Chapter Text
Scene 1
Both Yami and Yugi panted, as they entered the classroom.
The school bus had a puncture resulting in a flat tire around 10 minutes away from school.
Too far to walk, too close to wait patiently.
The new school year had started, and both of them had gotten their class wish approved. Drama club.
The twins looked over the room, and were delighted to spot a few recognisable faces. There was Jou, who they knew since… Almost forever.
He had been their friend since kindergarten and they had picked the class together. His younger sister was working on an electronics project - she would do the lights and technical effects for the show.
There were some other kids they had seen over the years, but for most, they did not have a name. Except, of course, for the school’s resident drama bitch.
For some reason, he had managed to be student president since his first year.
No one seemed to have called upon him, he was just there, all of a sudden, yelling at people and commanding them around like a fucking CEO. Not even the teachers seemed to like him, because, despite having amazing grades, he wasn’t exactly… loveable.
“Kaiba.”
It was neither a declaration of joy, nor a question or a complaint.
Yami barely acknowledged the other young man.
He and Yugi sat down next to Jou, who had reserved them seats. That was entirely unnecessary, since they were in the audience hall, and there were enough free seats for the entire school, but he had meant well, and his friends were happy.
“Hey dude!”
Yami smiled at him with the widest grin.
“I can’t wait, this is going to be amazing!”
“Well I wouldn’t be too sure about this…”
Jou seemed to be just as reserved as Yugi, but for different reasons.
The former had a slight temper problem, the latter mild social anxiety.
Yami always told his brother, that he was doing just fine, and that people would love him if he just stepped up to them, but he was so… unsure of himself. It frustrated the other twin. Yami himself was fine with social situations, with new people, with adventures and experiences.
So fine in fact, that he sometimes lost his focus, because he was so happy to be there and to do something new, that he got into trouble finding his way out.
So they sat there, surrounded by other nerds trying to find some peace in the oppressing and frustrating world that was high school.
Suddenly, the friendly chatter was seized, when their teacher stormed on stage, as dramatic as someone working in his position could be.
Everyone was sure he had a last name, but no one knew it, because he demanded, that the students used his first name.
Shadi.
What kind of name was this?
Maybe it wasn’t even his real first name? Maybe he had picked it, because it was as dramatic as the rest of his attitude?
HE had once proclaimed, that it meant “the singer”, but that his profession was so much more.
The longer Yami thought about it, the more he realised, that it was probably fake.
While their teacher held a terrible speech about the importance of art in their life, the young man just looked around.
There were the three of them, and Seto Kaiba. Also, apparently his little brother, who had just joined their high school, and SOMEHOW managed to be approved for this class. Probably because of his brother.
There were also two girls, both pretty, and apparently already befriended.
A tall blonde with a surprisingly buxom, but athletic figure, and a brunette, just as well rounded, but with longer, thinner muscles. Just like a dancer, Yami thought. They were both in their school uniforms - they all were - but just like him and Yugi, they had customised it with small bracelets and necklaces.
Most people would have considered them sexy.
Yami considered them visually appealing.
It had taken him some time, but eventually he had figured out, that women just didn’t do it for him.
Yugi was different. His attraction wasn’t connected to any gender, and sometimes, Yami was a bit envious. He knew, that Yugi at least had a chance to appear “normal”, while he was destined to either be alone, or shunned.
Urgh. Why was he even thinking about this? This was all Shadi’s damn fault for trying to force his beliefs on them and giving them THIS TERRIBLE SPEECH!
Shaking his thoughts away, Yami continued to look around.
There was another kid, that was probably only here because it wasn’t ballsports. Or any sports. Or… anything else.
He looked like he was ready to fall asleep, opinion of the teacher and the other students be damned.
His white hair was bound in a high ponytail, accentuating his handsome features, and he could have been really pretty, if he hadn’t been caught with the most bored expression Yami could think of. He grinned a bit to himself.
He sounded like those creeps telling the young, beautiful girls to smile more.
Trying to swallow his predispositions, he looked at the guy next to him.
That one was very obviously more into it.
With his winged liner, the long, blond hair and the crop top, he even managed to challenge Shadi’s level of drama.
Only now, Yami realised, that they seemed to be holding hands.
Oh.
So apparently, angry-boy was here to support flamboyant-boy?
That was… cute.
He felt himself stare a little bit too long, even when the white haired teenager looked over and squinted angrily at him, but he couldn’t help himself.
Was that what it took to be happy with a male partner?
They sat alone, far away from the group, and they had a very strong aura of “call us any slur and I might slash your tire. Or your throat.”.
OH SHIT.
Now they both stared at him and the angry one already presented him with a frown and a middle finger.
No. Shit. No! I’m not…
How was he supposed to tell them, that he wasn’t opposed to their relationship, but jealous?
Thankfully, Shadi finally finished his boring monologue, and now, they were supposed to talk.
“Why don’t we all introduce ourselves to each other with a funny game?”
Oh hell no.
Those ‘funny games’ were never funny. Or games.
They were unnecessarily complicated embarrassment-procedures.
“Let’s get up on stage and pull out those cute little foldable chairs. I want you in a circle, my dear apprentices, because circles are natural forms representing the flow of…”
Yami zoned out and instead got up to drag a chair into something, that was a pentagon at max. With crooked sides.
Everyone just sat everywhere.
“No! No you ruin the energy! You can’t just…”
Apparently, everyone was as bothered by his nonsense as Yami, because they hurried to get their chairs into an actual, beautiful circle.
“Good. Good. Much better. I can feel the harmony, now.”
Yami rolled his eyes, catching Kaiba’s likewise frustrated glance.
He was probably only here for his brother. Shit, Yami didn’t even know his name. Also, did he have to call him Seto, now that there was a second Kaiba?
He felt a stress headache coming on.
Drama club was supposed to be fun, for fucks sake.
“We are going to play ‘I’m going on a trip’ and-”
“Damn, I wish this was just a terrible trip…”
Oh wow, that white haired boy was not fucking around.
“Excuse me, Bakura, would you like to expand on that?”
Shadi looked as happy to have the unruly teenager here, as Bakura seemed to be.
“Yes Sir. I wish I was hallucinating all of this. You, this dumb game, the fact that this is actually a school supported class…”
The blond next to him giggled for a second, before he tried to give him a stern look, failing massively.
“ ‘Kura. Don’t.”
Shadi stared for a second longer, before he continued.
“It is called “I’m going on a trip and I bring. And I want you to mention your name and what you would bring to a deserted island. Then repeat what the person before said and add yours. That’s a nice way to learn names and facts!”
Bakura snorted again. “So we are going to kidnap people for that island?”
This time, even Yami had to giggle.
God, he hated those games so much.
But Shadi ignored it.
“Who wants to start?”
No one.
No one ever wanted to start.
In the end, Shadi did.
“I’m going on a trip and I’m Shadi and I bring my keys, so when I’m home again I can enter my old life without hassle.”
Yami had mercy.
“I’m going on a trip and he’s Shadi and he bring his keys. I’m Yami and I bring a puzzle so I have something to do.”
Now, Yugi piped up.
It was easier for him to talk with Yami leading the way.
“I’m going on a trip and he’s Shadi and he bring his keys. He’s Yami and he brings a puzzle. I’m Yugi and I bring a game boy because I like retro games.”
Jou immediately joined them.
“I’m going on a trip and he’s Shadi and he bring his keys. He’s Yami and he brings a puzzle. I’m Yugi and I bring a game boy, and...”
Bakura started to laugh.
“Oh, You are Yugi? Or did you just not understand the game? You only have to remember three people, dude. It’s not that hard.”
Immediately wanting to jump the other man, Jou got up, but Yami and Yugi both grabbed him and pushed him back down harshly. That asshole wasn’t worth it.
“Sorry fuckface, I’m Jounouchi and I’m bringing my sister.”
Now, Bakura was howling.
“YOU CAN’T BRING ANOTHER PERSON.”
Yami had enough.
“Really? Why not?”
Everyone stared at both of them as if they were dumb. But Shadi gestured for the blonde next to Jou to continue.
“I’m going on a trip and he’s Shadi and he bring his keys. He’s Yami and he brings a puzzle. He’s Yugi and he brings a game boy, he’s Jounouchi and he…. really? He brings his sister? I am Mai and I bring a fuckig telephone to save all your dumb asses.”
Shadi looked angrily at her.
“Please watch your language, young lady.”
But Mai had apparently the same amount of cares as Bakura.
“Would you tell Shakespeare to watch his language, too? He made up half of the words he used. Also, Hamlet asked someone if they lay between the legs of a woman. So I guess I’m fine with saying ‘fuck’.”
She stared, challenging him.
Perfect. Fucking perfect. Everyone was passive aggressive.
It wasn’t called drama club for nothing.
“I’m going on a trip and he’s Shadi and he bring his keys. He’s Yami and he brings a puzzle. He’s Yugi and he brings a game boy. He’s Jounouchi and he brings his sister. She’s Mai and brings a telephone. I’m Anzu and I bring something to either listen to or make music so I don’t feel so depressed.”
Yami nodded. Now THAT was relatable.
“I’m Bakura and I hate all of you and if you think you can force me to participate I swear I’m going to bring a hunting knife.”
No one knew, if he was talking about the game.
But the blond man next to him only laughed.
“I’m going on a trip and he’s Shadi and he bring his keys. He’s Yami and he brings a puzzle. He’s Yugi and he brings a game boy. He’s Jounouchi and he brings his sister. She’s Mai and brings a telephone. She’s Anzu she brings music. He’s Bakura and he brings his attitude. I’m Marik and I bring a muzzle for Bakura.”
No one even questioned this decision.
Suddenly, there was an excited squeal.
“I’m going on a trip and he’s Shadi and he bring his keys. He’s Yami and he brings a puzzle. He’s Yugi and he brings a game boy. He’s Jounouchi and he brings his sister. She’s Mai and brings a telephone. She’s Anzu she brings music. He’s Bakura and he brings his attitude. He’s Marik and he brings a muzzle for Bakura. And I am Mokuba. I bring a compass to find home.”
Seto nodded at him, proud like a father, and suddenly Yami was reminded that they indeed had no biological parents left. He didn’t know much more about any of this but… It explained Seto’s determination to be the best.
“I’m going on a trip and he’s Shadi and he bring his keys. He’s Yami and he brings a puzzle. He’s Yugi and he brings a game boy. He’s Jounouchi and he brings his sister. She’s Mai and she brings a telephone. She’s Anzu and she brings music. He’s Bakura and he brings his problems. And no, this was not a mistake. He’s Marik and he brings salvation. He’s Mokuba, bringing a compass and I’m Seto Kaiba, I bring a fucking boat.”
Everyone just stared at him, as he sat there with crossed arms and an arrogant stare.
Well, yeah. A boat could have worked. So what.
“Okaaay… That was fun…”
Even Shadi looked uncomfortable now.
“Why don’t we speak about our goal for this year? We want to produce a show. Own backdrops, own costumes, own lightshow, maybe even own script.
Has anyone got any idea of what they want to do?”
The room was suddenly quieter than it had been all day.
“Wow, this is going to be so fun.”
Shadi looked as exhausted as Yami felt.
“I mean, we could do a musica-”
“NO!”
Multiple people had spoken up.
“I’m sorry, but this isn’t high school musical, Shadi. Have you looked at those boys? There is no Troy Bolton in sight. Those twinks couldn’t even lift a basketball.”
Anzu snickered, Yami felt himself nod.
He hated basketball with a passion.
But OF COURSE, someone had to say something.
This time, it wasn’t Bakura.
“You are aware that I play professional football, right? Or as the dumb part of the world calls it, soccer.” Kaiba rolled his eyes.
“Oh shit, oh no, oh I’m so fucking sorry best boy, please sweep me off of my feet and sing ‘Breaking Free’ with me together.”
Her voice dripped with sarcasm, but none of them backed down as they stared angrily at each other.
“I’d recommend you try ‘I want it all’ with Sharpay and you being the same type of dumb bitch, but somehow I feel like you don’t have enough drive for this song. Or this life goal.”
Anzu only smiled at him, a grin wide enough to light up her whole face.
“Well Seto, that song is from the third movie… I’m not going to movie shame you, but for being opposed to the very idea, you got an awful lot of in depth knowledge..”
Huffing in irritation, Kaiba turned to her.
“Listen. First of all, Mokuba made me watch this shit. I don’t even have enough time for that. And second of all, maybe you should reflect on your own judgemental ass, because I have never said anything against the idea. I only mentioned, that I do play sports.”
“If he’s Troy Bolton, I want to be Gabriella!”
Marik’s voice chimed through the whole room, as he grinned proudly.
His commentary was immediately judged by Bakura with an angry stare first at his boyfriend, and then at Kaiba, as if he would get up and snatch the young man away any second now.
“We are NOT going to do High School Musical. Disney has the rights, I will not even try to go into a legal battle with Disney. Also I thought you all don’t want to do a musical.”
Shadi continued to look stressed, and Yami suddenly understood his dramatic attitude much better.
“Well I would sing.”
Anzu smiled wide.
“And I’d love dancing even more.”
“I would sing, too!”
That was Mokuba, almost bouncing on his chair now.
One after the other, they begrudgingly admitted, that, if necessary, they would perform a song or two. All but Bakura.
Shadi nodded, for the first time actually smiling genuinely.
“Well, we will have to choose something older, so it won’t be a copyright problem.”
“How about Rocky Horror Picture Show?”
Bakura grinned.
“I bet you would all look lovely in garter belts and corsets.”
He shamelessly raked his eyes over his apparent boyfriend.
Jou finally spoke up.
“Is anything about you not a perverted fantasy, or are you literally a can of worms with terrible opinions?”
Now intervening, Shadi leaned forward, not really effectively blocking the two men from staring at each other.
“We won’t do Rocky Horror. The principal would never allow that.”
“Beauty and the beast?”
Mai drew the attention back to her.
“I know who the beauty is…” - she smiled softly at Anzu - “but I’m afraid there are too many candidates for the beast.”
Her eyes were almost pitying as she looked the boys all over.
“I know girls like you.”
Marik smiled at her.
“You pretend to be all hardcore feminist, until a man comes over and offers you a big house without work. Let’s see who is cleaning after him, then.”
“Darling, you are holding the hand of a literal demon, I would shut the fuck up if I were you, because sweety… One of us will probably bottom tonight, and it’s not me.”
Shadi stared at her open-mouthed.
“Mai! You can’t just say that!”
“I just did.”
“That violates probably EVERY behavioural rule we have!”
Bakura stared at Mai and mumbled “You know what else will probably be violated?”
WHY HAD YAMI CHOSEN DRAMA CLUB?
One glance at Yugi and Jou convinced him, that they felt the same.
Good, he was afraid he was going insane.
But just when he thought everything was doomed, Yugi, who had apparently struggled to voice his idea for a while, spoke up.
“How about the Wizard of Oz?”
All heads turned to him.
No one argued.
Shadi looked around the group, and since no one immediately complained, he happily clasped his hands together, and proclaimed:
“Wizard of Oz, it is.”