Work Text:
The Mutou living room above the shop was quiet except for the faint scratching of pencils and the occasional creak of the old couch. Jounouchi had his homework spread out in front of him, staring at the page like it had personally offended him. His pencil tapped against the margin, then started drumming a beat on the table, then spun clumsily between his fingers before clattering onto the worksheet. He huffed, grabbed it again, scribbled half a line, and dropped back with a groan that rattled the cushions. His knee bounced the whole time, restless and uneven, like even sitting still was a fight.
Yugi tried to keep his eyes on his own paper, but it was impossible not to notice. Jounouchi was all motion and noise even when he wasn’t meaning to be, the kind of energy that made the room feel alive. Yugi found himself half smiling at the little patterns; the tap of knuckles, the roll of shoulders, the muttered “tch” when an answer didn’t come quick enough. It was distracting, but not in a bad way. And with his own thoughts already buzzing, it was easy to get carried along by Jounouchi’s rhythm.
He had news to share about his life. Good news, exciting news even, but also nerve-wracking news. A date. With Anzu. His heart fluttered at the thought, not because he didn’t want to go, but because well, this was Anzu. Anzu. His childhood best friend and crush. The girl he thought would never give him a second thought. She asked HIM out on a DATE! Well, maybe. She never said it was a date of course, but she did invite him out, just the two of them. Of course he wanted to tell Jounouchi. Who else would he tell first? The words pressed at the back of his teeth, waiting for the right moment to slip out.
Beside him, Jounouchi jabbed the eraser of his pencil against the worksheet with all the subtlety of a jackhammer. “Tch. Who even cares what x equals, anyway? Like I’m ever gonna use this.” He scowled, flopped back into the couch, and let out another dramatic groan.
Yugi smiled faintly, only half hearing him. His thoughts kept drifting back to after school, to the moment Anzu had stopped him by the gate and asked if he wanted to go to the amusement park that Sunday. The memory still fluttered somewhere in his chest, light and impossible to ignore.
A pencil tapped once, twice, then stopped. Yugi glanced up just as Jounouchi looked over, grin halfway formed before faltering at whatever he saw on Yugi’s face. “Everything alright, Yug’?”
“Huh?” Yugi blinked, pulled back to the room all at once. He rubbed the back of his neck, laughing a little. “Yeah, sorry. Just got caught up… thinking about something I’ve got going on this weekend.”
That got Jounouchi’s attention immediately. He sat up, elbows braced on his knees, that restless energy of his narrowing into focus. “Oh yeah? What’s up? You need me to do anything?” That rare stillness settled over him, the kind he only ever showed when he was giving someone his full attention.
Yugi shifted, nerves fluttering again, and tried for a laugh. “It’s nothing serious, really. It’s just… I, um…” He swallowed, gathered what little courage he had, and blurted before he could overthink it, “I’ve got plans. With Anzu.”
For a moment, Jounouchi just stared at him, like the words hadn’t quite landed. Then his whole face lit up, a grin breaking across it so wide it nearly split his cheeks. He shot upright, eyes bright with a kind of pride that made Yugi squirm.
“Hell yeah, Yug’!” he crowed, giving Yugi a hearty slap on the shoulder that almost knocked him sideways. “Knew you had it in you! Finally takin’ the plunge, huh? Bein’ a man, askin’ her out—”
“W-wait!” Yugi yelped, hands flailing before he pressed them down against his lap, face going hot. “I didn’t ask her out. She… she asked me.”
That gave Jounouchi just enough pause, a flicker of something Yugi couldn’t quite place crossing his face, before the grin slammed back into place, somehow even wider than before. “No way! Anzu asked you out?” He jabbed his pencil toward Yugi. “Man, look at you, lettin’ the girls do the work now.” He shook his head, grinning like a fool. “Doesn’t matter, though. Who cares who asked who? Point is, you’ve got yourself a date!”
Yugi tried to shrink into the couch cushions, tugging at the hem of his shirt, but Jounouchi leaned closer, grin sharpening into something teasing. “And you’re gonna show her just how manly you can be later, right?” He waggled his eyebrows at him, and Yugi felt his cheeks blaze even hotter.
“Jounouchi!” Yugi’s whole body jolted, ears burning so hot he swore they’d ignite. “That’s not—it’s not like that! We’re just… just going out, that’s all!” His voice cracked halfway through, which only made the denial worse.
Jounouchi’s laughter hit fast, loud, sudden, the kind that folded him in half. He slapped his knee, shoulders shaking, head ducked like he was trying not to fall off the couch.
Heat flooded Yugi’s face. He groaned, dragging his palms over his cheeks. “You’re impossible.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Jounouchi finally sat back, grin still plastered across his face, his knee bouncing again like he couldn’t sit still if his life depended on it. “But seriously, Yug’, this is big stuff. First date’s a big deal.” He jabbed his pencil in the air like a pointer. “You gotta make sure it’s memorable. So, where you taking her?”
Yugi hesitated, rubbing at his cheek. “Well… actually, she already told me where we're going. Said she wanted to go to the amusement park, the one with the water park. I don’t even know if it’s really a date. We used to go there as kids all the time. I’m probably overthinking it. She probably just wants to hang out.” He gave an awkward little shrug and rubbed his face again, embarrassed by his own second-guessing.
For the first time all evening, Jounouchi’s grin softened into something more genuine. “Nah, don’t sell yourself short. She asked you. That’s gotta mean something.” Then, as if he couldn’t help himself, the grin crept back. “Though, y’know, I could totally tag along. Be your chaperone.”
Yugi rolled his eyes, but the corners of his mouth twitched. “Yeah, that’d be great—nothing says ‘romantic’ like my best friend third-wheeling.”
“Thought I’d offer,” Jounouchi said, shrugging innocently, but the sparkle in his eyes gave him away.
The room settled into a companionable quiet again, pencils scratching half-heartedly at their homework. After a moment, Jounouchi started spinning his pencil between his fingers, staring at it like he was about to ask a serious question.
“So…” he said slowly, without looking away from his pencil, “you ever kissed anyone before?”
Yugi's pencil lead snapped. The broken tip skittered across the table like a tiny beetle trying to escape. Yugi stared at the mark it left, a black dot in the center of the star he had been doodling, and felt his ears go hot.
"W-what?"
“Just wondering,” Jounouchi said again, casual. “have you ever kissed anybody?”
"Why are you asking that???"
“It’s a reasonable question,” Jounouchi said cheerfully, like he was asking whether Yugi had ever tried a new brand of chips. “First date, end of the night, sometimes it’s what happens. I’m just lookin’ out for you.”
Yugi swallowed. The bell downstairs chimed, someone coming in, or going out, or a draft nudging the door, and the sound ran through the floorboards and into his bones. He didn’t have to turn his head; he just… knew Jounouchi was watching him.
He could lie. He could say something vague and let it float. But when he opened his mouth, the truth fell out, small and mortifying, “No.”
Jounouchi didn’t gloat. He blinked, surprised, like he’d tossed a pebble into a pond and hadn’t expected it to sink, “Seriously?”
"What like you have?"
Jounouchi laughed and leaned back, stretching an arm along the back of the couch like he owned it. “C’mon, give me some credit. I’ve kissed somebody before.”
Yugi raised an eyebrow, unconvinced, “Oh really.”
Jounouchi grinned, thinking of the memory. “Of course I have. This girl, fuck what was her name? Mizuko? Mika? Whatever, she was this girl that always wanted to hang out with us at J'z. Cute as hell. And she had these—”
Jounouchi raised his hands, palms curving in front of his chest that made Yugi's eyebrows raise before Jounouchi looked at him, freezing mid motion. Jounouchi hands changed direction and he tapped the corners of his eyes. “—eyes,” he said, chuckling “She had… great eyes.”
Yugi stared at him.
Jounouchi coughed into his fist and barreled on. “A-anyway! One day we’re bored outta our minds, right? She pulls me aside, starts talkin’ real close, and next thing I know, bam. We’re kissin’. No warnin’. Whole world slowed down, swear to God.”
Yugi tried not to laugh. “That doesn’t sound very magical.”
“Alright, maybe it wasn’t exactly fireworks and violins,” Jounouchi admitted, grinning. “But the point is I’ve got some experience. Enough to know you don’t wanna go into your first kiss totally clueless. Nothin’ worse than bumpin’ teeth and lookin’ like an idiot.”
He sat up suddenly, expression shifting to something like determination. “Which is why…” He jabbed a finger at Yugi as if announcing a master plan. “…we need to practice. Right now. Problem solved.”
“What?”
“I’ll help.” Jounouchi spread his hands. “Better to screw up with me than with Anzu right?”
Yugi's brain felt like it short circuited for a moment. Jounouchi was offering what now? To practice kissing, with him? There were so many reasons to say no that Yugi couldn’t untangle any of them fast enough to put them into words. He opened his mouth, shut it, tried again but, nothing coherent came out. His hands weren’t helping either; they lifted as if he meant to make a point, then fell uselessly to his lap, fidgeting like they’d forgotten how to be hands at all.
He had no idea what he was supposed to do with this information, and the amused half-smile on Jounouchi’s face only made him more painfully aware of how he probably looked, somewhere between a fish out of water and a deer in headlights.
Then Jounouchi tapped his own mouth once, slow and deliberate, like he was giving Yugi’s short-circuiting brain a hint about what came next.
“Come on,” he said, gentler. “Show me what you got.”
“You can’t be serious.”
Jounouchi’s grin widened. “Dead serious.”
Yugi stared at him. The room was bright and suddenly far too small. Jounouchi’s hair caught the light and made a small golden halo that would have been infuriating if Yugi could breathe. He had the fleeting, ridiculous thought that if he did this, a trapdoor would open under the couch and swallow him whole, not because of the kiss, but because of everything the kiss would say without meaning to: trust me, like you always do. Help me, like you always do.
“O-0kay,” he heard himself say, and wanted to bury his face in the couch cushions forever.
Jounouchi went very still, eyes darting over Yugi’s face like he was checking for warning signs. Then he leaned back into the couch, hands up in a harmless little your move gesture.
“Remember to breathe,” he said. Yugi, who had absolutely forgotten how to do that the moment Jounouchi made his offer, did not find this helpful.
Yugi scooted closer. His heart was a drum in his ears. He tried to look at a point slightly to the left of Jounouchi’s mouth and then realized that was worse. He focused on the hollow at the base of Jounouchi’s throat, the place where his shirt collar didn’t quite lie flat, and then realized that was worse too. There was no safe place to look! There was only Jounouchi, warm and real and here.
Yugi leaned in and pecked him so fast it barely registered, an apologetic tap of the mouth like the period at the end of a short sentence. He retreated immediately, cheeks flaming.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then Jounouchi burst out laughing. He didn’t mean to be mean, Yugi could tell that, but the laugh had weight, it had momentum, and once it got going it carried them both along with it. He bent forward, holding his stomach like someone had told him the funniest joke in the world.
“What was that?!” he wheezed, grinning so hard his eyes went squinty.
Yugi wanted the trapdoor. “It was a kiss!”
“That wasn't a kiss, that was a drive-by.” Jounouchi gasped and swiped his fingers under his eyes like they might be watering. “You barely hit the brakes.”
“It’s awkward,” Yugi muttered. Jounouchi brightened at the admission, sitting up like he’d been handed a puzzle piece. He snapped his fingers and pointed at Yugi, grin sharpening with intention.
“That’s because you’re thinking about it too hard.” He lifted a hand, hovering near Yugi’s jaw. “Look, just…” He waited until Yugi’s eyes met his. “I’ll show you.”
Yugi made a noise that could have been agreement or could have been a cry for help. Jounouchi didn’t tease. He shifted closer, the couch dipping under his weight until their knees bumped, and put his hands on either side of Yugi’s face. His palms were warm. His thumbs found the soft places in front of Yugi’s ears, not pressing, just resting. The touch delivered a message Yugi didn’t know he needed until he felt it: I’ve got you. Don’t bolt.
Jounouchi pulled him in gently and pressed their mouths together.
It wasn’t fireworks; it was something quieter, strange and intriguing. Yugi’s first wild thought was that Jounouchi’s lips were warm in a way that didn’t seem fair, like the sun had never quite left them. He forgot what his hands were for again. His shoulders rose to his ears. Jounouchi smiled into it—Yugi felt the curve against his mouth and thought desperately, don’t smile, I’m trying. A small, helpless sound threatened his throat in spite of himself.
“Relax,” Jounouchi murmured when he drew back half an inch, breath ghosting over Yugi’s skin. “You’re doing fine. Just don’t hold your breath. You’re not diving underwater. Try again, slower this time.”
The second kiss was different because Yugi was ready. He didn’t freeze. He let himself pay attention. Jounouchi didn’t push, he didn’t so much lead as provide a structure Yugi could step into. Press, soften, breathe. The rhythm found him the way a song sometimes did when he let himself be carried by the melody. Yugi’s fingers discovered the seam of Jounouchi’s sleeve and curled there, a small anchor that felt like a secret. He could feel Jounouchi smiling again, could feel the echo of his own smile answering it, and that was new: the idea that a kiss could hold more than one feeling at once.
When Jounouchi finally eased back, he was grinning like he’d just stuck a perfect landing. “See? Not rocket science.”
Yugi ducked his head, cheeks hot but not from embarrassment this time. “Easy for you to say,” he mumbled, but there was a shy spark in his eyes that hadn’t been there before.
“Hey, I’m just sayin’ you nailed it.” Jounouchi leaned back enough to give him space but kept one hand braced on the side of Yugi's face. “Only thing left is to stop thinkin’ so hard about where your hands go. You don’t have to do anything fancy, just… don’t let ’em dangle like you’re waiting for the bus.”
Yugi’s fingers twitched against the seam of Jounouchi’s sleeve,feeling a bit self conscious. Yugi then moved slightly, bracing his hands around Jounouchi's shoulders, relaxing into him, moving his body to be closer to the other's.
Jounouchi’s grin softened a fraction. “Yeah, like that. Natural.” He tipped his head toward him again, eyebrows quirking. “Wanna give it another go?”
Yugi hesitated, then nodded. “Okay.”
“Good.” Jounouchi leaned in, but this time he paused, as if offering a door instead of opening it himself. The ask was clear as a hand outstretched. Yugi took it. He bridged the last inch and kissed Jounouchi first.
A quiet sound rose in Jounouchi’s chest, maybe pleased, maybe surprised, and Yugi felt the shape of it like a spark against his mouth. It wasn’t that the room fell away; he could still hear the refrigerator hum, the muffled thud of the street below. It was that everything seemed to move outward, like he’d stepped into a circle and found the world politely waiting beyond the chalk line. Jounouchi’s hand slid from his cheek to the back of his neck, warm and steady. Yugi answered without thinking, pressing a fraction closer. A little bravery unfurled, the kind made of nothing bigger than a soft exhale and the decision not to run from this.
The kiss ended in a blur; Yugi didn’t know whether he’d pulled back or Jounouchi had or if they’d both just… stopped. Jounouchi’s eyes were bright and a little dazed, and the sight sent a confused, warm jolt straight through Yugi’s ribs.
“Not bad,” Jounouchi said, voice low with glee. “You’re a fast learner.”
“Don’t,” Yugi murmured, smiling helplessly. “You’re going to make fun of me.”
“Nah, I wouldn't make fun of you for this.” Jounouchi bumped their foreheads softly, then shifted back just enough to see all of Yugi’s face. “Okay, technique notes, you ready?”
“There are notes?”
“Always,” Jounouchi said, solemn as a judge. “First, don’t hold your breath. Second, you can relax your mouth more…”
“Relax my mouth,” Yugi repeated, incredulous.
“Yeah, you tense up like you’re preparing to take a hit.” Jounouchi tapped his own jaw. “It’s not a fight. Or a test. ”
“It kind of feels like one,” Yugi said before he realized he’d said it out loud.
Jounouchi’s expression softened, looking at Yugi. “Sorry,” he said, and he sounded like he meant it. “It’s not. I’m just… messin’.” He reached up, hand hovering again before committing, and brushed his thumb along the curve of Yugi’s cheekbone as if to underline what he was saying. “You’re doing great.”
Jounouchi bumped his nose gently and leaned down and whispered softly against his lips, "you just need more practice."
The word practice made it feel safe and ridiculous at the same time. They experimented like two kids inching toward the deep end of a pool, clinging to the wall at first, testing each small move, then leaning out a little farther each time because neither of them wanted to stop.
Jounouchi kept up a running commentary, tossing in, “Not bad but slower this time,” and, “Relax your shoulders,” Yugi felt a little ridiculous but he did his best to adjust to Jounouchi's random instructions. Sometimes they missed a little and bumped noses and laughed against each other’s mouths. Sometimes they didn’t miss at all, and the laughter melted, quieting to a focus that felt a little like standing on the edge of something and discovering the ground held.
Between kisses, Jounouchi’s voice smoothed out, the teasing thinning until it sounded almost like guidance, “Yeah, like that. See? You can breathe in through your nose. Don’t rush.”
The room felt as if it had hushed, the edges fading until there was only the couch and the space between them. Yugi realized his hands had found a home, one fisted lightly in Jounouchi’s sleeve again, the other braced on the couch cushion so he wouldn’t float away. Jounouchi’s fingers careful brushed through the hair at the back of his neck, and Yugi made a sound he didn’t recognize as his own, soft, startled, unguarded. He felt the faintest shift of Jounouchi’s mouth curve against his, the breath of a chuckle caught between them.
Yugi shifted back, breath catching, suddenly aware of the sound he’d just made. Heat crawled up his neck; he opened his mouth to say something, he wasn’t even sure what, when Jounouchi’s hand slid to the back of his neck and drew him in again.
The kiss changed. It wasn’t rough; it was just deeper. A fraction closer than before, enough to make Yugi’s heart trip over itself. Jounouchi’s palm slid down to his shoulder, guiding rather than pushing—and somewhere in that shift, Yugi wound up in Jounouchi’s lap. He didn’t know if he climbed there or if Jounouchi pulled him in; all he knew was the heat of Jounouchi beneath him and the way the world suddenly narrowed to the points where they touched.
The world seemed to tilt with him.
Jounouchi’s thumb traced behind his ear, the pad of it catching the edge of his hair. The light touch sent a shiver straight down Yugi’s spine. He could feel the warmth of Jounouchi’s chest through both their shirts, the steady rhythm beneath the rush in his own ears.
His hands moved before he could think about them, sliding up and around Jounouchi’s shoulders. It wasn’t careful, just desperate to hold on to something solid in the blur of it. His fingers curled into the fabric at the base of Jounouchi’s neck as the kiss deepened again, slower this time, the kind of kiss that made it impossible to remember which one of them had started it.
For a moment, the world narrowed to heat and motion and breath, the faint creak of the couch, the taste of soda on Jounouchi’s mouth, the feeling of being pulled into a space he didn’t know existed until now. Everything else light, sound, thought, fell away.
He was lost in it, utterly and without defense.
That was when the voices drifted up from the shop: Grandpa’s cheerful murmur, then Honda’s voice, louder and distinct starting to ascend the stairs, “Yeah, no problem! I’ll go grab Yugi!”
Reality hit like a splash of cold water.
They jerked apart instantly, more instinct than thought. Jounouchi’s hands shot out, trying to make space so quickly that Yugi didn’t have time to brace. One sharp shove, unintentional but firm, sent him sliding off the couch. His hip clipped the coffee table on the way down, and he landed on the rug with an undignified thud and a quick gasp of breath.
“Ah,shit! Yugi! I didn’t…” Jounouchi hissed, reaching toward him, concern flickering across his face.
But the creak of the top stair cut him off. Jounouchi immediately threw himself backwards, splaying out on the couch. Yugi watched, dumbfounded, as Jounouchi's whole posture changed in an instant, his shoulders loosening, spine sinking into the cushions. The picture of casual, a non chalant persona that he definitely hadn't been ten seconds ago. He flung an arm across the back of the couch for good measure, mouth curling into a lazy grin.
“Yo, Honda,” he called out, breezy as summer, though Yugi could hear the faint tension in his breath. “What’s up?”
Honda reached the landing and came to a full stop. His eyes moved slowly from Jounouchi, too relaxed, too spread out on the couch, to Yugi, who was still sitting where he’d landed on the floor, one hand braced on the coffee table like he wasn’t entirely sure what to do next. Honda’s eyebrows rose.
“…Sup. What’s going on here?”
Yugi opened his mouth. Nothing came out. His face was hot; his pulse was loud. He didn’t even know what lie he was supposed to reach for. Should he even lie about this? It wasn't like they were doing anything bad right?
Before Yugi could grasp the right words to explain what just happened, Jounouchi filled the silence "Eh, just showing Yugi some new tricks is all."
Yugi turned and stared at Jounouchi. Yugi felt his blush deepen, if that was even possible. He had to be putting a tomato to shame at this point. But Jounouchi, was he really going to tell Honda that they had been practicing kissing? That Yugi had no idea what he was doing? That he needed Jounouchi….
"Tricks?"
“Yeah, y’know…yo-yo…” Jounouchi shoved a hand into one pocket, then the other. Yugi watched his eyebrows twitch just slightly when he came up empty. "…tricks.”
After the briefest pause in Jounouchi's smile, his smirk slid back into place like he’d never lost it.
“I can give you some pointers sometime.”
Honda looks at Jounouchi for a moment and then snorts a laugh. “Yeah… I’m good.”
His attention slid back to Yugi.
“Your grandpa asked me to come get you. Something came in downstairs.”
“Oh! Uh right. I’ll be down in a second,” Yugi said, scrambling to his feet, knees weirdly shaky.
“Cool,” Honda said, already turning. “I’ll tell him you’re coming.”
He headed back down the stairs.
As soon as Honda’s footsteps disappeared down the stairs, Jounouchi straightened, rising from the couch, the fake-casual posture dropping like it had never existed. He turned to Yugi with a quick, worried smile.
“You okay?” he asked, stepping closer. “That looked like it hurt. Your hip alright?”
Yugi blinked at him. His hip did ache, a dull throb from hitting the coffee table, but that was the least complicated thing happening inside his body at the moment. He nodded anyway.
“Yeah. I’m… I’m fine.”
Jounouchi nodded back, a flicker of relief crossing his face. His hand hovered for a second, like he might touch Yugi’s shoulder, then he stuffed it in his pocket instead. The silence that followed wasn’t awkward, but it wasn’t normal either. The room felt too quiet. Too full of everything they’d just been doing.
Yugi opened his mouth, he wanted to say thanks for talking to Honda for them, or ask why, or admit something he didn’t even fully understand yet. A part of him was relieved Jounouchi had covered for them so easily. Another part… a smaller part, buried under everything else… wasn’t sure he wanted it covered at all.
But none of that came out.
What he managed instead was, “I don’t think Honda believed you.”
Jounouchi blinked at him. Then he laughed; bright, relieved, a little breathless.
“Nah. I think he bought it.” Jounouchi waved a hand vaguely, like brushing away the idea. “Or he thinks we were lookin’ at a dirty magazine.”
Yugi’s jaw dropped. “What?! How is that any better?”
Jounouchi only grinned at him, easy, careless, like none of this even grazed him. “Hey, it’s Honda. He’s not gonna say shit. He’s probably already thinkin’ about going to buy himself one.”
Yugi stared at him. How could Jounouchi look so casual when Yugi’s skin was still humming with the memory of him; his hands on Yugi’s face, the warmth of his mouth, the way everything had tilted from teasing into something he didn’t even have a word for? Jounouchi must’ve caught something on his face, because the grin slipped. He shifted back a step, cleared his throat, eyes skittering anywhere but at Yugi.
“Uh… anyway. We should probably go help your grandpa,” Jounouchi said, voice too light to match his eyes. “Before he sends Honda up here again.”
“Yeah,” Yugi murmured. “Okay.”
They both hesitated for half a second, just long enough to notice it, then started toward the stairs. The wooden steps creaked under their weight, the quiet between them filled with the sound of movement and nothing else.
Downstairs smelled like cardboard and dust and fresh ink, the scent of newly arrived stock. Grandpa greeted them with a smile and a relieved sigh.
“Ah, there you boys are. These boxes need shelving before the afternoon rush.”
Jounouchi jumped in first, eager for something to do. “You got it, Gramps.”
Yugi followed, grateful for the distraction.
The first few minutes were quiet, not uncomfortable, just… overly aware. Yugi kept catching himself glancing at Jounouchi, and every time he did, Jounouchi looked suddenly very focused on box labels.
Then Yugi opened a new carton, peeled back the flaps, and blinked. “Wait, Jounouchi, look at this.”
Jounouchi glanced over, eyebrows raised. “What’d you find?”
“New Duel Monsters packs,” Yugi said, holding up one of the shiny foil wrappers. “These just came out! They’ve got a few new monsters added to the set.”
"No way," Jounouchi reached over turning the pack in his hand, and easy grin spreading across his face. "Think your grandpa would notice if we opened one?"
“He’d definitely notice,” Yugi said, though a laugh slipped into the words before he could stop it.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Jounouchi said handing the pack back to Yugi. "I'm just saying I think he'd appreciate it if we checked to make sure the cards were good quality. Don't want him getting shit for misprinted cards."
Yugi gave him a look, amusement slipping through anyway. “You’re unbelievable.”
“And yet, you still hang out with me,” Jounouchi said as he began breaking down another box, grinning at Yugi.
Yugi sighed, but he was smiling now. The tension cracked, replaced by a familiar rhythm, Jounouchi’s chatter filling the space, Yugi keeping him out of trouble, both of them working side by side like they always had.
By the time they reached the last box, the air between them had evened out again. The quiet weirdness from upstairs had thinned to something almost normal. Just Yugi, Jounouchi, and the steady comfort of moving in sync.
Yugi bent to lift the final crate, bracing his feet and trying to get a good grip. The cardboard bowed under the weight. “Ugh, seriously? What’s in this one?”
Jounouchi laughed, stepping in beside him. “Move over, lightweight.”
Before Yugi could protest, Jounouchi grabbed the box like it weighed nothing and hefted it up in one clean motion. He carried it to the step stool, climbed up, and slid it easily onto the top shelf.
“Show-off,” Yugi muttered, brushing his hands on his pants.
“Hey, someone’s gotta do the heavy lifting around here.” Jounouchi turned on the step stool and threw a quick flex over his shoulder with a grin.
Yugi snorted, shaking his head, but the laugh that slipped out was soft and real. His cheeks warmed before he could stop them.
Jounouchi’s grin widened like he’d gotten exactly the reaction he wanted. “What? Gotta give the people a show.”
Yugi rolled his eyes, though the smile stayed in place as he looked up at his best friend. “You’re ridiculous.”
The moment stretched, easy and warm, and Yugi felt himself breathe a little easier. The tight little knot he’d been carrying since upstairs loosened without him noticing at first. Jounouchi was still perched on the step stool, one hand braced on the shelf for balance, grinning down at him like this was just another afternoon in the shop. Somehow, without talking about it, they slipped back into the version of themselves that always made sense.
Honda appeared in the doorway right as Jounouchi turned back and began to readjust the boxes on the shelf.
“Aight, I’m heading out,” Honda said with a lazy wave.
“Later,” Jounouchi called back.
Honda took two steps, stopped, and snapped his fingers. “Oh, right, almost forgot. You left your crap at my place again." He swung his bag around, rummaged inside, and pulled out a small stack of things: a few trading cards, a battered homework notebook, a folded worksheet and… a red plastic yoyo.
Yugi felt his stomach drop.
Jounouchi glanced over to see what Honda was talking about and stopped cold. His eyes flicked from the items that Honda was setting on the counter, to Honda’s grin, and color climbed up his neck fast.
Without a word, he spun back toward the shelf and started rearranging boxes with sudden, exaggerated focus, like the fate of the shop depended on straight lines. After a beat, Jounouchi cleared his throat. “Uh… yeah. Thanks, man.”
Honda’s lips twitched. “Don’t have too much fun,” he said lightly, amused in a way that made Yugi want to melt into the floor. Then he headed out the door, the shop bell chiming as he disappeared down the street.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Jounouchi cleared his throat, still facing the shelf. “Well… guess I know where it disappeared to,” he muttered. He climbed down from the step stool, the floorboards creaking under his weight, and pocketed the yoyo without looking at Yugi.
Yugi couldn’t help it, a laugh burst out of him, sharp and startled. A second later Jounouchi joined in, snorting under his breath before the whole thing dissolved into real, helpless laughter. It took them both a minute to get it under control. Jounouchi dragged a hand through his hair, still grinning, and Yugi shook his head, warmth tugging at his chest.
When the laughter finally faded, they looked at each other; two best friends standing in the middle of the shop, settled into a stillness that only ever seemed to belong to them and no one else.
Nothing had changed between them at all.