There's more to life than Duel Monsters.
Ch14: Merry Christmas.
Disclaimer: I don't own the cast or story from Yu Gi Oh so please don't sue me. Oh, and as this is my story, all rights reserved.
Hey, guys, don't blame me, my spacebar is stuffed so it's taking twice as long to write anything! L And the power surges don't help. I looooove Melbourne.
The Dream of Ryou Bakura
Ryou was standing in the shadows, on a wooden beam, surveying the warehouse below him. The guards were calmly walking to and fro, cloaks so dark blue they looked black, swishing behind them.
Thoughts that weren't Ryou's played in his head.
Cloaks and leather make you look cool guys, don't ever change those uniforms. They make it so easy to tell exactly where you are…
Ryou felt himself smirk at the thought.
There was a skylight open not far from him, and he could feel slightly damp sea air wafting in through it. This was a big warehouse, and the tide must have been high, because the salty air had not even a hint of seaweed…
Now Ryou was standing in the shadows thrown onto him by the curtains of a half opened window. Ryou knew it was a flat and that he had to leave, but at the same time, looking at a sleeping man, it felt like he had all the time in the world.
So peaceful. And reasonably fit for someone in his line of work. Hm. He must work out.
The thoughts were again not his own, and Ryou shivered. He felt his anxiety rise and unbuttoned a pocket, slipping his hand in for what felt like the hundredth time.
It never hurts to double check.
The rising anxiety was quelled by the feel of the cool metal surface, with its familiar grooves.
Ryou felt himself sigh so quietly, even he, didn't hear it. He buttoned up all the pockets that needed it, and surveyed the room one more time.
As Ryou moved slightly, he felt that he was holding a folder full of papers in his other hand. Looking at it, he saw it was done up with shoelaces, and someone else's thoughts popped into his head.
Custom made for moi. Ah, the trouble one goes to… But zips and Velcro make too much noise, so buttons and shoelaces it is.
Ryou felt a fresh cool breeze from the window, and now that he concentrated, could make out the sound of cars echoing between buildings. Fresh air was hard to come by in the city, which meant he was pretty high up. Somewhere he heard police sirens…
Ryou was in his apartment, sitting up in bed. He pulled on his nearby pyjamas and thought about what could have awoken him. The alarm clock said it was two am.
He looked over at the other side of his messy bed, and put his hand on the sheets. They were still warm.
Namu must have just left. I didn't know he left this early.
Ryou suddenly felt very alone, and cold. He rubbed his arms to get his circulation going and retraced his mental steps.
But why did I wake up? I usually sleep through till the morning.
A knock on the door answered his question.
Ryou got up and walked over, opening the door without a second thought. Looking up, he wanted to slam it shut again but it was too late now. Keith was already in the doorway.
"All alone?" Came the angry but happy voice Ryou had grown to dread.
Ryou nodded, still in shock.
"How sad!" Came the mocking exclamation, as the man barged into the apartment. "Seen a pure gold trinket on a chain about so big, by any chance?"
Ryou shook his head, shivering when Keith smirked, and brushed past him.
"No bother. I'll just take a looksee and be outta your hair."
Ryou frowned, moving forward as the man started to open drawers and rifle through them. "No."
"What was that?" The man rounded on Ryou. "See, I'd rather I never had to go near your stinking yeller bellied carcass again, so I didn't quite hear you. But if that was an attempt to stop me, I'd haveta teach yeh a lesson, somethin' permanent this time." Keith was now towering over Ryou, smelling of alcohol.
Ryou swallowed and opened his mouth again. "I said…"
But he was interrupted as Keith stepped back, punched him in the face and when Ryou was on the ground, kicked him in the groin for good measure.
The last thing Ryou heard before rolling into the foetal position and succumbing to the pain, was Keith mumbling to himself as he rifled through more stuff. "Now I'm gonna have to take five showers just to get the stink off…"
Ryou was in his apartment, sitting up in bed, with a strong sense of déjà vu. He pulled on his nearby pyjamas. The alarm clock said it was two am.
He looked over at the other side of his messy bed, and put his hand on the sheets. They were still warm.
Namu must have just left, again.
Ryou suddenly felt very alone, and cold. He rubbed his arms to get his circulation going and waited for the knock on the door he knew would come.
He was not disappointed.
Ryou got up and walked over, opening the door a crack, but then fully, surprised and relieved to see Rashid.
"Alone?" Came a strangely familiar question.
Ryou nodded, feeling suddenly wary as Rashid walked into the apartment instead of telling him something had happened to Malik.
Rashid looked around, then turned to Ryou. "I am hunting the Black Hole card"
Ryou shook his head, shivering and stepped back from Rashid's piercing eyes as the stone faced man advanced.
Ryou swallowed and opened his mouth but he still replied with a throat parched from fear. "You can't have it…"
Rashid stopped and blinked, as if surprised. "It was not a request."
Ryou meanwhile, had backed away to the wall, and Rashid started advancing once more.
Ryou closed his eyes and chanted in his head. This is a dream, it has to be. This is a dream, it has to be. This is a dream, it has to be…
Ryou sat up in bed, cold, clammy and shaking. He didn't want it to, but his body looked over to the side of the bed. There he found, a pair of sleepy eyes looking up at him.
"When didst thou get in?" He heard himself ask.
The eyes smiled, the blonde man they belonged to, yawned then shrugged, rubbing sleep from his eyes. "What doth it matter? T'was dark."
"Thou shouldst have roused me." Ryou heard himself grumble.
"We could have exchanged greetings come morn. Thy face bore such a restful cast, t'would have been folly to wake thee." The man replied sleepily, turning over onto his back, and thus moving closer to Ryou.
"T'was a good dream, afore it turned into a nightmare." Ryou heard himself agree.
"Good God!" The man exclaimed, suddenly concerned, pulling Ryou down to rest on his chest. "A nightmare? And here I thought the light was deceiving me. Thou art so pale, and cold."
Ryou felt himself nod against the man's chest and warm up as arms came round him. There was a knock at the door, and he made a sleepy move to get up, but the man pulled him down.
Ryou felt the man whisper into his hair, his explanation barely audible. "T'is an ungodly hour. If it be important, they shall have to wait on our pleasure, and if it is not, let them leave and hound somebody else. We shall spend our time much better, if thou canst relate to me thy nightmare."
Ryou felt himself shake his head and the man's chest moved as if tickled by Ryou's hair. It did so again when touched by his breath as he replied. "T'was nothing out of the common way. We wouldst do better to sleep for there are visits to be made on the morrow."
"But, thy nightmare." The man persisted, yawning as he spoke.
Ryou felt himself smile, and knew the man could feel it too. "My nightmares art afraid of thee."
And there was no more to be said, the man must have fallen back asleep, for soon his chest rose and fell in a steady slow rhythm. Ryou's own eyes closed as he was lulled to sleep by the steady motion, and familiar warmth.
The Dream of Ryou Bakura
Yugi Moto smiled as his grandfather bustled around the store, making sure the decorations were perfect for the hundredth time that day.
"They are going to love it, Grandpa." Yugi said fondly.
"I hope so Yugi." Came his Grandpa's reply from across the store.
Yugi looked over at the clock – it was almost six, and already dark and cold outside. The first snow had fallen the day before and melted, leaving behind a brown slush. Yugi was glad that he didn't have to go outside today.
He had done enough school work before Duellist Kingdom, not to need to catch up afterwards, and resuming his old study habits had turned out not to be too hard. The end of year exams were coming up at the end of next term, as the school year finished at the end of March. Yugi thought that it really would be possible to combine duel monsters and study, provided he did not go to too many tournaments.
It was a well known fact that amateur and professional duellists alike found choosing the tournaments to participate in a major problem. Now that the game was so popular, there were different competitions all over the world, and it was impossible, even if you were a professional and had the money to travel everywhere relatively quickly, to attend every tournament; there were so many tournaments that some were on at the same time as others. It was said that Mai Valentine had once managed to attend three big tournaments that ran parallel to each other, and when he asked her about it, Mai had said that she had gotten very lucky with the timing and wasn't in any hurry to repeat the experience.
It was an unspoken rule in Duel Monsters, which said that official tournaments were open to any duellist that wished to enter. There were few invitation-only ones, and even those had to have very broad restrictions. For instance, Duellist Kingdom supposedly invited only professional duellists. Yugi supposed he had qualified by beating Seto Kaiba.
Funnily enough, this meant that the Regionals were open to all duellists above a certain rank, and it was not unusual for a regional champion to be someone who lived in a different region or even another country. It was said that this coming year, there was going to be a regional tournament in every part of the globe, and consequently every nation would have its own champion the year after.
Those who won the regionals, as well as those who came second, were automatically disqualified from playing in another regional tournament and automatically invited to their region's national tournament held the next year. The national champion lost his old title if he had been regional champion, and the runner up for that region became the new regional champion. Similar rules applied to the national and world tournaments.
Current title holders could not enter tournaments below their rank – for example the current world champion, Seto Kaiba could not go into any nationals or regionals – they had to defend their title and if successful, have another shot at the title above them. Naturally, all of them could enter any other tournaments they pleased.
These were the restrictions of the Duel Monsters Association (DMA), whose board had two representatives from Kaiba Corp., and two from Industrial Illusions as well as an ambassador from every country in the world that had a national championship, which for the first time this coming year would be every country in the world.
Basically to be able to play for a region or a country all a duellist needed was a high enough rank to be invited, the ability to get there for the tournament, the will to represent that region or country, and the ability to speak the language well enough to be interviewed. In the world championship, they had translators.
Domino was part of the DMA region, because it was the birthplace of the game, and so the home of the DMA. The current regional champion was Weevil Underwood, the runner up, Rex Raptor. Those were the guys to beat if Yugi intended on becoming champion himself. This regional tournament was going to be big, because this was the DMA region. The limit for any DMA tournament was 384 people, preference being given to those who actually resided in the region or country, secondary preference to those who lived nearby.
Currently, there were over a billion duellists in the world ( 1,000,000,000), two hundred thousand (200,000) that had the rank to qualify for the regionals (one in every five thousand or so) – Yugi had looked it up. Of course, not all of them could come or even spoke the language, but even divided by the number of countries and regions, it meant over a hundred people in a single regional tournament on average. That was if people only entered one, which Yugi knew they would not.
A girl called Vivian Wong, from another region was their national champion, and their own Seto Kaiba was the world champion, but Yugi delayed worrying about them till much later. After all, he did not even know if he could win the regionals. Every nation, on average had ten regions, which meant that the national tournaments would be pretty small – only twenty regional title holders on average (20) and only forty duellists in the world qualified for the nationals (40) regardless of whether or not they held a title (one in every five thousand that qualified for the regionals also qualified for the nationals).
Provided Yugi won the regionals the coming year – his rank wasn't high enough to qualify otherwise – he would get invited to the national held in the DMA arena in Domino the year after. This national tournament, would have twenty two regional title holders (22), with up to forty extra (+40), although some of those forty would hold regional titles in other countries, or in the case of Seto Kaiba, be unable to enter (+ 40). At most, Yugi only expected sixty duellists. This was considerably less than the world championship which would only invite title holders of the nationals and their runners up, except in the case of Vatican City. It had only two regions, and although its regional tournaments were full to the maximum every year, its national championship was ridiculously small – the biggest on record being eight duellists – so its national champion alone got invited to the world championship. If every country in the world did indeed take part in the next world championship, this would make it 384 duellists, the first round being elimination in groups of three, two matches per duellist, the best in each three going through to the next round.
Yugi felt his heart start beating faster with fear at the thought of the competition he faced. He shook his head. Enough of this, really. I'll give myself a nervous breakdown at this rate, and be completely useless for the regionals, heart of the cards or no.
Then, another thought gatecrashed his head. I hope Ryou comes. Yugi had decided that he would ask Ryou if he could trade him the Senn Puzzle for Obelisk the Tormentor. The card was the most powerful standalone in Yugi's deck, but Yugi missed the Puzzle already and attributed his beating Pegasus to that weird duelling state he got into when wearing it in a duel.
I really want to win the regionals and I think the Puzzle could make all the difference. Yugi knew that Obelisk could too, but he couldn't help feeling that the card belonged to its guardian, Malik, whereas the Puzzle…
Yugi smiled, as his Grandfather, finally finished, walked past him, patting him on the back and telling him to greet the guests while he checked on the food. I guess I really do feel like the Puzzle belongs to me.
Yugi looked at the clock – it was six thirty, a little early for most guests to arrive, but his mum had told him that Ishizu was coming early to help out and because she was bringing some food – the two of them had talked on the phone because Yugi's mum had met Malik and liked him, was sad about his childhood – being raised by his sister and adopted brother, was worried about him being so alone in a strange country, had been happy to hear about his sister being in town, and had wanted to meet her for a while.
As if on cue, the bell on the door rang as Ishizu Ishtar walked in, carrying some kind of dish in her hands, wearing a white fur coat and boots which she took off and left by the door.
Yugi came up to her and smiled. "Welcome, and Merry Christmas."
"Good evening pharaoh, a merry one to you too." Ishizu replied, smiling. "I have brought Malik and Rashid to carry the rest, and Shadi is parking the car."
Yugi nodded, leading the way through the store. "The kitchen is this way. How do you like the decorations?"
"They're lovely." Ishizu said happily.
Yugi smiled at her as he opened the door dividing the store from the living space. "Good. Would you tell Grandpa? He's spent hours putting them up."
Ishizu smiled and nodded. "Of course."
They were now in a small hall which had a coat rack, staircase and two doors. "The double doors on your right lead to the kitchen," Yugi explained, "The door on the left past the staircase leads to the living room. The bathroom is upstairs, just make yourself at home."
Ishizu smiled as the bell rang again. "Go, pharaoh, I shall be fine."
Yugi nodded, and leaving that door ajar, went to the front door, to find Malik and Rashid, the former dressed in shades of light blue, carrying one dish, the latter in dark blue, carrying two.
"Hi Yugi." Greeted Malik smiling, a contrast to Rashid's expressionless face. "Where do you want these?" Malik gestured with the dish in his hands.
Yugi smiled. "Merry Christmas, Malik, it's through the door at the back of the store, then the double doors on your right."
Malik grinned, shaking his head. "Merry my butt. I am so glad I left my motorbike at home. Did you see all the slush out there? I had to walk in that, almost slipped too carrying all this like a pack mule."
Here Rashid frowned. "You should have left the food in the car, Shadi could have carried it."
Malik looked thoughtful for a moment. "You know, that never occurred to me."
As he was about to move, Rashid touched his shoulder. Malik looked up, smiling inquisitively. "What's up?"
"I am." Rashid replied seriously, then added, "I understand dirty shoes are not welcome on clean floors."
Malik laughed, and turned to Yugi. "Slipped my mind, sorry Yugi," Then, taking off his blue, dirt coated boots, added, "Door at the back, then double doors, right?"
"Good memory." smiled Yugi.
Malik grinned. "Sometimes. Come on, Rashid, or dear sister will panic and think something absolutely dreadful has happened to us," then, nodding to Yugi, he walked off into the depths of the store.
Rashid took off his black boots and followed his brother, replying in his serious tones, "I do not think she will react so strongly."
"Not if it were just us, no, but she spent hours making this stuff." Malik replied, then a door opened and closed.
Yugi was not left alone for long. Soon, the door opened again, admitting the mysterious Shadi, still in the same turban, but this time also in a beige coat and brown boots. The young man looked at Yugi, then smiled, the mystery being drawn aside like a veil. "Merry Christmas, I believe is the expression."
Yugi smiled in return, unable to resist the urge to bow. "Merry Christmas. Through the door at the back of the store, then the double doors to your right."
Shadi bowed in return, then took off his boots, moving them to the side, along with Malik's and Rashid's, and went off into the store.
Yugi looked over his shoulder after the young man, then turned back to the door as the bell rang once more and along with a burst of cold air, announced more guests.
Seto Kaiba kept his face completely blank when greeted by the sight of Yugi Moto and the familiar store, now more cluttered than ever due to the Christmas decorations.
Mokuba had been very excited about this invitation, and so sad generally after Rebecca left, that Seto could not find it in himself to miss spending Christmas with his brother. He also owed Yugi, and felt that the torture of an evening surrounded by Yugi, his friends, the puppy and Otogi would make them more than even.
Seto had introduced Mokuba to his world, and received the reply he expected when Mokuba saw the already programmed Princess Adina of Simlau, and valuable comments, some of which he had already worked into the game. Mokuba now had a key to the lair, being sworn to go there in secret, and often left notes there for Seto if he had to spend his time after school working - he was almost finished setting up his tournament. Soon Seto would be able to put all his energy into his world, which was already progressing extremely quickly and smoothly. He had more time now that Otogi had the use of a car, and Seto no longer had to sit through Math club, his idea on that score paying itself off with dividends every day.
"Merry Christmas." He said to Yugi, in a dull voice and walked inside after Mokuba and Otogi. Yugi replied with the same, but was soon distracted by Mokuba, who apparently found the store delightful.
Otogi and Seto took off their boots, then Otogi squinted at Seto, as if studying him. Seto saw this out of the corner of his eyes, while watching Yugi give Mokuba a guided tour of the store.
"What?" He asked, knowing full well that Otogi would have eventually said whatever was on his mind anyway. Seto just wanted to get this whole evening over and done with, and so wasn't in the mood to patiently ignore the git.
"You could be a little more cheerful, you know." said Otogi. "I mean it's obvious you don't want to be here, but it's Christmas! Anyway, why'd you come if you're that ticked off?"
Seto thought the answer to that was beyond obvious, even by Otogi's standards. The question simply did not deserve an answer.
After a few minutes, the guided tour over, Yugi started conveying Mokuba to the kitchen to introduce him to everybody. Seto followed, Otogi right behind him. "I asked you a question. I can repeat it if you're hard of hearing today." Came Otogi's slightly annoyed reprimand.
Seto looked at the boy as they walked into a small hall, raising an eyebrow. "Wasn't it rhetorical?"
In front of them, Yugi opened some double doors, spilling light, noise and warm appetizing smells into the dim hall. Seto looked into what had to be the kitchen, and saw the familiar face of the girl from the museum.
That figures. She fits right into this loony bin. And there's the old man, great! If either of these two bring up the stories of how 'we've already met'…
But Mokuba had already gone into the already pretty crowded kitchen, and Otogi had gone with him, leaving very little room to attend to the cooking in the small space. Seto did his duty by walking up to the doors, and being introduced from the hallway, at which point Yugi's mum decided to evict all extraneous personnel from the kitchen to the living room.
Yugi led the exodus, followed closely by Mokuba, then Malik, Otogi and Rashid, Seto coming through the other door in the hall last. Yugi smiled and turned on the TV, where the usual Christmas themed programs played, and would be inevitably followed by the insipid Christmas movies, the same ones every year, showcased over the entire preceding week, and Christmas day.
The couch had obviously been moved to make room for the big dinner table, extra chairs, all mismatched, had obviously been commandeered from every room in the house. As it was, six people had to fit on the couch judging from the table settings, a couch which comfortably fitted three, so whoever sat there would be very cosy. Seto was determined it would not be him.
There were sixteen plates on the table, six people to each long side, one on each end, and one on each of two remaining corners. It was a tight fit all round, but the couch was definitely the worst, and determined not to end up there, Seto sat on the corner, at the end closest to the door to the hall. He had a chair to his right and a chair on his left, the latter of which Mokuba soon took; the only seats were around the table, so those who had migrated to the lounge, naturally decided to pick seats for the feast.
Seto smirked as he saw that nobody had chosen the couch, admittedly Malik was admiring the Christmas tree, and decided to ferry people's coats to the coat rack in the hall. Otogi had sat at the other end of the table from Seto, saying that unlike some people, he wanted to be sociable. The statue-like Rashid took the other seat at the end of the table, on Otogi's left.
Otogi meanwhile got Yugi's word that Shizuka would sit next to him. Yugi had agreed, saying that Jounochi would want to sit next to her, and Honda next to him, that his Grandpa could go next to Honda, then Yugi would sit in the spot between his Grandpa and Mokuba.
Malik had mentioned, literally in passing, that Ishizu could sit next to Rashid, putting her on the edge of the couch, Shadi next to her, he, Malik could sit next to Shadi, Ryou was his friend so he could sit next to him, Anzu who was always the one to say 'hello' to Ryou could be next, then Mai at the other end of the couch, then Yugi's mum next to Kaiba.
Seto approved of these arrangements, not that anybody had asked. Of all the people at the table, the only ones he did not mind sitting next to were: Rashid, who it seemed, only talked to his brother and even then only if prompted; Mokuba; Shadi, whose attention seemed to be taken by Ishizu, his staying in the kitchen a case in point; Yugi's mum, because Seto was used to dealing with parents since he had met so many at the orphanage and learned all the staple replies off by heart so he could tune out at will. The jury was still out on Ryou Bakura, who Seto had never met properly before.
Malik Ishtar, Seto found too talkative and cheerful, these traits being especially bad on Christmas. Seto disliked Christmas for the simple reason that he had been raised by Gozaburo Kaiba, who stayed at home on Christmas. Mokuba was, to Seto's immense relief, largely ignored by Seto and Seto made sure it stayed that way by spending all of Christmas with his foster father.
Seto shuddered inwardly at the memory, cold despite the warm room and his trench coat, which Malik had omitted from his collection of coats. In my opinion, one of the best reasons for having a reputation is people knowing when to leave you be.
The afore mentioned Malik, now finished with his self appointed task, for some reason walked up to Yugi, and pulled him out of the room by his jacket sleeve.
Definitely full of loonies. Seto smirked, and looked over at Mokuba to receive a smile that was rare of late and made the whole experience a little more bearable.
Ryou Bakura stood in the darkness just beyond the streetlight. He was looking at the front door of the Moto Game shop, unsure of how to proceed.
Should I go in? Or do I just call and say I couldn't come because I caught a cold or something?
Technically, he and Malik were friends, but thinking about it made Ryou aware that Malik behaved more like an acquaintance; they never talked about anything really, said hello when they met and whenever anything serious came up, both ended up feeling extremely uncomfortable.
Ryou took a deep breath of the crisp and cold air, and let a warm cloud of vapour out. It had brought him immense enjoyment when he was little. He had pretended he was a dragon in human disguise, and could spend weeks in winter just playing at being a secret dragon spy. When going to visit his father on digs, he missed the winter cold the most.
I may not have had many friends as a child, or many toys, but I was definitely happy back then.
A cold wind picked up while Ryou stood, lost in memories. It howled between the buildings, and brought to mind the dream Ryou had had the night before, making him aware that he was alone, outside in the dark.
At that moment Ryou wanted nothing better than to go inside where it was light and warm and full of people. A crowded train would have done just as well as Yugi's house, and probably would have been preferable for Ryou because being surrounded by strangers was less intimidating then being surrounded by vague acquaintances.
But then Ryou thought that Otogi would be inside, and this cheered him up somewhat, because you could never be bored around him. And of course Malik will be there. This thought, at once reminded Ryou of the dream.
Just then the door opened, light spilling out onto Ryou, and he was faced with Malik, grinning at him. Malik was slightly haloed by the light as Ryou's eyes adjusted.
"See, I told you he was here," Malik said over his shoulder to someone. He was wearing a golden shirt, and light blue faded jeans, highlighting his tan, gold hair and blue eyes.
Then he moved aside, so Ryou could come in. For no reason apparent to Ryou, seeing Malik made him feel a whole lot safer.
Malik it turned out, had been talking to Yugi, who was there to greet Ryou as the latter took off his green boots, a bit discoloured by the slush even though Ryou had taken a taxi to get to Yugi's house.
"Hi Ryou, come in!" said Yugi cheerfully.
"Merry Christmas," bowed Ryou in reply, while Malik, grinning extended his hands.
"Coat please." He said cheerfully, adding, "And you might want to move."
Ryou did as he was asked, and none too soon, because a moment later, Anzu and Mai walked in.
"Hello, Ryou. Hi Yugi, Malik! Merry Christmas guys!" beamed Anzu, cheeks flushed from the cold.
"Boots, Anzu." Mai reminded, taking off her high heel black ones. "Hi guys," Then, handing her coat to Malik, said, "Thanks dol." with a wink.
Anzu took off her matching red boots, and gave her coat to Malik, looking concerned. "Are you sure you don't mind?"
"Nah. It's the party atmosphere. I have to do something to help out," Malik said, grinning. "It's either this, or volunteering in the kitchen."
"Can I help at all?" asked Anzu looking at Malik and Yugi.
Malik gestured his head at Yugi and took the coats away. Yugi sweatdropped, smiling. "I'm not really sure. You can ask in the kitchen, but they kicked us out, so…"
"Right." Mai nodded. "Lead on Yugi."
"Through here." Yugi said to Mai, as he turned to lead the girls away.
Anzu looked at Mai with concern as they walked. "You don't usually volunteer to cook, Mai."
"No, I burn everything I touch." Said Mai, as they disappeared behind the shelves. "But you can be sure that is where you'll hear all the juiciest gossip on Christmas Eve."
Ryou smiled as he watched all the action unfold. He didn't follow Yugi, because he felt the invitation did not include him, and had no wish to intrude. So he was left alone in the store, but only for a moment.
Malik returned, still grinning. "Come on, I'll show you where you'll sit. They've just made the TV look like a fireplace." He added, sounding ecstatic.
Ryou smiled and followed Malik through the nicely decorated, cosy store and the small hall beyond, to arrive in the living room. Indeed, Yugi's television was showing a fireplace. The entire room looked festive, with wreaths and mistletoe, and a beautifully decorated tree, laden with presents.
Did I have to bring a present? Ryou thought worriedly, but this worry soon evaporated, as Ryou quickly soaked up the bustling, happy atmosphere of the place.
Yugi brushed past Ryou in the doorway, and Malik pulled him into the room to show him the seating arrangements.
That done, Malik introduced Ryou to Mokuba and Seto Kaiba, the latter looking at him with a blank and icy stare, which was softened by his brother's warm smile.
Just then, Rashid commandeered Malik so he could help explain the game Mokuba was showing him on a small console.
Otogi, who had been sitting nearby, got up, and walked over to the now fireplace, and motioned Ryou over.
"What do you think of the Kaiba brothers?" Asked Otogi quietly, looking intently at Ryou.
Ryou smiled. "Mokuba seems very nice."
Otogi laughed at this, guessing what Ryou was trying not to say. "Yeah, Seto Kaiba can be a cold bastard."
Ryou knew it was useless protesting that that wasn't what he meant. So, instead he asked politely, "You were staying with them I believe."
"Indeed," replied Otogi, watching Mokuba and Malik's struggles with Rashid. "I still am, only now I work a lot, and don't get to hang out with Mokuba much. He's a great kid. His girlfriend was over for a visit from America, you know. She's gone back now, and naturally, he's a little down. His brother's idea of cheering him up is getting Mokuba to work on something for Kaiba Corp. That's all he does in his time off now, top secret project, or so I hear. That's Kaiba all over!"
"You mean he believes in burying himself in work when he's upset?" Ryou enquired.
"Err… I was thinking more along the lines of child labour but… yeah, that works too." Otogi grinned at Ryou.
Just then Yugi, Jounochi and Shizuka walked into the room, and got introduced to Mokuba.
"Where's Honda?" Asked Malik from across the room.
"Dunno." replied Jounochi happily. "He said somethin' 'bout comin' on 'is death-trap. With that muck on the roads, my guess is he's here somewhere, parked'n cleanin' the beast. Hey! Shouldn't you be out there with 'im?"
Malik grinned. "Didn't take my bike. Shadi drove us." He then got all their coats, and Otogi excused himself to go talk to Shizuka, wanting to help her to her seat. Jounochi got heated, but argument was skilfully avoided by Yugi asking for the job because he was the host, showing both Jounochi and Shizuka to their seats. Otogi looked up at Ryou and grinned, as the latter couldn't help smiling at the scene.
Just then Malik returned, and walked over to Ryou, smiling as well as he glanced over the seating. Shizuka had Otogi on one side and Jounochi on the other. "Poor Honda, he likes Shizuka." Malik said.
Ryou frowned worriedly, and asked the question he had to ask, "Am I taking you away from helping your brother?"
Malik smiled blankly. "Huh? Oh that!" he laughed looking over at Rashid, still struggling. "I'm sure he understands it well enough, but I think Mokuba's enjoying teaching him."
The room was already starting to feel cosy, and the noise level rose a little as Jounochi started an argument with Yugi over Duel Monsters strategies, leaving Otogi free to chat to Shizuka. But when Shadi walked in, smiling ruefully, Malik still managed to enquire from across the room, "What happened?"
"I was kicked out, can you believe it?" replied Shadi after coming over.
"No. What really happened?" smiled Malik.
"Girl talk." Shadi shuddered theatrically, still smiling.
Malik's smile became a grin, and he chuckled silently.
"What?" Asked Shadi.
Malik just shook his head, making gold jewellery sparkle and jingle, grinning.
That's really beautiful jewellery. Does he wear it a lot? I never noticed it before. Ryou thought, frowning at Malik.
Malik looked at Ryou and probably interpreted his expression as disapproval, because he decided to explain. "Mr. Moto's still in the kitchen. Can you imagine: Yugi's grandpa, the female model!"
Shadi laughed, and Ryou couldn't help laughing as well, though he knew he shouldn't. The image his much too active imagination provided, however, along with the excited and happy atmosphere, made it impossible not to laugh. It felt really good; Ryou hadn't laughed in a while.
Malik Ishtar couldn't stop grinning. It was the first time he had really heard Ryou laugh. It was really strange to see the extremely reserved boy smile, let alone laugh, but it was also extremely gratifying.
I am the greatest being that ever lived. Right now, Ra has nothing on me.
Malik slowly realised, as Ryou and Shadi stopped laughing, that the grin just wouldn't go away. Especially as Malik could see the cosy couch he'd soon be sitting on, right beside Ryou. The seating arrangement was really asking for yet another embarrassing situation, but Malik knew he would be cursing himself later if he didn't go for it.
Luckily for Malik, just as Shadi started looking at him strangely and opened his mouth to ask some typically insightful question that would draw attention to Malik's strange behaviour, a procession of dishes entered the room, and Yugi's Grandpa asked everyone to sit down because the food was ready.
Everyone squished in round the table, and as expected, Malik sat cosily between Ryou and Shadi, unable to go to the bathroom if he didn't want to climb over everyone to either his left, or right. Malik contemplated climbing over Ryou, but then shook his head and decided he'd clamber over the back of the couch instead.
Ryou must have noticed the shake of the head, because he turned his green eyes to Malik, and asked, "What is it?"
The cosiness of the couch meant that the legs of people sitting next to each other were touching, and turning to talk instantly created a very intimate setting in a very public place – sort of like whispering to someone on a public train.
Malik pushed all thoughts aside and smiled. "Nothing much. Just thinking that I'm going to climb over the back of the couch to get to the bathroom."
Ryou looked thoughtful for a moment. "I suppose. Unless you'd rather climb under the table."
Malik had to pause for a moment. He was stunned. Did Ryou just make a joke?
Meanwhile, Ryou had turned away to take the bowl of salad from Anzu and put some on his plate. He turned back to Malik, who was still stunned. "Salad?"
"Huh?" Asked Malik, then the question played back in his head. "Ah, sure."
He took the bowl and proceeded to portion some off for himself, then passed it onto Shadi. This ritual was repeated with all the dishes on the table, and only when Malik's plate was very full did he realise that he was actually quite hungry and hadn't eaten since lunch.
A shame, but I guess talking will have to wait. And so, for the s few minutes after the food was passed around, everyone around the table ate in silence.
This silence was interrupted by Honda walking into the living room grinning, with apologies all round, saying he had to stop and clean his motorbike.
To this Jounochi replied, with food in his mouth, "That's what I said!"
Shizuka chided her brother and Malik noticed Honda looked a little sad when he saw the only empty seat left was between Mr. Moto and Jounochi.
"Sorry we started without you." Yugi distracted him.
Honda smiled, and sat down – his coat and shoes were already off. "Can't be helped."
Malik smiled at his friend.
And Jounochi elbowed him, no food in his mouth this time. "Hey, Honda, you know you'll have ta clean it when you get 'ome, too. Why'd ya bother doin' it here?"
Honda rolled his eyes at Malik, and turned to answer his best friend, while loading his plate from the dishes passed to him. "Because… While I'm here that slush will be melting, and maybe doing some irreparable damage."
"You should have come in a car." Malik commented.
Honda shrugged, glancing at Shizuka.
Malik grinned. "Next time, Jounochi, give him a lift." Honda smirked at this, meeting Malik's eyes.
Jounochi looked up from his food first at Malik, then at Honda. "Oh, alright. But don't you eat any of my snacks again!" Jounochi added, gesturing with his fork.
Honda looked askance at Jounochi. "What are you on about? Your backseat is a minimart. You can't possibly eat all of them before they expire."
Jounochi grinned. "Oh yeah? Bet I finish my dinner before you."
"You got a head start."
"Okay, Mr. Chicken, I'll wait two minutes. Yugi, time us."
Anzu sighed like someone who had seen it all too often. Yugi took a break from his meal, and pushed some buttons on his new watch – an early Christmas gift from Malik. "Ready, set, go."
Yugi had gone back to his meal after the two minutes. Needless to say, it was a close race, and Jounochi just barely won. As usual, he was too full to gloat and decided that Honda came really close to beating him, Honda conceding that he wouldn't touch the snacks in Jounochi's car.
After he finished eating, Yugi turned to his Grandpa and smiled, as conversation broke out around the table. "That was really good, thanks Grandpa. I think we'll have to wait before desert though."
Sugoroku Moto smiled at his polite grandson. "You should thank Ishizu as well, she made many of these dishes herself."
Yugi nodded, and looked over at Ishizu, who was not engaged in conversation at all – Rashid was still eating, and Shadi seemed to be deep in thought about something.
Ishizu smiled. "What is it, pharaoh?"
"Thankyou for the food, it was delicious." Yugi said politely.
Ishizu's smile widened and she shook her head, "Ah, but you have not had dessert yet. That is my specialty. Malik says I'm very good, and he's got such a sweet tooth… Right, brother?"
Malik, it seemed had not heard, so Shadi nudged him, making Malik bump into Ryou, Ryou into Anzu and Anzu into Mai. Malik whispered something to Ryou, then Shadi whispered something in his ear.
The effect of the exercise was that Malik looked away from his conversation with Ryou, Mai and Anzu, a bit confused. "Huh?"
There was a round of laughter from the four for some reason, and Ishizu smirked. "I asked…"
But here Malik interrupted. "No need! You are perfectly right, dear sister." He looked at Yugi grinning. "My sister is very smart, she's always right."
Here Ishizu said something under her breath, and Shadi snapped out of his trance, looking at her with mild surprise.
Yugi's grandpa tugged on his sleeve and Yugi turned around.
"Why did she call you pharaoh?"
"Oh!" Yugi smiled. "Well, you know her family has a collection of Ancient Egyptian Artefacts."
Grandpa nodded. "Yes, she told me they're being exhibited at the museum."
Yugi smiled. "Yes, she's running the exhibit. Well, one of the tablets shows a pharaoh that looks a lot like me."
Yugi's grandpa beamed proudly. "You would make a great pharaoh Yugi."
"Thanks Grandpa." Said Yugi, smiling, warm from the compliment.
"You are right about the food, I was thinking, that we'll clear this away now, and bring out some tea, and let the food settle a bit before the dessert came out." Grandpa commented to Yugi.
Yugi smiled. "Sure, I'll help."
"Are you sure you don't want to stay and talk with your friends, Yugi?" Grandpa asked, concerned. "I'm sure your mother and I can handle it."
Yugi smiled at his Grandpa. "If you're sure Grandpa."
"Of course Yugi!" Grandpa exclaimed. He got out of his chair, and walked over to Yugi's mum, and the plan was put into action.
Yugi turned to Mokuba, who had just finished talking to his brother. "Mokuba, what was that game you were showing Rashid?"
Mokuba's face lit up at the mention, and he whipped out his small console, and showed it to Yugi. "It's a really fun game. See, you're a cheer squad, and there are these people that are in trouble, and need your help. And you cheer them on – you have to hit these the right way at the right time," he pointed, "and if you do it right, you pull off all your cheerleader moves, and it cheers them on and they succeed at whatever they want to do. You really have to do it to the beat of the music…"
Seto looked over at his brother, who had just pulled on the sleeve of his coat.
"Big brother, I was thinking, if we can make the people feel anything, physically, do you think there should be food stalls in the cities? I mean, is it possible to program the taste of food?"
Seto considered it. Theoretically, it was possible, though the body would receive absolutely no nutrition from the food, so there would have to be something written in the game manual cautioning people to remember to eat and drink in real life. The cautions were nothing new, the most addictive games nowadays reminded players to take a break to eat, drink and sleep.
Seto looked at Mokuba and nodded. "We'll have food stalls."
Mokuba smiled. "Then people could try all kinds of strange food! And not only that, it can probably be extended to include the taste of everything in the game, like the wind is salty by the sea, and sand can get in your mouth in a sandstorm."
That's my brother. Seto thought with pride. Nobody can ever say that Mokuba is stupid. A little over emotional at times, perhaps, but never stupid.
Seto smiled inwardly because Mokuba only mentioned the tip of the iceberg that Seto had been working on for some time now. Since he first got the idea for the game, he had started gathering the necessary data. By the time he had to program the world, Seto compiled a lot of the sensory data for the game, although this level of interaction was unprecedented, and only the most difficult data remained – the taste of poisonous berries for example.
He nodded again. "I'm already working on it."
Mokuba smiled. "You think of everything big brother."
"Hn." Seto agreed, ending the conversation.
Yugi then engaged Mokuba in conversation, and people started moving about as the table was cleared.
Checking that Otogi was busy monopolising Shizuka's attention, Seto felt by his chair and pulled out his ever present briefcase. Yes, the laptop was still there, fully charged. Seto pulled it out onto the table and replaced his briefcase under his chair.
Ah, back to work.
Ryou sighed as he finished his meal and wiped his mouth. Anzu was just finishing beside him, as was Malik.
Are we really going to sit here and talk? About what? It's not that I don't want to talk to Malik, it's just that there isn't anything I can think of to say.
Ryou leaned back so Malik could talk to Anzu, but for some reason Anzu seemed a little quiet today. She had said hello to Ryou when she sat down, but nothing more, and though Ryou didn't know her very well, he still found it unusual that she did not enquire after his health.
"Quiet bunch, aren't they?" Ryou heard Mai say.
He looked up in time to catch her smile, and turned to Malik, assuming the remark was meant for him.
Malik smiled at Mai as he wiped his mouth, then looked thoughtfully first at Ryou then at Anzu.
"Decidedly. Something on your mind Anzu?" Malik said lightly.
Anzu looked up first at Malik, then at Mai and blushed. "I'm sorry, did you say something?"
Here both Malik and Mai laughed, and Malik turned to Ryou, who could feel his cheeks heating up. "What about you?"
Ryou smiled politely. "Nothing in particular. What would you like to talk about?"
"Hmm." Malik rubbed his chin in mock thoughtfulness.
There was a pause, then Mai supplied a reply. "Good question?"
Malik grinned. "Took the words right out of my mouth."
Just as Anzu suggested a topic, "The future," Ishizu asked something of Malik, and Shadi nudged him. Due to the cosy arrangement on the couch, nudging Malik, had a domino effect, making him crash into Ryou.
His hair smells like watermelon. Ryou thought, slightly stunned by the experience.
Meanwhile the blonde got off Ryou, and smiling at him, whispered, "Sorry."
Ryou, because he was sitting with his back to the couch, had only slightly bumped into Anzu, but he still apologised as he sat up straight.
Meanwhile, behind him he could hear Shadi whisper something to Malik. Ryou turned to see Malik, like Anzu just before, look round at Shadi, then at his sister.
"Huh?" He asked blankly.
This time, Anzu and Ryou joined in as Malik and Mai laughed at the situation.
It being rude to leave a conversation without an apology or a valid excuse, Ryou left Malik to his sister, and turned back to Anzu and Mai.
"What do you mean exactly?" Asked Mai, looking at Anzu.
Anzu smiled at Ryou and Mai, as she clarified. "You know, all that talk in the kitchen about marriage and planning ahead got me thinking. We're in our second last year of school, we have to think about what to do next year to prepare. If we want to get into university, there are the entrance exams to study for, if not, we'd have to start working fulltime…"
Ryou nodded as Anzu seemed to run out of words. There were really infinite options, and too many to name.
It is fortunate that I've already decided what I really want to do. Otherwise I imagine last term this year would be really stressful.
Mai smiled. "Nothing could be easier. I'm already out of school, travelling the world as a professional duellist."
Anzu smiled sadly, as if she knew the answer to the question she was going to ask and didn't like it. "But don't you want some meaning in your life? Something that makes you feel good, not just working at getting more and more money, more and more stuff."
"Well, there's always my part time gig, and really, I think all you need in life is to do something that never bores you. Friends help provide spiritual meaning of course." Mai smiled, winking at Anzu.
Anzu smirked at that, her cheeks already slightly pink.
Mai turned her attention in Ryou's direction. "What about you? Are you gonna turn pro?"
Ryou didn't know how to answer that, and a second later was glad he said nothing.
"No way." Malik suddenly rejoined the conversation, speaking from behind Ryou. "I am determined to work for a major corporation, so I'm going to uni to study business. I think I'd be good at running a company."
Ryou turned his head to find Malik smiling at him. "What about you?"
Ryou looked down at his hands. He felt kind of nervous because it was the first time he was saying his ambitions out loud. "Well I had thought at first to follow in my father's footsteps, but that was a very long time ago. Now I think I would really like to be a lawyer. My grades are pretty good, and I've been going to cram school on and off for the past couple of years. Next year I'll go all the time, and then maybe with a bit of luck I can get into the best university in the country."
There was a pause and Ryou played with his fingers nervously.
"Wow. You've really thought it through. Sounds good I mean." Malik commented in an enthusiastic and awed tone.
Ryou looked up, studying Malik's face for traces of sarcasm.
"I was going to ask you if your plan isn't a bit… simple." Mai challenged Malik. "I mean, even if you get into university, and Anzu says you never study, who's going to hire you as a director, or even manager? You don't know anyone in this country, and you'll be just another uni graduate with a business degree. Look at the people in those courses, they're usually managers already."
Malik smirked, shrugging, but Ryou didn't want to let it go at that. He turned to Mai. "It sounds like you know a lot about it."
Mai smirked and shrugged. "I dated a pretty bitter graduate."
Anzu frowned at Mai and turned to Malik. "Don't listen to her. I mean if that's what you really want to do, then go for it."
Mai grinned, putting her hand on Anzu's shoulder. "Yeah, and when you fail, remember you're always welcome in the professional duelling world."
"Mai that's mean." Anzu objected.
Mai shrugged. "That's life, ballerina."
"Ballerina?" Malik enquired.
"Yeah." Mai smiled proudly at Anzu, who blushed. "Anzu is going to apply for the best dance school in the country, and become one of the greatest dancers in the world."
Malik laughed. "You'll be one of the few then, that won't quit school clubs next year."
Ryou smiled. "And then you'll get more time with the teacher, for better practice."
Anzu smiled and nodded.
"Hey Anzu," Jounochi interrupted, looking bored. "What are you guys talkin' about over there?"
"Careers." Anzu answered.
"Well that's easy. I'm gonna be the greatest duellist in th' world!" Jounochi exclaimed.
It elicited a snort from Otogi, who was drinking tea.
"What do you want to be?" Asked Ryou intrigued.
Otogi paused, wiping his nose on a serviette. "Sorry, tea came out of my nose." He looked up at Ryou and smiled. "Well, as I'm going into business, I thought I might as well study it at uni."
"Then we'll be in the same course!" Exclaimed Malik.
"Eh? Yeah, I guess." Otogi replied now grinning. "As my mentor would have put it, were he here, alas he is out of the country… we could be study buddies! What do you recon, Ryou's friend?"
Malik laughed. "I recon if we are, I'm going to have to think of a nickname for you like you've done so kindly for me."
"Do your worst." Otogi returned, grinning.
"What about You Mokuba?" Asked Yugi kindly, joining in.
Mokuba smiled. "I'm gonna work at Kaiba Corp."
"Shizuka?" Asked Otogi.
"I… don't know yet." Said the girl, smiling apologetically.
"I don't know either, universities have so many interesting courses." Yugi consoled her, smiling.
"Spoilt for choice, huh, Yugi?" Asked Honda, smirking bitterly. "Some of us aren't as smart as you and Anzu, you know. I don't think I could make it into uni."
"So what're you gonna do?" Asked Jounochi, smiling.
"Gonna apprentice as a mechanic. Work on cars and motor bikes and stuff. It's good money, and something I really wanna do. Maybe one day I can get a chain of repair shops going." Honda shrugged. "Not as impressive as a doctor I think."
"But a vital service." Chimed in Malik, getting a smile from Honda.
"Lets see, who've we missed…" Said Otogi looking round the table.
"Anzu wants to be a great dancer, and I'm a professional duellist." Mai said, as he looked at them.
Otogi nodded and continued along the couch.
"Lawyer." Ryou said, as Otogi stopped at him, raising an eyebrow.
He nodded and continued, until… "Shadi, what do you do career wise?"
Shadi smiled up from his conversation with Ishizu. "Nothing really, odd jobs here and there. I travel a lot, meet people, see places… That's about it."
"Yeah, and watch over the Millennium Items while he's at it." Malik whispered to Ryou.
Ryou looked questioningly at Malik and he smiled, elaborating. "He makes sure that people don't abuse the power of the items. Don't hoard too many, don't steal them, that sort of thing." Malik shrugged. "Something about maintaining the balance of power in the world."
Ryou at Shadi. I would say I'm surprised, but somehow, the strangeness of it suits him. Funny, I could even believe it looking at him.
Meanwhile, Ishizu finished her story with, "… because of our family history really, Ancient Egypt has really always been a fascination. We even lived in a tomb at one time."
Ryou was surprised at that, like many of the people round the table. He did not want to interrupt the conversation now, but made a point of remembering this for later so he could ask Malik.
Looking at him, it did not seem as if the memories were pleasant, Malik was slightly pale, which considering how tanned he was, meant that it must have been something major.
It really seems almost impolite to ask, but the explanation could be simple. Maybe there was a curse or something…And as don't know if it is impolite, and he is a friend, perhaps he will answer regardless…
Rashid's turn had come.
The intimidating, tall man looked at Malik uncertainly. Malik smiled and nodded. "What would you like to do for the rest of your life as a job?"
Rashid nodded, considering. At length, he replied. "To protect my little brother."
Almost everyone around the table smiled. "A kindred spirit, eh Kaiba?" Otogi asked the boy across the table, who looked very serious, concentrating on typing something on his laptop.
Nevertheless, it did seem like he had heard Otogi's question, for he replied, "Bother someone else."
"Come on, Kaiba," Otogi persisted, smiling innocently. "Just tell us what you're gonna do when you finish school. I won't bother you again today… promise."
Hearing that last sentence seemed to make Seto Kaiba decide. He looked up from his laptop, his piercing blue gaze on Otogi. "I'll study law." Was all he said, in a cold tone before going back to typing.
Otogi seemed to want to follow up on that regardless of his promise, but Yugi's Grandpa came in and asked if people wanted to help them bring dessert out.
Everyone got up from the table, save Ishizu and Shadi who seemed lost in conversation, and Malik, who held Ryou back by the arm.
Malik smiled as Ryou's questioning green eyes looked at him and the boy sat back down.
He was wearing a deep green embroidered shirt and black jeans, which highlighted his eyes, pale skin and hair dramatically.
Malik shrugged. "They don't need everyone."
Ryou nodded, taking that better than Malik had expected. Malik took a deep breath and let it out, as Ryou turned to watch the food being brought to the table.
"Listen, Ryou, I wanted to ask, what does your dad do?" Malik asked, fearing the question would tread on sensitive ground.
His fears were unfounded. "He's an archaeologist." Ryou smiled slightly as he answered.
So he just keeps facts back out of habit, not only if they bother him. Good to know.
"What does he specialise in?" Malik asked, feeling on firmer ground.
"Ancient Egypt." Ryou smiled.
Then both boys spoke at once, saying "What…" Then they stopped, and laughed, Malik gesturing that Ryou should continue what he was saying.
"What I wanted to ask was – if you don't mind my asking that is, and if you don't want to answer, just say so, - well, why did you live in a tomb? And what was it like? And you didn't seem to like it, why?" The words spilled out of the boy concisely and politely but with a nervous smile.
Malik smirked. The topic wasn't really all that painful, it just brought bad memories, and for some reason, learning that he had killed his father… Made it a bit easier, to talk about.
Better sooner than later I suppose. Get it out of the way, it was bound to come up, and all that.
Malik pushed his thoughts aside, not wanting to make Ryou wait too long, lest the boy think that he had to apologise for offending him or something.
He smiled bitterly with the memories, and made his tone as light-hearted as he could. "We kind of started out living there. It's what tomb keepers do. My brother was adopted because mum and dad kinda gave up on having a son to continue the tradition. Well, then Ishizu was born, and soon after I was.
"You'd think it was creepy living in a tomb but it was just boring. We weren't allowed to go outside, and the initiation I went through with 'daddy dearest' to mark my passage into manhood and inheritance of the tomb keeper tradition was kinda painful. Well, yeah, I had to get tattoos on my back, so it would be. Rashid got some too, on his head thought, to cheer me up.
"All the rituals I had to do were a bit weird, and some of them hurt, and when dad got mad, he really got mad. I was kinda surprised to learn they weren't allowed to hit kids here. The cultural differences are a bit strange to me.
"Anyway, I don't know what it was like when mum was alive, I think it might have been better, but she died giving birth to me, so… Well, I begged her to let me see what real families were like, and Ishizu snuck me out into town one day. I saw this picture of a man on a motorbike, looking really… free. That impressed me the most I think.
"Dad found out and lost it when we came back. He was going to give us the Millennium Items to take care of like he and mum had done. I don't really remember what happened then, but Rashid says that I was provoked, and scared for myself and Ishizu. I… killed him.
"After that we moved out into town and met Shadi, but Ishizu still didn't let me go out or do anything. I guess that's how she'd been taught to raise children. I couldn't really bring friends home either as my family wasn't really a family and Ishizu said they'd split us up and take ma away if they knew we were living without parents.
"So I ran away, taking as many of the cards I was supposed to guard as I could, and came here. I don't remember doing that either, but then you know about Namu."
Malik had not looked at Ryou throughout his quiet recital of the facts as he knew them, for fear of the boy's expressions. He finished, shrugging his shoulders slightly, trying to shrug the emotions off. It kinda worked. Smiling helped, so he did that, and concentrated on what it felt like to be free and clear now.
Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked over to see it was indeed Ryou's. The boy was smiling, his eyes a bit too bright for it to be a completely happy smile. Ryou squeezed his shoulder, and Malik patted the hand, which was then taken away.
"Thankyou. That was a very full answer." Ryou said quietly still smiling. "It's hard to say, but I hear it's good to talk about it."
"Yeah." Malik grinned, suddenly happier than he had ever felt, save the day he left the tomb.
The boys were looking straight into each other's eyes, and Ryou was first to look away. He turned to the table. "Shall I pur us some tea?"
Malik nodded, then realising Ryou couldn't see him, added, "Yes, please. Ishizu's desserts can be very sweet."
And I'd like to add, 'so can you'. But I won't coz I'm going good today, and you're handling very hot water at the moment and might spill it on people.
"What were you saying before, I interrupted you?" Ryou asked politely, breaking Malik out of his thoughts, reminding him to get dessert.
"You want a bit of everything?"
"Yes please." And Malik started putting dessert onto their plates, as Ryou sat back with his tea.
"I was going to ask what kind of lawyer you wanted to be." Malik replied to the question from before.
Ryou considered this for a moment. "I'm leaning to criminal law, though I like corporate just as well. I suppose it will have to wait until I study a bit more."
Malik smiled. "Try Ishizu's. But your dad is an archaeologist…. Have you ever gone on any of the digs?"
Ryou tried the said dessert and smiled genuinely. "It's really good. But then I have a sweet tooth… Ah, yes. I've been to Egypt as a matter of fact."
"Really?" Malik asked, extremely interested. "Can you remember it still?" Ryou nodded. "So how did you like it?"
"It is really beautiful there, but a bit hot…"
There followed a series of questions about landmarks and the two discussed it at length, before drifting onto the topic of Ryou's childhood, which fascinated Malik, it being so different from his own. Ryou inserted comments about how his was the same to or different from other people's and seemed to enjoy Malik's enthusiastic comments and questions a lot.
So passed the evening, the two lost to the world, staying up past midnight along with everybody else, and promising to get each other Christmas presents on New Year's eve. Everyone not in Yugi's group left after Yugi distributed the presents at first light, walking outside into a white world, powdery snow falling from the sky, sticking to everybody's brows and eyelashes.
Malik had to made sure Jounochi gave Honda a lift home, the motorbike going on the roof of the car, making it safely to Honda's garage with everybody's help. Yugi's group finally parted at Honda's with rounds of saying 'Merry Christmas', and giving everyone a hug. Malik decided to make it a project, and that next year Ryou would be there for that final parting.