Chapter Text
Diva would much rather spend one extra hour in bed instead of walking in the freezing chilly air of the morning on his way to school.
He and his sister didn't need to take any vehicles on their way to school, they could easily arrive on foot, which didn't help with his distaste for the cold weather. Regardless, it was a good time to chat with his little sister since they went to different schools and they couldn't see each other until classes finished.
Diva dropped Sera at the entrance of her school and waved her goodbye. A couple of blocks upfront he recognized a twin pair of cascading white hair, white as snow.
Diva slowed down his steps. On one hand, he wanted to approach, at least to one of them, on the other, he knew it was better to avoid getting a headache so early in the morning by the older twin.
Seriously, it made him wonder how that other guy –Malik if he recalled correctly– could stand the older twin. Thankfully for Diva, they weren't in the same class thus making it easier to avoid any unpleasant conversation.
Despite himself, he approached but without the intention of being noticed by any of them. As usual, it seemed that Ryou was lecturing his brother.
"... brother, I told you not to stay awake too late, now you won't stop yawning and the professor is gonna get mad at you, AGAIN."
"Tsk, it's not my fault that Malik wouldn't let me go until I let him win, but you know damn well that's not happening."
"But, didn’t you say, and I quote: “I'll never surrender to that Ishtar bastard?” And yet you did allow him to drag you to chat and game with him until two in the morning."
"That's not what happened! It's just that so far, he's the only guy who knows how to play MMORPG’s without being a pussy, I swear you're making it sound as if we were best friends– What are you laughing at?!"
"But brother, playing games online with someone you enjoy teaming up with, it's what friends do."
"Shut it."
Bakura moved to pinch Ryou's cheek, regardless of the pain, Ryou didn't stop laughing. Diva almost wanted to reach out and slap that hand away, but hearing Ryou’s laugh, it made his stomach flip and do other weird things. It was a sound he enjoyed listening to.
It didn't take long to reach the school entrance. Diva still walked behind the other two, successfully not getting them to notice him... until Bakura did.
"Hah? You weren't following us didn't you, cause that's creepy." Bakura snarled at him.
“Oh, not at all, it just so happens there's only one main entrance, not many options to choose where to enter.” Diva bit back, making sure his expression showed he wasn't afraid of the Devil Bakura .
It started as a mocking name from other students, but so far it didn’t seem to offend Bakura in the slightest, and instead, he embraced the nickname.
Bakura clicked his tongue annoyed and Diva responded with a sarcastic smile.
"Brother, please don't be mean! At least say good morning." Ryou cheerfully interfered.
Bakura only seemed to contemplate the suggestion for a moment. "Nah, I’m leaving." Then turned back, not bothering with any good manners. Typical.
Ryou shook his head, sighing frustrated, he turned to face Diva with a smile back on his lips. Suddenly the bitterness of his other encounter quickly dissipated.
"Good morning Diva. Please forgive my brother, you know how he can be sometimes."
Diva snorted, ‘sometimes’ was definitely always, especially towards him. When he tried to respond, he got distracted by the cute smile that was being sent at him, it was miles of difference away from the devilish smirk his brother often wore.
"Don't worry, it's too early to be upset. Good morning Ryou." Diva finally spoke once his brain decided to land back on earth.
"Alright then, let's go to class now."
As they walked through the corridors, side by side, the conversation went on about the most recent horror movie Ryou was interested in watching.
"... I read that the special effects for the monsters are spectacular, but the acting is not so much, still I would like to go watch it and judge for myself."
Diva nodded, he wasn't interested in horror movies, not that he was afraid of them, but he didn't see the appeal, and yet if Ryou decided to invite him he wouldn't say no.
"I wanted to go with my brother, but he's been too busy in his free time playing online with Malik." Ryou stopped for a moment to cover a giggle with his hand. "My brother won't admit it, ever, but he's too fond of him and I'm glad he has finally made a friend, he has never been an easy-going person or good at talking with people. I'm glad to see him enjoying himself with a friend."
Despite the appearances, it was obvious the twins cared a lot for each other, oftentimes he had seen Bakura throwing fits to anyone trying to pick on Ryou, and that was something Diva could relate to, he would do anything to protect his little sister as well.
Once in their classroom, they were greeted by Yugi and Co. Diva especially took note whenever someone said something that made Ryou laugh, the sound too pleasant, making him feel short of breath.
Classes started like any other day, some topics not getting enough of his attention and unintentionally making him put his focus on something else, or rather someone else. His gaze moved to where Ryou was, daydreaming about how it would feel like to hold the pale hand that he was using to rest his face.
Too distracted in his reverie he didn’t catch on time when Ryou looked in his direction until he felt his eyes on him. Diva felt his face getting a little hot by being caught and the only response he could excuse was to put on a smile, hopeful that it wouldn’t tell away that he has been staring at him for the last couple of minutes.
After the embarrassing encounter, he tried to focus back on the class until suddenly a small piece of scrunched paper hit his desk, Diva looked up and saw Ryou laughing, he was only two seats across him, close enough to not draw too much attention for what he did. Diva unfolded the piece of paper, placing it in his notebook.
I'm bored
The note said. It made Diva smile and kind of relieved. Grabbing his pen he wrote a reply and when he was sure the professor wouldn't see, he threw it back to Ryou .
He saw the white-haired boy reading his note and again, writing something in return. It was such a silly thing if Diva thought about it, but all the same, it was thrilling. One couldn't be too picky when looking for a way to have fun in the middle of a boring class.
I don't care much about chemistry maybe if it was more related to zombies somehow, zombies are cool! :D
And, oh my god! How can a person be this cute? Something warm filled his chest just by looking at that smiley face at the end of the message, Ryou naturally exuded cuteness that it almost physically hurt.
They went back and forth with the notes for the rest of the class, trying to keep their messages short, so the notes would stay small and their giggling low, but by the end of it, there were at least eight pieces of paper filled with both of their handwritings. Diva kept the ones that ended on his desk.
"Well, that was fun, more interesting than chemistry." Ryou approached him once the professor left.
"Definitely more interesting than chemistry.” Diva agreed joyfully and stood up, happy to make it to the lunch break.
“Let’s go! I’m really hungry and the others had gone already ahead to the rooftop.” Ryou motioned for him to hurry up and follow him.
"You know," Ryou started conversationally on the way to meet the aforementioned group. "I just remembered that my brother is going to be at Malik’s place this afternoon, he seemed eager to keep playing that videogame with and beat him... or so he said, so I was wondering if it isn't much trouble for you if you could help me maybe with this new setting I planned for my role campaign.”
Diva couldn't believe his luck, was this really happening? Was this not a dream? He was taking too long responding because Ryou quickly tried to apologize for the invitation being so out of the blue.
"No, I- I would like to go, it's just, I also have to pick up my sister after school, we usually go back home together so I would have to do that first."
"Oh, I don’t have a problem if you wanna come over with your sister if she wants to play too or she can use the living room and I will lend her a movie instead, besides, I knew you had a sister, but I haven’t had the chance to meet her." Ryou clapped his hands softly, happy that his invitation wasn’t rejected.
"Well, I'll tell her if she’s interested in going."
He was such a mess, but the idea of actually spending an afternoon with Ryou was too good to pass.
"Is it ok though? Wouldn't we be causing too much trouble appearing so suddenly without a proper announcement in your house?” Diva couldn’t help but be thoughtful of Ryou, he wouldn’t care that much if it were someone else.
“Mmmm, not at all! Probably if my brother would be there, you can imagine how that would go, and my father is usually too busy at work he comes back home very late, sometimes he spends the night at his office and, well, it's too boring when there’s no one in the house. At least I usually hear my brother and Malik bickering and I don’t feel alone… oh, sorry, didn’t mean to get too gloomy there.” Ryou bowed gently for emphasis.
“No need, I understand.” Diva dismissed this apology with a gesture of his hand.
Despite his sweet demeanor Diva could gather that Ryou could feel pushed aside more often than not, even with his brother, they were like two completely different worlds.
"You can always send me a message if you’re too bored." Diva offered, remembering how fun their little game from before was.
"Really? I don’t wanna bother you if you are too busy.”
“Well, if I’m busy I would let you know, but usually after school, I don’t do much, so it’s fine.”
Ryou gifted him with another lovely smile, Diva swears he would have a heart attack by how fast it was beating. He knew he was a goner if Ryou’s simple gestures affected him this much.
After eating lunch with Ryou and the others, the rest of the day at school went in a blur. The group chatted a bit more after classes were done before everyone split up.
“Hey, Ryou!” Bakura called loudly before he properly reached him, “I think I’ll be back at seven. DON’T you dare eat what is left of the ice cream tube just because I’m not there.” He followed his warning ruffling Ryou's hair.
“Hehe, I wouldn't dare big brother. I hope you have fun with Malik.” The younger twin waved his hand and snickered at him playfully.
“Yeah, whatever.” Bakura rolled his eyes but there was a very pale tint of pink on his cheeks. Ryou decided to not make any remarks about it.
And speaking of, they spotted Malik approaching the entrance moments later. He seemed to always carry himself like some kind of royalty, claiming his way to wherever he wanted to be.
“Hello Ryou, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna take your brother now,” Malik said as he grabbed Bakura’s forearm, but he quickly pushed it away which only made Malik smirk grow.
It was fun –in Ryou’s opinion– seeing someone that could just push the right buttons in his brother, others will likely earn a punch in the face if they just dare touch him that way but Malik had seemed to find how to deal with it. Even the light thump Bakura gave to Malik’s shoulder wasn’t done with the intent of hurting.
Ryou and Diva told them goodbye, not without Bakura facing back for a second sending the blue-haired boy a death glare.
Only when they were at a fair distance, Diva dared to speak again.
"Not that I care but, is it really safe if you didn’t tell your brother that you invited me over?”
“If he doesn't know he can’t be mad, can he? Besides, even if I’ve told him, he would come screaming at you the next day.”
Letting out an airy laugh, Diva led the way to his sister’s school. For the most part, he let Ryou lead the conversation, he was nervous he might say something embarrassing.
When they arrived, Diva noticed his sister being a bit surprised that he didn’t come alone. He then introduced the two of them and told her about his plans for the evening. Sera agreed to come along with the promise of food.
True to his word, Ryou went ahead to the kitchen after they arrived and entered the house. Sera quickly followed to offer some help but he dismissed her saying he just needed to reheat the food but could help instead with setting the table. Diva also wanted to help but everything was already taken care of. Without anything else to do, he entertained himself by looking around the house.
Everything was very tidy except for the part of the living room where two video game consoles were settled, the controller of one of them haphazardly set back on the shelf. Looking at the other side were three closed doors, one he knew was in the bathroom as he discovered moments ago and he wondered which of the other two could be Ryou's room.
His sight traveled back to behind the counter where his host was currently finishing with serving their food. He seemed happy. Was he not used to having friends over? Among their group of friends, it was Diva who was the newest member by joining them. Even Malik has known the group for longer than him despite rarely hanging out with them. Diva found it funny that he could get along relatively well with everyone else except for Bakura. Maybe he had offended him without noticing at some point?
A clink of plates brought him back from his thoughts, food hot and exquisite smell.
"This looks delicious, did you cook this yourself?” Sera was the first to compliment the meal in front of them.
"Ah! Yes, thank you. I do enjoy cooking, besides, if it weren't for me my brother would either just eat junk food or starve himself.”
"You make it sound as if you were the older brother instead of him.” Diva commented playfully.
"Haha, I guess. But I don’t mind, we are brothers after all, and I know he does look after me in his own round abound way.” Ryou shrugged and took a seat to eat.
After they finished eating, Sera ran to settle herself in the living room, examining the lower part of the shelf where a few DVD boxes were aligned.
"What kind of movies do you have?” She asked.
"Well, I do collect more horror and fantasy movies, but if you aren’t into that I believe my brother has some anime and cartoon series there as well, just be sure to put it back when you’re done, okay?”
"Sure thing, thank you!"
"Alright, let’s go, Diva". Ryou gestured with a hand for his friend to follow him. It resulted that the door on the left was Ryou’s bedroom. And just as he expected, Ryou was quite a nerd.
His bedroom had an entire crystal shelf with handmade figurines displayed inside, near a corner was a medium-size table with a board game already settled on top of it. Close to the table were some boxes of different types of other board games. There was a window above a wooden desk with a nice view outside and a well-made bed with a green duvet.
"Feel free to put your bag on my bed, we'll be playing on the table. Since it is a new mechanism that I wanna test we might not be able to play a full round, but that’s ok."
Diva did as told and went to admire the small figurines closer. “Did you make all of these?”
“Yes! I like to make custom characters for our campaigns. Every one of these figures has a story of their own.” Ryou spoke as he took a binder where several paper sheets were organized.
“If you wanna join us one day I can make you your own figure.” Ryou offered.
“I… would like that, thank you.”
Ryou smiled and guided them to the aforementioned table to start the game. Hours passed by playing that neither of them noticed when the sun started to settle down, only until the orange glow of the sun was dyeing everything in the room. As much as Diva would like to stay the night and keep company with Ryou, he knew he had to leave. He assumed his sister might want to go back by now as well.
"It's getting dark, we should get going. I would love to play again some other time, this game is fun and you’re good at it." The blue-haired boy commented while resting down his pieces and cards.
"I'd love to play with you again too! And thank you for your help, I'm glad you had fun."
Diva stood up, grabbed his bag, and went to get the door handle until Ryou's voice stopped him.
"Oh wait! Before you leave…" He said, taking the binder he showed him earlier, snatching one of the blank sheets and handing it to Diva. "Here, for your character. Take your time making it and if you have any questions just ask me. There's a lot to be filled so don't worry if it's overwhelming at first."
"Oh, alright, thank you again…" Diva took the piece of paper and felt his cheeks getting hot again, he hoped it wasn't obvious, not when Ryou was this close.
"Of course! you're a friend and I love doing these things for friends." Ryou helped him open the door and they headed to the living room. When they were there they saw the other girl fell asleep, her head resting on her arms with the tv flashing some anime Diva didn't know the name of.
"Well, I hope at least she had a good rest." Ryou whispered, approaching quietly to take the remote and turning off the tv. Diva meanwhile shook her sister’s shoulder gently to prompt her to wake up.
"Oh? are we leaving now? Sorry, I fell asleep." Sera spoke once she saw his brother standing next to her, rubbing her eyes to adjust back to the light in the room.
"It's fine, don't worry. It's getting late, let's go."
Ryou accompanied them to the doorstep, thanking them both again for keeping him company throughout the afternoon. Sera didn't miss the chance to compliment his cooking again.
A longing feeling overcame Diva as soon as they started walking, resulting in a long sigh that didn't go unnoticed.
"Hey, that guy, he is your friend, right?" Sera asked.
"Yes, I suppose. We're in the same class. He invited me over today during school."
"I see. Not that I don't like the guy but next time, if you want to stay there just send me a message, I liked his food but I felt like a third wheel."
"Wh– what do you mean?!" Diva panicked. Was his crush on Ryou just so obvious? Did Ryou know about it?
"Well, I don't know if others haven't noticed but you can't hide it from me, you are not subtle at all. I think you should tell him, you two would look cute together." Sera spoke as matter of fact.
"HAH?! But that's not–! We're just friends, I don't think he likes me the same way... And even if he did, his brother would give me hell."
Sera chuckled softly.
"Since when has the threat of confrontation stopped you before? I don't think he would let his brother do anything to you if you two started dating and if 'Big Brother' cares so much I don't think he would want to ruin a relationship if he is happy." She claimed.
"And since when did you become an expert in romantic affairs?" Diva looked at her, crooking one eyebrow expressing disbelief.
"A girl has her secrets." She replied, her index finger sealing her lips. It was the only answer he would get.
"I'll think about it."
Their talk shifted topics for the rest of their way back. It was after they were in their house and Diva had changed into his set of pajamas that he realized he had new messages.
[ Ryou ] : Tell me when you arrive home ∩( ・ω・)∩ I have homework to do so I'll talk to you tomorrow! ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ
[ Ryou ] : Ohh also, before I forget, do you wanna join our group chat? (◕‿◕✿) Jonouchi sends a lot of good memes.
Diva’s smile stayed on his face for the rest of the night.