Ryou was terrified when he heard Marik would be starting at Domino High school. And really, how wouldn't be if they heard that some psychotic murder would start in your class? Even though your sweet friends had told you that the murder had changed?
Okay, Yugi and them hadn't told Ryou much, except that Marik was a good person. And why would they have told him any more than that? Ryou pretended to not remember anything from it. Not to fool his friends, mind you, but because he was so scared. He had been 'awake' every once in a while. He had seen 'Bakura' make plans with Marik - neither of them caring much about human lives. And he had felt that darkness coming from the depth of Mariks heart. That all-consuming darkness which only cared about destruction.
Ryou was surprised the first time Marik entered the classroom - the Egyptian had looked at the Brit with eyes filled with pure regret, but Ryou had quickly looked away. He did not believe those eyes.
Yugi had introduced them, and Ryou had been polite and said hello and then excused himself for the bathroom.
Sure, he still hung out with the gang though Marik was there as well. But he still managed to keep a distance from him. And Ryou felt like he needed to keep an eye out for his friends. Yes, he trusted them with his life, and he was certain they had a very good reason for believing Marik was 'safe', but he just couldn't trust them with their own lives.
Perhaps that was why he started to notice things about Marik.
The Marik he remembered was strong and sure of himself. He said whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted.
This Marik still seemed very sure of himself, and had no problem speaking his mind. But he looked incredibly guilty and vulnerable whenever he thought none of them saw him - That wasn't very 'evil bastard'-like.
Marik always sat in the back of the class
Marik had been amazed the first time they had been to a dance-club - he had said something about lights being able to move and people being able to … move?
The teacher would always give Marik 'special' papers whenever they had a task in school.
Marik always seemed to find some childish joy in electronics, as if he kept getting surprised the machines could do what they could.
Yugi had gotten a habit of reading everything out loud ever since Marik came; street names, the food on the menu, the group-task papers in school.
At some point, Ryou decided to try and talk to the ex-tomb keeper. And he had been surprised. Marik seemed like a truly good person - it was hard for Ryou not to smile when he was with Marik.
"Marik?" They sat in a dance-club. Tea had somehow gotten Yugi to dance with her, Duke had gone off to flirt with some girls, and Tristan and Joey were up at the bar to buy themselves a soda. So it was only Ryou and Marik sitting by the table.
"What?" Marik smiled at him. They sat far away from the speakers (Ryou had never been a big fan of loud music, so they would always seat themselves as far from the speakers as possible), so they had no problem hearing each other.
"Do you mind if I ask you something that might be a bit personal…?" Not the best place, but Ryou had yet to be all alone with the Egyptian.
Marik looked a bit wondering, and … worried at Ryou before he answered; "Sure, but I might choose to answer it here" He smiled at Ryou, that there secure smile with covered up for his insecurity.
"Do you know how to write and read?" That question took Marik by surprise, but a small blush crept up to those tanned cheeks. "Yes." "In English?" "I…" Marik looked down, seeming to think over his answer. "I never needed English… Odion always read things for me"
Ryou somehow couldn't help but smile sweetly at that, and offered Marik to teach him how to read and write English. No one could react like that simply because they didn't know the written English, and then be an evil murder. Marik had seemed surprised, but Ryou knew it was the right thing to do when he suddenly found himself glomped by a happy Marik.
They decided to do at Ryous place, just the two of them, and Marik asked Ryou not to tell anyone as Yugi was the only other person who knew, and Marik would like to keep it that way.
Ryou had time to regret his decision before Marik came over. The first time he would be all alone with their former enemy. But he wasn't afraid any more, and he was even looking forward to it.
It was a bit awkward at first when Marik came over, but they quickly got too it, and Ryou found that Marik was a rather quick student - Marik himself admitted that the reason the school didn't help him much, was because they always gave him 1st grade stuff, and he got distracted by the coloring sections.
It turned out to be pretty late before Marik went home. As did it the time after that. … and the 3rd time… and the 4th time… and the 5th time… and the 6th time… and Marik learned to read and write somewhere along the way, but he still kept coming over. And Ryou didn't mind, not the slightest.
It was hard for Ryou not to smile when he was with Marik.