A High school/ Magi AU.
Chapter one: Meeting the idiot king's best 'friend'.
Sharrkan was in the library, not voluntarily, mind you. He sighed as he paused from reading his oh-so dull book for the umteenth time. He looked around, only to see every other student reading. Well, almost every student. Much to Sharrkan's surprise, a certain fellow silver-haired student wasn't reading either. Instead it seemed that Ja'far was oggling their class 'king' Sinbad.
'It isn't like Ja'far to slack in his studies. Maybe he and Sinbad have gotten into another argument. But Ja'far doesn't seem angry at all.' Before Sharrkan could wonder some more about the subject, he felt a hand on his shoulder. ''Stop staring, Ja'far is bound to notice.'' His friend Masrur said in a hushed voice.
Just as he said it, Ja'far looked at them, blushed, and then returned his attention to his book. ''What is going on? What did the idiot 'king' do this time?'' Sharrkan whispered. ''You can't get a clue, can you?'' Masrur said. ''What do you mean by that?'' Sharrkan exclaimed, gaining everyone's attention. The librarian coughed, making Sharrkan grin sheepishly. ''Sorry. I really got caught up in the story.'' he lied. Everyone rolled their eyes, and started reading again.
''Seriously, what do you mean by that?'' Sharrkan whispered. ''We'll discuss it later, okay?'' Masrur said. Sharrkan rolled his eyes, before returning his attention to his boring book. But he couldn't help looking at Ja'far again.
Soon enough, the bell rang. The students gathered their stuff before heading over to the dining room. Sharrkan wasn't really hungry, but a break from their school work was always welcome. Before Sharrkan could even open his mouth to say anything, Masrur said, ''Just let it go, you'll only cause trouble.'' Sharrkan frowned, then crossed his arms and said, ''You said you would tell me. If you won't, I can always go and ask Ja'far what that was about.''
''Ask Ja'far what what was about?'' Another voice asked. Masrur and Sharrkan turned around, only to face Sinbad and Ja'far, the latter raising an eyebrow. ''Nothing special.'' Masrur said and Sharrkan nodded sheepishly. ''Weird.'' Sinbad said with a laugh, then added, ''Ja'far and I were going out to get some coffee. Want to tag along?'' Sharrkan noticed that Ja'far's eyes were clearly dilated, and it seemed that the silverette was blushing again, though it was kinda faint. ''Ehr, sure, why not.'' he shrugged. Masrur nodded, to show that he would join as well.
As they left, Sharrkan and Sinbad discussed their upcoming basketball game. Masrur walked behind them, next to Ja'far. ''How are you doing?'' Masrur asked. Ja'far smiled, before he replied, ''Good. I recently started at my new job, and I really enjoy it.'' ''And... the situation?'' Masrur asked. Ja'far blushed, before he said, ''I... ehr... I'm kinda hopeless in this matter.'' Sharrkan couldn't help but eavesdrop. He knew Ja'far had a tendency to be somewhat shy and reserved, but never would've thought that he was insecure as well. And what was it that he was hopeless at?
''It'll be alright.'' Masrur said. Ja'far grinned, before saying, ''I hope so. It'd be nice if someone would help me though, like a tutor.'' Sinbad interrupted by putting an arm around Ja'far's shoulder and asking ''You need a tutor? That would be a first. What are you struggling with?'' ''It's nothing special, Sin. Let just grab some coffee. We need to be back on time for your practice.'' Ja'far said, before heading into the coffee bar. Sinbad followed him right away.
Masrur wanted to head in too, but Sharrkan stopped him, ''What exactly is the situation?'' he asked. ''Sharrkan, let it go.'' Masrur said. ''Please. I promise I won't mess up or blurt it out. But I have to know.'' Sharrkan said. Masrur sighed, before quickly glancing over at Sinbad who was talking to the barista, probably ordering their coffee. ''Ja'far likes Sinbad.'' he said, before heading in.
'I knew that already. They are best friends.' Sharrkan thought before he headed in after Masrur. He found Ja'far sitting at a round table, waiting for the others. ''What took you so long?'' Ja'far asked. ''I was not gone any longer than Masrur.'' Sharrkan told him. ''I suppose you are right. What were you two talking about anyway? What's up?'' Ja'far asked. ''I was going to ask you the same thing. What do you need a tutor for?''
''Nothing special.'' Ja'far told him. ''Ja'far, you're smart. There isn't much you can't do. So whatever it is, it is obviously bothering you. And I know it has something to do with Sinbad. He's my friend, the best athlete on the team, and your best friend. If anything is bothering you, he'll notice, and it might affect his results with basketball. Please tell me, so I can help.'' Sharrkan asked. ''Sharrkan, with all due respect, this is none of your business.'' Ja'far told him.
''Fine, I'll just ask Sinbad then.'' Sharrkan replied. ''No, you can't.'' Ja'far nearly shrieked. ''Why not?'' Sharrkan asked, raising his eyebrow. ''Because Sin, he, ehr..'' Ja'far stammered. ''Sinbad what?'' Sharrkan asked. ''Sin doesn't know.'' Ja'far admitted, blushing slightly. ''I don't know what? What is going on?'' Sinbad asked. Neither Ja'far nor Sharrkan had noticed him coming back. As Ja'far stared at him in shock, Sharrkan grinned, before saying, ''Our dearest friend Ja'far here has never tried to play basketball before. Maybe we could teach him when we have a day off.'' , he then grabbed his phone out of his bag and started to text something.
''Is that true?'' Sinbadasked, as he sat down next to Ja'far. ''Yes.'' Ja'far said. ''You could have asked before. I'd love to teach you. I always figured you weren't interested.'' Sinbad told him, before taking a sip. ''I didn't want to interfere with your schedule.'' Ja'far said, fondness in his eyes. ''For you, I'll always make some time.'' Sinbad replied. ''Thank you, Sin. I appreciate that a lot.'' Ja'far said, before his phone buzzed, alerting him that he received a text. As Sinbad started telling a story, Ja'far checked the message he had just received. It said, 'You owe me.' And it clearly came from Sharrkan. He made eye contact with the green eyed boy, who gave a smug smile back. Ja'far sighed, before texting back, 'Fine, I'll come over to your home after practice and tell you.'
After they were done, they headed back to Sindria high, only to learn that their math teacher had fallen ill, and school hadn't been able to find a substitute yet. ''What should we do?'' Sinbad asked, as the four of them stared at the closed classroom door. ''We can use this time to go to the library and catch up with our homework.'' Ja'far said. ''Or we go home and hang around some?'' Sinbad opted. ''We're not ditching school, Sin. We still have English and History after this, not to mention that you've got practice after that.'' Ja'far scolded. ''Fine, just let me grab my books, and I'll meet you in the library.'' Sinbad said before trailing off.
Ja'far wanted to reply but bit his lip, before his shoulders slumped and he headed towards the library. ''What were you and Ja'far really talking about?'' Masrur asked Sharrkan, referring to the coffee bar. ''Always straight to the point, eh?'' Sharrkan said, before adding, ''About nothing special yet. Ja'far promised to tell after school.'' ''Don't interfere.'' Masrur warned, before heading to the library as well. 'How can I interfere with what I don't know?' Sharrkan thought, then spotted Sinbad, who appeared to be sneaking away. ''Oh, no, you don't. If I'm getting roped into this, then so are you.'' Sharrkan said, before dragging the so-called king with him towards the library.
As Masrur entered the library, he spotted Ja'far studying a magazine. ''What are you doing?'' Masrur asked, as he sat down. ''Oh, hi.'' Ja'far said, as he looked up from the magazine, before asking, ''Sinbad is a Libra, right?'' 'Really?' is what Masrur's look said. ''Those aren't real.'' he said. ''I know.'' Ja'far replied, just as he spotted Sharrkan dragging Sinbad towards them.
''Speak of the devil.'' Ja'far added, as Sinbad managed to squirrel out of Sharrkan's grip, and huffed as he took a seat next to Masrur. ''You got caught when you tried to sneak away, didn't you?'' Ja'far asked with a smug smile. ''No, I was..'' ''You were.'' Sharrkan interrupted, as he sat down next to Ja'far. Sinbad only grunted as he opened his book. Ja'far smiled as he took out his own, preparing to learn the rules and regulations for his new job.
After an hour of studying, the four of them headed towards English, and then after that to history. When they were done with that, both Sinbad and Sharrkan headed off to basketball practice. ''Are you walking your sister home?'' Ja'far asked, as he and Masrur put their stuff into their lockers. Masrur nodded, before he asked, ''Want to join us?'' Ja'far shook his head as he said, ''I promised to go to my house with Sharrkan, so I'll just sit basketball practice out. Maybe I can even catch up with math in that time.'' ''I see. Good luck.'' Masrur replied, before he noticed that Morgiana had joined them. ''Oh hi, Morgiana. Did you do well today?'' Ja'far asked. She nodded, her flaming red hair swaying with the motion.
''Good to know. Masrur is always telling us how well you are at, well, almost everything. It's impressive.'' Ja'far said, making the girl blush. ''Thanks.'' she muttered, before tugging at her brother's sleaves. ''I suppose that's your cue to go and I should be heading to the gymnasium.'' Ja'far said, before leaving the siblings. As they watched Ja'far leave, Morgiana couldn't help but ask, ''Ja'far doesn't play basketball, does he?'' A headshake from Masrur was all the answer she received.
Ja'far took his sweet time, as he headed towards the gymnasium. Not many students knew that he always watched the game. Sin even figured that he wasn't interested. 'Well, not in playing.' is what Ja'far had been wanting to say when Sin had said this. But that would have just confused his best friend, or perhaps even given him too much of a hint. Ja'far was still in doubt whether he really should tell Sharrkan. He was nice, and had spared him an awkward conversation back in the coffee bar, but Sharrkan was known for his inabillity to keep his lips sealed. 'I promised him, it wouldn't be nice to break that promise.' Ja'far thought. 'No time to slack off, you promised to go home with Sharrkan, so you should hurry.' Ja'far scolded himself mentally, before rushing towards the gymnasium.
When he did arrive, he found the team split, so that they could play against each other. As usual, this was just a friendly practice game, and Ja'far knew that this was the start of practice, since they always began with a friendly game after warming up. He sat down, next to a blond haired kid, who was watching the game, seemingly in awe. Ja'far chuckled, remembering that he had the same look on his face when he had watched Sinbad play his first match. The second the match was over with, the boy checked his phone, then trailed off. Ja'far decided not to pay attention to that, he still had to figure out whether he wanted to tell Sharrkan or not. The match had been so interesting, he had been too absorbed to give it a second thought.
Training continued as Ja'far pondered what to do. After the final game Sharrkan shook Sinbad's hand, as the so-called king had won most of their plays fair and square, before he noticed Ja'far, who was fidgeting a little. Sharrkan smirked, so he had shown up as promised. ''Huh, what is Ja'far doing here?'' he heard Sinbad ask. ''Oh, he promised to explain me something, so if you had any plans, I'm sorry to say that I already claimed him for today.'' Sharrkan said. ''Oh, I see. I'll go and see if I can get Judal to play one on one against me. Have fun studying with Ja'far, and don't overwork him with your denseness.'' Sinbad said, before running towards Judal. ''Oi! Denseness isn't even a word, you idiot king.'' Sharrkan shouted, before heading over to Ja'far.
''Are you ready?'' he asked, making Ja'far look up. ''Uhuh.'' Ja'far dumbly nodded, still indecisive about what he should do. ''Okay, I'll go and hit the showers, and then we'll head home.'' Sharrkan said, before heading towards the showers.
As he left, one of the other players, named Hinahoho, noticed Ja'far, and sat down next to him. ''Hey, are you alright?'' he asked, noticing that the silverhaired boy had been somewhat nervous. ''I, ehr, I..'' Ja'far stammered. ''You're Sinbad's friend, right?'' Hinahoho asked. Ja'far nodded. ''Want me to get him? I am sure that he's willing to talk to you.'' Hinahoho said.
''No. I'll be fine.'' Ja'far said. Hinahoho chuckled, then shook Ja'far's hand. ''My name is Hinahoho. If you'd like to, feel free to talk about anything to me whenever. Unless I'm with my wife.'' he joked. ''You... you have a wife?'' Ja'far asked. ''No. I nicknamed my girlfriend, my wife. Though we'll marry one day.'' Hinahoho said. ''Oh. That's nice.'' Ja'far said. ''It sure is. I've been meaning to ask you and Sinbad something though.'' Hinahoho said. ''Oh?'' Ja'far replied as he raised his eyebrow. ''What is the deal with you two? Because I know this girl who is into Sinbad, but it also kinda seems like you two have something going on. So, are you seeing Sinbad?''
For the second time that day, Sharrkan spared the blushing Ja'far an answer. ''Oi, what kind of question is that, Hinahoho? If she's that interested, let her go ask Sinbad.'' Sharrkan said, before tugging at Ja'far's arm, and dragging him along. Hinahoho sweatdropped as the silverhaired duo left. 'Ah, seems you already found yourself a good one.' he thought, before he headed home to his 'wife'.
''Let me go! I am perfectly capable of walking.'' Ja'far said, as he attempted to whack Sharrkan's head. ''Doesn't seem like it. You keep spacing out, and fail to answer a lot of questions.'' Sharrkan scolded. Ja'far turned silent for a moment. ''I didn't ask you to answer for me, but I do appreciate it. Are you really that angry with me?'' he asked eventually.
Sharrkan sighed, as he stopped walking. ''No. I just thought there was more to you than what I saw today. You were downright pathethic, and the way Sinbad describes you, doesn't make you seem like that at all.'' Sharrkan told him. ''That's because I'm not. I was just out of it for today.'' Ja'far said, as Sharrkan let him go. ''Why?'' Sharrkan asked. ''Because, I... I..'' Ja'far blushed. ''I'm not answering this one for you.'' Sharrkan warned. ''I like Sin a lot, okay.'' Ja'far muttered. ''That's it? Weird way of showing that to you best friend. I'm through with this crap.'' Sharrkan said, but before he could walk off, Ja'far stopped him. ''I don't think you get it, but you deserve to know. I fell in love with Sin, and I really need help.''
Both of them fell silent for a moment. The one staring at the other, puzzled before exclaiming, ''You have what?!''. Ja'far's eyes were steady as he replied, ''Everyone, including your teammate Hinahoho noticed. Are you really that dense?''. For the first time that day, it was Sharrkan that turned red, before he said, ''How was I supposed to know? It doesn't matter, earlier you mentioned that you needed help with a problem. It better not be this problem, because that is easy to solve.''
''It's not. Sinbad likes girls.'' Jafar told him, wondering whether it was really a wise idea to discuss this all with this loudmouth on the middle of the street. What if someone they knew were to walk by. What if that new guy, Judal, walked by. Surely he'd mention all this to Sin. ''So?'' Sharrkan broke his train of thoughts. ''Listen, it's really easy. You even resemble a girl, somewhat. At least a petite cute one. All you need to do is get Sinbad drunk, take him to Vegas, and boom, after you got married there, you'll be settled for the rest of your life.''
Ja'far's eyebrows twitched, as he said, ''That, is the worst advice I've ever heard. I could never do that to Sin.'' ''Fine, fine, be stubborn that way. I also could just tell him.'' Sharrkan said, a playful glint in his eyes. ''No, please.'' Ja'far pleaded. ''Sure, sure, relax.'' Sharrkan said, and Ja'far sighed in relief, but then Sharrkan added, ''If you agree to my terms, and that I will be your tutor for this problem.''