Hello readers! This is chapter four (as if you didn't know that, hehe). Well, what shall I say? Enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!
Chapter 4 Happiness - a foreign word?
Ryou's P.O.V
As I awoke the next day, the season had changed all of a sudden. Nobody knows how, but where yesterday had been gray gloomy clouds, was now clear blue sky. The rain had stopped and it seemed as if somebody had just moved the clouds and bad weather away.
It was warm and the sun smiled down at us, as bright as it hadn't shined for months.
I felt happy as I stood at the window of my room, just looking out at the street in front of the house where young and old people enjoyed the afternoon. For a moment I had a feeling, I hadn't had for a long time... I couldn't really describe it, but... it felt good. As if I didn't have problems, as if sadness and everything bad was gone all of a sudden.
But the feeling lasted only until I remembered that there were problems and that the sadness was still there. Sighing, I sat down on my bed and began to read in one of my MBA books.
Malik's P.O.V
The next morning was surprisingly sunny and warm. I walked out on the balcony in my pajamas and, blinking against the sunlight, I stretched myself. I looked to the window of the house next door, but at the moment, there seemed to be nobody in the room. Not the sad children, not the sad man, not the boy that made my heart beat faster.
Sighing, I went back inside and got dressed before I went downstairs into the kitchen where Ishizu and Odion were already sitting and having breakfast.
"Good morning", I said cheerfully, wondering what the day would be like.
"Good morning, Malik", Ishizu said, smiling. "Sit down and eat something."
"Sure", I told her and sat down.
Just as I started eating my bowl of cereals, Ishizu suddenly groaned.
"This cannot be true...", she mumbled and slowly, she walked to the window.
"What's wrong with her?", I whispered to Odion.
Odion chuckled. "She has a stalker", he answered lowly.
I raised an eyebrow. "Really?", I asked, grinning.
"Yeah. Kind of anyway", Odion replied.
"Who is it?", I questioned, now excited. My sister had a stalker? Certainly, the poor guy didn't know who he's stalking. If he would know what my sister was like, he would think again if he really wanted to stalk her.
Odion snickered and looked at Ishizu, who peeked out from behind the curtains. "It's the old man next door", Odion told me.
I blinked, realizing what he had said, and broke out into a laughter. "Ishizu... stalker... graybeard... hilarious...", I managed to say between my fits of laughter.
Ishizu turned round, an angry expression on her face. She narrowed her eyes, as I wiped away the tears I had in my eyes because of laughing so much.
"This isn't funny", she hissed. "It's really annoying."
Odion and I went to the window, too, hiding behind the curtains, so that Ishizu's stalker couldn't see us.
"So... it's him?", I asked.
Ishizu nodded and sighed. "Yes..."
At the window of the house next to us, stood an old man, a... cap or a bandana covering partially his gray hair, his blonde bangs hanging in his face. He looked kind of... weird for an old man.
The old man looked directly to our window where we hid behind the curtains. Who did stalk whom actually at the moment? I began to laugh.
"This is so funny...", I muttered.
Ishizu shot an angry look at me. "Stop laughing! And hide or else he will see us!", she whispered.
"How long does he stalk you now?", I asked her.
"Don't know... I think since I moved here, but I only noticed it years later. It's really annoying, I tell you!", Ishizu said. "Sometimes I ask myself if he hasn't anything better to do with the rest of his life..."
"Obviously, he hasn't, sis", I grinned.
We stood at the window for a little longer and watched the old man, looking at us, but not noticing us.
"I wonder when he'll go", Ishizu mumbled. An idea came to my mind. I smirked.
I grabbed Ishizu by her arm and pushed her lightly, so that the curtains no longer hid her.
"Malik, what...?", she asked, a bit panicked.
I snickered. "Hey, look! The old man waves!"
Ishizu groaned. Then, she put on a friendly smile and turned to the window. The old man waved even more and grinned as he saw that Ishizu looked at him.
"Thanks, Malik. Now I have to talk with him...", she mumbled and opened the window.
Odion and I giggled and walked away from the window, so that Ishizu could deal alone with her 'stalker'. Aren't I mean?
After I'd finished my breakfast, I went outside, as it was such a nice day. No clouds, just blue sky. On the street in front of our house there were kids playing. Some little girls skip roped, a few boys played tag and a couple of teens played basketball. Everybody seemed to enjoy the sunny day.
I looked to the house next to ours, where Ishizu's stalker and the white haired boy from the park lived in. In front of the house on the stair of the porch sat the little white haired girl and the tri-color haired boy I'd seen yesterday through the window. The girl played with a doll, and the boy shouted orders to the teens playing basketball, who were much older than him.
"Come on, he's open!... He's open!", he shouted. "Come on!" As the ball missed the hoop, he groaned.
"What are you doing, guys?", he scolded.
"Want to come and teach me, you shit?", one of the basketball players yelled at him.
The tri-color haired boy's face fell. His eyes saddened and he looked down at his legs. Only now, I saw that crutches lay next to him.
"If I could play, I surely would come and teach you...", he mumbled, barely audible.
"Go and play card games like your crazy grandpa!", the teens shouted at him.
I felt so sorry for the little boy. Slowly, I walked towards him and the girl, who surely was his sister, though she didn't look like him at all.
I sat down between them, receiving surprised looks from both kids.
"Hello boy. Hello girl. Hello doll", I said, smiling.
The boy furrowed his brow suspicious. "Who are you?", he asked and skidded away from me on his bottom. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to introduce myself", I said and cleared my throat. "I'm Malik. Hello."
I reached my hand out. The boy just stared at it, not intending to shake it, so I reached it out to the girl. She looked at me with big brown eyes and gulped, squeezing her doll tightly.
"Daddy has said not to talk to... str... str... stranglers!", she said quickly.
I furrowed my brow? What?
The tri-color haired boy shook his head, sighing. "Not stranglers, silly. Strangers", he corrected her.
"But that's what I said!", she pouted cutely.
"Ah, now I understand", I told them. "But I am neither a strangler nor a stranger. I live in the house next door. There", I said and pointed to the house I now lived in.
"Wrong", the boy said. "That annoying Ishtar woman lives there."
"I know", I laughed. "She's my sister."
The boy looked at me wide-eyed and covered his mouth with his hand.
"You made a boo-boo", the girl said teasingly.
"Yes, he made a boo-boo", I snickered. "But it's okay. I know exactly how annoying she is. And do you know what I've heard?", I asked them.
The girl looked at me, a glint in her eyes and her white mane surrounding her like a halo. "No. Tell us, tell us!", she demanded excited.
"Well, I've heard that there's an old coot who always flirts with her and watches her", I said, knowing exactly who it was I was talking about.
The boy tapped me lightly on my shoulder.
"That's our jii-chan", he informed me, grinning broadly.
"Oops!", I said and slapped my forehead playfully. "I made a-"
"Boo-boo", the girl finished my sentence.
"I'm sorry", I said. "By the way, what's your jii-chan's name?", I asked them.
"Jii-chan!", they answered in unison.
"What a nice name", I said.
These kids were really adorable. But still... I had a feeling that they weren't that happy. Their eyes had a somehow sad expression in them and while all the other kids played together, they sat alone here. And last night, when they were praying, they looked even more sad as now. I didn't know what their reasons for praying have been or were. Maybe the boys handicap, or something else. Whatever it was that made them all so sad, so unhappy... I wished I could help them. Somehow...
I was brought out of my thoughts by an awful noise.
"Oh, Ra, Osiris and all of you other almighty gods up there, listen to our pleading, so that we can trust...", someone... sang, if you could describe that noise as singing, because it sounded more like a... dying elephant.
"Oh, wow! What's this?", I asked and covered my ears with my hands. "Beggars in Domino City?"
"... our faith to the heart of the cards. Give us the strength for the coming games..."
"That singsong is not coming from beggars", the tri-color haired boy said and covered his ears, too. "It's coming from our jii-chan! He does that every day with his friends. He pleads some Egyptian gods and hopes to get better at the game he always plays, because it is from Egypt."
"Oh, god. I'm so sorry for you", I told them. "I'll do something about it."
"Best of luck", the boy told me as I stood up and walked on the street, so that I could see the window where the noise was coming from.
First that old man annoys my sister and now he also annoys his grandchildren. Poor kids...
"Hey! Jii-chan!", I shouted. "Jii-chan!"
The singing continued.
"Jii-chan!!!"
By now, the little white haired girl and her brother with his crutches stood besides me, looking up at the window, too. The kids on the street had stopped playing and looked also up there.
"Oi! Jii-chan!", I shouted again. "Hey, Brad Pitt!" Maybe he would listen to that.
And indeed, he did. The old man finally appeared at the window.
"Huh?", he said.
"Here! Here!", I called.
"What's the matter?", he asked. "Me and my friends are praying to the gods! So stop disturbing us!"
"You were not praying to the gods! You were torturing them!", I told him. The boy and the girl chuckled. I kept a straight face. This was a serious matter! I didn't want to get a hearing damage because of them.
"Now", I began, "Ra cannot come here himself, so on his behalf I beg you: Please, please, don't sing!" I made a pleading gesture.
"What?", the old man asked, furrowing his brow.
"What do you mean 'what'?", I asked. Then, I turned round and pointed at one of the basketball players, who stood behind me. "Just look at them... These young children who are playing here. Your singing will have such a bad effect on them! They will lose faith in music!"
"And who are you to say all these things to us?", one of the old man's friends questioned.
I grinned. "I'm sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Malik Ishtar, your new neighbor... And Ishizu's brother." I twinkled with one eye.
"Ishizu's brother?", the old man asked, his eyes having such a glinting in them at the mere thought of my sister that I could see it up to where I stood.
Suddenly, my sister came up to me. Of course, now that the old man had sung, she hadn't talked with him anymore. Good for her, bad for everyone else who had to suffer under the horrible singing.
"Malik! What are you doing?", she hissed.
"Nothing", I said innocently. "I'm only introducing myself to the neighborhood", I grinned.
She shook her head and turned to the old man at the window. "Solomon.. Don't mind him. My brother is a bit mischievous..."
I? Mischievous?! Tsk...
I smirked. "Hmm... Ishizu and Solomon's love story", I teased, "doesn't care about the age difference and blooms in glory..."
My sister looked wide-eyed at me, gaping and red like a tomato. I could swear I heard her growl a bit.
I chuckled and hid behind my sister.
"Ishizu! Tell your brother that he-", the old man began, but was interrupted by someone.
"What's happening here? What's this noise so early in the morning?"
I stepped aside from behind Ishizu and looked up to the window that was next to the window where the old man and his friends stood. There, I saw him. The boy from the park.
I gasped and looked at him.
His long white hair framed his face, which I could only now see exactly. His deep chocolate brown eyes, half hidden under his bangs, were a contrast to his shimmering white hair and his beautiful pale skin. He... looked like an angel. But he, too, had this sad expression in his eyes. He would look so much more beautiful if he would be happy, if his slightly angry expression would have been changed with a cheerful one.
As he noticed me staring at him, the pale boy blushed slightly, furrowed his brow and narrowed his eyes.
I smiled, feeling my heart pounding against my chest at the sight of him.
He nodded at me, like if he wanted to say 'Why do you look at me like that?' and I nodded back, like if I wanted to say 'Just so.' or 'Because you're the most beautiful person I've ever seen in my life.'
I smiled again and he turned round and went away from the window.
I saw a man with blue-white hair done in a ponytail, who was standing in front of the garden gate of the house the white haired boy and the old man lived in. I lifted the white haired girl up so that I could carry her, and then I walked towards the man, slowly so that the boy with tri-colored hair and crutches could follow us.
"Hey, by the way, what's your name, sweet heart?", I asked the little girl.
She giggled. "Amane."
"Aw, that's a beautiful name", I told her and then I turned to the boy. "And your name is?"
"Yugi", he answered. I nodded.
"And who was the one at the window?", I asked them.
"Jii-chan", they both replied.
"No, I mean the boy at the other window", I told them.
"Oh, that was our brother, Ryou", Yugi told me.
"Ryou? Oh, I see", I said.
We arrived at the blue-white-haired man. He smiled.
"Thanks for stopping him", he told me. "Nobody has ever stopped him from... uh... his howling."
I laughed. "So, I am the hero now, huh?"
"Kind of", the man smiled.
"I'm the new neighbor, Malik Ishtar", I told him. The man laughed.
"I know. I think everybody heard it and is happy that you've rescued us from suffering.", he said.
I saw the front door of the house open, and Ryou came out. I put on my friendliest smile, but he didn't smile back, he kept a straight face and eyed me.
"Hey, I didn't know Ishizu had a brother", the man said and looked at Ryou, who merely shrugged.
"Well, she has two brothers", I told the man.
"Really?", he asked. "I didn't know that..."
"And I didn't know that my sister had such beautiful neighbors", I said and twinkled at Ryou, who looked at me, shocked.
"What?!", he asked. I grinned.
"I was talking about little Amane here", I said and put Amane down. "So, let me see... You are Mr. Bakura... This is Yugi, the basketball champ. This is my sweet heart Amane and you are?", I asked and looked at the white haired boy.
"Not interested", he answered.
"That's shown on your face", I told him. "Anyway. It's nice to meet the rest of you", I said and looked at Yugi, Amane and their father.
"Nice to meet you, too", their father said.
"Thank you", I replied.
"So... why did you move to your sister?", Mr. Bakura asked me. "Certainly because of important business."
"No, not at all", I said, grinning. "I'm just here to get married."
"Really?", he said and looked for a brief moment to the white haired boy.
"Yes", I said. "Mr. Bakura. I want to marry your white-haired angel."
"What?!", Ryou shouted.
I rolled my eyes. "Do you mind? I'm talking to Amane!", I told him, grinning. I knew he would think I would address him. "Amane, sweet heart, do you want to marry me?", I asked and crouched down in front of the girl.
Amane shook her head, smiling cutely, her white mane waving with the shook of her head.
"Please, please", I said.
"No. No", she answered.
"Please, no, please, no", Ryou mimicked me and Amane and rolled his eyes.
"Ryou!", Mr. Bakura scolded.
"Doesn't matter", I told him. "Just one thing... Is he in a bad mood or was he born this way?"
"He has always been like this", Amane said, receiving an angry glare from both Ryou and their father.
"Don't say something like that", Mr. Bakura told her. "Please don't mind her", he said.
"No... I don't. This is the age he has, nothing more", I said. "Anyway, lovely to meet you all", I told them, while Mr. Bakura and Ryou exchanged glances. "I will see you guys at about seven or eight pm", I added and then, I turned to go.
"Seven or eight?", Mr. Bakura asked.
"For dinner", I replied. "At your place. I'm your new neighbor. Obviously, you will invite me to show your hospitality... won't you?"
Mr. Bakura looked... stunned for a moment.
"Okay?", I asked.
Mr. Bakura nodded.
"Okay", I said again. "But... actually at seven, not at eight. I'm busy."
Ryou wanted to say something to his father, but I interrupted him.
"Oh, and after that, he will be angry with you for inviting me to dinner", I told Mr. Bakura. "But don't worry. He'll soon have forgotten that."
"He won't say any such thing", Mr. Bakura told me. I nodded and then I went back to my own house, well, Ishizu's house actually.
She stood in the doorframe of the front door, tapping her foot.
I looked at her.
"Hi", I said. She shook her head.
"Malik..."
"What?", I asked.
Malik, Malik. *shakes head* Inviting yourself for dinner...
Well, I hope this chapter wasn't too boring, but I needed to write this. I wanted to show you how Malik is in this story. He's a nice guy, who likes to make funny things and stuff like that. I think you know what I mean.
Was this chapter at least a bit funny? I tried...
You should enjoy the 'funny' parts of the story, because in later chapters, it'll be sad.
Okay, I don't have to say anything more...
Oh, just one thing: Reviews are appreciated. And I promise that I will answer to every single one. I would be really happy, because I like to hear what you think.
I'll update as soon as I can (but it can take a while). ^-^
~Crystal of Moonlight~