"Well kids, it's time to turn in your projects," the teacher Mr. Satou, grinned. He walked around and pointed to random groups. "Now, anyone who doesn't have their project will receive no credit. Anyone who doesn't have anything, please leave."
There were some nervous looks, and about a third of the class left. Mr. Satou frowned and shook his head. "If there are any of you that haven't finished the project completely, please leave."
Everyone left except my group, Rina's, and some random kid's. Mr. Satou looked very disappointed, but with a trick up his sleeve. He sat back in his chair, pulling out the rubric, and told the other kid's group to set it up.
He went up there with the two other kids he was working with and we grimaced at the poorly done project. The cover design had terrible art and the book looked to be about six pages. He began to talk about making a child's book about a puppy finding her lost bone. We all stared, uninterested. When he was finally finished, he sat down with his group and breathed in relief. "Sadako-chan, you're up."
Rina stood up with Yusuke and her new fiancé Jou. The three of them stood up. Rina told the story of a wedding singer (Rina), a drunk (Jou), and a monkey (Yusuke). Rina changed it from the fairy tale because she forgot everyone had to be in it.
The story was about a wedding singer who met a drunk on the streets. She ended up teaching him the ways of the wedding singer, but the drunk got so good that she was thrown out of business. Her pet monkey tried to get her to harm the drunk, since it was telepathic and had a thing for the wedding singer. Eventually though, the rivalry between the two ended and they ended up doing gigs together.
I laughed to myself quietly as she finished her presentation. Mr. Satou applauded her and finished the rubric. "Kaiba-san?"
All three of us stood up. Seto went in front and placed the layout for the story down. I grinned up at him as he fought back any urges to return it. Ryou and I had the book, all published and everything. Seto made sure he didn't fail this class, so he actually spent money on publishing it.
"Our story is a sort of like the classic Disney tale, but with a twist. First of all, in the end, the 'villain' wins," I explained. "But by the time we get there, the 'villain' isn't the person that you hate anymore. Our story is about a prince named Ryou, who was to marry for his father's kingdom. However, the King never told the suitors that he had a son because well...Ryou was a cross-dressing prince. He saw himself more womanly and dressed in dresses, so everyone naturally thought for him to be a princess.
"His father sent out for a suitor and Prince Seto came to the castle. He wanted to marry Ryou for the kingdom itself, and didn't care about him. Prince Ryou already had a secret love in his life though; it was the magic practitioner who was banished from the kingdom. They never spoke, but his mysterious ways and spells he happened to witness captured Ryou's heart. Ryou thought it was a man, but it was actually a woman named Monika who cross-dressed like a male. Anyway...
"Prince Seto even tries to act out his urges on poor Ryou, who is innocent of all sexual things. When the prince accidentally rips Ryou's dress off in his stupor, he finds out Ryou is a boy. Prince Seto goes mad and tries to blackmail Ryou, torture him, and perform vile things for him. The King doesn't even know that his son is being treated this way.
"One night, the magic practitioner comes and is going to kill Prince Ryou because it was his orders. But as the two fight, they find out about their similar habits and get along. They fall in love and visit nightly, but during one of their visits, Prince Seto comes in and catches them engaging in their nightly activities. His men inform the King and the King orders Monika, who practiced "witchcraft", to be captured and beheaded. Ryou, in tears, locks himself in his room.
"The King has to leave for war because the other banished ones begin to riot. They storm through villages and cause trouble. Once the King is gone, he dies not by Monika, but by his village folk in a tragic accident. Prince Ryou mourns the death of his father, and Prince Seto demands that he get married right away, blaming the King's death on Monika. Ryou ends up believing him because the portrait of the murderer matches his lover's face.
"As the wedding takes place, Monika hears from Prince Seto's guards that he intends to slaughter Prince Ryou when they are to consummate the marriage. Monika bursts in, after they are married and are in Ryou's room, and demands a fight. She and Prince Seto duke it out, and right before his eyes, he slashes her shirt off. The cloth she used to cover herself falls to the ground and he realizes she is a woman. He is disgusted by her ways of cross-dressing as Ryou helps Monika cover herself.
"In the end, Prince Seto cannot contain his lustful urges and using this as his weakness, Monika strikes and pushes him out the window from Ryou's balcony. He falls to his death while Monika 'kidnaps' Ryou from his life at the palace. The two live happily ever after."
Mr. Satou, who was on the edge of his seat, leaned back in his chair. Rina stood up and started to clap wildly, laughing hard. "Man, Moni! You always beat me, don'tcha?" The other kid went back down in shame and hung his head low as his teammates started to sob.
The teacher clapped and stood up. We all bowed and then began to take our stuff away when Mr. Satou took me by the shoulder. "Hidaka, listen to me. I did this project for two reasons. To see what you learned in this class over the year, and the second reason is...well, I lost a bet against the theatre teacher."
I perked an eyebrow and he laughed sadly.
"I told him that the best story I had would be turned over to him instead of being put in the display case with all the others. They have one more school play to do for the graduation party coming up, and...well...since yours was the best with Sadako in close second...they'll turn yours into a screenplay and put it on for their last show."
My eyes widened in surprise and Mr. Satou chuckled at Ryou. "I'm sure that they would be honored to have you star as your character, Ryou. According to the transcripts from the other schools, you were outstanding in theatre class."
Ryou blushed slightly and simply shuffled his feet. The bell rang and Mr. Satou took all of our things, placing them carefully in a box under his desk. "I'll hand this over to him later. Thank you all for making your projects."
The other kids came in angrily and grabbed their things, knowing they had received a zero for doing nothing. Rina and I laughed, high-fived, and walked out of class. Ryou walked beside me as we rolled our eyes at the newly engaged couple. Yusuke didn't mind it much since Keiko was now going to our school.
For the last nine weeks of school, the theatre club practiced like crazy. They constantly came in and asked me if I would overlook the production and make sure everything fit the bill. Seto came a few times too, because after all, it was his as much as it was mine. Ryou was dragged into the play (bad pun!) and got to wear a dress, which made me laugh forever. I told Rina and Jou that they couldn't peek though.
Then the night of our graduation ceremony came. We were allowed to dress out of school uniform, which made me unbelievably happy.
Rina was dressed in a dark, navy blue dress with her hair pulled back in a soft manner. It had no straps but connected around her neck like a V-shape. There was a cinch right where the waist was and the dress reached her knees. I think it was made of velvet, but I wasn't sure. It was gorgeous nonetheless, and she even wore some heels to match.
All the guys wore tuxes, so it wasn't much of a big deal for them. However, I did help Yugi shop for one and we had to get it tailored because they didn't have it in his size. (The poor guy! I yelled at the manager when he thought that we should shop in the kids' section. I told him Yugi was graduating from high school, not kindergarten.)
Anzu literally made me buy a dress (she wouldn't let me out and threatened to take pictures of me and post them on MySpace or something, I can't remember). Since my biological mom always told me I looked good in green, I decided to go with that.
My dress wasn't all fancy like Anzu's pink one. It went down to my knees like Rina's, and was a dark green. There were two thin straps that hung over my shoulders, and it had a V-neck front and the material was silk, I think. Anyway, it was nice and all, but I could barely move in that thing. It felt like it was hugging every damn part of my body.
We entered the cafeteria, Jou and Rina together, but me going stag. Why? Well, Ryou was performing, so he was on the stage practicing before the show. I looked around anxiously for someone to talk to. Then I spotted Marik and ran over to him.
"Hi, Marik!" I blurted a little too excitedly. I was jittery around him, and it was showing. His blonde tuft was groomed quite nicely, probably to Ishizu's doing. He looked down and smirked.
"Hi, Monika. You look-"
"No comments or I castrate you," I joked. There was a slight silence as the principal came over. He began to give a long speech (as we all sat down in the plastic chairs lined up in the cafeteria) about our hard years at the high school. He ensured us that our better times would be held at the next school of our choice.
There were even more speeches by important people, including the class representative of the lowerclassmen, and our representative, who was of course Kaiba Seto. We all clapped and hooted as the principal began to call up names of the ones graduating by homeroom.
This part was tense. We all had to go up there and get our diplomas in a way that we rehearsed for the past who-knows how long. I gulped when it was my turn, but I didn't trip or fall or anything. I simply got my diploma, went through the 'choreography' and came down. I felt immediately rewarded when I sat back down.
Once everyone got their diplomas and when it was over, I jumped up. People were signing yearbooks, but I didn't care. Cameras were flashing and people were sobbing. I ran to Rina and Jou, but then saw that they were making out heavily. I perked a brow and crossed my arms, hearing Kuwabara howl with laughter in the background. "It looks like they're eating each others' faces off!"
"Grow up, Kuwabara!" someone yelled. There was a slight scuffle and I giggled to myself.
The chairs were soon filled again as the stage was set up for the play. I sat down between Seto and Marik eagerly as it began to start. The stage lit up as the curtains went their separate ways, and a single figure stood on the stage. I covered my mouth in laughter as I saw who it was, while fan girls squealed in the audience.
"It's hard being one of royalty, especially a prince," came Ryou's soft voice, projected very well, into the audience. He sat down on the ledge of the 'window' and stared out of it, just as I pictured he would do in my book. "I don't think I can handle it the way my father thinks I can. I've always dressed this way, ever since I was but a boy..." He lifted his head and smiled. "I just enjoy being who I was meant to be."
I watched as my story came to life. Everything happened perfectly, and it seemed like they didn't even change any dialogue between the characters. Even though I wasn't in it, they picked a girl who looked tough enough to play the part. She was in sports, so her figure fit the part as well.
"Dear sweet Prince Seto, I claim this man as my own, and if you cannot face the consequences, then...then uh...tough luck!"
This rose laughter from the audience just as I intended. I grinned widely as the sword battle began. Seto watched with fake interest, really looking at my facial expression. To see my writing being transformed into live action made me feel so accomplished. I wished it would go on forever. I looked around and thankfully saw that Anzu was recording it for me.
Then the climax came. The magic practitioner 'Monika' held her sword to Prince Seto's throat. "Sorry," she muttered with a cocky grin. "Unfortunately for you my good friend, the boy is mine."
People recognized the reference and burst out laughing again, only to be stopped when in one swift motion, the sword was embedded in the prince's chest. He toppled backwards out the window and there was a loud crash sound effect. Monika the Magician helped poor Prince Ryou to his feet and embraced him tightly.
"Let go of the princess, you fiend!" came a snarl from the guards. Monika smirked and then grabbed Prince Ryou by the waist, who was still donning his wedding dress.
"Sorry boys, but I don't think so. I intend to take my revenge on the woman, and she'll follow the same fate as her blasted father!" She grinned wickedly and threw herself out the window with Ryou. The guards ran over and gasped as they looked down.
One of them muttered loudly. "I cannot believe he made that jump. Well, general, what is your next command?"
The general's shoulders slumped. "Even our best armor cannot withstand the dark magic of that man. It seems as though Prince Ryou is as good as dead. Now what will we do about the kingdom now that the only heirs to the throne are gone?"
The question lingered in the air as the scene changed. Monika jumped off the horse and helped her lover down, Prince Ryou's slender arms around her waist. They left the kingdom completely.
"Thank you...my prince..." Prince Ryou whispered. The magic practitioner only smirked and the two of them embraced tightly, kissing lovingly. The curtains closed and the audience got to their feet, howling and clapping for the play. My heart lurched in my chest as people came up to congratulate me on the play.
"Hey Rina! Nice story by the way, I heard you only lost to Monika," Ranma pointed. Rina laughed as Jou curled a possessive arm around his fiancé's waist.
"Yeah, that ol' Moni-chan. She won't admit it, but she's always gonna be great at that stuff. Even Mr. Dwyer would call her Smart One..."
They shot her a weird look and Akane and Ranma walked away. Rina turned to Jou with a suspicious look on her face. He only blushed a little and nodded back at her. "Whass that face fer, Rina? Do I gotz a smudge on my tux or somethin'?"
She shook her head. "Just thinking about our wedding night, is all," she joked. Jou stared at her, and then started to grin so wide that Rina thought his face would fall off. He took her by the shoulders and just kept on. Rina started to clutch her stomach laughing as Jou rubbed his nose. A torrent of blood came out and he rushed off to the bathroom yelling about getting back at her.
When he came back out, Rina rushed to his arms. The two of them walked out to the dance floor as the lights dimmed. Everyone who had an act was allowed to go up on stage and do whatever they wanted. Right now, there was a group of guys singing a love song.
Rina laced her arms around Jou's neck and smiled. He held her middle back tenderly and the two of them slow danced. Seto took one look at them and held back the urge to vomit. Instead, his eyes searched across the dance floor where everyone was.
Anzu was dancing with the shy Yugi as Honda was getting wired on the punch. Ryou, who got out of the dress, was taking pictures with his admirers. Marik, Rishid and his sister were taking pictures.
Ranma and Akane were arguing about whether or not Akane's dress made her look thick waisted. Ryoga just entered the cafeteria now and was trying to ask Akane to dance. Shampoo was trying to conjure up some potion for Ranma to drink. Ukyo set up an okonomiyaki stand while Mousse planned to propose to Shampoo. Kodachi was trying to challenge anyone to a Rhythmic Gymnastics competition.
Yusuke walked out of the cafeteria to hang out with Keiko 'privately'. Kuwabara and his gang of friends were sitting around talking and laughing. Kurama was trying to avoid his fan girls while he was there. Hiei was lurking in the shadows doing who knows what.
Atticus and Roki were there two, dressed in the clothes for this time. They were being talked to by some girls who were fascinated with their strange accents.
"So I'm definitely not going back to New York," Rina kissed Jou on the nose. The two of them stepped out of the way for the more serious dancers. Jou scratched his blonde hair and smiled triumphantly at her.
"Good, 'cuz I wouldn't let ya anyway. Hey, remember the time when ya first moved here, and we made Kaiba slip on that ol' ice? Ah man, good times...those were the days."
There was a tense silence and Jou turned around. Seto was standing over him, leering down at the two of them. "So it was you two..."
"Abort mission!" Rina yelled, grabbing Jou's arms. They got themselves surrounded by the dancing couples and sighed in relief. Seto tried to make his way in, but saw there was no way he could do it.
"We should so have karaoke!" one of the girls next to Rina squealed as the wallflowers chatted amongst themselves.
"You're right, that would be so much fun!"
Rina shrugged and poked Jou's arm. "Hey Jou, let's go behind the curtains!" she winked. Before she could say she was joking, he got a hold of her arm and began to drag her towards the stage. She began to laugh like crazy, but no one could hear her over the music. "Wait! Wait, I was just kidding Katsu-kun!"
The two of them hid behind the curtains. "There," Jou grinned. "Now the dumb ol' teachers can't tell us to get our asses out of here. They won't catch us." He wrapped an arm around her and the two began to plant soft kisses on each other. Rina ran her hands through his mop of hair as he fiddled with her back.
After awhile, the two of them came out. They spotted Ryou and I sitting down at the tables some students brought in talking. I waved over at them and they took their seats next to us.
"We were just talking about awesome memories," I laughed. "Come on you guys, give me some."
By this time, Yugi, Marik, Seto, Anzu, Honda, Kurama, Kuwabara, and Yusuke all sat down at the table. (We had to push a few together to make room.) Jou rubbed his chin, and then laughed.
"Hey Yuge, remember when it was the first day back from school over the break, an' I first spotted Rina from across the room?"
"Yugi, who is that?"
Yugi Mutou, champion of the infamous Duel Monsters, seemed a little confused by the question. His turned his head and locked his violet eyes with his best friend Jounouchi's puppy-dog brown. "Huh?"
"That girl over there. Sittin' by herself."
Yugi followed where Jou's hand went, and sure enough, he spotted the girl. She wasn't eating cafeteria food like the rest of them. Instead, she was taking small bites out of a sandwich from a lunch box. Yugi shrugged.
"I saw her come in this morning, but I didn't get a chance to talk with her. Why?"
Jounouchi stared at her. "Dunno. Don't you think she looks...foreign to ya? I mean...not many people look like that around here. She looks like she's American or somethin'."
"Maybe she is."
"AWWWW JOU! YOU SPOTTED ME FROM ACROSS THE ROOM BEFORE WE EVEN MET!" Rina clung to him happily. "It was like love at first sight!"
I decided to think up of something embarrassing for Rina. "Hey, remember the time when you found out who had a crush on you...?"
"So, um, did any of you ever realize why she is doing all this?" Rina asked. Jou looked away nervously. "Well, she kinda has a thing for ya Rina," He said slowly. "Haha," she said flatly, "Not funny Jou."
"I ain't jokin," He said, "She's in love with ya....." Rina saw the serious expression on his face and her mouth dropped. "She said she knew ya in Ancient Egypt," He said. "I think I'd remember a name like 'Lillith'...." She scoffed, "so un-Egyptian."
"Told you she wanted to rape you," I said, "And she probably changed her name."
Rina growled to herself. "Monika! Just for that, you'll all found out what happened when we first met Marik." Before I could protest, she was already telling them what happened...
"I'm Rina, and this is Monika."
"Yes, I'm aware of that. Not to be too forward or anything, but it would be best if I get down to business." He cleared his throat. "The truth is, my sister Ishizu sent me to speak with you two. It seems that she...well, she knows that you girls know about the cities disappearing. Meet her at the Takehiko City Museum within the week...please."
Marik walked over to his parked motorcycle and strapped his helmet on. Without another word, he revved his engine and was off.
Rina gave me the eye as I watched the mysterious Marik ride away. "So," she giggled slightly. "Is the back as good as the front?"
"Whoa Mon," Jou laughed and slapped Marik's back as he struggled to swallow the punch he had in his mouth. "I never knew ya two were so into each other by then..."
"Let's tell one about Kaiba!" Anzu teased. The CEO turned his head away angrily as Rina started to laugh so hard she was tearing. She held up a hand and began to say that she wanted to tell it. We all listened eagerly as her story went on.
Kaiba came over, sneer on his face. "Hmph, so you'd rather her look more like a man then a woman?" Kaiba said, "I was right about you, queer."
Ryou turned away and tried to ignore him. I also ignored him, and scooted close to Ryou, playing with his hair and snuggling against him.
Frustrated at the lack of reaction, he started to leave. Seizing his chance, Jou grinned.
"Hey Monika, nice thong!" He said really loudly.
Kaiba seemed to turn his head, so he didn't see the kid with the lunch tray in front of him. They smashed into each other, and the embarrassed Kaiba stalked off, even angrier.
"See Katsu-kun?" Rina said sweetly, "I told you he liked her."
Seto ignored the howls of laughter that seemed to go on around the table. He didn't tell one, but let it pass. Anzu poked Yugi and then that gave Rina an idea. She leaned back in her chair and began to talk about something that happened with the infamous "King of Games".
"Monika and Rina? Oh! I should've recognized you girls earlier. Well, Monika, you certainly have filled out, as I can see. I'm guessing about an 80F?"
I glanced down at my outfit. I took off the boys' uniform jacket so I was wearing the blue dress shirt. Unfortunately, my chest wasn't covered by the jacket since I got hot. Anzu shot me a knowing look. Sugoroku was just an old geezer and a perv. He commented on her chest size before, too.
"Um. Thanks...I guess," I replied uncertainly.
"And you, Rina! You're still so slender and long-legged, just as I guessed." I laughed silently to myself as he peered at her naked legs that poked out from under the skirt. I was so glad I was a tomboy.
Yugi tried to hide his embarrassment, but it didn't work. He felt awful that his grandpa hit on us like that, but there wasn't much he could do about it. We looked for another victim and it led us to Ryou.
"Ello, Rina! What brings you down here so early?"
She turned and giggled. Ryou was so cute, especially with that tiny bit of cream on the corner of his mouth. "Hey, Bakura. I had some stuff to take care of. Have you seen Jounouchi?"
"Um," he replied shyly, "no. Why, may I ask?"
"Huh? Oh. well, we went out together this morning but he had to hightail it up to Yugi's. I'm heading there now. Want to walk with me?"
Ryou blushed slightly. "Will Monika be there?"
Rina laughed. "Yeah. Come on."
The girls all squealed at Ryou's obvious crush and he just held his head low, cheeks red. Rina let her eyes settle on Yusuke, who went unscathed this entire time. "Well, well...Yusuke..." Rina smirked. "What do we have in store for you tonight?"
"I think it's too bad she has to see her boyfriend get beat," Yusuke replied as Rina stepped away from the pair. They glared at one another, until the ref kid yelled. "GO!" In an instant, the two were going at it, punching kicking, blocking, dodging. It was a high speed battle, full of suspense.
Sometimes, it seemed as though Jou had the upper hand, then Yusuke. Finally, they began to slow down, still fighting viciously, sweat dripping down their bodies. And for once, everyone was dead silent, just watching
It seemed as though it was slow motion when the final punch was thrown, knocking his opponent to the floor. "Ohmigosh," Rina gasped, "Jou, I think you knocked him out!" Jou smirked and she ran over to Yusuke.
Clearly, they had not been going easy on each other. Both of them had bruises everywhere. "I'm going to bring him to the nurse," she said, and threw his limp arm over her shoulder, trudging out from the sudden weight.
"Aw geez Rina, ya can't carry 'im yourself," Jou said, helping her carry him. When they got to the nurses place, she tended to Yusuke's wounds and bruises.
"Is there anyone else who wants to do a number before we have to kick you all out?"
My eyes widened and I grabbed Rina's arm. "Let's go!" I urged. "We promised that we would do this together!" She groaned but eventually gave in, and we rushed to the stage. I asked Shampoo kindly if she would let us sing her song, seeing as how she was the one who wrote and performed it for Ranma awhile back.
We took the microphones and put the CD in, the familiar beat going through the stage. I smiled to myself as we began to sing...
anata ni atta sono hi kara na no yo
kawaii musume ni natteru yo watashi
suki yo suki yo kokoro kara
chikai o tateru
itte itte itta koto
zembu kiku
The crowd was silent as Shampoo swayed to the beat, happy we picked her song. Akane smiled to herself even though she couldn't help it, because the whole time Rina and Jou were just staring into each other's...eyes? Souls? We couldn't tell.
namida tsurete-kuru ai ga kowai
aa... demo suki
WO DA AIREN
For that last verse, my gaze was set on Ryou. Even with all the things that I had done with Bakura and what I went through, he still managed to find a way to be with me. I couldn't help but grin. My eyes shifted to Marik.
anata no soba ni iru dake de ii yo
jamana musume ni naranai yo watashi
itsumo itsumo soba ni iru
yurushite hoshii
suki yo suki yo anata dake
WO AI NI
It was like Jou and Rina were the only ones together in this whole room. Yugi, who was in the crowd too, felt his heart soar as I settled my attention on him.
namida tsurete-kuru ai ga tsurai
aa... demo suki
WO DA AIREN
Remembering the lyrics and trying not to make an ass out of myself, I directed the next one to Seto. Mokuba was there, having begged Seto to come to his graduation. I guess I didn't see him the whole time.
hontou wa hitotsu onegai ga aru yo
hatsukashii kara mimi moto de iu yo
sotto sotto me o tojiru
kuchizuke hoshii
suki yo suki yo anata dake
WO AI NI
The song was almost over, and I was trying not to cry from the others. Before I knew it, Akane, Kodachi, Shampoo, Anzu, and all the other girls came up to join us. Girls around were sobbing because they knew that after this last verse, we would all be kicked out of the school. We'd have to find somewhere else to celebrate. Were Rina and I scared? Well, yeah but...we wouldn't admit it aloud. You know how we Americans do.
suki yo suki yo anata dake
WO AI NI
