was a familiar cycle. He would never convince her that she wasn't 'stupid'. She worked through the next question, finding it much easier now that she actually had the steps right although she still struggled a little but managed to get the answer eventually, finding his presence soothing.
She was so used to having him watching over her shoulder that she found it easier to concentrate when he was there then when he wasn't. After she got the answer, checking off Yuugi's sheet that it was right and let out her relieved sigh she felt someone nudge her side gently.
Turning her head slightly, she glanced out of the corner of her eye to see him lean down, putting one hand over hers on the paper casually before whispering in her ear: "A".
She turned to give him a confused look but he just smiled benignly as though he'd been giving her another pointer in her work, and then walked away. Miho waited until he was about five steps away before exploding.
"That...was...so...cute!" She whispered shouted, throwing her arms around her friend.
"Nani? Cute?" Anzu sputtered, feeling her head spin.
"The way he touched your hand and was so helpful and then whispering to you oh and I can't forget those hot side glances," She rattled off, saying the last one rather slyly as Anzu stared at her in horror.
"H-hot? He wasn't...we weren't...it's not like that!" She stammered, realizing that Miho at least thought they were getting 'involved'. Yuugi snickered again and she just glared at him balefully.
"You have to admit he was looking at you kind of, um, privately," Was all he said with a small innocent shrug, taking great glee in his friend's embarrassment. She groaned, wondering why it was always her. He never seemed to take any of the fall!
"What the hell is 'A' supposed to mean?" She demanded aloud and Yuugi gave her a quizzical look, at least semi-serious.
"Well it's obviously some sort of letter...which means it must be part of a word...?" He offered and she was immediately grateful to know someone so good with puzzles. Recalling what Mutou-san had walked in on her saying, it occurred to her that he was giving her a clue to his own name.
"So it's 'Y' and 'A' then. What could his name be if it has a 'Y' and an 'A' in it, assumedly in that order?" She muttered, ignoring Miho's teasing and now the way Yuugi was hinting at her obviously that he clearly knew his 'cousins' name.
She wondered vaguely when and how exactly he had come upon a name. After all it wasn't like he had announced one before. Then again he had never announced himself as anything but as a part of Yuugi before or in this case 'Mutou-san'.
A ball of excitement settled in her stomach as she thought about finally finding out his first name. It seemed to be something very personal to him and she had to admit, he had been being very flirtatious on Sunday.
She could still remember how it felt to have him kiss her face so tenderly in his own teasing way...the memory easily made her embarrassed and happy at the same time.
Was him hinting at his own name a sign?
...
Y...A...M...what name is spelt with those three letters? She mused internally, unable to think of one she could imagine him having for the life of her. There first tutoring session in what must have been forever was today, she was supposed to be heading there right now but she wished she could figure it out before then.
"You have that thinking face again. What is it this time?" Marik's voice asked and she had to smile at how well they had grown to know each other. He could read her facial expressions like the back of his hand.
"Mutou-san is making me guess at what his first name is. I have three letters, 'Y', 'A', and 'M' but I still can't figure out what it might be," She explained with a rueful smile.
"Strange, he looks like someone of my background...Egyptian that is," Marik replied, looking surprisingly thoughtful. Usually he didn't seem to care much for Mutou-san or her crush on him but now he looked interested.
"Maybe that will help," He said with a shrug, turning away from her again as he towelled off his white blond hair that stuck up crazily from the damp sweat coating both of their bodies after their intense practice.
She mulled that over, remembering how Yuugi's strange transformations had begun after completing the puzzle and the puzzle had been found in Egypt...it did fit. It wouldn't be the only time she had thought about how foreign he looked at times with those strangely intense eyes.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the door opening, announcing the arrival of a new person. They both looked over to see the cheerful smile of none other than Ryou Bakura.
"Oh hey, you guys are still here!" He exclaimed happily and Anzu immediately felt suspicious when his eyes went straight to Marik. What were the chances? She opened her mouth to question him but the innocent smile he sent in her direction shot the plan.
He was just so damn cute! How could you argue when those milk chocolate eyes were directed at you? Marik didn't seem to have that problem, being his usual self as he cut right to the chase.
"What're you doing after school so late?" He asked but his tone wasn't quite as blunt as usual. He almost sounded a little pleased as though Bakura showing up was a pleasant surprised. How unsurprising, Anzu thought, eyeing the two of them warily.
"I had a meeting after school and once it finished I thought I'd come by to see if you guys were finished yet. Must get lonely staying after school every day," He said lightly and Marik made a small sound of disbelief.
From what he could tell it was just about impossible for someone like Ryou to get detention so unless he willingly subjugated himself to teachers like Anzu, he thought he probably had another reason. They had started talking a little bit in class, Marik never brought up what Anzu had said about him being gay, but the more sociable of the two was just so Ra-damned cheerful all the time it was infectious.
He wasn't exactly flirtatious though, so Marik was waiting, biding his time to make his move. Standing up he grabbed his bag but didn't walk right out the door like he normally would, instead finding himself gravitating towards the white haired teen which Anzu noted with great interest.
"We just finished," Marik said with a shrug and Ryou eyed the sheen of sweat over the bare muscles of his arm.
"I can see that," Was all he muttered but Marik enjoyed the way his eyes traced his body –it made him feel a lot better about his own staring.
Anzu sighed as they both stalled, clearly not wanting to start a conversation in front of her while also not wanting to leave. Miho was getting extremely impatient and it was times like this that she was to. They clearly had the hots for each other; they were both just too awkward to make a move, especially not in public.
Bakura was even more wistful now that they had become friends of sorts, clearly wanting more and clearly not believing that Marik agreed with that idea. From the way Marik had made no move to stop him checking out his well showcased body, she had a feeling that Bakura was very, very wrong.
She also thought there was more to it than lust. Bakura, being the nicer of the two, was gaa-gaa over the stoic rather blunt but also confident blond and he was probably the first male Marik had been friends with for a long time.
Despite their quick check outs there were also longing glances interspersed, the signs of a 'miserable crush' as he himself put it when she got a little too hung up over Mutou-san. Circling around to Bakura's side she nudged him towards Marik, making him stumble slightly, and give her a questioning look.
"Well?" She prompted and realizing what she was implying he started to turn red. It hadn't taken long for her and Miho to figure out with great exasperation that not only did he have pretty much zero self-esteem he was easily embarrassed around his crush to boot.
"I-I can't," He stammered, sounding and looking ashamed as he froze up. She sighed, realizing he was never going to be able to ask out the more formidable blond. The meant she had to take down Marik herself. Easier said than done.
"Geez Marik, be a man and just get it over with already," She exclaimed, rounding on him and suddenly realized this must be how Yuugi felt. From his raised eyebrow she could see the tactic was at least unnerving him a little.
"Are you calling me something other than a man?" He asked in a low voice and she just rolled her eyes.
"No but I imagine you won't feel much like one if you don't make your move soon," She said abruptly and he blinked lavender eyes at her blunt words. It was like he was speaking right out of her mouth to himself.
"I'm leaving to go meet Mutou-san, and I'm not going to spend my time with him worrying about you two moping over each other. Talk it out, figure it out, when I come back, you better have admitted your little 'secrets' you've been hiding from each other!" She called over her shoulder then slipped out the door, tempted to run as she imagined how much Marik, and possibly Bakura if he wasn't so nice, must want to kill her right now.
"More like she wants more free time to make out with Yami," Ryou muttered and Marik choked slightly at the almost crude comment that slipped from his lips. They exchanged a small glance then started laughing helplessly at the idea of Anzu ever getting that far with her rather pathetic crush on the teacher.
"So that's his name?" Marik questioned and Ryou blinked realizing he had unintentionally given it away.
"Um, yah, but you're not supposed to know that," He admitted and Marik just shrugged, showing he wasn't exactly going to tell anyone.
"I've been told a lot of stuff I'm not supposed to know recently," He said lavender eyes fixed on the smaller boy with a meaningful expression.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before," Ryou said awkwardly, scratching the back of his head, covered by its thick snow white tresses.
"Tell me what?" Marik pressed with a small frown.
"That I'm, you know...gay. I don't hold it against you if you're not comfortable being around me anymore," He said in a quiet voice as he trained his gaze on the floor, an adorable blush on his pale cheeks though the twisted expression of shame was less endearing.
Marik didn't like that expression on his face. He wanted him to smile. More directly he wanted to smile for him. Stepping closer carefully he lifted his chin insistently, gripping his arm in a tight hold. He was probably a little rougher then was necessary from the small gasp he let out but the sound just made him more jittery.
"You know it's that nice-guy attitude that's going to get you in trouble one of these days," He said gruffly then jerked him forward abruptly, yet gracefully despite himself, to kiss him searchingly. Searching for that feeling, that burning desire...it was there all right, and wrecking havoc inside his body as Ryou struggled a bit in surprise at the motion, only convincing him to kiss a little more firmly.
Only when the meeker boy finally started to relax did he pull away, dropping his hand from his face and noting the dazzled expression on his face and the flush of his cheeks. It was cute on him but Marik certainly hoped that his own face didn't look that way.
Little did he know he was looking quite impassive other then the small playful smile around his lips that had just been on the other boys.
"M-Marik...what...why did you..." He seemed at a total loss for words as he floundered around, childish eyes wide with shock. He liked that he left off the 'kun' ending though.
"I'm sorry," He said with a small chuckle for the reaction his actions had received. He felt a little guilty but not enough to regret doing it. "I had to find out if kissing you would make me feel the way I thought it would," He explained with another small shrug.
"I-I didn't know you were...interested in me that way," Ryou stammered, still bright red and not getting less so.
"You mean you didn't know that I was flexible, right?" He asked rather monotonously. A lot of people assumed he was a sex fiend. He really shouldn't be surprised at this point.
"No, I had heard some rumours," The other admitted shyly, shuffling a little closer to him as he peaked up from under his overgrown bangs. Marik's lean hand was still on his shoulder after all though the grip had loosened a little.
"I wasn't sure if they were true but I sort of hoped you were. If you don't mind me saying I didn't expect you to be such a...strong...kisser," He commented and Marik looked a little sheepish for the first time.
"I've been told I come off a bit too strongly when there's something I want," He admitted with a small laugh that Ryou joined with his equally pretty voice. Ra, everything about this boy was just so pretty. No wonder he found him completely irresistible...
"So what would you think about a date?"
A/N: Yay they're finally together! Don't worry (if you were) this story is FAR from over ;) I just wanted to get the relationships really started so that I could start developing them even more in a less friendly way! I like this last scene much, much better in my other version of this story that focuses on the Ryou/Marik relationship. I will post it after this one is done, if you want to know more, read up on it on my profile under the title "Everything", I hope at least some of you will read it when this is finished because I went more in depth for a lot of their scenes :)
Here's a preview for the next chapter:
"So I'm your 'type'?" He questioned with a small smirk as she blushed more, not meeting his eyes. Tilting her head with one demanding yet irresistible hand he observed her for a moment, seeing the widening in her amber eyes as she seemed to catch where he was going with this.
Am I evil, or am I evil? ;)