IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO
By Starflower Sakura

DISCLAIMER: Nope, nope, nope! Yu-Gi-Oh would belong to me as soon as hell freezes over. Now when will that be, I wonder…

To readers/reviewers: Okay, Marik/Malik aren't exactly my specialty like Bakura/Ryou is. I found this idea wonderfully cute though and I can so imagine Malik dancing so… hence the creation of this fic! ^-^ What made me write this is also the fact that I'm also listening to some music… *sweatdrops* Have fun!

Dedication: This is dedicated to Sour Green Apple! ^-^;; Don't ask me why. It just is.

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IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO
CHAPTER 1 - COMPETE TO DANCE

"Class, please welcome our new student, Ishtar Malik."

Malik walked in, grinning confidently. He stood at the front of the classroom and had his lavender eyes scan over the people. He noted, with satisfaction, that they were all gaping at him. It might have been his grace when entering the classroom, or it might have been the fact that he's just plain hot. Who knows?

"Would you care to tell us a little about yourself, Ishtar-san?" the teacher asked politely.

"Why certainly. I moved to Domino a couple years ago from Egypt. One of my hobbies is dancing, whether club dancing or ballroom, I know it all. I have won all of the dance competitions that I entered into in my free time, so I must be pretty good, don't you think?" Malik asked, smirking.

The girls gazed up at him in awe, while the boys weren't sure whether to be envious or laugh. One, though, knew exactly what he was feeling. Bored. Ishiyama Marik was indeed bored out of his mind. He barely took a glance at the new student before deeming him unworthy of his time. He jolts out of his thoughts when he heard the teacher screaming his name.

"Yes, sensei?" Marik asked, looking as if the teacher hasn't been calling his name for the past five minutes.

His sensei sighed before saying, to Malik, "Sit next to him."

Malik nodded before making his way down the aisle and sat himself down gracefully, adding a little twirl while he was at it. Class began as usual and people found out that not only was Malik graceful, talented, and hot, he was also smart. With that combination, it wasn't long before he had his own fan club.

"Ishtar-san, would you please stay after for a few minutes?" the teacher asked as Malik was about to leave the classroom.

"Sure. What do you need?"

"You see, every year our school competes with other schools in a dance contest. Ever since our two best dancers graduated, we've been losing quite badly. So I was wondering…"

"You want me to enter on behalf of the school, right?" Malik asked, grinning rather widely at this wonderful opportunity.

"Yes. If you don't want to, we won't hold it against you, but it would be nice to see our school holding that trophy again."

"Nobody said I won't do it."

The teachers eyes lit up, but then dimmed slightly again as he remembered something. A small frown also made it's way onto his face.

"What? You don't think I can do it?" Malik asked, raising his eyebrow slightly at the teacher's crestfallen expression.

"No, no. It's not that. It's just that, you have to have a dance partner, and well, to tell you the truth, none of our students are interested in dancing."

Malik was surprised. Not like dancing? There must be somebody who uses dancing as a way to relieve stress, right?

"Not even one?" Malik asked.

"Well… there is one, but…"

"But?"

"I know that the judges don't really count against people being the same gender being partners, but it would be sort of weird and the fact that the Ishiyama is very unwilling to participate is another problem."

Malik's eyes widen. Ishiyama? Malik must admit that he was good-looking in some sense, but he would never think of him as a dancer. Nope, never in a million years would he consider him a dancer.

"Ishiyama isn't that good either, but he shows little interest in it while the rest shows practically none."

"Are you sure nobody else likes it?"

"Not that I know of. Oh, except that Mazaki girl, but… the dances she does aren't what the judges are looking for."

"What are they looking for?" Malik asked, quite curious.

"Sophistication, variety, and originality."

What a combination. It'll be hard to build up a dance that has all three, Malik thought.

The thought didn't depress him though; it merely amused him even more. He had always liked challenges and this was just another one.

"So what am I suppose to do then? One is unwilling and the other can't dance the way the judges wants her to."

"Well," the teacher said with a thoughtful look and an expression that said things were going to interesting, "you will have to convince Ishiyama and have him practice until he's good enough to enter."

"Won't Mazaki be easier to train?"

"I barely think she would have the time. She has dance classes everyday after school and if you make her learn a completely different one then the ones she's learning in those classes, she would most likely mess them both up. Ishiyama, on the other hand, from what I've heard does nothing after school except create trouble. This would be a good way to keep him out of it too for the time being."

Malik tugged a little on his backpack, wondering whether or not it would be a good idea to accept this challenge. It's like one challenge inside another. The dance was the whole big challenge and the convincing and training Ishiyama is another challenge that would lead to the bigger one.

"And I have to be the one to convince him?" Malik asked, trying to clear up some of the facts.

"You are going to be his dance partner if he agrees so it would be best for you to ask him."

Malik bit his lower lip. Did he really want to be dance partner with a troublemaker? One who has only little interest in dancing and could ruin his winning streak in dancing competitions forever. Malik sighed. There is only one thing to say in a situation like this.

"Fine."

A challenge's a challenge, after all.

To be continued…

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Look!! I'm done with the first chapter!! Look!! I won't be starting chapter two for a while!! *sweatdrops* Why? *shrugs* How am I suppose to know? Do I look like I'm psychic? Another thing, I only update and post new stories on Fridays so don't even expect me to have something posted on any other day of the week. ^-^;; Hope you liked it.

Any comments? Questions? Suggestions? Reviews? Email me at--- xstarflowerx@hotmail.com if you want to ask me anything!

~* Starflower Sakura *~