Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Sweet Revenge ❯ Chapter 9 ( Chapter 9 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: DefiantVixen 
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Drama / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.17.2009 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.9K | Visits: 369 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Drama / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.17.2009 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.9K | Visits: 369 | Status: Completed
Sweet Revenge
Summary: After Joey’s girlfriend, Carla dumps him for Seto; Joey stumbles across Ryou being mugged and learns that he’s a girl! Seto can’t stand Carla, but finds Ryou interesting. How does Mai fit into all of this?
Pairings: Seto/Ryou, Hinted; Joey/Mai
Disclaimer: I don’t own the Anime Yu-Gi-Oh! or any character associated. I do own Carla Whitmore. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not based on anyone else’s character design, again if any likeness, it’s purely coincidental.
Warnings: Female!Ryou. The use and introduction of a female Original Character. Any fans of OCs and OC pairings should leave now. Anti-OC pairings and blatant bashing of my own character. I created her; I can do what I want with her. And I plan to. A bit of character bashing on the OC’s behalf and a few swear words, but nothing over the top. Set after Yami is sent to the afterlife, so no Yamis in the story. And Seto goes to school.
AN: Hello everyone. Again, a bit of Seto/Ryou fluff in this chapter and Ryou acting all cute and flustered ^^ Comments and suggestions are always appreciated! Please let me know what you think and many thanks in advance.
-
Chapter 8:
The first thing that Ryou was made aware of as she slowly wadded through a heavy fog was the fact that her head was quite literally pounding in her skull from a powerful headache. She was then next aware of that her chest felt constricted and she was lying down on something soft.
Scrunching up her nose at the distant glimmer of light and the soft whisper of her name, Ryou felt the fog slowly begin to lift as the pounding pain in her head slowed to a dull throb that was probably due to sleeping too long.
What happened?
“Ryou?”
Screwing her eyes tightly shut from a wince at the sudden voice which seemed to echo through her mind, Ryou forced her eyes open, four distinct blurs filling her vision. She blinked harshly a couple of times, trying to get the four figures into focus, the offending bright light in the room causing her eyes to water a little.
Finally, after much effort she could see clearly enough to notice the faces of her four friends, all of them wearing expressions of concern and relief.
“Good, you’re awake!” Joey all but cheered from his position on the left side of the bed, closer to her.
“We’ve been so worried,” Yugi added from the other side of the bed, his hands gripping her right hand, worry clearly etched onto his face.
“You look so pale,” Tea said from his position next to Yugi, motherly concern abundant in her tone. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, man,” Tristan said from his spot next to Joey, a scowling expression laced with concern was adorning his face. “If you were feeling ill, you should have stayed home.”
Curling her fingers around Yugi’s as he held her right hand as a gentle sign of reassurance, Ryou lifted her free hand and ran it across her forehead a couple of times, trying to piece together her muddled thoughts. “What happened?”
“That’s a good question,” Tea said, which caused Ryou to peer up at her through her snow coloured bangs.
“Mrs Mayhue said she step outside for a moment and when she came back in, she found you on the bed,” Yugi explained when he noted her expression of confusion.
“Really?” she said as she let her head roll to the side to look at her friend, her brow furrowing in thought as she tried to piece together what happened to get her in such a position. “Wait...”
Then, it dawned on her like a bolt from the blue; the near-attack, Seto coming to her rescue, the realization of what those two deadbeats wanted to do with her – she had a panic attack and literally flung herself into Seto’s arms!
Oh my God, she did not just enter Seto’s personal space so recklessly, did she? What does he think of her now? As if she wasn’t weird enough before!
“Ah!” Ryou made a noise that was half surprise, half embarrassment as she bolted straight up in the bed, her eyes widening in surprise.
Her abrupt and sudden movements startled everyone around her and they all nearly fell out of their seats. “What is it?” Joey asked, alarm heavy in his voice as he jumped to his feet and looked around, seemingly searching for something, anything that would have caused Ryou to act in such a way.
Ryou felt her face become flustered from her reaction, and also from the memories of her grasping onto the front of Seto’s uniform as she pathetically cried into his chest. Oh, she hoped that she didn’t somehow ruin his uniform.
But then a sense of hope appeared when she realized that she was in the nurse’s office and none of her four friends here brought her here, which meant Seto must have! She must have passed out from the overwhelming panic attack and he must have carried her here all by himself.
She knew that he wasn’t the heartless, egotistical bastard that was a secret sadist that many people claimed him to be; but surely, he would have better things to do than look after her, right? Well, he did save her from those two guys –she still didn’t know their names and she didn’t really care to learn either – and he did ask if she was alright.
What did that mean?
She’s going to have to apologize to Seto for being a right pain in the neck.
Wait, could Seto know about her secret?
“Nothing, nothing, sorry, I just remembered something really random,” she said as she tried to somewhat ease everyone’s concern. She placed a hand on the back of her head and playfully stuck her tongue out. “Hehe, I’m sorry, I guess I wasn’t feeling too good today.”
Joey blinked at her, not convinced that she was telling the whole truth. “Hey, er, Rei-?”
“I guess the stress finally got to me, that’s all,” Ryou said gently as she turned to face Joey, a soft smile on her lips as she tilted her head cutely to the side in an attempt to reassure the other teen.
She must apologize to him as well; she’s caused him so much trouble as well.
“Well, you’ve got perfect timing,” Tristan said as he gave her a thumbs-up, unconsciously breaking the tension in the room. “School is finished. Come on, we’re heading to Yugi’s place for a bit.”
“That’s right,” Yugi said, brighten considerably as he turned to Ryou and blinked up at her with his large and expressive eyes, a soft smile touching his lips. “You’ll come too, right, Ryou? I mean, Gramps makes the best caramel cookies.”
“Yeah,” Joey grinned as he rubbed his stomach, seemingly already tasting the elderly man’s famous cookies that he was such a fan of. “I’m sure you can afford to have one or two, right Rei?”
“Not my weight again?” Ryou pouted at Joey’s jab at her weight; yes, she was a little on the scrawny side, but she’s always been like this. He mother was tall and thin and so was her father, it only made sense that she was thin as well. And she does eat! Sure, sometimes she skips meals, but only because she was busy and forgot. It’s not like she was on a diet or anything.
“Sure, I’ll come, Yugi,” Ryou said to Yugi, her smile growing warmer when Yugi’s expression brightened even more, clearly happy that she was coming as well. “You know I can’t say no to you.”
“It’s the eyes, right?” Yugi said as he laughed, cutely closing his eyes and tilting his head to the side.
Ryou laughed softly as well. “Right,” she said.
Yes, Yugi was very cute and whenever he turned those eyes upon anyone, they usually had a hard time denying the short male. Going over to Yugi’s would be a nice distraction, and besides, she and Joey still had to fill them in on what Carla has done and why the argument at the front gate this morning took place.
“Ready to get out of here?” Tea asked as she and her three male companions stood up from their seats.
“Absolutely,” Ryou said as she folded back the light blanket that was covering her skinny frame and placed her feet on the floor, standing up slowly as to prevent her head from spinning. The last thing she wanted to do was to collapse because she was all too eager to get out of school. She had already proved herself a burdened enough as it was.
She slipped on her shoes and moved to follow her friends out the door when she felt a sensation that someone was watching her from afar. She turned and realized that Mrs Mayhue, the school nurse was watching her from her desk, her brown hair pulled back into a loose bun, a pair of dark rimmed glasses hanging on the tip of her nose.
Ryou could not help but swallow thickly when she realized that Melissa, as she liked to be called, had this knowing look on her face with a slight glint of disapproval. There was no doubt that she saw all the bruises and scratches that littered a proportion of her body.
A wince flittered across Ryou’s face. She knew that look that Melissa wore; it was an expression she always gave when she was about to lecture someone for being reckless with their own health. Mrs Mayhue had been trying for a while now to get her to eat three square meals a day.
“You’re too skinny,” she would often scowl her. “You’re body is still growing; you need nutrients and energy to keep yourself healthy.”
“Ah, could you wait for me outside for a tic?” Ryou gently requested, not particularly wanting the others to overhear the talking-to she was no doubt about to receive. “I’d like to speak with Mrs Mayhue for a moment.”
“Sure,” Yugi said as the others looked about to protest. He gave her a reassuring, yet sympathetic smile and herded the others out of the room.
“Thank you,” Ryou said just before Yugi closed the door with an almost inauditble click.
Drawing in a deep breath, Ryou turned and took a couple of tentative steps toward the older woman. “Excuse me, Mrs Mayhue?”
“You’re wondering about who brought you here, right?” Melissa stated as she removed the glasses from her nose and held them with her forefinger and thumb, twirling it occasional as she leaned back in her seat.
“I, ah, I’m pretty sure I know who,” Ryou said as she shyly curled a strand of her hair behind her ear. “But did he say anything?”
“Only if anyone asks, I found you here,” Melissa answered quite quickly.
“I see...”
Melissa suddenly narrowed her eyes as she crossed her legs, sitting straighter in her seat. “Now, care to tell me why you fainted and why you’re covered in bruises?” she stated more so than asked, her nursing and mothering instincts kicking in.
Ryou decided that the blunt and direct approach was best; Melissa here was a nurse, she probably already established the cause of her injuries, she just wanted to hear her confirm it. “I was mugged last night and almost again today, but Seto-san helped me.”
However, Ryou’s blunt answer only caused Melissa’s eyes to narrow further, her eyebrow giving a light and subtle twitch. “And you actually came to school today?” she asked, her voice heavy with disapproving scepticism.
“I thought that if I stayed home, I would only dwell on it, you know?” Ryou explained, suddenly feeling very small, her expression becoming flustered from being scolded.
“Instead, the shock caught up with you and you had a minor breakdown.”
Ryou wrung her fingers in front of her, her expression close to that of a kicked-puppy look. “Something like that,” she whispered.
Thinking back on it now, coming to school a day after being attacked was rather foolish; Joey could have easily covered for her and she would have had time to compose herself properly before returning to school. But she had no idea that the two that attacked her would be at school as well, nor the fact that Carla would have told the whole school about the white-haired hussy.
Normally, Ryou liked to consult her duel cards, which she could use as Tarot cards, as guidance for a particular situation, but she had been so frazzled that she could not concentrate.
If I couldn’t concentrate with my cards, Ryou thought to herself, what made me think I could concentrate at school?
She might have to have tomorrow off from school.
Melissa suddenly sighed and placed her glasses back onto her nose, her scowl softening into a gentle, motherly look. “That was very dangerous, Ryou,” she said as she climbed to her feet and took a few steps to reach her. “Kaiba could have easily learned of your secret. Those bandages would have played havoc with your breathing.”
“Seto-san doesn’t know?” Ryou found herself asking, mildly surprised at how disappointed she felt. She should feel relieved, right?
“He said ‘he’ and ‘him’ so I assume he doesn’t,” Melissa explained as she tilted her head to the side, a flicker of thoughtfulness in her gaze.
Ryou let her posture slacken. “Oh...” she whispered.
“Oh?” Melissa repeated with a somewhat foxy grin of amusement appearing on her lips as she suddenly placed a heavy hand on top of Ryou’s head, teasing it a little. “Was that from disappointment? Do you want Seto to know?”
“Ah, what?” Ryou muttered, seeming dumbfounded for a moment.
“Tell me,” Melissa said as she leaned forward so they were now eye to eye. “What’s going on between you and Seto?”
“Nothing!” Ryou all but squeaked, her arms flailing about at her sides, clearly frazzled by the question. “Why would you ask a question like that?”
The grin on Melissa’s lips only grew from the entertainment of Ryou’s reaction. She might be a nurse, a highly regarded profession, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t embarrass any of her patients and with Ryou here, her reaction were always so cute! Her eyes would widen while her cheeks became pink from a blush, her voice easily more feminie.
While she cared for all of her young patients, she adored Ryou. She was just too cute and sweet not to tease.
“Hmm?” she hummed, clearly not believing her in the slightest. “Is that so?”
“Ah, I have to go,” Ryou said as she took a step back, a blush still heavily marring her features and bowed her head in gratitude. “Thank you for your help, Mrs Mayhue.”
“Take it easy now,” Melissa said in a stern, won’t-take-no-for-answer tone of voice, causally folding her arms under her bust. “You’re having tomorrow off, no buts about it!”
“Ok, I will,” Ryou said with a smile as she quickly made her leave, not wanting Melissa to question her further about Seto.
It’s not like there was anything possibly romantic going on between the two of them, nothing like the tone that Melissa held in her voice! Sure, she has kinda, sorta, maybe a little crush on the brooding CEO, but it’s not like Seto could have any interest in her, right? She’s just some scrawny, weak, girl-dressed-as-a-guy that happened to be a classmate of his.
Nope, there was nothing interesting about her at all.
But, speaking of Seto-san...
“Ready to go now?” Joey asked as she stepped out into the empty school corridors, shutting the door softly behind her.
“Not just yet,” Ryou said as she chewed on her bottom lip. “I need to speak with Seto-san for a minute. Could you guys wait for me near the gates?”
“Speak with money-bags?” Joey said as a sudden look of protectiveness caused his posture to stiffen defensively. “Why?”
“It’s important,” Ryou said as she stepped around him and began a slow jog, being mindful of her injuries. “I won’t be long!” she called over her shoulder.
She had to find Seto; she had to make sure that he wasn’t mad at her and he wasn’t hurt from the previous scuffle. She wanted to thank him for his help and apologize for being so reckless with her own health and well-being.
He probably wasn’t even at school anymore, but she just had to look for him.
“Seto-san!” she called out when the figure of a certain brooding brunette came into her line of vision.
Hearing the name from an accented voice, Seto paused in his movements and turned around, surprising Ryou a little as Seto had a habit of ignoring those who bothered or angered him in some way.
That was a good sign, right? It meant that he wasn’t angry with her!
“Hmm?” he said as his eyes held a sense of something Ryou couldn’t quite put her finger on before returning to the usual unreadable sheen. She felt her heart skip a beat at the inner realization that Seto could have been worried about her. Is that why he stayed back at school longer than he usually did?
“So you’re awake,” he said as he eyed her critically, yet tried to appear cool and uninterested all the same. “Feeling better after fainting?”
Again, Ryou felt herself become flustered. “Ah, yes,” she managed to stutter before realizing what she was here for and quickly bowed her head, her soft white hair flowing over her shoulders like a curtain of silk. “Thank you so much for helping me. I’m fine and I’m sorry for being a bother to you.”
“Stop bowing,” Seto suddenly snorted, appearing somewhat uncomfortable at her gratitude.
Ryou immediately straightened her posture, her blush still present on her cheeks. “Are you alright?” she then asked him, this time it was her turn to let her eyes wander over his form with a sense of concern. “They didn’t hurt you, did they?”
A small sense of surprise appeared on Seto’s features as the white haired youth seem to fuss over him. “As if they could,” he said, surprisingly not as annoyed as he normally would have been when someone assumed that he couldn’t handle himself in a fight.
“That’s good,” Ryou said as she breathed a sigh of relief, placing a hand over her heart in a sign of sincerity. “I was worried.”
Curiosity filled Seto’s being and he took a step forward, now towering over the young Britton. “And why would you be worried?” he asked, gently taking Ryou by the chin so he was unable to take a step away from him.
Ryou eyes widen as her heart began to beat loudly in her chest, her pulse racing through her veins. “I...I just didn’t want you to get hurt because of me,” she replied, Seto’s hand surprisingly warm and tender on her chin and she felt herself leaning into it unwillingly. “I mean, I’m not exactly worth it, you know.”
Seto was genuinely surprised by the response, his brow furrowing at how little Ryou seemed to think of himself. “What?” he said as he unintentionally loosens his grip on his chin, instead moving to cup the side of his face.
He didn’t know what possessed him to do something like this with Ryou here in the open, and the lack of control over his own body was slightly unnerving, but for whatever reason, he did not want to take his hand away. And Ryou, for his part, seemed to welcome the touch.
“Hey, Rei!” Joey’s loud voice suddenly cut through the silence. “Come on! We need to get going! I can smell Gramps caramel cookies from here!”
Jarred out of her trance like state, Ryou abruptly removed herself from Seto’s touch to spin around toward the location of the voice. “Coming!” she yelled back as a response.
Seto was momentarily stunned by what happened and looked down at his hand, looking at it as it if was something foreign to him. He then turned those cool blue eyes back to Ryou, watching as he slender youth draw in a few shaky breathes in an attempt to compose himself. “Ryou.”
Ryou stiffen at the sound of her name and turned around, a shy look dancing across her features. “Ah, yes?”
“Let me know if they bother you again.”
“...Of course,” Ryou said as her expression brightened with a sense of happiness, delighted that Seto seemed worried about her as it made her feel that she was worth something. “Thank you again, Seto.”
With a sharp nod, Seto turned on his heel and walked away swiftly, taking large strides in an attempt to leave quickly, inwardly unnerved by the entire experience. It was awkward, the encounter between the two of them, yet not entirely unpleasant.
Reaching his car in the parking lot, Seto took a moment to replay what just happened and he stopped dead in his tracks. Ryou just called him ‘Seto’ and he only just picked it up. Usually, he hated anyone other than Mokuba calling him Seto, but it didn’t bother him when Ryou called him that.
In fact, he rather liked it.
“What the hell?” he muttered to himself as he leaned against his car and pinched the bridge of his nose. “What the hell is that guy doing to me?”
Summary: After Joey’s girlfriend, Carla dumps him for Seto; Joey stumbles across Ryou being mugged and learns that he’s a girl! Seto can’t stand Carla, but finds Ryou interesting. How does Mai fit into all of this?
Pairings: Seto/Ryou, Hinted; Joey/Mai
Disclaimer: I don’t own the Anime Yu-Gi-Oh! or any character associated. I do own Carla Whitmore. She is an original character and all likeness to people living or dead is purely coincidental. This character is not based on anyone else’s character design, again if any likeness, it’s purely coincidental.
Warnings: Female!Ryou. The use and introduction of a female Original Character. Any fans of OCs and OC pairings should leave now. Anti-OC pairings and blatant bashing of my own character. I created her; I can do what I want with her. And I plan to. A bit of character bashing on the OC’s behalf and a few swear words, but nothing over the top. Set after Yami is sent to the afterlife, so no Yamis in the story. And Seto goes to school.
AN: Hello everyone. Again, a bit of Seto/Ryou fluff in this chapter and Ryou acting all cute and flustered ^^ Comments and suggestions are always appreciated! Please let me know what you think and many thanks in advance.
-
Chapter 8:
The first thing that Ryou was made aware of as she slowly wadded through a heavy fog was the fact that her head was quite literally pounding in her skull from a powerful headache. She was then next aware of that her chest felt constricted and she was lying down on something soft.
Scrunching up her nose at the distant glimmer of light and the soft whisper of her name, Ryou felt the fog slowly begin to lift as the pounding pain in her head slowed to a dull throb that was probably due to sleeping too long.
What happened?
“Ryou?”
Screwing her eyes tightly shut from a wince at the sudden voice which seemed to echo through her mind, Ryou forced her eyes open, four distinct blurs filling her vision. She blinked harshly a couple of times, trying to get the four figures into focus, the offending bright light in the room causing her eyes to water a little.
Finally, after much effort she could see clearly enough to notice the faces of her four friends, all of them wearing expressions of concern and relief.
“Good, you’re awake!” Joey all but cheered from his position on the left side of the bed, closer to her.
“We’ve been so worried,” Yugi added from the other side of the bed, his hands gripping her right hand, worry clearly etched onto his face.
“You look so pale,” Tea said from his position next to Yugi, motherly concern abundant in her tone. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah, man,” Tristan said from his spot next to Joey, a scowling expression laced with concern was adorning his face. “If you were feeling ill, you should have stayed home.”
Curling her fingers around Yugi’s as he held her right hand as a gentle sign of reassurance, Ryou lifted her free hand and ran it across her forehead a couple of times, trying to piece together her muddled thoughts. “What happened?”
“That’s a good question,” Tea said, which caused Ryou to peer up at her through her snow coloured bangs.
“Mrs Mayhue said she step outside for a moment and when she came back in, she found you on the bed,” Yugi explained when he noted her expression of confusion.
“Really?” she said as she let her head roll to the side to look at her friend, her brow furrowing in thought as she tried to piece together what happened to get her in such a position. “Wait...”
Then, it dawned on her like a bolt from the blue; the near-attack, Seto coming to her rescue, the realization of what those two deadbeats wanted to do with her – she had a panic attack and literally flung herself into Seto’s arms!
Oh my God, she did not just enter Seto’s personal space so recklessly, did she? What does he think of her now? As if she wasn’t weird enough before!
“Ah!” Ryou made a noise that was half surprise, half embarrassment as she bolted straight up in the bed, her eyes widening in surprise.
Her abrupt and sudden movements startled everyone around her and they all nearly fell out of their seats. “What is it?” Joey asked, alarm heavy in his voice as he jumped to his feet and looked around, seemingly searching for something, anything that would have caused Ryou to act in such a way.
Ryou felt her face become flustered from her reaction, and also from the memories of her grasping onto the front of Seto’s uniform as she pathetically cried into his chest. Oh, she hoped that she didn’t somehow ruin his uniform.
But then a sense of hope appeared when she realized that she was in the nurse’s office and none of her four friends here brought her here, which meant Seto must have! She must have passed out from the overwhelming panic attack and he must have carried her here all by himself.
She knew that he wasn’t the heartless, egotistical bastard that was a secret sadist that many people claimed him to be; but surely, he would have better things to do than look after her, right? Well, he did save her from those two guys –she still didn’t know their names and she didn’t really care to learn either – and he did ask if she was alright.
What did that mean?
She’s going to have to apologize to Seto for being a right pain in the neck.
Wait, could Seto know about her secret?
“Nothing, nothing, sorry, I just remembered something really random,” she said as she tried to somewhat ease everyone’s concern. She placed a hand on the back of her head and playfully stuck her tongue out. “Hehe, I’m sorry, I guess I wasn’t feeling too good today.”
Joey blinked at her, not convinced that she was telling the whole truth. “Hey, er, Rei-?”
“I guess the stress finally got to me, that’s all,” Ryou said gently as she turned to face Joey, a soft smile on her lips as she tilted her head cutely to the side in an attempt to reassure the other teen.
She must apologize to him as well; she’s caused him so much trouble as well.
“Well, you’ve got perfect timing,” Tristan said as he gave her a thumbs-up, unconsciously breaking the tension in the room. “School is finished. Come on, we’re heading to Yugi’s place for a bit.”
“That’s right,” Yugi said, brighten considerably as he turned to Ryou and blinked up at her with his large and expressive eyes, a soft smile touching his lips. “You’ll come too, right, Ryou? I mean, Gramps makes the best caramel cookies.”
“Yeah,” Joey grinned as he rubbed his stomach, seemingly already tasting the elderly man’s famous cookies that he was such a fan of. “I’m sure you can afford to have one or two, right Rei?”
“Not my weight again?” Ryou pouted at Joey’s jab at her weight; yes, she was a little on the scrawny side, but she’s always been like this. He mother was tall and thin and so was her father, it only made sense that she was thin as well. And she does eat! Sure, sometimes she skips meals, but only because she was busy and forgot. It’s not like she was on a diet or anything.
“Sure, I’ll come, Yugi,” Ryou said to Yugi, her smile growing warmer when Yugi’s expression brightened even more, clearly happy that she was coming as well. “You know I can’t say no to you.”
“It’s the eyes, right?” Yugi said as he laughed, cutely closing his eyes and tilting his head to the side.
Ryou laughed softly as well. “Right,” she said.
Yes, Yugi was very cute and whenever he turned those eyes upon anyone, they usually had a hard time denying the short male. Going over to Yugi’s would be a nice distraction, and besides, she and Joey still had to fill them in on what Carla has done and why the argument at the front gate this morning took place.
“Ready to get out of here?” Tea asked as she and her three male companions stood up from their seats.
“Absolutely,” Ryou said as she folded back the light blanket that was covering her skinny frame and placed her feet on the floor, standing up slowly as to prevent her head from spinning. The last thing she wanted to do was to collapse because she was all too eager to get out of school. She had already proved herself a burdened enough as it was.
She slipped on her shoes and moved to follow her friends out the door when she felt a sensation that someone was watching her from afar. She turned and realized that Mrs Mayhue, the school nurse was watching her from her desk, her brown hair pulled back into a loose bun, a pair of dark rimmed glasses hanging on the tip of her nose.
Ryou could not help but swallow thickly when she realized that Melissa, as she liked to be called, had this knowing look on her face with a slight glint of disapproval. There was no doubt that she saw all the bruises and scratches that littered a proportion of her body.
A wince flittered across Ryou’s face. She knew that look that Melissa wore; it was an expression she always gave when she was about to lecture someone for being reckless with their own health. Mrs Mayhue had been trying for a while now to get her to eat three square meals a day.
“You’re too skinny,” she would often scowl her. “You’re body is still growing; you need nutrients and energy to keep yourself healthy.”
“Ah, could you wait for me outside for a tic?” Ryou gently requested, not particularly wanting the others to overhear the talking-to she was no doubt about to receive. “I’d like to speak with Mrs Mayhue for a moment.”
“Sure,” Yugi said as the others looked about to protest. He gave her a reassuring, yet sympathetic smile and herded the others out of the room.
“Thank you,” Ryou said just before Yugi closed the door with an almost inauditble click.
Drawing in a deep breath, Ryou turned and took a couple of tentative steps toward the older woman. “Excuse me, Mrs Mayhue?”
“You’re wondering about who brought you here, right?” Melissa stated as she removed the glasses from her nose and held them with her forefinger and thumb, twirling it occasional as she leaned back in her seat.
“I, ah, I’m pretty sure I know who,” Ryou said as she shyly curled a strand of her hair behind her ear. “But did he say anything?”
“Only if anyone asks, I found you here,” Melissa answered quite quickly.
“I see...”
Melissa suddenly narrowed her eyes as she crossed her legs, sitting straighter in her seat. “Now, care to tell me why you fainted and why you’re covered in bruises?” she stated more so than asked, her nursing and mothering instincts kicking in.
Ryou decided that the blunt and direct approach was best; Melissa here was a nurse, she probably already established the cause of her injuries, she just wanted to hear her confirm it. “I was mugged last night and almost again today, but Seto-san helped me.”
However, Ryou’s blunt answer only caused Melissa’s eyes to narrow further, her eyebrow giving a light and subtle twitch. “And you actually came to school today?” she asked, her voice heavy with disapproving scepticism.
“I thought that if I stayed home, I would only dwell on it, you know?” Ryou explained, suddenly feeling very small, her expression becoming flustered from being scolded.
“Instead, the shock caught up with you and you had a minor breakdown.”
Ryou wrung her fingers in front of her, her expression close to that of a kicked-puppy look. “Something like that,” she whispered.
Thinking back on it now, coming to school a day after being attacked was rather foolish; Joey could have easily covered for her and she would have had time to compose herself properly before returning to school. But she had no idea that the two that attacked her would be at school as well, nor the fact that Carla would have told the whole school about the white-haired hussy.
Normally, Ryou liked to consult her duel cards, which she could use as Tarot cards, as guidance for a particular situation, but she had been so frazzled that she could not concentrate.
If I couldn’t concentrate with my cards, Ryou thought to herself, what made me think I could concentrate at school?
She might have to have tomorrow off from school.
Melissa suddenly sighed and placed her glasses back onto her nose, her scowl softening into a gentle, motherly look. “That was very dangerous, Ryou,” she said as she climbed to her feet and took a few steps to reach her. “Kaiba could have easily learned of your secret. Those bandages would have played havoc with your breathing.”
“Seto-san doesn’t know?” Ryou found herself asking, mildly surprised at how disappointed she felt. She should feel relieved, right?
“He said ‘he’ and ‘him’ so I assume he doesn’t,” Melissa explained as she tilted her head to the side, a flicker of thoughtfulness in her gaze.
Ryou let her posture slacken. “Oh...” she whispered.
“Oh?” Melissa repeated with a somewhat foxy grin of amusement appearing on her lips as she suddenly placed a heavy hand on top of Ryou’s head, teasing it a little. “Was that from disappointment? Do you want Seto to know?”
“Ah, what?” Ryou muttered, seeming dumbfounded for a moment.
“Tell me,” Melissa said as she leaned forward so they were now eye to eye. “What’s going on between you and Seto?”
“Nothing!” Ryou all but squeaked, her arms flailing about at her sides, clearly frazzled by the question. “Why would you ask a question like that?”
The grin on Melissa’s lips only grew from the entertainment of Ryou’s reaction. She might be a nurse, a highly regarded profession, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t embarrass any of her patients and with Ryou here, her reaction were always so cute! Her eyes would widen while her cheeks became pink from a blush, her voice easily more feminie.
While she cared for all of her young patients, she adored Ryou. She was just too cute and sweet not to tease.
“Hmm?” she hummed, clearly not believing her in the slightest. “Is that so?”
“Ah, I have to go,” Ryou said as she took a step back, a blush still heavily marring her features and bowed her head in gratitude. “Thank you for your help, Mrs Mayhue.”
“Take it easy now,” Melissa said in a stern, won’t-take-no-for-answer tone of voice, causally folding her arms under her bust. “You’re having tomorrow off, no buts about it!”
“Ok, I will,” Ryou said with a smile as she quickly made her leave, not wanting Melissa to question her further about Seto.
It’s not like there was anything possibly romantic going on between the two of them, nothing like the tone that Melissa held in her voice! Sure, she has kinda, sorta, maybe a little crush on the brooding CEO, but it’s not like Seto could have any interest in her, right? She’s just some scrawny, weak, girl-dressed-as-a-guy that happened to be a classmate of his.
Nope, there was nothing interesting about her at all.
But, speaking of Seto-san...
“Ready to go now?” Joey asked as she stepped out into the empty school corridors, shutting the door softly behind her.
“Not just yet,” Ryou said as she chewed on her bottom lip. “I need to speak with Seto-san for a minute. Could you guys wait for me near the gates?”
“Speak with money-bags?” Joey said as a sudden look of protectiveness caused his posture to stiffen defensively. “Why?”
“It’s important,” Ryou said as she stepped around him and began a slow jog, being mindful of her injuries. “I won’t be long!” she called over her shoulder.
She had to find Seto; she had to make sure that he wasn’t mad at her and he wasn’t hurt from the previous scuffle. She wanted to thank him for his help and apologize for being so reckless with her own health and well-being.
He probably wasn’t even at school anymore, but she just had to look for him.
“Seto-san!” she called out when the figure of a certain brooding brunette came into her line of vision.
Hearing the name from an accented voice, Seto paused in his movements and turned around, surprising Ryou a little as Seto had a habit of ignoring those who bothered or angered him in some way.
That was a good sign, right? It meant that he wasn’t angry with her!
“Hmm?” he said as his eyes held a sense of something Ryou couldn’t quite put her finger on before returning to the usual unreadable sheen. She felt her heart skip a beat at the inner realization that Seto could have been worried about her. Is that why he stayed back at school longer than he usually did?
“So you’re awake,” he said as he eyed her critically, yet tried to appear cool and uninterested all the same. “Feeling better after fainting?”
Again, Ryou felt herself become flustered. “Ah, yes,” she managed to stutter before realizing what she was here for and quickly bowed her head, her soft white hair flowing over her shoulders like a curtain of silk. “Thank you so much for helping me. I’m fine and I’m sorry for being a bother to you.”
“Stop bowing,” Seto suddenly snorted, appearing somewhat uncomfortable at her gratitude.
Ryou immediately straightened her posture, her blush still present on her cheeks. “Are you alright?” she then asked him, this time it was her turn to let her eyes wander over his form with a sense of concern. “They didn’t hurt you, did they?”
A small sense of surprise appeared on Seto’s features as the white haired youth seem to fuss over him. “As if they could,” he said, surprisingly not as annoyed as he normally would have been when someone assumed that he couldn’t handle himself in a fight.
“That’s good,” Ryou said as she breathed a sigh of relief, placing a hand over her heart in a sign of sincerity. “I was worried.”
Curiosity filled Seto’s being and he took a step forward, now towering over the young Britton. “And why would you be worried?” he asked, gently taking Ryou by the chin so he was unable to take a step away from him.
Ryou eyes widen as her heart began to beat loudly in her chest, her pulse racing through her veins. “I...I just didn’t want you to get hurt because of me,” she replied, Seto’s hand surprisingly warm and tender on her chin and she felt herself leaning into it unwillingly. “I mean, I’m not exactly worth it, you know.”
Seto was genuinely surprised by the response, his brow furrowing at how little Ryou seemed to think of himself. “What?” he said as he unintentionally loosens his grip on his chin, instead moving to cup the side of his face.
He didn’t know what possessed him to do something like this with Ryou here in the open, and the lack of control over his own body was slightly unnerving, but for whatever reason, he did not want to take his hand away. And Ryou, for his part, seemed to welcome the touch.
“Hey, Rei!” Joey’s loud voice suddenly cut through the silence. “Come on! We need to get going! I can smell Gramps caramel cookies from here!”
Jarred out of her trance like state, Ryou abruptly removed herself from Seto’s touch to spin around toward the location of the voice. “Coming!” she yelled back as a response.
Seto was momentarily stunned by what happened and looked down at his hand, looking at it as it if was something foreign to him. He then turned those cool blue eyes back to Ryou, watching as he slender youth draw in a few shaky breathes in an attempt to compose himself. “Ryou.”
Ryou stiffen at the sound of her name and turned around, a shy look dancing across her features. “Ah, yes?”
“Let me know if they bother you again.”
“...Of course,” Ryou said as her expression brightened with a sense of happiness, delighted that Seto seemed worried about her as it made her feel that she was worth something. “Thank you again, Seto.”
With a sharp nod, Seto turned on his heel and walked away swiftly, taking large strides in an attempt to leave quickly, inwardly unnerved by the entire experience. It was awkward, the encounter between the two of them, yet not entirely unpleasant.
Reaching his car in the parking lot, Seto took a moment to replay what just happened and he stopped dead in his tracks. Ryou just called him ‘Seto’ and he only just picked it up. Usually, he hated anyone other than Mokuba calling him Seto, but it didn’t bother him when Ryou called him that.
In fact, he rather liked it.
“What the hell?” he muttered to himself as he leaned against his car and pinched the bridge of his nose. “What the hell is that guy doing to me?”