Out of the Blue     by: Alena S. Anigor (Sanela)

Chapter VIII – Issues

Monday came rather quickly, or so it seemed to a certain brown haired girl, who was currently staring at her own reflection in the mirror, and seeing one happy and grinning girl staring back. She giggled slightly – she felt so stupid for giggling like that, but she couldn’t help herself. That feeling, as if she was walking on clouds and floating a few feet above the ground, had been there since she had come home last night. She still remembered the way Bakura had kissed her, and she giggled again, shaking her head and telling herself to quit the nonsense and get ready for school.

She had woken up earlier this morning, and she had enough time to make herself a breakfast. She was chewing on a piece of toast, wondering briefly why her parents hadn’t called yet. And then the thought of Yugi Moto came to her mind and she swallowed hard, suddenly feeling extremely guilty.

“Oh, no...” She muttered, realization dawning on her like someone had just hit her with a hammer. Yugi didn’t know...Joey, Tristan...nobody knew about them! She wondered for a moment if Bakura had told Ryou about last night, but she doubted that he told him anything. She moaned, covering her forehead with her hand, and lowering her head to stare at the table surface. That was bad...that was really bad. She could already imagine Joey and Tristan staring at her wide eyed, and she could imagine Yugi staring in disbelief, and Yami...he’d probably think it was one of Bakura’s tricks, and there was no doubt that would cause trouble for both of them.

But, how was she supposed to tell them that she was dating Yami Bakura? She knew for sure that none of them would approve of that, especially Yami.

Tea moaned again, lowering her head to the table, and leaning her forehead on it.

“This will be another great day for Tea Gardner.” She sighed exasperatedly.

 

“They were doing WHAT?!” Joey Wheeler’s voice was heard from the school entrance. He was staring at Tristan, his eyes threatening to fall out of their sockets. Yugi was left wide eyed, mouth agape in disbelief. Yami was simply frowning, his lips a thin line. He crossed his arms, standing aside from Yugi, listening to the taller boy in front of them.

Tristan nodded, frowning as well.

“Just like I told you, they were walking down the park together, holding hands, and then Bakura walked her home, and then he left.” He repeated his previous words, looking at each one of them with worried expression. “I didn’t want to believe it myself, and I thought I was seeing things, but...I wasn’t. Tea was definitely walking home with Bakura, holding his hand.” He added, crossing his arms across his chest.

Joey’s eye twitched slightly and he grit his teeth.

“That...that bastard!” he spat, pushing the sleeves of his jacket upwards, “I oughta-”

“Wait, Joey!” Yugi interrupted him, looking behind them both, and pointing at a brown haired girl who was walking towards them, holding her schoolbag.

Tea noticed that they all turned to look at her, and she almost stopped in mid step when she noticed the way they were staring at her. All of them, except Yugi, who looked somewhat concerned and hurt, were frowning, eyeing her warily. She could see Yami, standing slightly away from Yugi, looking at her like she had committed a terrible crime. She gulped, wondering just what, and how much, they knew.

She approached them, trying to stay calm and composed, but that was hard due to the fact that they were looking at her like she was an outcast of society.

“H-hey, guys, what’s up?” She asked kind of timidly, and then cringed inwardly when Tristan turned his head away. Joey was staring at her so intently that she felt like he was about to burn holes through her. She turned to look at Yugi, who was looking at her with so much hurt and pain in his eyes that she had to gasp. Yami was looking equally angry, resembling Joey.

‘Oh, God,’ she thought, not wanting to look at them anymore, ‘they know!’

“Maybe we should ask you that question, Tea.” Joey managed to break the uncomfortable silence, uttering the words so coldly that she almost flinched.

“Yeah, Tea, would you care to explain what you were doing with Bakura yesterday in the park, and why were you holding his hand?” Tristan asked in equally chilly voice.

Tea was lost, not knowing what to do or what to say. Her head started to hurt, pain burning inside, and she shook her head a bit to stop it.

“Tea?” The soft voice and concerned, violet eyes were looking at her from below, and she swallowed, tears welling up in her eyes. Yugi wanted to say something, wanted to ask her why, but he couldn’t. He had lost the ability to speak normally the moment he heard the news Tristan brought them.

Tea shook her head, tears falling down her cheeks freely now, and she let the schoolbag fall to the ground, hugging the smaller boy tightly, and crying her heart out. 

Tristan and Joey were at loss for words when she suddenly grabbed Yugi in a tight embrace and started crying. Involuntarily, the boys’ expressions softened, and now they were both sorry for yelling at her like that, and making her cry. Yami’s expression, however, stayed the same, and he was still eyeing the girl, frowning, but he had been lost in his own thoughts for some time already.

“I’m sorry...” Tea was sobbing, choking on each and every word she managed to utter, “I’m so, so sorry...” she repeated, gripping Yugi’s shirt tightly, while the smaller boy stood shocked, staring with wide eyes at the girl who was holding him so tightly that he thought she might choke him. His reflexes were still for some time before he hugged her back, stroking her hair in a comforting manner, pain, sorrow, hurt and something else he couldn’t define, flowing through him.

“It’s okay, please Tea, don’t cry.” He whispered, trying to calm her down, hating to see her cry, and lying so helplessly on her knees.

An occasional sob was still heard when Tea finally stood up, after minutes of crying, and straightened her school uniform. Joey and Tristan muttered their apologies, and Tristan signaled to Joey for them to go and leave the others alone. The boys were gone, leaving one miserably looking girl, one frowning Yami, and his worried hikari behind. Tea wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and lifted her schoolbag from the ground. She dusted it off a bit, sniffling, and Yugi offered her a handkerchief.

She thanked him, mustering a slight smile. She looked at the taller spirit of the Millennium Puzzle, who still had his arms crossed, his facial expression blank, evidence that he was lost in thought.

“Yami?” She asked softly, and he looked her in the eyes, suddenly aware that he hadn’t been paying attention the last couple of minutes. His face softened a bit, but just a bit. Tea lowered her head, staring at her feet now.

“Maybe I should go now...” Yugi hesitantly spoke, and turned away from them to leave. He trailed off to the school doors, leaving only Tea and Yami behind. She was fidgeting slightly now, becoming nervous and feeling awfully uncomfortable, uneasy silence falling between them again.

“I’m sorry, I...” She started, but then stopped, not knowing how to continue. She could almost feel the questioning gaze of the ancient Pharaoh, trying to see through her.

Yami sighed and then, uncrossing his arms, headed towards school to catch up with Yugi.

“You have to go to school now. We’ll talk later.” He replied calmly, and then started walking away from her. Tea blinked several times until hearing the school bell and, almost yelping, she started running after him.

None of them really concentrated on their classes during the whole day at school. Tea was looking sad and miserable just the way she felt, Joey and Tristan were casting casual glances in her direction, but at least they weren’t so cold anymore, or so Tea hoped. Only Yugi seemed totally lost and oblivious to everything around him. The thought of Tea and Bakura holding hands was sending such pain and grief through his chest that it hurt. There was also something else, mixed with those aching feelings, but he couldn’t quite distinguish it from the other ones, until he imagined Tea and Bakura together, laughing and smiling at each other. 

The little boy with the Millennium Puzzle hanging on a chain around his neck suddenly realized what he was feeling the whole time. He raised his head and looked at the girl sitting by his desk, solemnly staring at her notebook. He flinched suddenly, and then averted his eyes from her. He swallowed a huge lump in his throat, and sighed when he heard a voice from his yami.

“You are jealous, aren’t you?” He asked mentally, and Yugi sighed inwardly again.

“Is it so easy to tell?”

“To me it is, I know you too well already. You’re forgetting that we’re connected.” Yami replied, smiling softly at the smaller boy, who was sitting at his desk, battling his own emotions. Yugi smiled back a bit, and then his face darkened again.

“What am I supposed to do? If he hurts her, then I’ll-”

“You can’t do anything against her will, Yugi,” the spirit reminded him, and then fell silent for a while before speaking again, “but I must agree that I don’t like the idea either. I think you should talk to her, Yugi. Tell her what you really feel.” He added, and Yugi shook his head slightly.

“No, I-I really don’t know, I-”

“Tell her.” Was heard from the ancient Pharaoh and then he broke the connection, leaving Yugi to cope with his thoughts on his own.

He looked at Tea again, and his heart almost clenched when he saw how crestfallen she looked. Yami was right; he’d really have to talk to her. He didn’t like the thought of her meddling with Bakura...and maybe...maybe he should tell her how he felt about her. Then maybe she’d dismiss the thought of being with Bakura and...

Yugi sighed inwardly again. He knew how he felt about her, but what about her feelings? The way she acted towards him...No, she didn’t feel that way about him...

But he just couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to her, and, being with Bakura, something just might happen in the end. He didn’t want to risk that much.  No – he didn’t want to loose the only person he cared about so much.

And, in that moment, Yugi Moto made a decision.

Joey and Tristan said their goodbyes and went home, turning every once in a while to look at Tea and Yugi, standing by the school gate.

They were worried, probably as much as Yugi was, but Tristan decided to leave them alone to deal with their problems, and he literally had to drag Joey away. The blond was already prepared to show Bakura one of his fists, but Tristan managed to stop him in time and drag him away.

Standing in front of the gate, Tea was looking uneasily at one of her best friends, and shifting every now and then. The smaller boy looked at his feet for a while, and then he raised his head, and looked at her with such determination in his eyes that Tea had to stop fidgeting. The look in his eyes reminded her of the look Yami had when he was dueling.

“Yugi?” She said, looking at him with a questioning gaze, wondering what he was up to.

“Tea, I have to...we have to talk.” He said suddenly, and she nodded slowly, already knowing what the conversation was going to be about.

“And I have to tell you something.” He added, eyes lowering slightly again. Tea let out a soft sigh, and nodded again. Yugi raised his eyes to look at her, that same determination again evident in them. Tea braced herself for the upcoming conversation, already trying to come up with good explanations for holding Bakura’s hand. She knew he’d have everything against it, but she was also determined to defend her relationship with Bakura.

Yugi took a deep breath, getting ready to say what he had in mind. Yami was right; he had to try and tell her, because only then would he know what she really felt about him.

‘This is it,’ he thought, ‘now is the time to tell her how I feel.’