{{Drabble}} 100_colours // #45 Dusty Rose // Momentum
Title: Momentum
Claim: YGO!DM [Mazaki Anzu, Mutou Yuugi, Jounouchi Katsuya, Honda Hiroto. Peachshipping.]
Rating: G
Warnings: Nothing really. Lots of vague references.
Word Count: 1,420
Summary: Does growing up mean having to grow apart?
Notes: #45 - Dusty Rose
“You sure you don't need any help with-”
“Get back to your bucket, Jounouchi,” Anzu scolds, staring him down until he stops hovering by the door, retreats to the hall and Honda's distant complaints. Once he's off her tail, she carries the refilled pot across the classroom, throwing her own cleaning partner a quick glance as she goes. Still there, facing the board. At least she didn't have to worry about Yuugi wandering off.
Watering a plant on the sill she catches the classroom's reflection in the window, and smiles.
“Can you believe we only have a couple more weeks here?”
“Yup.”
Not the correct answer, but she lets it slide. A reply at all - even a distracted one - is enough to urge her on. So the memories slip out, focused more on her own image than her company.
“Seems like yesterday we just started here, remember? You staying in to solve your puzzle, the guys causing all sorts of trouble? Though, that was just yesterday, wasn't it?”
She laughs in the wake of the tease. Yuugi doesn't join in, but it's more the reality that mutes her grin. She can joke all she wants, but even if their actions mimic the beginning, everything's changed. Those two might be out in the hall, dueling with the mops by the sound of it, but they're as bound to the boy across the room as she is, and the day they teased him with any real intent has long passed.
“Though these days there's usually something to break up the routine, huh?”
New faces and friends have come into the picture, only for some to leave again. Bakura is still here of course. If you don't count this week, since he's off with his father on another flight to Egypt. At least he was spending time with the man, and would bring back news from the country. They already had a get-together planned especially for it.
“-you think Bakura-kun will want to go to that corner deli he likes, or eat in? Maybe we should pick something up.”
But Otogi and Kaiba's desk, they've been empty a long time. She can't complain, since most the time she's too busy cheering on their efforts to built up their companies. Or rather Otogi's efforts - most knowledge of the Kaiba brothers came from global news.
At least they're out there, still within some measure of reach. But time ate at that, too. Longer trips, more miles, fewer messages.
“We don't get to see him as much, so we should do something special...”
And what of the rest of them? In two weeks, the only chains binding them would be of their own making. Any goals that led away from each other - even her own - could break them.
“It could be the last chance we get- I mean, until graduation. And who knows then.”
Already, her account's bulking up enough for those the applications on her desk. Honda has that job lined up at his uncle's place. Jounouchi's looking for the same, coming in every morning with a newspaper, listings near his sister's circled in red.
“We might be too busy...”
Even Yuugi.
Grant it, of everyone he's staying, in the literal sense. With talk of working under his grandfather and hints of taking over himself, it's possible he'd never home. But not for sure. In every way that counts, he's moving on. After Atem left he never slowed down, not for a moment. If anything, he's rushing forward, speaking only of the next game, assignment, tournament, goal. Nothing slows him down.
And sometimes, that new confidence scares her.
He's here now, but seeing him so assured, focused outwards, makes disappearing at the first whim a possibility. Simply because he's capable.
The idea spurs her around, looking for the boy behind her. And there he is, still across the room. The desks on that end and board don't looked washed like she expected, but it takes a couple seconds staring to wonder what exactly he's doing at the teacher's desk. It's almost like he's stacking something, slowly. And whatever it is is pretty tall, and when he leans a bit, she sees a few-
“Yuugi!!”
“Gah-!”
Anzu stays as is, fuming as Yuugi jumps back, knocks over his tower of erasers with a flailing arm, and falls with the remains in a dust cloud.
She's not sure which is worse- that he's been playing games instead of cleaning, or doing it while she's over here trying to talk to him.
Huffing, she waits until it clears, then comes over to glower down, focusing on the dozen or so erasers rather than the boy rubbing his eyes.
“When did you get all of these?”
“Ah, when I took the trash out...”
“And?”
“...and when you went to get the water?”
A stare down meets a quavery grin, undone by Yuugi leaning against the desk. As far from her as possible. A weak try at innocence, but she rolls her eyes and reaches down, patting dust from his hair.
“I thought we should have taken the hall, but you would just stack buckets like bowling pins instead, huh?”
“Eh-heh, sorry...”
Another smile, and she's the one wavering now. Ah, what can she do but return it, help him clean up? But as she's picking erasers up, considering calling Jounouchi to mop the floor, there's a tentative word-poke at her shoulder.
“...hey, Anzu-chan?”
“Hmm?”
She freezes in her kneel at the look on Yuugi's down-turned face. The one that says he's dragging something up he'd normally keep to himself. But even that calling card doesn't stop the shock.
“You know, it doesn't matter where you go- I mean, where anyone goes.” He starts with his own correction, glancing her way, then at his hands again, likely from whatever he saw in her face.
But an intake, and he's smiling directly at her, certainty in what he says layered under the hesitance to say it.
“We'll visit or talk or whatever it takes to stay together. And until then, we just have to not worry about it. Or the past.”
That add-on gets a beat of weight in his eyes, one that mirrors the equal that slams into her, forcing her eyes down with a gulf of shame she can't place the source of. Not fully, at least. But he doesn't let the silence settle. Her hands are full, but he grasps the back of her fingers, and she can't mind the pink he's rubbing into them. She's drawn back up.
“We should be making memories, not dwelling on them!”
She's caught, staring into his smile while wondering how she ever doubted and what she expected and what she's waiting for all at once.
“You're right...”
Yuugi's shoulders relax, grin back with a grateful look, like he's thankful for just her agreement. But before he can let go and move on and let the seriousness slide, she drops that hand's load and pulling him forward by the wrist. She catches a flash of wide eyes, but squeezes hers shut as she leans for his mouth.
It's a mess. She misses and catches just the corner and the rising dust makes her pull back and sneeze before she can correct it. And he's staring at her. Not in a bad way, but in a 'shocked to find a door he thought long shut and locked tight wide open' way.
But what is he thinking? She opens her mouth to ask, but then can't think of something to say, and rubs at her nose like it still tickles when it doesn't, using the excuse to look away. Attempting a joke and failing.
“That didn't go like I expected...”
“Anzu-chan...”
That soft tone spurs hope, but as she looks his way, as he takes a step towards her, a creak to the side draws their attention to the back door.
Their missing friends are standing there. Faces too open to pretend they'd just walked in.
For a few beats they're silent, Honda shocked, Anzu indignant, Yuugi miserable, Jounouchi amused.
“It's about time! Hey Yuugi, you gonna return the favor or wha-”
“Jounouchi- Honda-”
Anzu's dropping the last erasers and at the door before they blink. Seconds later she corners them down the hall, when Honda trips on his mop, dragging Jounouchi down with him. Yuugi hears them cry against punishment, but stays where he is, kneeling on the tile drawing pictures in the chalk dust.
Claim: YGO!DM [Mazaki Anzu, Mutou Yuugi, Jounouchi Katsuya, Honda Hiroto. Peachshipping.]
Rating: G
Warnings: Nothing really. Lots of vague references.
Word Count: 1,420
Summary: Does growing up mean having to grow apart?
Notes: #45 - Dusty Rose
“You sure you don't need any help with-”
“Get back to your bucket, Jounouchi,” Anzu scolds, staring him down until he stops hovering by the door, retreats to the hall and Honda's distant complaints. Once he's off her tail, she carries the refilled pot across the classroom, throwing her own cleaning partner a quick glance as she goes. Still there, facing the board. At least she didn't have to worry about Yuugi wandering off.
Watering a plant on the sill she catches the classroom's reflection in the window, and smiles.
“Can you believe we only have a couple more weeks here?”
“Yup.”
Not the correct answer, but she lets it slide. A reply at all - even a distracted one - is enough to urge her on. So the memories slip out, focused more on her own image than her company.
“Seems like yesterday we just started here, remember? You staying in to solve your puzzle, the guys causing all sorts of trouble? Though, that was just yesterday, wasn't it?”
She laughs in the wake of the tease. Yuugi doesn't join in, but it's more the reality that mutes her grin. She can joke all she wants, but even if their actions mimic the beginning, everything's changed. Those two might be out in the hall, dueling with the mops by the sound of it, but they're as bound to the boy across the room as she is, and the day they teased him with any real intent has long passed.
“Though these days there's usually something to break up the routine, huh?”
New faces and friends have come into the picture, only for some to leave again. Bakura is still here of course. If you don't count this week, since he's off with his father on another flight to Egypt. At least he was spending time with the man, and would bring back news from the country. They already had a get-together planned especially for it.
“-you think Bakura-kun will want to go to that corner deli he likes, or eat in? Maybe we should pick something up.”
But Otogi and Kaiba's desk, they've been empty a long time. She can't complain, since most the time she's too busy cheering on their efforts to built up their companies. Or rather Otogi's efforts - most knowledge of the Kaiba brothers came from global news.
At least they're out there, still within some measure of reach. But time ate at that, too. Longer trips, more miles, fewer messages.
“We don't get to see him as much, so we should do something special...”
And what of the rest of them? In two weeks, the only chains binding them would be of their own making. Any goals that led away from each other - even her own - could break them.
“It could be the last chance we get- I mean, until graduation. And who knows then.”
Already, her account's bulking up enough for those the applications on her desk. Honda has that job lined up at his uncle's place. Jounouchi's looking for the same, coming in every morning with a newspaper, listings near his sister's circled in red.
“We might be too busy...”
Even Yuugi.
Grant it, of everyone he's staying, in the literal sense. With talk of working under his grandfather and hints of taking over himself, it's possible he'd never home. But not for sure. In every way that counts, he's moving on. After Atem left he never slowed down, not for a moment. If anything, he's rushing forward, speaking only of the next game, assignment, tournament, goal. Nothing slows him down.
And sometimes, that new confidence scares her.
He's here now, but seeing him so assured, focused outwards, makes disappearing at the first whim a possibility. Simply because he's capable.
The idea spurs her around, looking for the boy behind her. And there he is, still across the room. The desks on that end and board don't looked washed like she expected, but it takes a couple seconds staring to wonder what exactly he's doing at the teacher's desk. It's almost like he's stacking something, slowly. And whatever it is is pretty tall, and when he leans a bit, she sees a few-
“Yuugi!!”
“Gah-!”
Anzu stays as is, fuming as Yuugi jumps back, knocks over his tower of erasers with a flailing arm, and falls with the remains in a dust cloud.
She's not sure which is worse- that he's been playing games instead of cleaning, or doing it while she's over here trying to talk to him.
Huffing, she waits until it clears, then comes over to glower down, focusing on the dozen or so erasers rather than the boy rubbing his eyes.
“When did you get all of these?”
“Ah, when I took the trash out...”
“And?”
“...and when you went to get the water?”
A stare down meets a quavery grin, undone by Yuugi leaning against the desk. As far from her as possible. A weak try at innocence, but she rolls her eyes and reaches down, patting dust from his hair.
“I thought we should have taken the hall, but you would just stack buckets like bowling pins instead, huh?”
“Eh-heh, sorry...”
Another smile, and she's the one wavering now. Ah, what can she do but return it, help him clean up? But as she's picking erasers up, considering calling Jounouchi to mop the floor, there's a tentative word-poke at her shoulder.
“...hey, Anzu-chan?”
“Hmm?”
She freezes in her kneel at the look on Yuugi's down-turned face. The one that says he's dragging something up he'd normally keep to himself. But even that calling card doesn't stop the shock.
“You know, it doesn't matter where you go- I mean, where anyone goes.” He starts with his own correction, glancing her way, then at his hands again, likely from whatever he saw in her face.
But an intake, and he's smiling directly at her, certainty in what he says layered under the hesitance to say it.
“We'll visit or talk or whatever it takes to stay together. And until then, we just have to not worry about it. Or the past.”
That add-on gets a beat of weight in his eyes, one that mirrors the equal that slams into her, forcing her eyes down with a gulf of shame she can't place the source of. Not fully, at least. But he doesn't let the silence settle. Her hands are full, but he grasps the back of her fingers, and she can't mind the pink he's rubbing into them. She's drawn back up.
“We should be making memories, not dwelling on them!”
She's caught, staring into his smile while wondering how she ever doubted and what she expected and what she's waiting for all at once.
“You're right...”
Yuugi's shoulders relax, grin back with a grateful look, like he's thankful for just her agreement. But before he can let go and move on and let the seriousness slide, she drops that hand's load and pulling him forward by the wrist. She catches a flash of wide eyes, but squeezes hers shut as she leans for his mouth.
It's a mess. She misses and catches just the corner and the rising dust makes her pull back and sneeze before she can correct it. And he's staring at her. Not in a bad way, but in a 'shocked to find a door he thought long shut and locked tight wide open' way.
But what is he thinking? She opens her mouth to ask, but then can't think of something to say, and rubs at her nose like it still tickles when it doesn't, using the excuse to look away. Attempting a joke and failing.
“That didn't go like I expected...”
“Anzu-chan...”
That soft tone spurs hope, but as she looks his way, as he takes a step towards her, a creak to the side draws their attention to the back door.
Their missing friends are standing there. Faces too open to pretend they'd just walked in.
For a few beats they're silent, Honda shocked, Anzu indignant, Yuugi miserable, Jounouchi amused.
“It's about time! Hey Yuugi, you gonna return the favor or wha-”
“Jounouchi- Honda-”
Anzu's dropping the last erasers and at the door before they blink. Seconds later she corners them down the hall, when Honda trips on his mop, dragging Jounouchi down with him. Yuugi hears them cry against punishment, but stays where he is, kneeling on the tile drawing pictures in the chalk dust.