☆ The Rules ☆

>>Feel free to read it if you want, but this is one-on-one, so please don't thread-crash. Thanks.
>>Follow Menewsha's rules, etc

☆ The Summary ☆

Tokimeki fluff shenanigans between Honda (played by me) and Ryou (Mimiroppu). Side pairings will probably include JyounouchixYuugi and... that might be it. If Malik doesn't show up and toss a wrench in it.

☆ The Cast ☆

Probably... Honda, Yuugi, Anzu for Malik Ishtal, and of course Malik if he shows up, and Jyounouchi, Ryou, and Anzu for Mimiroppu if she wants to snag Anzu at any time.

Opening in the next post, because I'm leaving that to Mimi.

The novelty of being back to school after going off on an adventure that seemed much longer than the three days it was... wore off pretty darn fast. Duelist Kingdom itself had seemed to last at least a week if not a month, and stepping through those doors and into the hallway for the first time after had been... well, it felt more like a dream. Now Duelist Kingdom felt like a dream and school was the stale reality. Ryou sighed and thought about how much fun it was (in hindsight only) to run around a real castle and a real forest. It had been like a real life RPG and he entertained the thoughts of what it would have been like to encounter monsters while traveling with his party.

That really was just a fantasy, though, and he had to actually work to focus on the teacher who was writing out algebra problems on the blackboard. He never used to have so much trouble in school. He'd always had his head in the clouds but he was also always ahead of where his classes were. When he was younger and traveling with his father (before the man had settled down to take over the museum), he had a private tutor. It seemed his luck in his education was starting to run dry, because now the classes were catching up and speeding past him. He wondered if it was because of how much school he'd suddenly been missing...

He realized he had been spacing out again and was not only busy thinking about his younger years, but he was also doodling something that looked vaguely like an orc in his notebook that was supposed to be for notes. He pursed his lips and once again looked up to the teacher.

By the end of class, he'd written down a total of seven problems, a few scribbles growing off of them explaining why y was placed where it was and how one was actually supposed to divide a letter, and the rest of the page was covered in little warriors and mages. Some were scaling up the problems and then others were caught up in a battle with a slimy eyeball and zombie. With a little bit of shame, he started packing away his things into his bag, since it was now (thankfully) lunch. Maybe a full belly would help him to focus.

Hiroto Honda had never considered himself to be a ‘thinking man’, even if it was something he had the capacity for. It made it easier to indulge in action-games, and actual hand-to-hand-fighting if he made sure he didn’t over-analyze everything around him. Jyounouchi didn’t set the bar very high, after all; if he could just-barely pass his way through each grade, Honda didn’t need to do very much work to make sure they were in the same class together. It was a way to work the system, and socially, it worked out exactly the way he wanted it to.

Unfortunately, that backfired when it came to school. He could keep up, sure, and very rarely missed days, if only to make absolutely certain that he did keep up. But that hardly meant that he was learning, much less that he was retaining anything more complicated than the barest basics he needed to pass.

But Duelist Kingdom--which had been rather spur-of-the-moment, and incredibly high-stress for everyone involved--had effectively undone at least the prior week’s worth of textbook learning. And under normal circumstances, Honda might have been able to squeak by, despite that.

If there were ever a subject that completely eluded him, it was math. He liked that all questions in Algebra had a clear and concise answer once you found them; that once you had the right answer, you could double check.

What he didn’t like, however, was trying to figure out abstract answers--finding f(x) made no sense at all once it stopped being very, very basic arithmetic. Anything with a multiplication sign in it made his brain flat-line, and between fractions, decimals, and division… well, it was safe to say that Honda could see the writing on the wall already. Missing even a few days for an adventure on a madman’s island was something he couldn’t afford.

It was no real surprise to see that the rest of his friends had beaten him to the lunch table, by the time he’d woven his way into and out of the food line for bread that hadn’t come from the sale section at the conbini; unfortunately, the pickings were slim, and he’d ended up with less-than-appetizing cheese pan. He slid his tray across the table, settling in to sit by Ryou, far enough away from Jyounouchi that his pickled plum was probably safe. Even if it was a day old and not nearly as appetizing as it should have been.

“Hey guys,” Honda said, smiling easily, despite the almost-hour of torture he’d barely survived. “Way to desert me back there. I hope somebody snagged a worthwhile bread in my place.”

The talk at the table had been easy and Ryou found that he did like the way Jyounouchi joked and reenacted comically what had happened on the Duelist Kingdom island. He swung at the air, talking about what he had “done” to Keith and his goons (everyone there knew it was a lie, of course – they had been there for some of it). In the end they all laughed as the blonde wound up accidentally clocking himself in the jaw. As he was complaining about how his luck had been better then, Ryou noticed Honda scooting next to him. He shifted as if it were necessary and greeted him with a wave. Before he could reply, however, Jyounouchi pointed an accusing finger at his friend. “You cursed me, man!” He was still holding the side of his face that was sore from his knuckles.

“Actually, it takes a lot to curse someone and I don't believe anyone but yourself has had any hand in it, Jyounouchi-kun,” the silver-haired teen replied cheerfully. “Unless of course that Kaiba guy has been spending his office hours chanting and binding dolls of your likeness with your hair.” As he was rattling on, he had picked up a bag that had held his homemade bento and pulled out a small tupperware container. He opened the lid with a quiet pop and revealed two rolls that didn't look quite as perfect as ones made by machines. He held it out for the brunette male and smiled, ignoring Jyounouchi's terrified look and frantic hissing to them, asking if they really thought the eldest Kaiba brother was really “that kind of guy”.

“I made this last night,” he said. Then he looked suddenly sheepish. “I actually tried to make several, but I never had before and they didn't taste quite right...” He laughed at himself for it, before he lowered his hands slightly and stared into the container. “Well... actually, I don't know how good these ones are. If you don't like it, you can certainly throw it away.”

And now he was rambling. It seemed that he was really unsure of his bread-making abilities, even though he was a generally good cook. It was more than just that, though, and it hadn't fully sunken in yet about why, but... all he knew was that he enjoyed Honda's company and he wanted to pay him back in any way he could for all he'd done for the slighter boy during Duelist Kingdom. He supposed it might have been a sort of hero worship, because the other was strong and brave and could do things Ryou couldn't hope to. He'd gone out of his way to stand up against Pegasus and to help Seto and Mokuba Kaiba even though that guy was pretty hard to get along with. He wasn't quite as loud as Jyounouchi or as energetic (which was the nicest way of phrasing that), and he just seemed like the kind of person one could talk to and not expect a scream as a first reaction. That and... Honda had tried to free him... His fingers holding the food twitched as he held himself back from touching his chest. No one knew... no one knew it had come back. And he felt so guilty for wearing it again, but at the same time, what else could he be expected to do...? He hoped Honda never found out because that must feel like a slap in the face.

As far as Jyounouchi’s outlandish accusations went, witchcraft really wasn’t that ‘far out’, but Honda found that he didn’t have the chance to come up with a worthwhile quip--not with Ryou jumping in, either to his rescue, or to explain his favorite fictional subject. Well, maybe not that fictional. Honda had to remind himself that the garish gold pendant Yuugi wore was living proof that magic and monsters, and probably witches and vampires, and everything else were frighteningly real.

He hadn’t yet decided what he thought of all that. Not that it was anything he hadn’t known about for months, but he’d opted for deliberately ignoring the subject whenever it came up. That approach seemed to give him the least headache.

At least the idea of Seto Kaiba performing witchcraft was pretty laughable. Honda tried to imagine the ever-stoic CEO, who was probably more of a staunch realist than he was, dabbling in anything with the word ‘arts’ attached to it, and simply couldn’t. “Yeah, Jyounouchi, I’m sure he’s that way,” he teased, leaning back just as Ryou started talking about his cooking adventures. And then the younger boy produced a Tupperware from nowhere and offered it, totally unprompted.

The offer startled him every time.

Not that Honda minded the free food--actually, he was starting to wonder if he could survive off of nothing but little bits of things Ryou didn’t want to eat, with how big the silver-haired boy’s bentos typically were. But it wasn’t the first time he’d brought a little extra for lunch and offered it his way, and as his stomach merrily answered for him with a loud gurgle, Honda found that he hoped it wasn’t going to be the last.

“I never throw away good home cooking,” the brunette said, flashing his best grin Ryou’s way as he lifted the container out of his hands. “You’re a lifesaver, Bakura!”

The blonde was about to comment when he realized that his friend was taking a jab at him. Jyounouchi seemed to eat his words and it caused it cheeks to puff out instead. Ryou ignored him, and he could almost swear that he was sweating like a sinner in church as he passed off the offering to Honda.

...Who flashed him the most handsome smile he had ever seen in his life, and for that one single moment, Ryou forgot that he was a traitor and hell, he actually forgot the rest of the world still turned. His heart literally missed a beat and he didn't breathe during. Yes. Hero worship. That's completely all it was. Of course. He envied that smile a little. He wished that when he smiled it looked picture perfect.

Ducking his head, he waved the other's comment off, and hoped that he didn't seem to be acting strange. He didn't want anyone to think anything was wrong, because, well... he was a horrible liar, and it wouldn't take many questions to get where he dreaded the conversation would go. He glanced down at himself. Well, no one was perfect... (except maybe Honda.)

“You say that, but you haven't even tasted it yet,” he said in response.

“Hey, Bakura!” came the voice that broke through the moment. Ryou then remembered what he'd just been thinking about this particular ex-thug. He was loud. “When am I gonna get free food, huh?” Jyounouchi asked in a half-joking tone. “Seriously, why're you giving it all to him?”