Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ An Epiphany of Epic Proportions ❯ The Heat Wave Continues... ( Chapter 2 )

A/N: Noodles?

~*~

"An Epiphany of Epic Proportions"

02/10

~*~

- Third Person POV -

Yuugi gave a heavy sigh, fanning himself with a random manga he had picked up from the floor. It was hot. Hoooooot. HOOOOOT. HooooOOOOOOoooooot, daaaannngiiiiiiit. And Grandpa was out of town for the rest of the week, so he had the shop AAALLLLLLL to himself.

Except the fact that it was one of the biggest heat waves in Domino City history and there were barely any people out. The radio was going on about how the rangers were worried about the forests and the heat and the environmentalists were worried about the heat drying up the ocean and of COURSE the newsman's "…and it's expected to hit an all-time new low this week of 150 Fahrenheit tonight, we can all look forward to that, ne…"

Hot! Hot, dammit!

The bell on the door jingled and a familiar blond stepped in.

"Yo." Katsuya said, sweatdropping slightly. Whether this was from the heat or from seeing Yuugi with an NC-17 rated manga, we will never know.

"Konnichiwa, Jounouchi-kun," Yuugi said, somehow managing a cheerful smile as he stopped fanning himself with the random book. "What brings you here?"

"Oh… well… boredom. Heh." He shrugged slightly and came all the way in to join Yuugi at the front desk. "Cooler broken?"

"Yeah."

"Ah. Figured as much."

There was a long silence between the two of them, until Katsuya finally decided on, "So… I didn't know you were in to yaoi."

"Yaoi?" Yuugi asked stupidly before finally noticing the title of the manga in his hands. `Midare Somenishi,' it read.

…gulp…

"Ah- ah- ahh, i-i-iie, I don't, I mean, that stuff isn't what I looked at, er, I meant, it's shameful, um, "not me," that is, uh, surely, I was just using it to, um, to- not read! I wasn't reading it! I wouldn't, because, um, I don't, and, it's not… I didn't…" Yuugi's voice faded off into a miraculously high-pitched squeak.

Katsuya stared for a minute. Then, on sudden inspiration, "Oh? Are you close-minded, Yuugi?"

"Eh? Eh? Close-minded, um, no! But I'm not, either, that is- I meant- how could… what do you mean?" Yuugi could have sworn his voice hadn't been that high since the third grade.

"Aw, you're homophobic, admit it!" Katsuya wondered how Yuugi made his voice do that. It was… interesting. Yeah, that's it, interesting.

"N-no, I'm not h-h-ho-homo- that is, but, er, I mean, that… this manga, it was an accident!" Yuugi waved the offending book around before quickly discarding the object halfway across the room. He grabbed the first one he could reach on the nearest shelf and then shoved it in Katsuya's face without looking at the title. "Th-this is what I read!"

Katsuya blinked, leaning away from the manga, and then turned it right-side-up. "`Ai no Aura'?" he read aloud, lifting an eyebrow. Yuugi went several shades of white, green, and red when he snatched the manga back and glanced through it.

`More yaoi?!' Yuugi thought, horrified that his grandfather stalked such things, `Damn mangaka-tachi! Can't you do something G-rated for once?!'

"NO! I DON'T read that stuff!" he quickly threw the book to the other side of the room where it nudged the other one and turned towards the shelf again. "I- I read- no, I-" manga after manga, he pulled them off the shelf, glanced at the titles and ratings, and then flung them over his shoulder. Katsuya did several fish-stuck-on-land imitations to avoid the horrifying pictures those positively *sinful* books had.

He was actually quite good at it. Flopping around on the floor to avoid yaoi, that is.

Yuugi, meanwhile, had cleaned the entire section of those shelves and looked up at the sign above them. It read, in big, red letters, `NC-17 MANGA, YAOI, NOT FOR KIDS! Special Blue Light 50% off on Wednesdays, get `em while they're hot!'

"Usou…" he whimpered, sinking to the floor. He'd been RAISED in that shop… why hadn't he noticed a bunch of PWPs lying around?

"You hate gay people, Yuugi, just admit it and be done." Katsuya grumbled, realizing that there was no reason to be flopping around on the floor now. He remembered the heat and decided he lacked the energy to stand up.

"N-no… I don't hate… them…"

Aw, poor Yuugi. "Then, you love them."

"No!"

Katsuya blinked. Yuugi had answered just a *bit* too fast on that one.

"I, I mean… I'm not… I don't swing *that* way, if that's what you mean… but I don't really care, either…"

Ahh. That made more sense.

"But then, Yuugi," Katsuya rationalized, "whenever all those girls at school ask you out and tell you they love ya and stuff, why do you turn them down?"

"Cuz I never liked them like THAT, and it's no use going along for a little while, right? Then the heartbreak on their part would be even worse… right? That's why." Yuugi came over and knelt above his best friend. "Why… do you want to know?"

"Well…" no use beating around the bush. "At first I thought it was because you're gay. But seeing as you seem so bent on denying that, then my beforehand theory just blew out the window." He paused, "I guess the only other reason is that you could already like someone else?"

"N… no, of course not. I'm just not interested in girls. Late bloomer, I suppose." Yuugi stood up and began picking up the *evil* manga and putting them back.

"… it's Anzu, isn't it?" Katsuya asked, somehow getting enough energy to sit up on his elbows and look at Yuugi's back. Said boy was crouched, halfway to picking up another manga. He froze at Katsuya's words, and then turned his head slightly to glance at the blond through the corner of his eye.

"…no…" he managed in an overly even voice, and then snapped his head back round and stood, holding the manga.

"I KNEW it," Katsuya challenged, although Yuugi wouldn't realize it was a challenge. Yuugi somehow lost control over his legs and just stood with his back to the blond. He fumbled with the manga he was holding and read the title (`Gravitation') simply for something to do.

Eventually, he caught his voice and muttered, "I just don't LIKE anyone like, like THAT, Jounouchi-kun. I don't, really, I don't." he got control over his legs again and went back to the Evil Manga Shelf to put the manga back.

"You know, Yuugi, I'm not a simpleton." Hah! Not simpleton? Ohh, where'd you get that one, Jou? On the back of a milk carton? "you are in LO-O-OVE!" there followed a pause.

And then: "YUUGI IS IN LO-OVE, YUUGI IS IN LO-OVE, YUUGI IS IN LO-"

"What's all this noise?" asked a female voice, and out came Yuugi's mother from the back of the shop. "Yuugi! Really! It's sweltering outside! Can't you and your friends stop making so much noise?" she caught on to what Katsuya was singing, and looked at the manga in her son's hands (`Boys Next Door') and put a nonexistent two together with another nonexistent two.

Katsuya wisely shut his mouth when he saw the beginnings of The Look on Mrs. Mutou's face (the kind of Look that Shizuka got when she was really, really pissed… as in, pissed enough to burn down half the neighborhood wherein Katsuya earned his bad record…).

"YUUGI LYNN MUTOU, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" You see, Yuugi may not claim to be a homophobic, but oh, his mother sure is. She's actually a blond, too, by the way! Colored hair, ya know. And, yes, Yuugi's middle name is Lynn. Depressing, eh? Oh, well. We all have sad aspects in our lives.

But back on track.

Mrs. Mutou screamed and ranted and raved for THREE BLOODY HOURS before throwing Katsuya (he'd thought he might be clever and start singing the Yuugi Is In Lo-ove Song), Yuugi ("HONESTLY! I WILL *NOT* HAVE A POUF UNDER MY ROOF, Y'HEAR?!"), and Malik (turns out Mrs. Mutou had found him poking around Yuugi's room in search of a diary) out on the street.

The sweltering hot street, might we add?

Needless to say, the three scuttled toward the nearest shade they could find and huddled under a tree.

"Great," Yuugi grumbled, "my mother thinks I'm gay. THANKS, guys, for giving her the idea!"

"But it's the right idea, I bet!" Malik said cheerfully.

"It is NOT," Yuugi snapped out.

"Heh," Malik replied slyly, "but I know a nosy diary-reading blond who thinks otherwise." He waved a small blue notebook around, and Yuugi did the neat face-color-changing trick again.

Malik, thrilled at the shorter teen's reaction, flipped open the book to a random page and read aloud, "Dear Diary. Today we started Swimming in gym, and guess who I got partnered with? That's right! Nazami Yami-kun! Nazami-kun looks really, really, REALLY hot in a swimsuit, did you know? And he has very sensual legs. And a nice chest. Tummy. Yum. But… I think he saw me *looking* in the changing room, and I figured he'd be pissed, but he just glanced over and laughed. *laughed*. Dare I hope…? Ahh! Nazami-kun! Nazami-kun! Nazami-kun! Nazami-kun! Nazami-kun! Nazami-kun! Nazami-kun, how I wish I could tell you-"

"ENOUGH!" Yuugi practically shrieked, finally ripping the book from Malik's hands. Katsuya was doubled up with guilty laughter. And you know what?

"No worries, mates! I memorized the entire passage!" and so, our blond hero continued to quote the seemingly innocent diary, "Nazami-kun, it's seems very important for you to know…" Malik abruptly trailed off stupidly.

Katsuya sobered up real quick.

Yuugi, ONCE MORE, did the face-color-changing thing. He really was quite good at that.

BECAUSE, there stood Nazami Yami, in a white tank top that looked too big and a pair of baggy grey shorts. He had a soccer ball under one arm and was practically dripping with sweat ((eew… sweaty boys!)) which betrayed what he'd been doing a moment before. At the trio's silence, he tipped his head to once side, and asked, "What is it you'd like me to know so much?"