Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh and I never will.
Of Crimson and Cerulean
Chapter 1 Money Placed, Bet Made
"There they are! There they are," Tea Gardner squealed in absolute excitement and delight, waving her fork jauntily at a particular kissing couple at the other end of the cafeteria. "Jenna Molby and Michael Thomson. Took me a while to get them together but I did it. They were quite hard too, you know."
Her blonde friend Joey Wheeler, strained his neck to see the two Tea mentioned. "Where are they?"
Tea rolled her cerulean-blue eyes. "Over there beside the vending machine!" She gestured to a pretty cheerleader and Domino High's track all-star making out.
Eyebrows furrowed. "Are you joking or what? The two are like oil and water. They simply don't mix," Joey remarked, before stabbing at a lumpy, green goop that was currently resided on his lunch plate and swallowed it without a second thought. This earned him a disgusted look from Tea and a knowing look from their friend Tristan Taylor.
Tristan raised an arched eyebrow. "Since when did you know that water and oil don't mix?" Joey shot him a glare.
It was a typical school day at Domino High. Teachers assigned large amounts of homework and students complained and whined about it. The only amusement for the students were lunch break and watching fastidious, preppy cheerleaders vomit over their uniforms after gulping down a mouthful of the cafeteria's disgusting food. Domino High was well known and practically famous for its inedible and gross food.
"Anyway how did you manage to get the two of them together?" Joey queried, spitting tiny bits of food all over the place. Tea made a face and delicately flicked away a piece of green blob from her pink uniform. Tristan only rolled his brown eyes.
"It wasn't easy, I can tell you that much but no couple is impossible for the ultimate matchmaker Tea Gardner," she proclaimed, beaming proudly.
Joey and Tristan shook their heads. "How did you do it?" Ever the sensible one between Joey and him, Tristan piped up.
"Well, let's just say a few love letters and a romantic date did the trick," Tea winked mysteriously.
Just then, another one of their friends, Yugi Mutou, joined them at the lunch table. A half-open backpack hung from his left shoulder and he expertly balanced a tray of what appeared to be actual food: a peanut-butter sandwich, a plastic cup of JELL-O, and some apple juice.
"How come you get real food?" Tristan inquired enviously, eying the tray and its contents.
Yugi smiled and placed the tray in front of Tristan. "Help yourself, Tristan. I already ate. This is Yami's by the way. He said he didn't want it." His eyes knitted in concern for his darker half. "He didn't have a big breakfast this morning so I thought he might want it."
Tristan basically glowed. "Oh my god, thank you so much, Yugi. You have no idea what the cafeteria food is actually like considering your grandfather packs your lunch." He finished the peanut-butter sandwich in two gigantic bites and was halfway through downing the JELL-O by the time he finished speaking. Unlike Joey, he managed to not spit his food out while talking.
Yugi grinned as he took a seat beside Tea on the metal bench attached to the table. "No problem." He settled his backpack on the space beside him before asking good-naturedly, "So what were you guys talking about before I came?"
Joey remembered to gulp before he answered Yugi's question. "Tea was bragging about matching up Jenna Molby-you know that hot cheerleader-with- guess who?" There was a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
Tea glared at him. "I was not bragging."
Joey stuck his tongue out at her. "Was too!"
"Was not!"
"Was too!"
"Was not!" Tea shouted and struck a harsh blow on Joey's head.
Tristan rolled his eyes. "Those two never stop bickering do they?" He glanced at Yugi's direction. Yugi only sighed in agreement. "So who do you think Tea paired Jenna with?"
Yugi frowned, deep in thought. Finally he replied, "Larry Mackenzie?"
Joey shook his head. The two had stopped their fighting in time to hear Yugi's response. "Try again."
"Marky Toby? The guy's been stalking her since junior high."
Joey shook his head again.
Yugi's frown deepened and he looked from Joey to Tristan then back to Joey again. "Corey Haywire?"
"Jake Kidstye?"
"Darry Zelfied?"
"Garret Sock?"
All received a shake of a head. Sighing in defeat, Yugi remarked. "I give up. Who is it?"
There was a twinkle in Tea's eye. "Michael Thomson," she replied casually as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. The three friends watched in amusement as Yugi's jaw all but dropped to the smooth, polished surface of the lunch table and his wide, puerile amethyst eyes leaped from their sockets.
"M-Michael T-Thomson?" He stammered in disbelief. "That's impossible. The two can't even stay in a room for five minutes without arguing."
Tea grinned triumphantly at Yugi's response to the name. "Well, they can now. Check out over there," she gestured with her fork to the other end of large cafeteria. And indeed, the newly made couple was propped on a roughly cleared spot on top of a random lunch table, kissing and emitting loud moans, which drew everyone's attention. Jenna sat on Michael's lap, her fingers ensnarled in his dark hair while Michael's arms were wrapped around her waist.
Yugi vaguely heard someone yell out in disgust, "Get a room!" He made a revolting face.
Tea only grinned. "See. Observe the work of the ultimate matchmaker."
A mischievous smirk crossed Joey's features. "Can the 'ultimate matchmaker' set up any two people?"
Tea, still beaming proudly, failed to notice the disastrous smirk on Joey's face. "Of course. Name two people and I will set them up."
The smirk, if possible, widened. "Fine, I choose... Yami and," there was an evil glint in his eyes, "Seto Kaiba." He emphasized the pronunciation of the last two words.
A smirk that rivaled Joey's flitted across Tea's pretty face. "Done. But if I do set them up, you have to admit I'm the ultimate matchmaker and do anything I want for a whole day."
Joey's cockiness consumed him and he crossed his arms confidently. "Fine, but if you don't set them up in a week you'll have to do my homework for a week."
"Fine!"
"It's a bet." The two reached across the table and shook hands, sealing the bargain. Yugi frowned.
"I'm not sure Yami would like this," he stated as calmly as he could.
Tea shook her head. "Don't worry, Yugi. Yami's gay, right?" Yugi gave a hesitant nod. "Then everything will be perfect."
"Wait a minute! I still don't think Yami would approve of this. Shouldn't we tell him?" Yugi protested.
Joey sighed. "It's all right, Yugi. Yami's-err 5000 years old. He can take care of himself." Then glancing around, he added playfully. "So anyone wanna put in some money on me?" He grinned.
Tristan shifted in his seat as he dug in his pocket for some spare change or crumpled bills. After a few seconds of fishing in his trouser pocket, he drew out a wrinkled $50 bill.
Joey stared greedily at the bill. "You have $50?" He scowled in realization of something. "Hey you own me ten bucks." If Tristan heard, he gave no signs.
Turning to face Tea, Tristan declared. "Sorry, Tea. But I have to go with Joey this time. Yami and Seto? That's impossible."
Tea didn't seem offended. She just shrugged. "Well, it's your loss. I swear Seto Kaiba and Yami will be inseparable. You just wait until next week." Eying Yugi out of the corner of her eye, she added. "What do you think, Yugi?"
Yugi still had a frown plastered on his face. "What if Kaiba's not gay?" He questioned.
Tristan reached across the table and gave the short teenager a quick and assuring pat on the shoulder. "Trust me, Kaiba's gay."
"But how do you know?" Yugi continued to press.
The three friends replied in unison. "We just know."
"So are you gonna place a bet?" Joey inquired.
Yugi sighed in defeat. He had no reason to believe Kaiba's not gay and being Yami's hikari, he certainly knew Yami is gay. And, after that impossible feat between Jenna and Michael, he was positive Tea could do it. "Fine, I'll put down a twenty for Tea." He responded while he searched in one of the many pockets of his backpack. He gradually produced a twenty-dollar bill from one of the front pockets and placed in on top of Tristan's fifty. Tea smirked.
"Hey look! There's Ryou," Yugi exclaimed. He waved at a boy with hair paler than alabaster and chocolate-brown eyes. Ryou instantly received the message and made his way through littered wrappers, open backpacks, and wrestling teens.
"Hi, guys," he smiled as he placed his tray beside Yugi's. Yugi shifted over for the teen to sit beside him.
"Hey," the other three greeted him cheerfully. "So are you gonna place a bet?" The three cried in unison yet again.
Ryou looked confusedly at Tristan to a grinning Joey to a smirking Tea. "What do you mean am I going to place a bet?"
"Joey and Tea made a bet that Tea can't set Yami and Seto together by the end of the week. Tea says she can. I placed a twenty on her and Tristan placed a fifty on Joey. So are you going to place one?" Yugi explained.
Ryou nodded in acknowledgement as he swallowed a bite of a sandwich. He brought packed lunches to school like Yugi. "I'm sorry, I would but I don't have any spare bills or change. I must have replaced them somewhere in the house."
The others nodded in understanding. "That's okay, Ryou. Maybe Bakura might have some money," Joey assured the boy.
As if on cue, a tall, muscular white-haired youth strode proudly into the large cafeteria. He would have been the exact identical twin of Ryou's except for the stronger frame and the dark eyelashes, which gave him a more devilish look. He noticed the five companions dining on a nearby table and loped off to join them
He parked himself beside Tristan and opposite of Ryou.
"Yo, Bakura. Care to place a bet?" Tristan spoke.
"On what?"
Yugi sighed and proceeded to explain the whole story to Bakura. When he finished, Bakura grinned and produced a thick wallet from his back pocket.
"Hey! That's mine!" Ryou cried and made an attempt to snatch it. However Bakura moved the wallet out of reach.
"I'll put down," he grasped out a fifty-dollar bill and flicked it on the pile, "fifty dollars on Joey. "
Ryou sighed and sat back down. "At least it's only a fifty." He murmured in relief.
Tea clasped her hands in front of her and smiled brightly. "Is everything settled?" Everyone nodded. "Good cause here he comes." She smirked as Yami spotted them and began walking in their direction.
- To Be Continued -
Author's Pointless Note: Thanks for reading ^.^ Now if you would be kind enough to take a minute or less to review, that would be wonderful. Just click that little button down there ^.~ and I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I get it typed up. If you think it's really bad, feel free to flame me or if you want to put it as a nice flame (though I doubt any flames are nice) send me a constructive criticism. C ya ~ Reen