Fan Fiction / Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ The Devil's In The Details ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: I do not now nor have I ever owned any of the characters of Yu-Gi-Oh. I'm just borrowing them from the genius mind of Kazuki Takahashi. (Short version: I don't own them so please don't sue!)

Warnings: Some use of "four letter words", later some scenes of violence and dark occultism. Turn back now if either of these makes you uncomfortable.


Yuki tugged slightly at the short blue skirt that was standard Domino High uniform fare. Why in God’s name the administration had chosen something like this pink and blue abomination for the uniform was beyond her. Not even most self-respecting American schools would have let their students wear this! Well, not any that actually cared to enforce the dress code at least. Either way, the length of the skirt was almost obscene.

But that was beside the point, wasn’t it? She shifted her weight slightly in what some might have taken for nerves. The teacher did.

“Nervous? I’m sure you’ll fit in very well here.” He certainly didn’t waste any time in turning his back on her and leading the charge into the classroom.

She smirked inwardly at the image of this almost mousy man leading a cavalry charge but followed him in nonetheless. The room seemed to fall silent as they entered, save for the quick scratch of chalk as the teacher wrote Yuki’s name on the blackboard.

“Attention, everyone. We have another new student joining our class today,” the teacher said.

Yuki knew a cue when she saw one, and the way that the teacher had stepped back slightly and was looking at her now was definitely a cue if ever there was one. So she smiled cutely and bowed slightly. “Hello, my name’s Kobayashi Yuki .”

*************

Ryo swore that his face must have gone through three different shades of white when Yuki stepped through the door. He’d heard that his old gaming buddies, most of whom he was sure wouldn’t give him the time of day now, had recovered a few days after the Monster World fiasco. But to hear that they were all right through third party sources was one thing. To actually see one of them…it made him nervous.

“Let’s see, now where should we have you sit?” Ryo looked up at the front from under the cover of his bangs, watching their teacher surveying the room for empty desks. “Ah, next to Mazaki is open.”

Ryo knew what Anzu’s reaction would most likely be, even as Yuki made her way towards her seat. It would most likely be the same as Jonouchi’s reaction to Ryo when he himself had started at Domino High School, a warm greeting and an almost instant offer of friendship. And from what he remembered about Yuki, a pretty girl whom some of the more callous popular girls at their last school had ridiculed for her American features and tomboyish qualities, she would be as willing to accept that offer as he had been.

It was the soft rustle of paper sliding across his desk that pulled Ryo out of his thoughts. Jonouchi must have noticed his distraction, because Ryo could have sworn that he saw Jonouchi’s hand quickly darting back to his own desk after he sent Ryo a significant glance and a nod towards the notebook paper folded in quarters on his desk.

Of course Ryo read it, unfolding it under his desk and spreading it underneath the covers of his notebook to avoid detection.

What’s up?

Ryo let a wry smile flicker across his features as he looked at his friend’s messy writing. It had to be that question, didn’t it? The one he really wasn’t sure he wanted to answer until he figured out whether or not Yuki wanted anything to do with him now. He glanced over at Jonouchi and somehow wasn’t surprised when he caught his sandy-haired classmate returning his gaze with an almost appraising look. So he decided to stall as best he could, mouthing the word “later” when their teacher’s back was turned.

Jonouchi seemed satisfied for the moment, even though he still looked like he wanted to pin Ryo under a spotlight and interrogate him to death like they did in the old American police dramas. The image came to Ryo unbidden; he in a grey business suit sitting underneath an old pendant light fixture, Jonouchi and Honda badgering him with hundreds of questions while wearing dressed in slacks and pinstriped shirts with rolled up sleeves along with policeman’s badges and bad New York accents, Yugi and Anzu dressed in film noir chic standing in the background and taking notes and nodding at intervals. It was almost enough to make him laugh out loud, considering that he had to bite down on the side of his tongue to keep a round of giggles from escaping. He’d have enough attention drawn to him later. Better to avoid disrupting class and catching it from the teacher too.

*************

When the bell for the lunch break sounded, Yuki wasn’t surprised to see most of the class dashing out in a veritable flood of humanity.

“C’mon Yuki, I’ll introduce you to my friends,” Anzu said. Yuki liked her. She had greeted the transfer with a warm smile and an offer to show her around the school later, an offer that Yuki had gladly accepted. The advance warning about Jonouchi, Honda, and something called the “panty tank” had been welcomed as well. “Guys, where are you-?!?”

“Bathroom!” the boy Anzu had pointed out as Jonouchi Katsuya called from the door as he and Honda, Yuki believed the other boy’s name was, practically dragged Bakura and another smaller boy out of the classroom.

That had Yuki giggling slightly. “Ano, Anzu-chan? Isn’t it girls that are supposed to flock to the bathroom in groups? Or is it just Japanese boys that do that?”

Anzu smiled at the joke. “Just those four, Yuki-chan. So you said you’ve been in America for the past few months?”

*************

“All right, Ryo, why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

“It’s nothing, Jonouchi…”

“Bullshit. You went as white as a sheet when Kobayashi came in!”

Ryo sighed and seemed to slump slightly, practically pinned against one of the walls in the boys’ bathroom by the curious and concerned gazes of Honda, Jonouchi, and Yugi. “It’s just that… Do you remember when I told you about my old gaming friends losing consciousness and going into comas when they played with me?”

“Because of the Spirit of the Ring sealing them into those lead figures, right?” Honda said.

“Kobayashi-san was one of your old gaming friends, wasn’t she?”

Ryo nodded, completely unsurprised that it had been Yugi who’d picked up on it first. Yugi had almost always been the most perceptive among them, though whether that was through his own personality or something attained under his yami’s influence Ryo still wasn’t sure. “Hai, she was.”

“You haven’t talked to any of your old gaming buddies since…that stuff happened, have you?”

“Not in so many words, no.”

“It wasn’t your fault that the psycho spirit did that! Just go talk to her.”

“You three aren’t going to let me be until I do, will you?” Ryo said with a chuckle as he looked around at his friends. “All right, I will.”

“That’s the spirit!” Jonouchi said with a broad grin. “Now let’s get back and find Anzu before she comes looking for us.”

“I don’t think that Anzu would come in the boys’ bathroom…”

Now Ryo’s face split in a broad grin. “I seem to recall Yuki doing that once or twice, though.”

*************

“What took you guys so long? We were starting to think you fell in.”

“Guy stuff,” Jonouchi said as he and the other four plopped down in or stood by the desks near the ones that Anzu and Yuki were seated at.

Anzu just rolled her eyes. “Right. Yuki-chan, these are my friends. This is Jonouchi, Honda, Yugi, and Bakura.”

“It’s nice to meet you all,” Yuki replied to the small chorus of greetings with another cute smile. “Bakura-kun and I actually know each other already.”

“Kobayashi-san and I used to game together before…”

It took half a moment, but Yuki caught sight of Anzu’s expression suddenly changing into one of understanding. More to the point, it seemed that all five of her new acquaintances were casting cautious looks at her, almost as though they were curious as to what she’d do but were to afraid to ask. “That was a while ago. I’m back to a hundred percent now, good as new! Well, just about good as new at least.”

“You’re not angry with me about that, are you?” Ryo asked nervously.

“As far as I know there’s no reason I should be. The doctors think I had a delayed reaction to something that had peanuts or peanut oil in it.”

“Are you allergic, Kobayashi-san?” Yugi said, shooting a brief glance at Bakura for some reason. Ah well, it wasn’t important.

“I’m severely allergic. The doctors actually said that if it wasn’t for Bakura-kun calling the hospital I might have died that day.” She smiled up at Bakura, a warm smile that she hoped would convey her gratitude and her hope of a continued friendship with him. “So no, I’m not upset. As a matter of fact, my family and I are exceedingly grateful.”

It was Honda who broke the slightly awkward silence after a moment. “So how’d you end up in Domino?”

“You know, Anzu and I were just talking about that...”