The Guardian (Tifa and Yuffie)

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

Yugi laughed slightly at that, nodding his understanding. "I can understand that. Let's go then" he then turned to lead the way along the halls to class. The day passed with the two attending Yugi's usual classes, except for when Yugi had Science, at which point Yami went his own way after quietly clarifying which way he needed to go to get to the right class with his non-related yet official twin. As the day came to a close, the bell finally rang, Yugi relieved to finally be free of Maths.
"Alright, everyone, don't forget to finish that question set for Friday" the teacher growled from the front of the class, peering back disinterestedly at the students filing out the door from behind his bulky, multifocal glasses. Yugi despised this year's Maths class because of the teacher...he was a drab, dull and grumpy man who basically only helped you if everyone else asked about the same thing as well.
Yugi made his way to his locker with his near-identical companion in tow, pushing his Maths books into his bag with the other books he would need and closing the metal locker door, snapping the lock shut and twisting the dial around a few times over to ensure it locked properly.
"so," he began as the two squeezed their way out the main doors with the rest of the throng of students. "is school much different here to what you're used to?" he asked quietly, sighing in relief as they finally got free of the tightly packed crowds around the doors and into the main courtyard.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Yami had gone through his day with the same air of calm indifference that he seemed to carry in all situations. Whether it was confidence or boredom was rather unclear, but he never complained. He walked down the hall past the lockers now, almost shadow-like at Yugi's side, which he had only left once that day. The throng of students shoved at them as they left Yugi's locker, but after a rather stern look from the taller of the two, they suddenly seemed to give them a wider berth. No doubt something Yugi would not be terribly used to.
The spirit walked with one hand in a pocket, the other hanging loosely by his side. He didn't seem to notice all the extra attention he drew from the girl's who shuffled past, twittering amongst each other and giggling.
"There was no such thing as school where I came from," he said in a low voice, one meant for Yugi only. They'd broken through the worst of the crowd now, and were crossing the grassy courtyard towards the main gate. "It seems a somewhat routine way to spend one's day... informative, but not particularly stimulating."

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

Yugi gave an odd snort of laughter at that, shaking his head slightly in amusement. "you got that right! I'd give anything not to have to go!...they say that school is the best years of your life, but not for me; I don't have friends to share it with, after all."
as he turned to look ahead of him again, he noted only that they were approaching the gate before a red blur bowled straight into him heading towards the 2nd class building from the gym, both individuals hitting the deck with cries of surprise and a slight clatter of belongings. The red blur, now still, was actually a young boy, probably not much older than Yugi, if not the same age, in a red jacket embellished with white and a black shirt with blue jeans. His most defining feature aside the jacket was two-toned mousy brown hair and matching eyes. As he'd fallen a few small cards had scattered about, which he was scrambling to rescue from the peril of the wind and feet that threatened them.
"gah, please don't be scratched...!" the boy muttered as he collected the cards, replacing them in their little pouch which he slid back into his jacket as he scrambled to his feet. "sorry man, I left something in one of my classes, I hope I didn't hurt ya' but I gotta' split!" he called as he got up to leave, still in a hurry, looking somewhat intimidated by Yami as he scooted around the taller individual to head on his way. "Sorry about that!" he called, again, over his shoulder as he disappeared across the schoolyard towards the 2nd class building off of the main school complex.
Yugi hardly had time to sit up and rub his sore shoulder before the stranger vanished, let alone the chance to call an acceptance of his apology.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Yami's eyes narrowed slightly when Yugi mentioned not having any friends, a strange look of knowing in their purple depths. He abruptly looked up from his shorter counter-part then, as if knowing something was about to happen. Unfortunately he wasn't fast enough to be able to prevent the encounter, but after the crash and flurry of limbs and schoolbooks, he stepped forward to offer Yugi a hand up. With the fussiness of a parent he tidied Yugi's jacket and then stooped to gather up the boy's fallen books, muttering about 'careless ruffians'.
"He certainly seemed to be in a hurry..." the man mused as he picked up the last of Yugi's books. He frowned when he found a small card laying in the dirt under Yugi's textbook. It shone in the sunlight, and appeared to be some sort of brown puff-ball with wings.
"I think that boy might have dropped this..." he murmured, showing the card to Yugi. "Perhaps we ought to return it..."

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

Yugi took the books as he was offered them, brushing off Yami's concerns with a small smile and a gracious thankyou to him, touched by the man's concern. Yugi looked up curiously when Yami mentioned something the stranger must have dropped, eyes widening a little to see what it was. "oh, hey! That's a duel monsters card! Grandpa sells those...I've not actually met someone who plays before" he frowned slightly then, seeming a bit contemplative. "hm....it would be the right thing to do to return it to him, but...I'm afraid I don't even know his name, let alone where to find him. I guess I'll just have to hang onto it until I can find him again." he sighed softly, gently taking the card and carefully slipping it flatly between two pages of one of his books, to keep it from getting damaged, putting the book securely in the front pocket of his bag. "well, shall we get going, then? I don't think we'll find him again now" he suggested, still rubbing his shoulder where he'd landed on it, considering silently how bad the bruise would probably be tomorrow and mentally noting to be careful with that shoulder until the bruise would go down.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Duel Monsters? Yami mused privately. He was actually quite intrigued by the card, almost drawn to it. I shall have to have a talk to Yugi's Grandfather about this game.
"All right, let's get home and get some ice on that shoulder," he agreed, gesturing for Yugi to start off ahead before falling in step beside him.
Silently, he was formulating a plan. Yugi had seemed oddly excited about that card, and more surprised to learn that someone actually played the game from which it came...
"So do you play this... 'Duel Monsters'?" he asked casually.

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

Yugi shook his head in reply to Yami's question as he began walking, looking perhaps a little down-trodden. "no, I would have liked to but...well I don't know how to play and I don't have anyone to play it with anyway. I've been pretty content to watch the competions and stuff online or on the TV really. It's a fiarly popular game, one of the better sellers in Grandpa's store." he replied, one hand holding the strap of his bag whilst the other moved to subconsciously toy with the leather collar around his neck.
He shrugged slightly after a moment, turning his gaze to the sidewalk, as he wasn't in the habit of meeting the eyes of the world around him. "I don't think I'd be terribly good at it...you have to know what your doing and have a good deck to play if you want to get anywhere."

[Tifa Lockhart]

Yami turned his gaze directly onto Yugi as he answered, reading his body language as they walked along. He spoke as if he were fine with the fact that he didn't play, but Yami was not fooled. It would have taken a blind man to be fooled by Yugi.
"Well, how about we talk to your Grandfather about getting some decks put together and learning how to play together?" he suggested. "You can't tell if you're not good at something if you have never played."

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

Yugi seemed a bit startled, even a little uncomfortable with the suggestion, going a bit pale in the face. "wh-what? W-well I-I..." he bit his bottom lip slightly, a bit unsure of how best to respond. "well I...I would like to learn how to play, but, I-I don't think I could do it, Yami" he said, sounding rather disappointed in himself. "I know I'd be no good at it...I-I couldn't be aggressive enough...I'm far better suited to chess." he insisted, looking away anxiously and seeming to lose a few extra inches of size as his confidence in the conversation began to dwindle.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Yami laughed outright then, placing a hand on Yugi's shoulder.
"You realise that chess is a game of war strategy right?"
He smirked, returning his hand to his pocket.
"Never count yourself out of anything. Everything is possible."

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

"I know that, but it's still a silent, contemplative game of strategy! Duel Monsters is very social...you have to talk to your opponent and there's so many things to remember..." Yugi argued, not looking reassured. He sighed, though, knowing he wouldn't be able to argue the point with the pharaoh. "if you think you can teach me, I suppose I could at least try playing with you...but I-I'm just no good with people, okay?"

[Tifa Lockhart]

"We'll fix that," Yami replied cryptically, a hand rising to brush back a lock of his blonde fringe that the wind had blown in his eyes. "but first, we learn the game together."

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

"...alright, Yami." Yugi surrendered, still not seeming too convinced the pharaoh could fix his confidence issue.
After the usual walk home, Yugi and Yami spent the night doing homework and talking, before Yugi announced that he was quite tired and went to bed, leaving Yami to either follow him or run off on his own for the night.
The following day was fairly normal and Yugi saw yet more of Yami's magic in action, seeing the full effects of the magics that had written the man into his life. Friday was when things changed. As Yami headed off his separate way from Yugi to Philosophy after lunch, while Yugi went to Science class, the younger boy found himself being followed by a group he recognised well...they had always caused him trouble in the past. As he turned a corner, they caught up to him and stood in his way, glaring and grinning down at him menacingly.
"Hey, Squirt!" the largest man growled, causing Yugi to back away fearfully. "I hear your baby-sitting brother is back, eh? But hey, I can't say I see him around now..." he cackled, grinning maliciously. Yugi gripped his books tightly and backed up again, the men following him. "Haven't had fun with you in a while, have we? Tell me, how was it again that you pleaded for mercy the first time we ran into you? Funny weren't it, boys?" He and his cronies laughed, making Yugi think the worst, and yet the punch never came much to his relieved surprise. "Expect to see us later on, shrimp! We don't have the time for games now, but we want to make a...deal with you. You give us your pretty trinket and we'll leave you alone, but if you don't...well, we'll just have to use force!" He pointed to Yugi's puzzle around his neck.
With that, they left, and Yugi was able to skitter off to class. Even once he met back up with Yami again in their History class, he said nothing much at all, let alone anything about the run-in, staying abnormally quiet and skittish, right up until they started leaving the school.

[Tifa Lockhart]

Yugi wouldn't know it, but Yami was fully aware of wherever he was at any given time. He'd looked up from his textbook and down towards the door of his classroom, frowning lightly. It didn't come to trouble this time, but he made a note to deal with it later, so when he met up with Yugi after philosophy had finished he didn't say a word. He was prepared as they left their last class and headed back to their locker, hanging close by the smaller boy's side.

[Yuffie Kisaragi]

As they began to leave the grounds, Yugi was hoping they might evade the gang, but just as he was beginning to think they might have lost them, he heard the voice behind him.
"Hey, Runt! You didn't think you was gonna get away did you?" The voice boomed, Yugi immediately seeming to deflate to half his already diminutive size, shrinking away behind Yami as he turned around. "So, what's the choice, rat? That shiny trinket of yours or are we gonna have to bruise up the bratty little face of yours?" he growled, not seeming afraid to take Yami on when his cronies were behind him.