Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Duel Monsters Aside. ❯ School Daze ( Chapter 1 )

Authoress Note:

Hello everyone! Oh my Goodness it has been far too long since I've been back on this site! It's easily been a 5 year hiatus that I have been on...Needless to say, my writing skills have improved greatly, at least I've learn to put speech of two different characters in different paragraphs now. Anywho, I hope you all enjoy and... If I owned Yu-Gi-Oh I wouldn't have shoved so many duels into it!

_________________________________________________________________ _

 

Duel Monsters Aside

 

“Hey Yug! It's been a while since we showed our beautiful mugs in dis place neh?” A Brooklyn accent ripped through the crowd of bustling students. The overly loud voice originated from a familiar blonde haired duelist, as he attempted to move through the densely packed students. Though his efforts were similar to that of a fish struggling to get upstream, he did manage to catch the attention of a tri-color haired male down the hall.

 

Unfortunately, due to Yugi's height, or lack thereof, it was difficult for him to locate Joey through the dense traffic of students. Oh how he cursed his height, and the fact and school regulations would not allow him platform shoes or stilts. He had tried to glance through the crowd, discretely swaying back and forth, hoping a gap would form between the seemingly impenetrable walls of students; however, the boy received no such luck. If he wanted to locate his blonde haired friend, he would have to do the unthinkable.

 

Hop up like an idiot, in hopes of seeing over the crowd.

 

Glancing around to make sure no one in particular was looking at him; Yugi put his pride on the line and jumped into the air, managing to catch a glimpse of a familiar mop of dirty blonde hair.

 

“I guess you can say that Joey! Doesn't seem like anyone missed us though!” Yugi attempted to yell out to his friend, only to jump back against his locker as Joey broke through the crowd in front of him.

 

“You can say that again, it's like the population doubled over the summer!” Breaking out of crowd right behind Joey, Tristan slumped against the lockers to the right of Yugi, as if he had just ran a mile, not fought his way through a crowded hallway of students.

 

“It does seem that way...I don't even recognize half of the people here...But then again...We're so occupied with Battle City and the God cards...Maybe we just never noticed before.” It was the only logical answer in Yugi's mind, though he really didn't think they could over look so many people. Had Domino's population really grown that much over one summer?

 

Next to make their way through the crowd was a very dishevelled-looking Téa, her chocolate brown locks askew, protruding from her head at odd angles. The three boys, shocked upon seeing the only female of their group in such a state, could only respond to her sudden entrance with a very odd stare, it wasn't like Téa to come to school without extensive morning preparations. Téa answered with a cold stare that screamed `Don't ask.'

 

“The population did double you guys. Weren't you listening to the morning announcements? Because of the success of Battle City, Domino High has jumped on the band wagon and signed up us for an international exchange program. Most of the students you see here don't even speak Japanese!” Squinting slightly, she glanced down at the silver lock on the locker next to her, using the small reflective surface it provided to attempt to fix the mess of hair cascading around her face. “Since I'm on the welcoming committee, I had to wake up two hours earlier just to help with orientation for them! But, of course, my alarm clock was still set for my usual routine, so I hardly had time to get dressed and rush here, and there so many of them to show around...Guys it was -“She shook her head, glancing at her friends, only to find them ignoring her and scanning the group, trying to point out those who were from Domino, and those who were from the exchange program. “...Or don't care.”

 

“Sorry Téa, Wha was dat?” Joey was the first to bring his attention back to the rambling brunette, a goofy yet apologetic half smile on his lips. The other two boys quickly followed suit, both smiling sheepishly.

 

“Doesn't matter, just another ramble...” There was a soft laugh in her voice as she shook her head at the boy's curiosity. She couldn't be mad at the guys, even if she tried. Besides, if she had not spent the better part of two hours with the overly large group of exchange students, she would be just as entranced by the new comers.

 

“Does it feel weird yet?” She asked out of the blue, further grabbing the boys' attention.

 

“What feels weird?” Tristan arched an oblivious eyebrow, eyeing Joey as if the blonde haired duellist held the answer to Téa's cryptic question.

 

“Now dat you mention it, I've been having dis weird tinglin' sensation going on in my right foot...Very odd...” Joey stated, shaking his leg slightly as if to prove his point, but his expression quickly turned into confusion as Téa and Yugi both smacked their foreheads with their hands. “Wha did I say?”

 

“Joe, she meant now that we're graduating this year. And your foot is asleep.” Yugi explained, talking through his hand that was still firmly against his forehead. “This is our last year here...No prophesies to worry about.”

 

“And for once...There's no Duel Monsters interfering...” Téa further explained, leaning against the lockers to glance at the slowly diminishing crowd.

 

“...You're right...No Rare Hunters to deal with.” Tristan chimed in, turning to look at the school that in a few months, they would be leaving for good.

 

“Yeah! No Shadow Realm!” Joey exclaimed, a little too loudly, causing a few passer bys to glance oddly in his direction before returning to whispering amongst themselves. But if one knew, they couldn't blame him for being so enthusiastic about the loss of the shadow realm. “But...It does seem odd...Knowin' that we're gonna be da ones runnin' dis school! Things are going to change around here—“

 

“Mutt, the only thing you could run would be a flea circus.” It didn't take a scientist to recognize the cold tone of one infamous CEO of the single most profitable company in all of Japan. Besides, if they could not detect Seto Kaiba by his voice, his presence, complete with bellowing trench coat, was not one to be missed. “Now out of my way.” Shoving rudely past Joey, he didn't even stay around long enough for Joey to properly respond to the insult, only hearing the 3rd rate duellist growl behind him, a small smirk appearing on his lips as he disappeared back into the crowd.

 

“Then again Joey, some things never change...” Tristan shook his head as he gripped Joey's shoulder, holding him back from running after the CEO and embarrass himself by attempting to tear him a new one. “He's not worth it, Bud.”

However, Joey was unrelenting. After suffering yet another humiliating loss to the pompous CEO during Battle City, Joey's blood seemed to boil just at the mere utterance of the Kaiba name. Heck, if you mentioned anything technologic to the boy, his mind would link it to the Kaiba Corporation, and because of its obvious owner, would become enraged at the subject.

 

That's when it became painfully clear to the gang that maybe, just maybe, taking a break from all the duelling, the world crisis's, and the prophecies that came along with it would prove to be in their favour. That maybe their final year attending Domino High would be a memorable one for good reasons...Nothing like the way Battle City would be remembered.

 

That's also when an all too familiar bell tone resonated throughout the extensive building of Domino High, echoing down its crowded hallways and soon to be crowded classrooms. Soon following the tone, there seemed to be a collective mix of groans, whines, cheers and even a few colourful words. Thankfully, the magical bell seemed to have control over the flow of students, and it seemed the densely packed hallway was nearly bare in a few milliseconds.

 

“Uhm, By the way...Did anyone manage to see what home room we're in?” Tristan asked sheepishly, Joey soon following suit as he glanced from Yugi to Téa.

 

Again, palms met foreheads, and wordlessly the only knowledgeable two of the group grasped the remaining members' hands and dragged them down the swiftly emptying hallway. Once they were on the opposite side of the school, and one floor up, the four joined another dense group of students filtering into the many homerooms available.

 

~~**~~

 

“Sweet! Togetha again! They just can't seem ta split us up!” Joey announced, loudly of course, to the half filled classroom of B230, his fist enthusiastically pumping the air. Again, Joey had earned himself an array of odd looks and questioning stares, and one frustrated groan from the far corner of the class. “Yeah, nice ta see ya again too, Moneybags.”

 

Before round two of “War of the Duelists” could commence, Téa took firm hold of Joey's elbow, adding more pressure than necessary to get her point across. With a gentle push, Joey seemed to put his vendetta-seeking on hold, in order to grab them a row of seats.

 

With the class being a little more than half full or a little less half empty in some people's point of view, the foursome was forced to take the last row on the right, closest to the window. A prime seating location, if their neighbour wasn't the one and only Seto Kaiba.

 

“Figures...” Tristan muttered under his breath, taking longer strides to reach the first desk in the vacant row. Though the chestnut haired teen hated being up front, it put him the farthest away from the CEO, and therefore he would not be so easily pulled into any trouble that might be caused. Téa not too subtly, pushed Joey into the seat behind Tristan, whilst taking her seat behind him. Unfortunately, this left Yugi with the honors of sitting right across the former host of the not so distant Battle City tournament.

 

But if anything, Yugi was the person who would be the least uncomfortable with the arrangement. So really, it didn't seem like they were making Yugi take some sort of blue-eyes shaped bullet for the team, or throwing him under the...Limo so to speak. Besides, at least after defeating him in his own tournament, Kaiba at least respected Yugi, even if was a mediocre respect at best.

 

“Kaiba.”

 

“Yugi.”

 

Sure, it wasn't the best conversation in the world. But it was an exchange of words nevertheless, and even if it was just a mere single word, there was some respect and understanding in it.

 

Soon after, the rest of the students assigned to room B230 began to file in, some of which the gang recognized, some that no one recognized, and a very few that Téa had recognized from that morning's orientation. The exchange students seemed to stick out awkwardly, now that Téa had pointed out their sudden appearance within the student body that made up Domino High. Awkward, shy students, clinging to usually one or more likewise individuals, even if they had not known each other back in their home country, for the simple fact that they shared a common fear of being in a foreign place so far from home was enough to band them together.

 

“Kinda stick out like sor' thumbs neh?” Joey snickered, pointing out the few groups of students that were frightened of being separated due to the odd sorting organization of the home rooms. No one really understood the system, most just assumed it was random and left it at that, some believed that it was something to do with one's astrological sign, and even some believed that it was certain fate that created the odd nonsensical combinations. It seemed to boggle all the students, except one lone student who resigned to their `fate' and waltzed into classroom B230.

 

Head tilted towards the floor, causing strawberry blonde hair to hang slightly in her face, masking it from the classroom, the quiet female fidgeted with her hands slightly, quickly peeking at the classroom layout from under her curtain of hair. Catching glimpse of the empty row next to the gang, save for Kaiba of course, the seemingly shy girl quickly took the seat across from Joey. Brushing her strawberry locks back and away from her face as if it was now safe to reveal herself to the class now that she had claimed a spot. The new comer, who looked a tad young to be in a senior's class, adjusted the dark frames on her nose before sliding them off completely to give them a good cleaning.

 

“Oh! Gabrielle was it? Hi there!” Téa called out to the young girl, causing her to jump in her seat slightly, spinning around to face who ever had called her name. Repositioning the glasses on her nose, the girl's hazel eyes seemed to brighten considerably.

 

“Téa right? Well at least that's one familiar face here.” Gabrielle's voice was soft and timid, matching her appearance completely, though after being bombarded with a sudden introduction of her other neighbours, she seemed to warm up slightly.

 

“Where's your sister, I thought I saw her name on the roster for this room...Oh no, don't tell me she's lost! I knew I should have handed out maps at orientation!” Téa was back to rambling about things she could no longer control, leaving the guys to roll their eyes at her stipulation to always be over-prepared. It didn't seem to faze Gabrielle much, if anything she seemed to be amused by the brunette's actions.

 

“No, she saw that T.K, a friend of ours, was on the roster as well, she's off to find him. I won't be surprised if they're late -“ As if on cue, the second bell tone for the day rang throughout the now empty halls, save for the few students running late, and now full classrooms, save for the two vacant seats in Gabrielle's row.

 

“Ah man, even though dis is our last year...Feels like the same ol' shtick again. Other den da fact we have ourselves some newbies to watch over.” Joey shot a pointed, though mirthful glance at Gabrielle, who replied by blushing and smiling awkwardly back. “Feels like everythin' in our lives is gonna be normal fo' once.” The gang seemed to nod in agreement, though from behind Gabrielle there was an audible scoff.

 

Though it was painfully evident that there was no teacher present as of the current moment, a short raven haired student on the far side of the room, one with a pristine appearance and a neon armband that screamed `Unpopular Hall Monitor' stood up from his desk and informally addressed the class.

 

“As Hall Monitor, I find it in my power to shut the door, as the second bell has gone, and those stupid enough to arrive late to the first class of the year, should learn that Domino will not tolerate such tardiness.” Despite some muffled choice comments about said hall monitor, the poor fool moved over to the slightly ajar door.

 

Pausing for, dramatic effect, attention, you decide and was about to shut it when the sound of four uncoordinated feet came thundering down the hallway, hitting the door with nearly enough force to knock it off its hinges, but more than enough force to slam into the fool and send him careening back into the first row of desks. In his place, a teen duo, one male one female, practically flew into the classroom. Unfortunately for the male, he had overestimated the amount of jump it would take to reach the room, and ended up sliding ungracefully across the teacher's desk, landing bottom-first into the waste bin on the other side, leaving the female to stumble against the desk, slightly out of breath.

 

“Joey was it? You'll soon come to learn with these exchange students, this year will anything but normal.” Gabrielle muttered to the blonde, sinking low in her seat.

 

____________________________________________________________

 

Authoress Note: OH MY GOODNESS! My first YGO themed chapter in over 5 years! Oh goodness I'm so proud of myself. And it...Doesn't suck as much as I thought it would. Then again, I spent two days writing it and trying to self edit, so maybe I'm just sick of my own writing. But this is why I have you people! PLEASE DROP A REVIEW! I tend to get discouraged from writing if I feel no one is reading and enjoying it anyway! This is all for you guys too! So R&R and thankies!

 

...By the way...

 

Cookies and chibis for all those review. *Shifty eyes*

Yes I'm resorting to bribery.