Ah here I am! (does little dance) Sorry it's been a while. I've been...busy. (shifty eyes)

So Beneath the Surface is doubly Kawaii! Kawiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! (Kura: Oooh dear) hehehe! Almost done with chappie three! Whoot!

TenshiBabe: (blushes) Wow. Um...wow. Thank you for the VERY flattering review. My ego got quite big...(Kura: Took us over an hour to deflate it...again) Hehe. Anyway, I'm glad you likes my stories so very much. Want to know what's up with our darling little Marik? (Marik: Meh.) Wellll...I can't give that away, honey. It's essential and you'll find it out in a few chapters. (tenshi: >. ) I know I know, not the answer you wanted. Oh dear. Keep smiling eh? (grins) Very well.

Joey-lover: (snicker) Oh yes. They're going to be extremely pissed. And you're going to get a more detailed description of it in this lovely chappie! Woop woop!

xxxJennxxx: (smirk) Glad you liked the prank scene. It's much more detailed in this chappie. Yay! (grabs knife) I'll hold on to this. (Kura: Are you sure that's a good idea?) hehe. I'm a pyro...although, this could be fun too. (Kura: O.o...)

Tabby: (laughs) I'm glad you enjoyed it so much, honey. Yes, don't mess with Minkah. He's...smexy. (kura: Is that really a reason to stay away from me?) Hmm...good point. (Glomps) Kura: xx

Freedom of Darkness: (cackles) I get a lot of weird stares at times too. (grin) And I tell 'em off. (Kura: how...effective) I think so too. (Kura: -.-;) Yes! YES! Another frikin' shower scene! (with kura!) Kura: I hates you. Ferris: I know. (grin)

DayDreamer23182: (laughs) Not planning on making it a Minkah/Kaiba. (well, it may be one-sided) Yes Jou and the others are gonna get into some deep...crap. (Jou: -.o) hehe.

Spryte: Yes yes hot smexy Kaiba is a pervert. Hehe. (kaiba: I hate you) Oh but you don't. (Kaiba: Yes. I think I do.) Keep telling yourself that honey. I'm too hot to pass up! (Kaiba: O.o) Anyhoo, "honey flavored bishounen. Yummy" (cackles) That's awesome, honey.

Under Finger and Thumb: (minkah: Meh! Get her offa me!) Now now, I think it's cute. (Minkah: She's frinkin' licking me!) (ferris: drools)

DreamingChild: (grin) Your fav. couple, eh? (sighs) All right, I won't say anymore 'bout it. (peeks into scalp) Ah yes! I see! (kura: o.O)

Sirithiliel: Ooooh yes he IS. Review! (cackles)

juhk: (grins) My thoughts exactly, honey! (licks lips)

BluegrassElf: (cackles) Yes, disturbing shower scenes are always fun. (Kura: Unless you have to be part of them.) heh.

Lorna Shadows: Yes, but by the end of this chapter I think I'd rather be Kaiba than Jou. (covers mouth) oop. I've said too much. (Kaiba: What the hell are you gonn do to me NOW?)

tenshiamanda1987: (nods excitedly) Oh yes! Yes! (Kura: RUNNNNN!)

TheGodFish: (laughs) Yes Minkah in the shower. (drools) (Minkah: You're all perverts) Hehe.The new story? Look on my lovely profile. I talk about it a bit there. (smiles) It's so Kawii!

Silver Mirror: (claps) Yay! You don't like that couple! Thank goodness! Yes another shower scene! Whoot!

dragonlady222: Ah. Sorry. My bad. Wondering who our lovely psycho will fall for? (Minkah: I'm not going to.) Umm...yes you do, actually. (Minkah: I won't I won't!) o.o...erm...I'll get back to you on that. (runs off to put Minkah into headlock)

I'm dedicating this chapter to TenshiBabe! Whoot whoot!

No one can go back and make a brand new start, my friend, but anyone can start from here and make a brand new end. (anonymous)

Chapter 7: First Impressions

(Minkah's POV)

I wander into the school passively, having left the house before the kid or the bastard had awoken. Like hell I want to be around them in the morning. That's the last thing I need. I glance down disgustedly at the leather pants and blue silk shirt. Yeesh. In Egypt only whores wear this type of thing…

"Well look at you," a voice chuckles.

I turn to find Kaiba standing beside me, briefcase in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. I hold back a comment when I spot the bandages covering his hand. Heh. So it did draw blood after all.

"What do you want?" I grumble starting off down a random hallway.

"Is that any way to speak to your patron?" he laughs, wrapping an arm around my waist.

I pull away, glaring and switching to Arabic. It's safer. "You should know better than to speak of such here. And if I recall correctly you didn't want any ties found between you and myself. It'd be best to avoid one another in public."

He grins, eyes roaming me up and down. "Hmm…how true. And yet, what's a mere school relationship?"

I scowl. "I've heard there's no such thing when it comes to Seto Kaiba."

He frowns. "Indeed. Well then, perhaps you could pose as something…more."

I roll my eyes. "Now you're just being ridiculous."

"You think so?"

I nod curtly. "You seem to be taking this far too lightly. This isn't one of your games."

He glares. "Whatever you think." He puts a mug of coffee he's been carrying up to his lips only to jolt. "Geez! It's like they're trying to scald my mouth shut!"

I smirk not saying anything. Then it happens. I halt, warning sirens going off in my head. I narrow my eyes, looking up, not prepared when Kaiba grabs my arm roughly.

"Come on."

"Wait. Something's…"

"Oh shut it. Come on!" he pulls me forward before I can react.

(Malik's POV)

I smirk as I spot Kaiba, signaling to Honda who pulls the rope holding up the bag of honey and maple syrup. The next thing I see is a honey-coated Kaiba and…Ryou! I curse under my breath, slouching down and crawling a distance away, peering between the banisters again. No, not Ryou. Ryou's clone. My eyes widen as it dawns on me.

"Oh shit," I moan leaning my head against the wood.

"What is it? Who's that?" Honda hisses from beside me.

I don't answer, staring at the teen as he blinks, eyelids covered in the sticky substance. Damn. Honda and I jump when there's a shout and footsteps rapidly approaching. None other than the principal appears, dean of students right behind him.

"Ooooh shit. It's time to go!" Honda groans, scurrying away on his hands and knees.

I don't move, turning back and watching.

"Good god! Who did this?" the dean is yelling angrily throwing his arms up in the air.

"I have an idea," Kaiba growls darkly.

They all stop in surprise when Ryou's cousin suddenly snatches a coffee mug from the CEO. My stomach drops to my shoes as he marches meaningfully over to the garbage can, a gleam in his gray eyes. He opens the flap and deftly pours the steaming liquid in. There's a screech of pain and the can goes tumbling over, the lid falling off. Jou rolls out hands covering his face as he writhes about on the ground in agony. Kaiba is suddenly wearing a smirk, glancing over at Ryou's cousin. The teen doesn't seem amused in the least, staring down coldly at the whimpering blonde.

"Mister Katsuya! What is the meaning of this?" the dean yells angrily yanking the teen up by the collar. "Don't tell me: Mister Hiroto or perhaps Mister Ishtar are around here somewhere as well?" I crouch lower to the ground.

"Owowowowow!" Jou's screeching, face beet red where the scalding coffee hit.

"Take him to the nurse," the principal states, turning back to Kaiba and Ryou's cousin. "We'll get to the bottom of this, I assure you. In the meantime let's find the two of you a change of clothes…"

"I'll contact one of my people and have them bring new ones here for both of us," the CEO interrupts, looking about as calm as a person who's just had five gallons of honey and maple syrup dumped on him could be.

"I'll make sure myself that Mister Katsuya and any accomplices are punished to the fullest extent," continues the principal.

Kaiba holds up a honey-caked hand. "I'll be dealing with him as well; however, my concern is with Minkah here who's new not only to this school but this country as well. This is one of the worst possible ways to introduce him to our culture. I suggest you take better care in preventing incidents such as this in the future."

With that the CEO grabs Ryou's cousin by the arm and steers him off toward the boys' locker room to shower no doubt. The principal stands there open-mouthed like a gaping fish for a second, probably in shock that a student would dare say something like that to him; of course, given that it's Kaiba, decides to think better of addressing it, turning and wandering off down the hall. As Kaiba leads him away Ryou's cousin turns a bit, glancing straight up at my hiding place. My body goes numb as he looks right at me with his gray eyes before turning and following the CEO away. Oh shit.

(Minkah's POV)

"Why didn't you stop me from walking into that if you'd sensed it? Aren't you supposed to have some incredible trap-detecting powers or something?" Kaiba snorts from the shower stall next to mine.

I roll my eyes, wincing as I attempt to scrub the mess from my hair. This is going to take a while. Oh well. I didn't really want to go to those classes they have me signed up for anyway.

"First of all, you pulled me into it before I could stop you; secondly, I usually work alone. It's much easier to detect things when one isn't being dragged along like a bag of shit and having constant blabbering in the ear," I mutter.

In an instant the yellowish curtain is pulled back and he's standing in front of my stall, hands on his hips, water dripping down his well-toned body, blue eyes staring intensely into mine. I glare back, continuing to scrub at the wads of hair and honey. In a moment he's pressed me against the wall, his hands on my shoulders.

"Would you like to take that back?" he growls menacingly.

I scowl. "No. I wouldn't. Now do us both a favor and get your hands off me."

He smirks. "How does it do me a favor?"

I sigh. "Cause I wouldn't have to do this."

His eyes widen as I deftly twist, smashing him against the wall. I stare down murderously at his gasping form, blood slowly gliding down the side of his head. I hope that gave him a nice concussion. He stands shakily to his feet. Guess not.

"What the hell was that?" he hisses, advancing on me again.

This all would be rather disturbing if someone were to come in and find two naked guys caked in honey battling in the showers of the boys' locker room. Hmm. Yes, quite a shock indeed. Not that it concerns me.

"I think you're confused as to what I'm here for, Mister Kaiba," I state coldly as the water pours down on us. "I'm not here to be your little whore nor am I interested in doing so."

His eyes narrow. "So what shall I call it then? Are you my little pet following me around or what?"

I frown. "Neither. We won't be seen together after this. First of all, any linkages tying me to…"

"But you won't get caught," he insists, eyeing me up and down. Geez this guy's run by hormones.

I sigh in aggravation. "No I won't, but that's beside the point. Secondly, the press would get a hold of it and start asking questions about the mysterious person you're always with. Do you realize how difficult that would make everything?"

This seems to convince him though he doesn't look as if he likes it. He growls, leaning back against one of the walls. I continue to rub more cheap shampoo into my hair, although it only seems to be making it worse. I'm going to have to make sure to get back at those jokesters. Of course, Kaiba most likely will do that. They aren't really worth my time despite the strong urge I have to throttle them. Ah well.

(Yami's POV)

I sigh heavily, sitting on the floor of some random hallway, my back propped up against the gray lockers. It's relatively quiet. Too quiet. I've strategically placed myself as far from the prank spot as possible. Like hell I want to get involved in another one of those messes. I've even taken the liberty of saying hello to some teachers as they pass by so they'll be able to defend that I was here when the prank took place. Thank goodness for that. I stand up as Honda comes dashing down the hallway, eyes wide.

"Whoa! Honda, what happened? Where are Malik and Jou?" I ask, grasping him by the shoulders.

He wrenches from my clutch, shaking his head and rushing off down the hallway. Oh that can't be a good sign. I quickly head off in the direction he came from, eyes darting about alertly for the two blondes. My heart's pounding in my chest. Honda wouldn't be that nervous normally after a prank was discovered. He's not that scared about punishments. Something went wrong. I know it. I'm not prepared when a hand reaches out and pulls me into the janitor's closet.

"Yami, thank Ra!" a voice hisses, arms wrapped around me tightly.

"Malik? What the hell's going on? I just saw Honda. He's…"

"Is he all right?" my koi asks urgently.

"He's…shaken. Malik, what happened?" I press, grabbing him firmly by the arms, both of us sitting amidst the brooms and buckets.

"We pulled the prank. Doused the bastard good…only…." He breaks off, voice quivering.

"Malik?"

He gulps. "You know how Ryou's cousin from Egypt's coming today?"

I narrow my eyes. "What'd you do?"

"Oh…nothing really…at least, not intentionally…"

"Malik."

He sighs heavily. I can barely make out his features in the dim light. He buries his face in his hands, mumbling something. I quirk an eyebrow.

"What?"

"I said we dumped the crap on him. Twenty fucking gallons of honey and maple syrup!" Malik suddenly growls angrily banging his fists on his knees.

"What!" I exclaim. Oh shit this isn't good.

"Why didn't I see him with Kaiba? I've never hit the wrong person. Never," Malik mumbles more to himself than to me.

"Malik…"

"Never!" he insists furiously, burying his face in his hands again.

I sigh, rubbing his back as he sits with his face covered. Shit. This isn't good at all. My mind's working as meticulously as possible now. We've got to act fast.

"All right, here's what we'll do: You go to the locker room and make sure that he's all right…"

"He saw me."

I stare at Malik in shock. Never—never has he ever been spotted during the pranks. He's of course been caught in the aftermath but…oh boy.

"Talk about first impressions…" he mumbles piteously, shaking his head. "I mean, it's not like I was in the open or anything. The guy's got a sixth sense, I'm telling you. He caught Jou in the trash can; wasn't like Jou was making so much as a peep either. "

I roll my eyes. "I think you're looking a tad bit too deeply into this. Fine though, I'll go check on him. You're going to go find Ryou and tell him what happened."

"What!"

"Would you rather he find it out from the rumors or school officials?" I say firmly.

Malik sighs heavily, shaking his head glumly. I nod, standing and pulling him to his feet. It's very cramped in this closet. Smells strange too…a mixture of lime cleaning substances and dirty water. I open the door a crack, peering out into the empty hall.

"Coast is clear. Let's go," I state, pulling him out. "Now, they're probably…"

"You little brats 'er at it again! Dang you two! What's it gonna take for you to keep yer love fests outta me closet?" the janitor yells rushing at us with a dirty mop.

I sigh, "Catch you later, Malik," and run off in the opposite direction. I turn momentarily to see my koi skid around the middle-aged man and rushing around a corner. Stupid janitor.

"Get yer sorry arses back 'ere right now!" the shouts follow me down various hallways, though he's far behind.

I slow as I near the locker room, listening intently for anyone else approaching. Okay. I take a deep breath, pushing open the door and slipping inside. There's the sound of the showers at the far end of the room. I quietly cross the floor, noting it's sticky no doubt from Kaiba and Ryou's cousin having been drenched in honey and maple syrup. Yuck. I pass the rows of lockers, a feeling of uncertainty bubbling in my stomach. I freeze at the sound of voices, cautiously approaching the showers. As I draw nearer someone emerges from the stall at the far end, white towel securely wrapped around his tan hips. My heart's suddenly pounding in my ears as I dive into an aisle of lockers off to the side, gazing around the corner in slight amazement at the figure before me.

He has white hair just like Ryou and Mr. Bakura's. It's wet at the moment, draping down right above his shoulders. The scar on the right side of his face is the next thing I'm drawn to. It's deep and defined, without a doubt having been painful when inflicted on him. On the upper part of his right arm is a tattoo of what appears to be a cobra. I could be mistaken though…

"I'll contact you after school with the information for the first operation," a voice states and I nearly swallow my tongue when Kaiba steps out of the same stall, towel around his waist while drying his hair with another. What the fuck!

"Just make sure it's secure. I don't want any complications because you were too careless about something," the other growls in a raspy voice; it's harsh, not at all what I was expecting. Ryou's voice is light and pure. It's like they're complete opposites.

Kaiba snarls. "You act as though I haven't taken any precautions whatsoever. I'm not a dimwit. I've spent extensive hours making certain that…" He stops abruptly when Ryou's cousin suddenly holds up a hand, frame tensed.

I nearly pass out as he turns, eyes roaming the area. I hurriedly pull back so I'm completely covered. It can't be. He couldn't have sensed me…

"What is it?" Kaiba's voice questions impatiently.

"This conversation is no longer private," the voice states in low hiss.

I'm not prepared when I'm suddenly staring into two deep gray eyes, narrowed and studying me. I open my mouth but can't seem to find any words, staring back dumbly. In a moment Kaiba appears behind him, a smirk forming on his smug face.

"Well look what we have here. The King of Games. Do tell us what brings you here. Wanted to see the fruits of your labors? Because I'm afraid we've already washed it off," the CEO sneers. I notice the cut that's bleeding slightly on his forehead.

"I didn't have anything to do with that," I growl folding my arms over my chest and glaring at him; at anything but the teen in front of me who's still watching me with freezing eyes.

"But it seems you'd been informed about it," Kaiba hisses.

"Anyone would the way people are all running about madly," I retort.

"Anyone in particular?"

"Everyone," I answer confidently.

"Hmm. Indeed." Kaiba glances at Ryou's cousin who's yet to look away from me. "I assume you haven't met Minkah?" he grins draping an over the Egyptian's shoulder who glares in response. "He's come all the way from…"

"I know who he is," I snap, making it sound insulting. I didn't mean for it to come out that way but it did. "You're Ryou's cousin," I state in a politer tone turning to the other. "I'm a friend of…"

"You have a brother," he addresses me for the first time, eyes not changing.

I blink in surprise. "Well…yes, I do…"

"Let me tell you something," he continues as if I haven't spoken. "Inform your little friends not to mess with me again. Wouldn't want anyone to get hurt now, would we?" I bristle at the bloodthirsty look in his eyes as he states this before he swipes away the CEO's arm and stalks off brusquely towards another set of lockers.

Kaiba chuckles. "He's a piece of work, isn't he?"

I round on him. "What are you doing hanging out with him? How did the two of you even meet?"

He smirks. "Jealous you didn't get to him first?"

I scowl. "Stay away from him. He doesn't need your crap."

"Hmm. Suppose I don't. What will you do to me? Douse me in a bucket of whipped cream perhaps?" he chuckles striding off towards the lockers as well.

I clench my hands, gritting my teeth. Damn. This is bad. I turn on my heel and hurry from the locker room. I've got to tell Ryou.

(cackles) Now that was a shower scene.

Minkah: I hate you.

Ferris: Is that the only thing you can say now?

Kaiba: Wouldn't surprise me.

Minkah: Hey! (takes out Big Mallet of Doom)

Kaiba: Ack!

Yami: Rrrrrrrun!

Ferris: (oblivious to it all) So anyway (screaming in background) Beneath the Surface is going well (BAM!) It's gonna be so adorable! Kawiiiiiii! So without further...

Yami: Jesus! Get over here!

Ferris: (blink) I'm not Jesus. (and I don't believe in him but that just makes this all the more complicated)

Yami: Aiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Minkah: Mwahahahaha!