Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ You Already Have a Valentine ❯ More About Saturday ( Chapter 12 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Yugi twirled in his plush chair as he listened to the phone ring, and ring, and—when would Tea pick up? Yugi slid further down into his seat, humming tunelessly as he waited.

After maybe the fifteenth ring, there was a click, and, “Hello?”

“Tea! Yami and I were planning to go swimming today since it's so nice out. Do you want to come?”

“No I—thanks, but I can't.” Tea's voice quavered slightly as she added, “I'll see you later Yugi, bye,” and hung up. Yugi, on the other side, stared at the phone blankly, and wondered if he ought to let it be. She'd sounded upset, though. He pressed redial.

On the second ring, she answered. “Yes?”

“Tea, what's wrong?” Yugi twirled the phone's cord in his hand. “You want me to come over? I think you need someone to talk to.”

“Yugi, honestly, I'm okay. I'm just a little tired.”

Yugi laughed softly, “I've used that one too many times myself to fall for it, Tea. I'll be over in a few, okay?”

“I—yeah, okay. I'll see ya.”

Yugi stared contemplatively at the phone as he hung it up, then called, “Yami, we're gonna have to postpone. I'm going to Tea's for a bit.”

Yami walked him to the door, then murmured, “Did her and Mai have a fall through?”

“Oh, I don't know.” Yugi looked up with wide, inquiring eyes. “Why do you ask?”

“Tea is not lesbian. It was bound to happen eventually. Maybe she's in love with Mai, but not in a romantic way.” Yami shrugged. “I just hope this doesn't bruise their friendship. They need each other.”

Yugi nodded and waved goodbye, still processing the information. Mai and Tea's announcement had come as a surprise to him, but he fully supported them. Love is love no matter how forbidden. Yami had a point, though. He knew himself that Tea had never had so much as a crush on a girl before. Mai, though, Mai was probably strong enough for Tea to fall for. Mai could easily be the shoulder Tea needed to lean on.

Arriving at her front door, Yugi knocked, and smiled cheerfully when Tea opened the door and led him upstairs. “Thank you Yugi. I guess I should tell you.” The brunette shook her head slightly, closing the door to her room behind them and plopping on the bed. “Mai broke up with me.”

“WHAT?”

“She says,” Tea paused and looked at her hands, “she says I don't actually think of her as a girlfriend. I was lonely, and she was there. She's always been a big sister to me, a friend, and I took it further without considering the consequences. Mai loves me, but she doesn't want to push her feelings on me. She doesn't think I actually swing that way, and I ought to take a step back and think about it.” Tea sniffled and reached for a tissue, mopping her face, tossing it at the wastebasket and missing, adding it to the pile of tissues that surrounded it.

Yugi, shocked by the sudden announcement, sat beside her and put an arm around her shoulder. “It sounds to me like she didn't break up with you. She wants you to decide if that's what you really want. Yami doesn't think you `swing that way' either.”

“Well, I know. It's just...I know I've never thought of a girl that way before. I had a crush on Yami for the longest time, and before that a few guys who weren't half as nice, but Mai's special. Shouldn't the fact that she's the only girl I've ever fallen for make her a better choice than any guy?”

“Maybe it ought to work that way, but it doesn't. Maybe she has a point, you know. Take a step back and look at it for a while before you plunge in too deep. I think she'll be waiting for you if you do decide she's what you want.”

“But she is what I want!” Tea wailed, sobbing again. “I told her that and she just said, `later.' I mean, she was so cold!”

Yugi sat there, hugging her, and kept quiet. Tea wasn't thinking rationally right now, and anything he said would just aggravate her. The truth, though, was that Mai had a very valid point.

When Tea had calmed sufficiently, Yugi decided broach the subject again, hoping to help his friend come to some conclusion. “Tea, maybe once you've given more thought to this you should talk to her. It seams to me that you're blowing the whole thing out of proportion. If you were this hysteric with Mai, she was probably blunt so you would back off and have time to think.”

Tea blinked, and hiccupped. “Yugi, will you go with me to talk to her?”

“Yes, but you should calm down a bit first.” Yugi squeezed her shoulder apologetically.

“Oh, okay.” Tea tilted her head, then shrugged off Yugi's embrace and stood. “I'll go get ready now, okay?” Tea exited the room with a firm stride, purpose firm in mind. When this girl wanted something, her determination and confidence levels went up significantly.

Yugi shook his head. He wasn't sure if this was the best thing for either Mai or Tea, but that was their decision. He'd be there to pick up the pieces, to talk them through it, or to walk Tea down the aisle, however it turned out. Yugi would be the first to admit he didn't understand girls very well, but he understood friends.

After calling Yami to say he'd be out a bit longer, but maybe they could go swimming later, and having Yami laugh at him for reporting like a grade-schooler to his parent, Yugi went to check on Tea. She was leaning over the counter, close to the mirror, and applying deep indigo mascara. Her lips were coated in sparkly peach scented lip-gloss, and she already had on glitter and eye shadow. She'd changed into a coral dress that fit her snugly and exposed most of her long legs, swishing appropriately about her when she twirled for Yugi, calling, “How do I look?”

Yugi, blinked and gave an appreciative thumbs-up, and cocked his head. “Could you do me?”

Tea giggled, her spirits much higher than they had been ten minutes ago. “You're serious?” When Yugi nodded, she smiled, “Sure, come here.”

Tea worked her magic, requiring Yugi to keep his eyes shut and refrain from peeking. When she introduced him to the mirror, he gaped. She had used none of the glitzy stuff, opting instead for a haunting, almost Goth look. In this lighting, his face looked very pale, his cheeks touched by only the faintest colour. His eyes were dark, framed by thick black eyeliner that brought out the natural length of his lashes and his violet eyes. Soft red shadowed his eyelids, and a deep maroon coloured his lips. “Whoa,” Yugi murmured, shocked by the transformation.

“Well, what do you think?” Tea giggled, dragging Yugi out the door and down the street. Mai lived within walking distance from Tea's house.

“It's not what I expected, but it's nice. I wonder what Yami would think of if he saw this.” Yugi laughed, and glanced appraisingly at Tea.

“You like him, don't you Yugi?” Tea inquired softly.

“I don't know. I'm a bit lonely sometimes watching all of you fall in love, and if I liked him now, who could say if I really liked him? I could easily be grasping at the person closest to me in an attempt to keep away the loneliness. Besides, I think Yami's straight.”

Tea snorted. “Yami and straight don't belong in the same sentence! Are you blind? Look at how the guy dresses. No, but really, I guess you were speaking from experience when you said I ought to think about what I was doing with Mai, huh?”

Yugi nodded. Tea shook her head and continued, “You know Yugi, I really do think Yami likes you.”

“He's an older brother to me, and I don't know if it could ever be more. I'm not sure I want it to be more, anyway. We have something special, and we might lose that if we try romance. Besides, I'm working at my studies right now and I don't really need distractions. What we have is enough for me.”

A friendly, feminine smile lit Tea's face. “Yeah—as a fan girl, I'd love to see you two together, but as a friend, I think I agree that perhaps you ought to leave things. You have a lot of ambition, but achieving your goals takes work.”

The two walked silently together for a few more minutes, a friendly silence full of tentative contemplation. When they reached Mai's house, Tea looked to Yugi for reassurance, gathered herself, breathing deeply, and knocked firmly on the door.

***

Ryou nibbled on his not-quite-round-but-kind-of-burnt pancake and regarded Bakura, who stood butt naked at the stove flipping pancakes. “You know, not very many people can mess up a pancake.” Bakura flipped him off without turning. “Don't worry, I'm not complaining. The view more than makes up for it.”

Bakura grinned, sauntering over with a platter of pancakes, discarding the apron on the way. An tingling warmth in Ryou's groin caused him to blush and averted his gaze until Bakura was seated beside him, shoveling syrup-soaked mouthfuls down his throat. “Baby, you think more like me every day.” Bakura laughed between mouthfuls, “I guess I'm a good influence, huh?”

Ryou snorted, and resisted the urge to slap Bakura's ass. Someone needed to give him a spanking, but if that someone were Ryou it would lead to lewd connotations and excessive snogging—which wasn't all bad, except that Ryou was hungry! Eating as fast as he could while still chewing, Ryou tried to ignore how burnt the pancake was by drowning it in maple syrup. If he'd counted, he guessed that he would have eaten five or seven of them.

Both teen lay back in their chairs, overfull and happy. Ryou was dressed in checkered boxers and a loose tie-died T, while Bakura reclined in his birthday suit. “Bakura, you ought to put on some clothes, `cause I'm too sore for you to do me again.” Bakura merely leered at him. “Well, whatever. Can you take me dancing tonight?”

“Sure,” replied the ex-spirit, mind clearly on other things. “You know what a 69 is?”

Ryou blushed hotly, mutely nodding.

Bakura just grinned.

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This one is a long chapter, for me anyway.... I hope it makes up for how long you've had to wait. (well, at least a little bit)

Again, much thanks and glomps to evvy-body who reviewed (and those who didn't thanks for getting this far and please review `cos it makes my day). I'm surprised how positive it all is. Although, my mom pointed out about a year ago that the reason she didn't push me was because I was naturally so hard on myself, so maybe I'm overly critical...well that aside, I love you! Thank you for the tip and all your encouragement Paniwi-chan, and thank you Sapadu for pointing out my mistake and thank you everyone else who reviewed because it is very encouraging, and thank you Almighty Neko-chan for being among the only three to review in the past two weeks or so and I'm sorry if I'm playing favourites but I haven't the patience to respond to all the people from before when I couldn't find a way to see the reviews and I know this is a run-on sentence. ^_^

I'll try to have the next chapter out soon. Okay, I promise you by it'll be out by Monday or you've got license to burn me at the stake. That way I ought to get it done...eheh.

Again, I love you!

~Mala