Chapter 1: The play idea

Raine: I was sitting in Drama class going over my lines when I thought, I wonder what it would be like if Yugi and Joey were here doing this. And that is how this came into being. Granted, I DID end up turning it into a Seto/Joey romance but I couldn't figure out any other way to get the two together AND keep Kaiba in character, (I don't care if the rest of them are in character, I just couldn't see Kaiba acting any other way than like Kaiba), and I wanted so badly to write a fic on them getting together... I also put a few other odd couples in. Yugi/Yami are also pretty big but the others you'll probably only see hints and short phases of them but they go as follows. Duke/Tea, Tristan/Serenity, Ryou/Bakura (even though that one's going to be a secret relationship). I won't get too graphic, well at least I don't think I will. I guess I'll see when I get there but there IS definitely Shonen-Ai.

I do NOT own Yugioh or any of its characters. You'd be scared if I did. And I don't own the play Snow White either. So, now that I've talked your ear off, here's part one.

"What happened to you yesterday, man? We waited like two hours before they kicked us out," Tristan exclaims as he approaches Joey when the blonde enters the classroom and crosses the room towards his desk.

Joey just shrugs it off.

When Tristan had started dating Serenity he had thought it would be great. He could keep an eye on his sister while still hanging out with his friends. It seemed like a win/win. Besides that, he wouldn't have to worry that Serenity was in the wrong hands. Sure Tristan was a little rough around the edges but they had an understanding of each other and he knew Joey would kill him if he ever did anything to hurt his sister. All in all, the situation appeared to be great for everyone. What he hadn't expected was both of them drifting away from him and towards each other.

"I fell asleep finishing some school paper and by the time I woke up Serenity was walking in the door already," Joey lied. "Sorry. I must have been really tired." He wouldn't let on that the reason he hadn't met them was because he'd started feeling like a seventh wheel. Tristan had Serenity, Tea was with Duke, and who the hell knew what was up with Yugi and Ryou? They seemed to speak their own language when they were together. Almost like they had their own secret code. A lot of things they discussed were things that Joey didn't quite understand.

The 'couples' didn't just have their own language but their own little world as well. Sometimes Joey felt like he wasn't even there. He could walk away at any moment and come back and they would still be going on about their own business without so much as a glance or a 'welcome back'. It was like once you were dating somebody you could only hang out with others who were dating too. The things you did and talked about seemed like they were no longer things that people who were single would do or understand.

Yugi and Ryou were a different story but Ryou had started spending less time with the group and Yugi spent a lot more time in his own head, so Joey was left by himself to watch them all and wonder who was left in the world to talk to.

Of course, he would never tell any of them that he was uncomfortable. They had all been friends for a long time and he wasn't willing to risk their friendship just because half the school seemed to be caught in cupid's love trap. He thought it was best to just give them their space and put in his two cents whenever it was necessary, which wasn't a lot.

"It's okay. We were just worried that something bad happened," Tristan continues, sending him a reassuring smile.

"Yeah. It's not like you to pass up a chance for free pizza," Duke replies coming up behind Tristan, Tea wrapped around his arm like a trophy. Joey smiles unenthusiastically at them and sits down in his chair as the teacher walks in.

It was true that the idea was normally not lost on him. When Duke had announced that he was paying, he should have been all over it. But seeing Tea act so smitten with somebody who wasn't Yami was something he might never get used to. Seeing Serenity act similarly smitten, with his best friend no less, had become just as awkward. Yugi hadn't been around at the time so he had opted out to save his own sanity, making up a lame excuse as an after effect was just the polite thing to do.

The rest of them sit down in their seats as the teacher starts the class.

"Okay class, take out your notebooks and we'll get started," she instructs. Joey looks at the empty chair between him and Tristan. Tristan notices his gaze and they exchange looks. It wasn't like Yugi to arrive after them. Usually, if any of them were late, it was Joey. Although it had been awhile since he had stopped that habit. Tristan had made it a ritual to call Serenity every morning before school and he had opted out of being around for that nonsense. Not that he disapproved, he just didn't want to hear the sickening sweet exchanges. He got enough of that in person and didn't need it every morning as soon as he woke up.

'Where's Yugi?' Joey mouths. Tristan shrugs but is just as curious as the blonde as to where their little friend could be.

Meanwhile

An alarm is screaming its wake-up call down the hallway to a room that doesn't seem to hear it. Yami is draped over Yugi on his small bed, both sleeping soundly.

Back at school

"We were up late talking on the phone but I've never seen that stop him from making it to class. Something must be wrong," Joey whispers over the desk. Both boys are looking straight ahead as they talk so that they don't call attention to themselves.

"Maybe you could ask Kaiba to borrow his cell phone and call him," Tristan says back. Joey looks sideways at Kaiba, who is sitting in the farthest corner from the teacher, with a look on his face that clearly displays just how much he would rather be anywhere else at that moment. He had never liked school but was forced to go because it was the law or something.

"You ask him," Joey urges. Tristan looks at him in disbelief.

"No way, I'm not asking him," he objects...a little too loudly. Kaiba looks over at them with a different kind of dissatisfied look as the teacher reprimands them. He was well aware of their turmoil and wasn't happy that he had somehow become a part of it. Joey feels his heart stop a second as the eyes dig into him uncomfortably.

"I hope that you're discussing the assignment back there. Perhaps you'd like to share with the class." Joey tries to shrink down in his seat.

"No. That's okay..." he mumbles as he opens his notebook.

Back at Yugi's

"Y…Yami?" Yugi asks, muffled a little by Yami's shoulder. "What's that noise?" The spirit stirs slightly but makes no move to get up.

"Hmm?" Yami sighs. "I am not sure…but it is starting to get annoying." He buries his face into Yugi's hair, unconsciously pulling him closer as if it would muffle the sound.

"It…sounds like Grandpa's old ala...rm...clock... Hey wait! Get up!" Yugi shouts, suddenly fully awake. He tries to push Yami off of him but the spirit is heavier than he had anticipated. The sudden exclamation, however, causes the taller boy to jump up in surprise.

"Who died?" Yami asks sitting at attention. Yugi takes advantage of the new freedom and manages to slide himself out from beneath the spirit, scrambling to find his clothes.

"Nobody, I'm late for school." Yami, the initial shock gone, relaxes and stretches. He wasn't as concerned about higher education as the smaller boy and had been enjoying his slumber a lot more.

"Well if you're already late, why go?" he says, trying to stifle a yawn. "They'll make you stay late." He watches as the other boy digs out his school clothes and starts to dress.

"Would you rather me have to make it up on my day off or just stay a few hours after school today?" Yugi asks, meeting his gaze as he buttons up his shirt. The spirit seems to consider it.

"Good point. Tell me how you make out." He lays back down and covers his face with a pillow. Yugi pulls his jacket on and walks over to where he is laying, removing the pillow and tugging all the sheets off. He wasn't about to leave Yami alone if he was expecting to get reprimanded.

"Yami, come on. School's no fun when you're not there." He hops up on the bed and sits across Yami's stomach, pulling at his shirt in urgency. Yami opens one eye halfway to receive Yugi's pout, and smiles.

"You're lucky you're so adorable," he says in a tired tone. Yugi grins victoriously and rolls off of him to the floor as he changes his form and disappears into the millennium puzzle.

Back at school

Tristan throws Joey a note when the teacher's back is turned and Joey reads it cautiously.

'Just ask him. The worst he could do is say no, right?' Joey looks at him crossly, scribbles something down and throws is back.

'Then why don't you do it? You're closer.' Tristan looks at Kaiba again and shakes his head.

'No way.' He mouths to Joey. Kaiba sends them both a sideways look, having been watching them suspiciously for the past 20 minutes as they debated who the gopher was going to be. He is beginning to grow tired of the whole charade but before he can say anything to stop the whole pathetic scenario Yugi bursts through the door, a bit disheveled and out of breath.

"Mr. Motou, how nice of you to join us. Class started a half an hour ago, what happened?" the teacher implores. All eyes watch him as he makes his way to his desk.

"The alarm clock didn't wake us up in time," he responds breathlessly, his face slowly turning red at all the stares. Duke raises an eyebrow and passes a look to Tea and Tristan as they both send similar looks to Joey in confusion.

"Well since it's your first offense I won't be too hard on you but you will have to stay after class." Yugi nods and glances at his friends before he sits down between them.

"Us?" Joey whispers to him. His face darkens to an ever redder color but he doesn't reply. Joey sees Tristan shrug and lets it go. He assumed he had meant Yami even though the spirit contributed as much to school as Kaiba did, which was mainly just in appearances. Yugi had started to refer to himself as a plural for some time now so it really wasn't all that odd, but at school it still seemed out of place since nobody outside of their group would really understand.

"Alright class. We're going to start something new today. The next story in our book is Snow White and I thought it'd be a change of pace if we did it as a play. This class is exactly the right size for the cast and it would be a nice treat for the underclassman to see how mature you guys are. And so I don't have people complaining over who got what role, you will all pick your characters out of this bucket. It'll be completely random."

A few groans of displeasure pass through the room at the idea.

"Why didn't your Grandpa wake you up?" Tea asks from the seat in front of Yugi's.

"He's visiting a friend who's very sick. He'll be gone for a few weeks," Yugi whispers back.

"You never told me that?" Joey jumps in. If he had known that he would have asked to stay over. Sleeping at Yugi's house was always his favorite option to avoiding all the new awkward situations. And he loved sneaking in to look at the new shipments of cards before they went on sale.

"I knew what would happen if I did." Yugi responds playfully. He didn't really mind the blonde's company or that he was spending more time over his house than usual but he still needed his own space sometimes too. Joey didn't quite pick up on the tone to understand the implication, however.

"What do you..." he starts to protest but is interrupted.

"And since the boys in the back row seem so eager, they can pick first." The teacher walks to the back of the classroom and holds the bucket between Joey and Yugi, who is blushing even more furiously than before.

He hears a snicker inside his head and bites his lip so he doesn't retort. He and Joey each take a paper from the bucket as instructed. "Don't open them until everyone has one. I want to see all the horror filled faces at once," the teacher goes on, faking enthusiasm. She moves the bucket to Tristan, Tea, and Duke, then moves on to the rest of the class, only pausing when she reaches Kaiba. He crosses his arms and glares at her, not as willing to go along with the plan as the rest of the class.

"I'll pass. I don't do drama," he replies dryly. He clearly wasn't going to be as cooperative as everyone else. He had done his duty by showing up, participation was an entirely different thing.

His statement received a few snickers but he pretended not to notice.

"Aw, Mr. Kaiba. Have some fun for once. Maybe it'll make you smile," the teacher insists, although her tone remains just an unenthusiastic as before with an added hint of sarcasm included.

"Good luck with that. I don't do fun either."

"Now that's something I can agree with," Joey smiles as if he'd won some kind of game. Kaiba ignores this as well.

"Well, I don't care what you do or don't do. As long as you're in my classroom you'll do what I tell you." She had had about enough of all of them over the past couple years. Between Joey and Tristan constantly interrupting class and Kaiba pretty much doing nothing but say how much he hates everything, she was ready to quit. But she was determined to get all of these boys under control one way or another.

"I can easily fix that," Kaiba retorts, not wavering.

"Maybe he's scared," Joey smirks. He is actually happy that he can still share words with Kaiba, even if they were usually fighting words. At least when he was fighting with Kaiba he felt more like himself. Not only that but he didn't feel invisible. Kaiba may not have been the greatest person in the world, but he wasn't the worst either. And he was consistent with his feelings and actions. Joey never had to guess what he was thinking, nor did he have to wonder about what kind of relationship they had. Maybe in some way it was good to have the outlet. The negative feelings he kept inside to respect his friends and their new relationships might boil over if he had to keep them bottled up all the time. It probably wasn't the best choice to take it out on Kaiba, but at least he knew the other boy could take it and that it wouldn't hurt their friendship that since, well, one didn't exist.

Kaiba eyes him angrily, confirming all his thoughts and in that glare Joey finds a tiny comfort.

"Hardly," Kaiba responds and looks away.

"No? Well, I think you're scared. Perfect little Kaiba who has to be the best at everything. Maybe we found something you're bad at. Afraid to make a fool of yourself?" Joey continues his taunting. Tristan holds in a laugh as Kaiba shoots Joey a death glare. As if to send him a message saying that the blonde could in no way make a fool of him, he bitterly grabs the last paper from the bucket. The teacher lets out a small sound of approval.

"Thank you Mr. Kaiba," she replies as she continues on her way back to the front of the classroom. Joey and Tristan slap each other high fives over Yugi's desk and Tea rolls her eyes. She would never understand the boy's childish games. "Okay, class...everybody open your papers."