Hi Guys! I have to say, this is my favey favey absolute favourite chapter so far! (Not saying much, seeing as the grand total is three) but still, :D!

Malik is here at last, with his blonde tanned gorgeyness. Now, I am here to warn you that this is NOT going to be Angstshipping. Okay, you could say there was mild angstshipping, but there isn't any more. Okay? When i wrote the first chapter I hadn't decided what the pairings were, but now I have.

Now, Enjoy! (Hopefully ^_^')

It was raining hard, and at 3 in the morning Domino was quiet in its wet haze. A solitary taxi rolled along the road. On one steamed up window, one tan finger traced a smiley face in the condensation. The owner of the finger watched the rain drenched streets of Domino flash past, orange from the street lights. Then the taxi jerked, and Malik's head turned involuntarily. He saw his sister Ishizu sitting in the seat next to him, wrapped in the arms of her boyfriend, Odion. He couldn't stop the scowl smothering his peaceful features as his sister spoke quietly to Odion and ignored him, in her own little bubble of bliss.

Malik knew it was ridiculous to take their affection for each other personally, but it was difficult not to. His sister's boyfriend made no secret of his disdain and disapproval of him, and he responded by being as annoying and difficult as possible. He crossed his legs and pulled his hands into the sleeves of his hoodie, slanted lilac eyes glaring from beneath bright blonde bangs.

After a few minutes of awkward driving, the taxi slowed outside a grubby block of flats. Malik peered out.

"Overflowing bins , check. Graffiti, check. Rats and tramps..." Malik turned around and glared at Ishizu and Odion. "...yep, check. Right, that settles it. This place is officially a dump."

"Your sister is not a tramp." Odion growled. "Don't be so bloody cheeky."

"Actually, you were the tramp. Coming and moving in with us, sponging off our money. Ishizu was a rat, sneaking around arranging surprise migrations halfway across the world without telling me!" Malik snapped. By now the awkward group were standing out in the rain, looking up at their new home.

"Let's go, Odion." Ishizu said angrily. They walked off, with Malik trailing behind them.

Malik took in every detail of their new house as they walked through the front door. It was tiny. There was a main room, two bedrooms coming straight off it, a kitchen just around the corner and a bathroom the size of a cupboard. Great.

Malik dragged his bag towards the smallest bedroom. To his surprise, he liked it. It had one big window right above the bed, and a shelf on the wall next to the door. More than Malik had been expecting, to be honest. He'd half expected Ishizu to tell him to sleep outside, from the way she'd been acting since the start of this god-forsaken trip.

He slumped down on the bed and leaned against the window, breath misting the glass, eyes reflecting the lights of a dozen flat windows, watching the city sleep. He stayed there until he fell asleep.

The next morning, Ishizu woke up to the delightful sound of Malik yelling at the top of his voice.

"Agh! God, that's cold!" Malik jumped out of the shower in shock. "Bloody cold showers..." he muttered limply, watching goosebumps come up on his tan arms. He couldn't be bothered to wait for the water to heat up, so he pulled on his jeans and went to search the kitchen cupboards for food.

"Ishizu! Where's the food?"

"In the kitchen." Ishizu walked into the living room. Malik was sitting on the kitchen counter, applying his mascara and using the back of a spoon for a mirror. "Well, duh." He said, rolling his eyes.

"Get off the counter. And stop wearing my mascara." Ishizu snapped. She opened one of the cupboards and, lo and behold, there were some boxes of cereal.

"What's this, if it's not food?" Ishizu asked sarcastically, taking a box of muesli and raising one perfectly plucked eyebrow at Malik.

Malik shrugged and jumped down from the counter. "Didn't search that one" he said, snatching the box. As usual, Ishizu noted, Malik didn't have all his clothes on. She decided this would be a good time to tell him off.

"Malik, are you allergic to shirts?" She said to him. He was now eating muesli straight from the box, getting more on the floor than in his mouth.

"Pig." She said.

"No bowls. Saves washing up. No shirt, saves washing." He grunted. He looked up at her, mouth stretching into a grin. "If you raise your eyebrow any higher, you might lose it."

"Shut up."

It may not have seemed like it, but it was at these times that the two siblings were closest. They were fighting, sure, but at least they weren't actually angry. It was when the boyfriend came on the scene that the atmosphere became cold and awkward.

Then there was a yawn and some thudding footsteps. Odion appeared in the doorway, wearing no shirt. Malik smirked. He knew who looked better.

"Morning, Ishizu!" Odion said, ignoring Malik. "Where's the muesli?"

"Malik finished it." Ishizu said, with a hint of a smile.

"Oh, typical. Well, what am I supposed to eat, eh? Keep your little sister off my food in the future, Ishizu." He said.

Malik smiled icily. He was well used to Odion's obnoxious stabs at his feminine tendencies.

"Hey, Odion. Do you know what day it is tomorrow?" Malik asked, smiling sweetly.

Odion grunted.

"It's my seventeenth birthday."

"Really. Well, after that, maybe you can start thinking about moving out." Odion said, deadly serious. "Maybe if you're good enough, you can get a job in some shop."

"I'm going to college. Art college. And, as the man of the house, you should be paying my tuition fees." Malik said, knowing money was a taboo subject with the bankrupt man.

"Yeah. In your dreams, kid!"Odion was getting more and more angry. In a battle of wits, Malik would always win, but in power, Odion had the upper hand.

"I'm only five years younger than you, you big idiot. Learn your numbers." Malik said. Then he turned to Ishizu. "While you're at your dance show this afternoon, can I go out? I wanna buy cakes."

In particular, doughnuts. Doughnuts were Malik's guilty pleasure. He could just imagine their chewy, jammy, sugar coated goodness. But of course, Odion had to ruin it.

"Oh no, you don't. You're grounded! And you know what that means..." said Odion, pleased to be denying Malik his pastry treats.

"What? No!" Malik whined.

"You are coming to the dance show with us."

Ryou sat down heavily on the bus, heaving a huge sigh. They were about to drive to the other side of Domino for the trip to the dance show, and Ryou wasn't looking forward to it. The journeys to and from least of all. He was sitting next to a girl who was chattering to her friends in the seats behind her and ignoring him. He felt like a spare part, not quite a part of the class, but that was pretty normal. He put his headphones in and started listening to his IPod.

By the time they actually arrived, the dance show was about to start. His class piled into the theatre, making a ridiculous amount of noise as they did so. Ryou found himself sitting next to a short, acne-ridden boy and a complete stranger. A stranger who appeared to be completely uninterested in the show. They were wearing a grey jumper with the hood pulled up, which was all Ryou could really see in the dim lights of the theatre.

The show started and Ryou watched with interest. The dancers were good, the music was good, and the coloured lights were still dancing in Ryou's eyes as the show finished and his class clapped and whooped their approval. Ryou vaguely heard his teacher announce that they could leave or wait for their parents to pick them up. The class started to trickle out of the theatre, chattering loudly as usual. The person next to Ryou stood suddenly. Ryou shifted his legs out of the way. The person didn't acknowledge him, just walked quickly down the stairs and disappeared backstage.

Ryou sighed, and stood to leave as well, realising he was the last person left in the seats. Then he noticed a bag lying on the floor underneath the seat next to him. Being the Good Samaritan, Ryou picked the bag up. It belongs to that person who was sitting next to me. He realised. He sighed, but decided to go backstage to see if the person was still there somewhere.

Behind the double doors that the stranger had gone through, Ryou walked along a small untidy corridor, littered with old props and bits of costumes. He almost tripped on a mop and bucket that were propped against a door. Ryou began to feel as though he was in some kind of messy theatrical maze, but all of a sudden he came to what looked like a changing room. The stranger was sitting there, head in hands. Ryou stopped, thinking he should just leave the bag there and go, when the door he had swung open closed, whacking him on the back of the head as attempted to close around him.

"Ow!" Ryou cried out without thinking. The person looked up.

Ryou saw him properly for the first time. It was a him, that was obvious now. He was striking, no doubt about it. With that cinnamon tan and bright blonde hair, he was definitely unique and probably gorgeous. He was also crying. Mascara ran in dirty streaks down his cheeks and his purple eyes glowed. He sniffed. "What?" he said, in that hoarse, I've-just-been-crying voice.

Ryou flushed. Some random stranger had just witnessed his act of extreme klutziness, and he had walked in on this stranger crying. All in five seconds.

"Erm... Sorry! I just came to return your bag."

Malik glanced from the boy to the bag he was clutching limply in his right hand.

"Thanks." Malik sighed. He leaned his head on his hands and gazed blankly at the floor. The boy stood awkwardly just inside the door.

"Are you okay?" He asked, shyly. Not in the way some people would have asked, as though they had to.

"Not really."

"What happened?" Wow, he gets to the point. Malik thought. I really want to tell him, whoever he is. My crappy family life needs to come out into the open at some point.

"Well, this happened." Malik pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and held it up for the boy to see.

Malik,

Gone out for meal. Be back later. DON'T COME ALONG.

Ishizu + Odion

The boy winced as he read the note. "Ouch. That's harsh." He said sympathetically. "Well, join the club, I suppose. I haven't exactly got a lift out of here either."

"It's not the lack of a lift home that bothers me. It's the fact that they really don't want me around. Well, I would have expected nothing better from Odion, but Ishizu..." Malik trailed off. He didn't want to admit it, but it hurt like hell knowing that his own sister wasn't even going to make an effort to include him in her life.

"So your name's Malik, right? Are you new around, I haven't seen you in school." The boy asked, in an obvious attempt to change the subject.

"Yep. Malik, the newbie, the freak, the oddball. As usual. My sister is always moving house with her dance troupe and I'm just an extra piece of baggage for her to lug around. And you are...?" Malik looked up at his companion curiously.

"Ryou. I've been living here all my life and half my class don't even know my name." Ryou said, smiling ruefully.

"Ha. What a pair, eh?"

Ryou glanced at his watch. "Four? I really need to go soon."

Malik's face fell slightly. "Do you have to go?"

Ryou was surprised by the question. It was totally alien, someone actually wanting him to be around.

"Well... it'll take me a long time to get home. It looks like it's gonna rain." Ryou's argument was feeble. He didn't even know why he was trying to get away. He should have been jumping for joy, crying with happiness, offering to stay for as long as Malik wanted because he was so desperate for a friend.

"Please? Hey, I know! You could come to my house." Malik said, eyes sparkling in his excitement. "It'll be fun, I promise! I need you to tell me where I can find out about Domino High. I'm starting there on Monday."

"I go to that school. It's the only school in this city." Ryou said, secretly thrilled that someone he was (already) vaguely friendly with would be attending.

"Really? Yay!" Malik jumped up and flung his arms around Ryou, not so secretly thrilled that he would know somebody at his new school.

Ryou was stunned at this sudden display of affection. There was nothing remotely romantic about it, but Ryou felt himself blush at the feeling of body on body, the embarrassment of being so isolated he was shocked at someone hugging him.

"S-so, I guess this means I'm coming to your house?" Ryou stuttered, slightly breathless from Malik's overzealous hug.

"Definitely." Malik laughed.

The short walk to Malik's house passed quickly, Ryou soaking up Malik's bubbly chatter like the sun; warm and bright.

"You probably think I'm a complete freak, asking you over after five minutes." Malik said, chuckling. His eyes gleamed in the sun, translucently purple. Ryou often found himself staring into those eyes as they were talking.

They came to a square, ugly block of flats. Malik started up the steps that led inside the building. Ryou followed, taking in the scenery. He wasn't familiar with this side of Domino at all.

"Here we are. Home sweet home!" Malik said brightly, but there was no hiding the undertone of bitterness in his voice.

They entered, Malik flinging open the door and throwing his bag onto the small sofa. Ryou took off his shoes, privately wondering how three people could be living in a house the size of his living room. But then again, he's different to me. Maybe I'm just lucky. Ryou thought.

"Want a drink?" Malik asked.

Ryou jumped. "Erm... yes please. What do you have?"

"Tea, coffee, water, orange juice..." Malik said, rattling off a list of beverages as he wandered around the kitchen.

"...Beer, vodka, wine, eggnog..."

"Eggnog?" Ryou giggled uncertainly.

"Kidding." Malik grinned at him. Ryou looked up at the calendar behind him. Someone had circled the next day in a rainbow of glittery gel pens and written 'Malik's BDay!' in huge purple letters.

"It's your birthday tomorrow?" Ryou asked

"Yes! I'm 17. I don't think I'll be having a party though. I don't know any hot boys or girls in this town." Malik turned around from the tea he'd decided to make and winked at Ryou.

"Except you, of course."

Ryou blushed. "Yeah, right."

"Silly Ryou. Look in the mirror once in a while. Not that I fancy you, of course."

Ryou tried not to be flattered, but failed miserably. He looked away, and spotted a clock.

"Seven o'clock!" He yelped. "I really have to go now!"

Where the hell did all that time go? He thought as he leapt down from the counter he'd been sitting on and pulled on his shoes. His mother was always home at the weekends, and this would be the first time in about 7 years he hadn't been there to greet her like a little automaton, pretty and lifeless.

"Bye Malik! Sorry!" He said as he ran out the door.

"Are you coming over for my birthday tomorrow?" Malik asked, running a few paces after him.

"Sure! Definitely." Ryou said, dashing down the stairs.

It was already dark outside, and the chill of winter was just starting to settle in. Ryou's breath misted as he sprinted across the road and towards the bus station.

"Ryou!"

He stopped and turned. He could see Malik hanging out of the window of his flat.

"What?" He yelled back.

"You didn't drink your tea!" The sound of Malik's indignant wail had Ryou giggling to himself as he set of again towards home, happier than he had been in a long time.

THanks for reading! I eat reviews, so if I don't get some I may starve. NOM NOM NOM! Anyways, Happy (Early) Xmas and/or New Year!

XXX love Kat