Title: Paradox
Author: Alice
Fandoms: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Spoilers: None since this is AU!
Pairings: Yami no Yuugi x Bakura Ryou. Side Jounouchi Katsuya x Mazaki Anzu and possibly others.
Summary: Bakura Ryou was always an average student, until his mother got a new job that required their family to move constantly. As a result, Bakura fell behind. His luck might change when he begins school at Domino High and finds himself sitting next to boy genius, Atemu Yami.
Part: 1?
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Shounen-ai and language.
Recommended Listening: None.
Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! Is not owned by me. Unfortunately.
Author's Notes: Most of the information concerning how schools are run in Japan is based mostly on what I gathered from reading the Yuugiou manga, so there may be a lot of mistakes. I apologize now for that. And 'Ryou' will be referred to as Bakura, except by his parents. On that note, I decided to be nice to Bakura and have it so only Amane died when he was younger but his mother's still alive. Oh, and…HONORIFICS ARE THE SPAWN OF SATAN AND I HATE THEM AND GUH. They will not be used in this fic.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paradox
by Alice M.
PROLOGUE
Almost all the lights in the small apartment were out, as expected at that time of night. The dark rooms seemed to be a bit brighter, though, without any furniture to cast more shadows upon the walls and floors. A bit of light was shed on the white walls, filtering from the slightly opened door down the hall. This light was the only one on in the apartment and they only sounds came from behind that door. The sounds of someone scurrying around in a hurry could be heard quite clearly. That person was a young boy, about sixteen years of age, moving quickly around his room, making sure that all his belongings were good and packed in the proper place. His long white hair that fell to around his mid-back was pulled back into a ponytail to keep from obscuring his vision or getting caught in his suitcase (an incident that had happened more than once). The boy was clad in a plain white tee shirt and blue jeans, having packed all his pajamas already and not feeling the burning desire to track them down again.
Once the boy was sure everything was packed and in the proper place, he plopped down onto the sleeping mat placed out for him and surveyed his empty room one last time. Save for himself, the sleeping mat and the suitcase propped on the wall next to the door, everything in his room was gone. Everything was already in their proper boxes but Bakura Ryou was a thorough person and had wanted to double check one final time. He hated the thought he might forget something. Tomorrow the Bakura family would once more be moving away, for the fourth time in two years, to a city called Domino. Bakura was sure, however, that this was the last time they'd be moving for quite some time. His mother's job required the family to move often but she had recently spoken to her boss and made him promise to not relocate her until Bakura at least graduated high school in another year. This was a great comfort to Bakura as the last two years in high school had been a living nightmare, going to a new school halfway through each year. The thought that he'd be able to finish this year and all of next year at the same school without moving was a relief.
Bakura was pulled from his inner musings from the sound of someone knocking on his door. The boy propped himself up on his elbows and glanced at the door with his pale green eyes. "Come in," he called.
A man who appeared to be in his mid thirties pushed open the door and stepped into the room, smiling gently down at his son. Bakura shot him a smile as the man moved further into the room and seated himself on the edge on the Bakura's sleeping mat. "So," Bakura Yoshiyuki began, reaching out and placing a pale hand on his son's white hair, "are you nervous about next week? Or tomorrow even?"
Bakura shook his head. "No…not particularly. I'm used to it by now, moving, starting new schools. But," he broke off her and bit his lower lip a bit, "it is a tad more stressful this time 'round seeing as this time I'll be starting a school I know I'll be at for more that a few months. So I suppose I really have to try hard here to do well and make friends."
Bakura's father nodded slowly, patting his son lightly on the head. A smile tugged at the edge of his lips. "Of course you'll have to try to make friends! You'll be going here for the rest of your high school education. And as for trying hard in school…Well, you'll just have to work hard to catch up. You have fallen a bit behind…"
A sigh escaped the young boy's lips and he stared determinedly down into his clasped, pale hands settled in his lap. "I have fallen behind. But I promise I'll do my best to catch up." Bakura raised his eyes and flashed a smile at his father. "Just like I promised you and mother."
"And Amane," his father added, though he knew that Bakura already knew that the promise was more to her than anyone else. But Bakura rarely said his sister's name aloud.
A fond smile made it's way to Bakura's lips and he nodded. "Yes…and Amane. You know, I'm rather looking forward to moving to Domino. It should be interesting…and I've heard that it's got good schools. Domino High – that is where I'm going, right – is said to be one of the best in the city. I looked it up online at the library."
His father nodded. "That's what I heard as well and yes, Domino High is where you will be going. And I do hope you like it there. I hope we all like it there…we may be there for awhile."
"Until I finish high school."
Bakura watched as his father did something the boy hardly ever saw him do: he bit his lower lip in a nervous manner. "It…may even be longer than that. Depending on your mother…" He didn't have to finish. Bakura understood. He nodded, slowly, letting his father know he understood and would help out as much as necessary. "Ryou, things may get a lot more difficult for us over the next year or so. You know your mother is not doing so well…"
"I know," Bakura said softly, raising a hand and placing it comfortingly on his father's shoulder. "I know." He gave the older man a comforting smile and a small squeeze. This was a typical routine for them, to sit alone and comfort each other, give each other encouraging words and think about how bright they hoped the future would be and try not to think of how dark the reality was. Bakura was always considered by his parents to be the best form of comfort they'd ever found. Just his presence was enough for both his father and mother to be relaxed or comforted from whatever ailed them at a given moment. Especially since Amane passed away.
"Ryou, a son should not have to comfort his father," Bakura's father said with a sad smile. This was also part of their routine, that phrase. Both of them knew that it wasn't completely true. While they both knew that Bakura, at his age, shouldn't have to worry about the problems of adults and should have been enjoying his time as a teenager as fully as he could, both father and son knew that this was not going to happen. Bakura had experienced two great loses at such a young age and had become accustomed to having to comfort others through their distress while ignoring his own sadness. But then, it was never really so bad in the end. Bakura comforted his father and mother, and in turn they comforted him when the stress of being the family's lifeline became too great. They depended on each other to survive and it had been that way for many years and none of them were all too keen on having that way of life disrupted.
They remained in silence for a few minutes more before Bakura's father stood slowly and smiled down at him. "Get some sleep, Ryou. The movers will be here quite early and we probably won't finish moving into the new flat until nightfall. And even then, I doubt we'll have moved everything in."
Bakura nodded and bid his father good night. Once his father had left and he was sure the man was out of earshot, Bakura stood and hurried over to his suitcase. He knelt down in front of it and opened it swiftly and began rummaging through it. He quickly found what he had been looking for as he had purposefully left it in easy reach. A piece of paper and a pen were extracted from the suitcase before Bakura closed it back up and headed back to lie down on his stomach on the sleeping mat. He laid the piece of paper out in front of him and tapped it idly with the ballpoint of his pen for a few moments, deep in thought. Bakura didn't need much time to sort out his thoughts and he soon began writing.
My Dear Amane,
Well, as I said in my last letter, the family's moving again but this time we're staying for good. We're moving to a city called Domino. It's a fairly large city a bit closer to Tokyo. I haven't had time to write to you mostly because I've been too busy packing. Sorry! We leave tomorrow morning so I thought I'd write to you know, just so you know where I've been and why I haven't been in touch. So how have you been? Anything new happening over there? Besides us preparing to move, things over here have been pretty uneventful. Well, mostly. Mother might lose her job soon, I'm afraid. It's getting harder and harder for her to move about. I've mixed feelings about the situation with her job because, while I'd hate for her to lose her job because I know she loves it so much, I'm also looking forward to it a bit. It would be a big change but it would mean we'd have to stop moving. We're only staying in Domino until I graduate but after that, if mother still works there, we might have to move again. But I'm also sad because, well…she's doing worse, obviously. But I think she'll be all right, at least for now. I guess we'll just have to see, I suppose. I'm a bit worried about going to this new school. My last report from my teachers at my last school said that I was falling a bit further behind, especially in mathematics. What if they are even further into the curriculum at this new school? Oh dear, if I get any further behind I might fail! It's so…stressful. I really don't know what to do. I think I can manage to catch up in most of my classes but blasted math and science! I've always had a bit of trouble in those classes, if you remember. Mother suggested tutoring but I'm not so sure… The last time I had a tutor was horrible. She couldn't explain things in a way that I could easily understand. She just stuffed books and notes under my nose and told me to memorize it without telling me what on Earth it was I was even looking at! I don't know if I could handle that again. But I do need to do something, I can't fail. But what can I do, Amane? I'm so confused. Well, tomorrow is the day and father says I should get some sleep. You should too. So that's all for now, sister dear. I promise I'll write to you again once we're settled into the new place. Father says it's bigger than this apartment and this place is rather large as it is! It's quite exciting. Hope to hear from you soon. Your brother, end prologue ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryou
My birthday is tomorrow! That makes me happy. Hopefully I'll have time to work on chapter one. But as a sort of present to me, do you think you could drop a review? I hope so.
Chapter one: Bakura starts at Domino High and meets some new people.
Alice