Author's Notes: I still don't own anything. Once again, please keep on reviewing. It's those that really help me write faster. :D I love getting reviews, what can I say? XD Anyway I won't keep you in suspense anymore. Here is the fourth chapter!

Twin Tendencies

By LilyChan

Chapter Four

"Would you go out with me to the carnival?"

"U-uh," Ryou stammered. "I-I don't know, Malik…"

"Just as friends, of course. It's just to get the discount," he tagged at the end.

"O-oh, if it's just being friends, then sure! We can do that!" Ryou laughed to emphasize it, but he still felt extremely nervous. Crud, I forgot to do the dishes! "Sorry to cut this short, but I forgot to do the dishes! I apologize!"

"It's okay. I understand. Bye!"

Once Ryou said his own goodbyes, he placed his phone back on the cradle. He ran out the door to the kitchen where he saw his step-mother finish placing a pot in the cupboard which resulted in a loud slam. He slightly winced. "Uh, Mother? What are you doing?"

That caused her to pause and placed each hand on either end of the sink. She sighed heavily. "Why couldn't it be you who's straight? At least I could've have grandchildren," he heard her whisper.

"Pardon?" he asked, trying to reassure his ears what they just heard.

Once again she sighed heavily. "Nothing," she said. "Just go back to your room." With that, Ryou took his leave.

As he made his way back, he saw his brother with a cynical smile. He tried to avoid his gaze, but he grabbed his arm so he had no choice but to look at him.

"Now you see why I've always liked him," he said amusement clear in his voice. He let him go and poor scared Ryou scrambled back to his room and unintentionally slammed his door. Bakura smiled wider, baring his teeth even, and quietly closed the door.

Once he locked his door, he placed his back against it, slid down and brought his knees closer to him.

Everyone is going bonkers! This is crazy! He thought to himself as he sighed and glanced up in the ceilings. He then thought of the one person who could manage to listen through his thoughts on the world today. He reached for his phone.

He pressed the talk button and heard two familiar voices.

"Haha, you're bad, you know that Bakura?"

"Of course I'm bad. I'm fuc—Hold on. Hello, Little Ryou."

He heard the other laugh.

"How'd you know it was me—"

"Because we're twins, dummy," he growled. "That twin telepathic thing that we have."

Ryou gulped, and then perhaps he knew what he was feeling?

"Should I leave you two alone or should I get my own brother to join in the conversation?"

"Bakura! I need to use the phone! And yes, Atemu, please."

Bakura merely imitated him by using a baby voice.

"Stop it," he said, firmly.

He sighed into the receiver. "Fine, I'll let you two ladies talk. I'll talk to you later, Atemu."

"Uh… This is Yuugi…"

He hung up the other line.

"I'm sorry about that, Yuugi," Ryou laughed nervously.

"It's okay; I know brothers are a pain."

He laughed with a little bit more ease.

"Anyway you'll never believe what's going o—"

"Atemu already told me…"

He growled under his breath. Somehow I'll get him back, one of these days…

"Well, it's weird isn't it? That Malik would ask me out."

"What makes you say that? I think he likes you."

He paused. "What? Since when?"

"I'm not sure, but I think it was right before Bakura broke up with him."

"Aw, Yuugi, how come you know more about who likes who and maintain your grades? This is really confusing me…"

Yuugi merely laughed. "It's okay, Anzu constantly talks about that whenever we study together or even out on a date. I don't even know why I pay attention to that."

"What can you do? Anyway, I haven't done my homework yet."

"Really? That's really strange of you, Ryou!"

"I know! Don't remind me…"

"It's late, though. I'll see you in zero hour tomorrow okay? Bye!"

The two hung and Ryou tossed himself on his bed, not feeling like going online. He usually goes online if he had time after homework to chat with some buddies he knew from either school or even other places on the web. What he did most of the time was chat in forums about certain shows he was a fan of. He made a mental note to himself to tell them that he'd be online more often. When the two shared the room before, Bakura would always comment on him looking up gay porn when all he was doing was viewing pictures of what's to come in the later episodes. He couldn't go to that forum much less talk to anyone since Bakura would ask who they were and if they were going to have sex (or cyber) with Ryou.

Really, though, I need to stop thinking about Bakura. As soon as I turn 18, I'm so leaving this city. He thought as he sighed. He reached over for his remote control and turned on his television. He'd barely made it to the end of the opening credits to the aforementioned show he was a fan of. Sadly, not even his favorite show could cheer him up. Was this were all the girls into, gossip? Don't they get emotionally drained from it? Maybe it's simply because Ryou's not used to such a world and would usually stay out of it. Even so, as soon as he was in, he wanted back out. He wanted it to go back to normal, with the exception of him having his own room.

"Do you know how much I need you, Hiro?" said one of the characters on the show. "I-I've done this for you! You don't get it! I'll kill again if I had to!"

I really hope no one gets that way for me; that's pretty creepy. He thought as the police got a hold of the passionate (for lack of a better term) woman in handcuffs. The man, named Hiro, gave her a disgusted look. Then it went to a commercial break.

oooo

Ryou had a really nice sleep that night. He wasn't sure what he dreamt about but it felt nice. He woke up feeling really light and giddy, not even knowing why. Everything was intact and all his clothes were there still.

That's probably why, he thought to himself as he went to go take a shower. When he was out he changed, and headed to the dining room. He was still in a good mood despite the tension that was in there. Bakura gave him a wink whilst their step-mother would just avoid talking to him anymore then she could. After he finished his breakfast, he made his way out the door and towards school.

He appeared early once again for zero hour but no one made a real comment on it. He got out his homework and did it as Yuugi and he talked about the episode that was on the previous night. Malik didn't show up early but somehow seeing him that day would've made Ryou feel nervous. Well, more nervous then he already was. He kept fidgeting even after he finished and kept a watchful eye on the door.

"What's wrong?" asked his best friend. When Ryou didn't look at him, he tapped his shoulder. The other almost jumped out of his seat but he caught himself. He laughed. "Are you alright, Ryou? You're rather jumpy!"

He defiantly picked up sarcasm there, but since it was Yuugi, Ryou couldn't be too mad at him. The other students glared at the two for being louder then usual but then they left soon anyway.

"I suppose I am, Yuugi. I just wish everything was back to normal," he whined as he placed his books and pencils back where they belonged and as Yuugi followed suite. The shorter one patted his back and nodded, if only to help him feel better. Soon the two had made out of the classroom and they resumed talking about their show.

When Yuugi pointed out that Malik was there, Ryou almost dropped his books once more. He laughed.

"I'm just teasing, Ryou! You got to relax and let loose!"

He bit his lip; he did not like this new Yuugi not one bit. The old Yuugi he knew wouldn't be this weird at all.

That's it; I've been transported into another dimension and I bet my real friends are worried sick for me. That's it! I've got to stay positive…He thought as he made his way to his first class after getting his things for the day.

Unfortunately for him, this was as real as it's going to get. He continued his way as the students passed by him as they normally would. This is what Ryou craved – normalcy. His family and his friends were crazy enough as it were. He gets his drama fix just by watching and listening to their crazy stories. He never wanted to be part of that world. What went wrong? Did it start changing when Mr. Takikawa paired him up with Malik?

I think that's when it changed, he concluded. He sighed as he rested his head against the cool locker. Honestly, he couldn't care less now. The day had barely begun and already he was exhausted. His good mood from earlier? Gone. It went when Yuugi teased him about Malik. Figuring it's best to just ride with it instead of fighting it, he let out a heavy sigh as he made his way to first period. The longer I dwell on this, the longer it'll be. He smiled once more, his good mood returning.

"That's right. I just got to go with the flow!" he said enthusiastically. He then realized he was alone in the hallway save for some students who ran past him.

oooo

"Since you have so many detentions already," said the teacher, "I'll let you go with a warning. Go to your seat now."

Ryou thanked the kind-hearted teacher and sighed as he felt everyone's eyes on him. He was accidentally late for his first period class and, thankfully, he didn't share it with any of his friends. He took his place and tried to catch up with what notes were already up on the board. He felt so embarrassed; he couldn't believe this is happening to him! He was turning into Jounouchi and Honda…

Thankfully it was over. Deciding not to make the same mistake, he merely waved to his friends as he made his way to the second class. Yuugi, Anzu, and Jounouchi gave each other confused glances as the white-haired boy quickly passed them by.

Before Ryou knew it, it was Japanese class. When he approached the door, he took a deep breath. At the corner of his eye, he saw Bakura and Atemu talking to each other and laughing. He turned for an instant and swore he thought Bakura gave him a wink once again. He turned back, angry, and stormed inside the class.

He makes me so angry! Ryou thought as he brought out his materials. He didn't see Malik pull up a seat next to him. The blond reached up and put a piece of his hair behind his ear. Because of the surprising touch, the boy practically jumped to the ground, just about taking the desk with him.

Malik stared at him and laughed. "Are you that excited over a clichéd carnival, Ryou?"

He got to his knees and laughed nervously. "I-I suppose I am…" he laughed once more to emphasize how over the top it was, but he stopped, fearing that if he kept laughing, he might scare the Egyptian. The bell rang and Malik gave him a wink as he returned to his seat.

This was the first time he felt butterflies, he guessed they were, flying around in his stomach.

Soon the teacher let the students get with their partners and Malik merely returned to his spot. Ryou sighed, possibly for the umpteenth time that day, as he got out the pictures of the emperors for that particular era they were working on.

"So here are the pictures I got from the—"

"I would so ride that."

He blinked his brown eyes. "What?" He looked at Malik and saw that he was reading some sort of booklet. He couldn't get a good look of it, but he did see a huge Ferris wheel on the cover. He glared at him. "Why are you reading that when we should be doing our work?"

Malik glanced up with his colored eyes, and then he returned his gaze back to the book. "Because you already have the pictures. We already have most of the research done."

"No we didn't! We haven't even begun to scratch the surface!"

"Relax!" he said as he touched his tongue with his finger and then he turned the page. "My sister will let us in the museum to check out the artifacts. Conveniently for us, she got the stuff from our era. Besides, we got plenty of time; it wouldn't kill you to have a day off from working, right? And look around you, everyone else is goofing off – I bet none of them have any pictures at all!"

He tossed himself over the desk, annoyed, irritated, confused, and maybe even more feelings then he can count, consuming his energy.

"Malik, I don't want another detention…" he mumbled. "Please, can we just pretend to be working?"

The other boy chuckled, seemingly ignorant to the boy's pleading. "What'd you do anyway? Study too much?"

Even Malik thinks that…He thought as he placed his face on the cool desk, feeling himself blush all over again.

"Well," he said as he placed his chin on his desk, giving him eye contact even if he didn't have the same courtesy, "all these guys want to talk to Bakura but apparently I'm still his keeper."

"Mhm," he said as he grabbed a marker and circled something.

"And…that's it."

"What?"

"That's all that happened. The teachers thought we were fighting when they were threatening bodily harm on me for something Bakura did."

That's when he finally gave him eye contact, only he was angry. Ryou actually felt tiny even though he was sharing a tale.

"Who threatened you?"

He felt nervous. "Uh…uh…I don't know! But he had spiky hair, but that's all I remember about him! Malik, don't do anything rash!"

He smiled as he placed a hand on his head and petted him. "Don't worry; I won't if you don't want me to." He placed the book on the desk and pointed to a particular ride with the marker pen. "We should ride this together. This ride looks awesome!"

Ryou took a glance at it and saw that it had many twists, turns, upside down loops, and it even mentioned that it went backwards.

He stammered once. "U-uh, no, I think I'll pass…" He already felt sick just by looking at the pictures.

"Aw, why not? Don't you get tired of being normal?"

He wanted to say no, but for some reason nothing came out. Did he really enjoy this new span of attention? Usually everyone considered him a studious rat next to Yuugi, but at least Yuugi had a girlfriend and a wild hairstyle. All his friends had some sort of niche, including his own brother. He supposed his only talent was getting things right and looking up the right things in the right books. He thought he was happy with being normal, being ordinary, but maybe because of this newfound taste of being noticed, maybe he judged too quickly on it? Perhaps he should give being spontaneous a try? Yeah, maybe he will.

"I-I guess you're right…" he said.

"So that means you'll go on this with me?"

"S-sure. But I'm sorry if I throw up on your shoes. I tend to get motion sickness if I go backwards too fast."

Malik laughed. "It's okay." When it seemed that no one was looking, Malik placed his lips on his cheek.

That was perhaps the brightest red he's ever been.

ooooooo

Ending Notes: Ah poor dear Ryou. But we love him so! Anyway as I mentioned before reviews encourage me to write faster. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much I've had fun writing it. :D Until next time!