Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh.

Ryou watched as his friends dueled each other, the same way he watched them duel every day. That was all he ever did; he never participated, and they never asked him to. He was hardly ever invited when they all went out together, and none of them noticed when he was feeling left out. He walked away from them-they didn't see him leave, of course-and left the classroom. He would roam the halls until lunch was over, or until a teacher yelled at him.

While he roamed, he thought about his life. Living in Japan wasn't all that great, especially since he'd transferred to Domino High. The only remotely interesting thing that had happened lately was the new student in the next class over, and since Ryou never talked to anyone, he didn't know anything about the new student-not their name, or even if it was a boy or a girl. On a whim, he turned on his heel and headed back towards his class. But he didn't go back in; instead, he went to the next room over and peered in. The only person in there who didn't look familiar was a slender boy with long blond hair and a tan. He was reading a book, completely ignoring the teacher, and looked rather bored. His violet eyes were half closed, almost as if he was about to fall asleep. He looked up suddenly, right at Ryou, and Ryou blushed. The boy smiled, as if to say "I know you're watching me but I don't care," and went back to his book.

Unsettled and embarrassed, Ryou went back to his class, sliding into his seat just as the bell rang. The students went back to their seats reluctantly, listening to the classes on either side of them have lunch. Half and hour into class, Ryou glanced up at the clock above the door. He was distracted, however, by the sight of the new boy, standing in the window and blatantly staring at him. Some of Ryou's classmates had already noticed; they were whispering to each other, looking back and forth between Ryou and the boy in the window.

Ryou pointedly ignored them, even though his flaming face gave him away. He was obviously bothered by all the attention, so when the blond boy began making faces at him through the glass he slammed his head down on the desk with a groan. Of all the people to transfer in, they had to get the weirdo. Everyone else was looking amused or laughing outright, but the teacher was furious. She went outside, and they all watched as she told the boy off for disrupting her class. But when she came back in, he was still standing there. Staring at Ryou.

He stared at Ryou until the bell rang, and then he waved and disappeared. Ryou quickly gathered his things and dashed from the building, practically running to his bus stop. He threw himself into a seat in the back, flushed and out of breath. Staring out the window while the other passengers got on, he didn't notice when someone sat next to him; it dimly registered that, whoever it was, they smelled very nice. After the first two stops, Ryou turned his attention away from the window. To his horror, he discovered that the person next to him was the boy who had humiliated him during class.

"You're funny," the boy said, grinning. "I like you."

"Er…that's nice."

"My name is Marik," he said cheerfully, "I'm from Egypt."

"I'm Ryou. I'm from…England."

Marik looked interested. "Does everyone in England have white hair?"

"No," Ryou said crossly, folding his arms over his chest.

"Oh, I see. So it's just you?"

"Yes."

Marik settled back into his seat and was silent for a few minutes before asking about a hundred more insipid questions. Ryou put up with him until the bus pulled up to his stop, then clambered over Marik to get to the aisle. Unfortunately, he tripped over Marik's foot-and ended up in his lap. He stood, blushing furiously, and made his way to the front of the bus, where he proceeded to trip down the stairs and into the road.

Marik watched, concerned, as Ryou fell into his apartment building, imagining the boy trying to make his way up stairs in that condition. He quickly exited the bus and followed his new friend, assuring himself that he would just see Ryou safely to his apartment and then he would go home. He didn't realize that the bus would leave without him as soon as he went inside, which it did.

Hearing a series of loud thumps and muffled curses from the stairwell, he hurried over and went in. He was quite alarmed (but mostly amused) to see Ryou dangling upside-down from one of the upper landings, clinging to the railing with both legs. Marik stood and stared up at him for a second before shaking his head and hurrying to help him.

"Marik! Get out of there!" Ryou yelled, storming into his bedroom. He dragged Marik back into the living room by his pants, muttering under his breath. When he suddenly found himself dragging and empty pair of pants, he stared at them, perplexed, until Marik grabbed at them.

"Why are you ogling my pants?" Marik demanded as he stood up.

Ryou threw the pants at him, looking anywhere but at Marik. One glimpse of tan skin was enough to tell him that the Egyptian was going commando. "Is that an Egyptian thing?" he asked, studiously examining the clock above the television.

Marik stared at him blankly, shoving his legs into the pants. "What?"

"Not wearing underwear."

Marik fell onto the couch, blushing slightly. "No."

"So it's just you, then?"

Silence. Then, "Why do I get the feeling you're mocking me?"

Ryou shrugged as he settled into the opposite end of the couch, as far from his "guest" as he could get. A shocked Marik had invited himself over for the night when he'd gone back outside and saw that the bus had left, and Ryou hadn't quite been able to say no, so now he was stuck with the guy until the next morning.