The Bet

chapter fifteen: changes

Ryou pressed himself against the wall, stifling a yawn as he heard the heavy, steel double doors click open. His big, doe brown eyes immediately swiveled to the mass of bundled students entering from the students' parking lot, but none of them was the one he was looking for. He shivered in his long sleeved t-shirt and overlaying thick sweater as a cold gust of winter air and a few stray snow flakes hit him.

He stepped further back and wished it was a warm Friday in June, the sun starting to come up, instead of a cold, dreary Monday in January, darkness still blanketing the land. Ryou shivered again, had a small bout of coughing, then looked down at the small Taz plushy cradled to his chest.

He hoped Bakura liked it. He had begged and pleaded with his dad to take him to the Warner Brothers store at the mall, where he had spent his allowance on a thank-you gift for Bakura. Glancing up and scanning the crowd when he heard a series of particularly loud, rude noises, Ryou frowned. He hoped Bakura was going to come today, and soon; he didn't know how much longer he'd have the nerve to do this.

Ryou had never done anything like this before, and he normally wasn't one to hold his heart out and risk having it shattered. It took all of his courage just to be standing here now. Though, all he had to do was think of Bakura's smoldering, dark eyes and he felt his resolve strengthening. Bakura didn't back down from anyone, or anything. Bakura always stood out in the crowd, where as Ryou always tended to blend in. Though, this time, Ryou wanted to be noticed........he wanted Bakura to look at him with those dark, dangerous eyes..... the pale boy shivered once more, but this time, it wasn't from the cold.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" The harsh voice snapped Ryou out of his daze; he jumped, nervously trying to shrink into himself, and looked up to meet the very eyes he'd been day dreaming about.

Gazing down into gentle, doe brown eyes opened wide, Bakura felt his mouth go dry, and the rest of his words fled from his mind. He'd come in the door by himself, pissed off at that bastard, Marik, who had decided to skip school today due to a severe hangover. Bakura's own head hurt, and he had every intention of going to first period and falling asleep, but the unexpected sight of that pale skinned boy who haunted his dreams and every waking moment made him forget everything else.

Under Bakura's intense scrutiny, Ryou blushed and looked down at the floor, trying to keep his breathing calm and think of something to say. " I......I...." He licked his lips, his voice suddenly stuck in his throat.

When he heard Bakura's impatient snort, his head shot up, eyes wide with urgency, and he thrust the Taz plushy into Bakura's empty arms. "Thank you for saving my life. I...it means a lot to me, and-" Just then, the bell rang, and Ryou's heart raced. He was going to be late for class! "I gotta go......." he said softly, then turned around and ran, glancing once back over his shoulder at Bakura.

The older boy stood stock still, his keys jangling in one slack hand, his lips parted, and his usually cold, hard eyes wide, staring down in shock and amazement at the plushy, and at Ryou's retreating back.

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

Yugi grabbed harryarry Potter book, which he'd started that weekend and still hadn't gotten past chapter one, and shut his locker. He swung his heavy book bag onto his thin shoulders and almost toppled under the weight.

He turned when he heard an amused chuckle behind him. "Yugi, that thing looks as if it weighs more than you do." Then, suddenly, two hands were lifting the bag filled with his afternoon books off of him, and he was glad the immense weight was gone.

"Thank you, Yami." Yugi smiled up at Yami shyly, a faint blush staining his round cheeks. Today had been the weirdest school day in his short life; esincsince he'd come to school that morning, Yami had been there. Yami had invited Yugi to hang out with him and his group of really cool upperclassmen before the morning bell, and he'd said hello to the little one every time they passed in the halls, which was very frequent, almost as if Yami went out of his way just to see him.

Yami casually slYugiYugi's mint green Jansport book bag over his shoulder, surprised when it hit his spine with a dull thump. "Damn, I don't remember carrying these many books. Hell, I don't think I carried any books at all......" Yami shrugged and shook his head, smiling when he heard the little angel giggle then cover his mouth with one small, porcelain hand.

Yugi gazed up at Yami, clutching his book to his chest as the taller boy placed an arm around his shoulders and started walking down the hall with him, in the opposite direction of the library. "Yami?"

"Yugi, why don't you come sit with me at lunch? I noticed we had the same lunch period........." Yami trailed off suggestively, pinning the little one with his intense ruby orbs.

Yugi looked down, chewing on his soft lower lip. He'd love to sit with Yami; he'd never had anyone to sit with at lunch before, but...that would mean sitting with Yami's friends, too, and a few of them pic picked on him before. But that was before he was.....before him and Yami had gone out. Blushing furiously, Yugi nodded his head, reassuring himself that Yami would be there, and he'd protect him. He'd been so kind and caring on their date; there was no reason he'd act any different here......

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

Yami led Yugi through the crowded throng of students who were talking, eating, occasionally throwing objects through the air at one another, and waiting in a hapha lin line for lunch, some of the students cutting in front of several stragglers to join a bunched up group of chattering friends. Many heads on the outer tables, next to the far wall, turned and stared open mouthed at Yami as he passed, and the senior smirked knowingly back at them, basking in the attention. They were shocked to see him actually carrying a fully loaded book bag during the day, and, surprisingly, he was being closely trailed by that small boy who looked like Yami....

Yugi walked with one shoulder nearly pressed against the wall, occasionally glancing nervously around at the curious faces, but mostly looking at the stained tiles of the floor and Yami's booted heals and wide legged jeans with the torn heals. His head was lowered, instinctively avoiding as much eye contact as possible and wishing he could just disappear into the wall.

Yami suddenly stopped at the very last table in the corner, and Yugi bumped into him, then qly bly backed up. The heads of Seto, Bakura, Mai and the other nameless students sitting there all looked up at him with inquiring glances.

"What the fuck is your little pussy-bitch doing here?" Bakura growled out, glaring at Yami, then at Yugi, who squeaked and hid behind Yami.

Yami glared right back. "What the fuck are you doing with that plushy? Using it to jack off? Or can't the wittle baby sweep without it?" His voice took on a mock-baby tone towards the end of his taunt.

Bakura growled menacingly and snatched at the Taz plushy, which had been sitting in front of his tray, and looked down as if he wanted to shove the damned thing into a book bag, but, since he didn't have one, he settled for cramming it into one of the big pockets by his knees on the sides of his baggy black jeans.

Seto, Mai, and several others laughed, but before either of the two said a word, Yami put an arm around Yugi, pulling him from behind him and holding him tightly against his side. "Yugi, meet Mai, the blonde whore over there; that's Seto, who has his head rammed up his ass, Bakura, the homicidal psychopath, and his fuck-buddy, Marik, who isn't here."

Yugi raised his head to gaze up at them once before he quickly looked back down, studying his nervously clasped hands. He was starting to think this had been a bad idea......students at other tables were looking and whispering; he could feel their eyes burning holes in his back; anteanted nothing more than to escape to the safety and security of the library, but Yami held him tight to his side, and he had his book bag.... Yugi gulped then was about to murmur a greeting when Yami continued before either he nor Yami's friends could say anything.

"Cocksuckers, this is Yugi Moto, my new boyfriend." Yugi's embarrassed, red cheeks blushed even brighter, and he gave a small squeak, and pressed himself against Yami, his only shelter from the dozen or so pair of eyes watching them.

Yami gave the little one's shoulders a reassuring squeeze and he pushed Yugi down into a seat, gave Bakura a triumphant leer, then headed off to the snack line. Yugi shivered in his loose hoodie and jeans, though it wasn't because he was cold. His breath was caught in his tight, constricted chest and throat, and he grabbed his book, opening it to a random page and delved in before anyone could talk to him.

When the ruby-eyed teen returned, he found Yugi immersed in a book, violet eyes staring blankly at a page far from his book mark, and his thin body trembling, while the rest of the table stared at Yugi in shock. Yami smiled victoriously in return to Bakura's dirty sneer as he plopped down beside Yugi, snatched his book away, and pressed a bag of chips and can of Pepsi on him.

Yugi frowned, staring down at his chips while Yami ate his own, smugly pleased with himself. Seto, Mai, and the others soon lost interest, except for Bakura, who kept throwing Yami and Yugi dirty looks. Yami soon finished, and Yugi hadn't even opened his; han hands were shaking too badly; he'd even slopped a bit of pop on the table. Yami reached over, opened Yugi's pack, and held a chip up to his soft, pouty lips.

Yugi gasped and stiffened as the older boy leaned over when he didn't move, and he felt his hot breath on his sensitive skin. "Yugi, calm down; they won't hurt you. I won't let them, I promise. Please eat, so you're not hungry."

The small one blushed a bit more as his skin tingled from the hot breath, and he wondered what it would be like to have Yami's tongue licking at his ear.......

Yami's breath came again when he hadn't moved. "Yugi, please don't make me waste my money......." The small guilt trip worked, and Yugi closed his eyes, leaned forward a bit, and took a small nibble of the Dorito. He licked the cool ranch flavoring off his lips, and, suddenly hungry, took the chip into his own tiny hands and shoved it into his mouth.

Yami shot Bakura another gloating smirk, and just as the other boy was about to retaliate, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Yami stood up and casually slung Yugi's book bag over his shoulder once again. "Let's go, Yugi; I'll walk yo yoo your next class."

Yugi quickly stood, holding his book and unfinished chip bag to his chest and shyly smiled at the table. "Nice meeting you, everyone." His voice was barely audible in the even more profuse chattering around them as the students got up and left. He started to walk forward, joining the mass crowding and pushing towards the doors.

Yami paused behind Yugi to smirk viciously at Bakura. He curled the tips of his fingers on one hand together, so it looked like he was holding an invisible something, placed his hand by his pelvic region, and quickly made a stroking motion several times before he hurried off after his little one.

Bakura had had all he could take; he snatched up his plastic cup of mushy, limp green beans and hurled it at Yami's head; it missed him, hit several others, and had one of the lunch monitors coming in their direction.

***********

Bakura yanked his brown rawhide jacket out of his locker and kicked his metal door shut. "Damn that fucking spoiled son of a fucking bitch." He muttered foully under his breath, kicking his locker door one last time and adding another dent to the aged, chipped metal. He reached down, searching all four pockets of his baggy jeans when his hand brushed a huge lump in the lower right one.

He reached in and pulled out the Taz plushy that boy.....what was his name...Ryou....the plushy Ryou had given him.......he stared down at the madly grinning, brown furry thing, his mind quickly running over what the boy could be up to; why he could possibly have done such a thing. He didn't by that bull shit about just wanting to thank him; he must be interested in something else......

Smirking, Bakura shoved it into the pocket of his coat, snatched the keys he'd left in there out, and stalked up the long, cold, slippery walk to the parking lot. He slammed the door to his Hummer shut, his fingers already dumb, face wind bitten, and teeth clenched to keep from chattering as he jammed the key in, and revved the engine.

Too cold to move much, anitiniting for the engine to warm up so he could turn the heat on, Bakura watched the other idiots pull out, snarling and flashing the middle finger at Yami as he drove by with Yugi in the passenger seat.

Feeling the air warm up a tad as the engine was already starting to heat, Bakura turned the heater up higher and pulled out the Taz plushy. He gazed down at it, not knowing quite how to react or what to do with it. Ryou had given it to him.....he must be after something.....and Bakura was pretty sure he knew what he wanted, although he never would have figured Ryou out for that type, but......if that's what he wanted, then he'd be more than hato oto oblige...

Chuckling darkly, Bakura reached up to his rearview mirror and tugged hard on the skull, snapping it's string, tearing it down, and putting up the Taz plushy instead. He pressed the button on the car door armrest, rolling down the window, chucked the plastic skull out, rolled it back up, then sped out of the parking lot, his new Taz plushy bouncing and jarring along with him as he reached oved tud turned on his stereo, blasting Godsmack all the way home.

tbc..........

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well, there it is, another chappie; hopefully soon I'll have the next one out, but dun hold your breath...*sighs* I'm known as the queen of long updates...le sigh..

Ne wayz, I just *had* to have bakura listening to godsmack; they're a pretty kool band- I like 'em, and they just seem like a band bakura would listen to ^.^

And now..i'm off to start my psych and Spanish.whoppeee..fun, fun, fun.