MD: Hello people! ^_^

Malik: You're…normal.

MD: Yup. Unfortunately, yami got off and I got stuck with the curse.

CYD: *giggles* Baku-chan! I'm back! *glomps*

Chibi Bakura: -_-

Seto: Well, now we know what to do when you talk to much.

MD: Seto-chan! You're back!

Seto: T_T Why me?

Okay, if you didn't already know, Yami's name is…Atemu! Although that would be a pain to change his name for this fic, I probably will in my others. By the way, I need some help. I'm debating between a koneko (kitty) fic, a time travel fic, or a YGO/LOTR or YGO/IY crossover after I finish this one. What do you think? Remember, if you give me your opinion I expect you to be there. ^__~

Q&A:

BakaNeko-Chan:

MD: Probably not, since they were 15 (ish) when their souls were entrapped in the items. But, one never knows.

Akiko Koishii:

MD: Thank you for updating! Now I want another chapter, 'k? Onegai? *puppy eyes* I still don't like Shampoo. She's so mean to poor Mousse! T_T AND she's trying to get in the way of Akane/Ranma. Which is THE most obvious couple in history.

Lady Silver Dragon:

MD: Well, I feel like an idiot now. Ah well. *whacks lightly* It's super-SAIYAN hair, thank you. DBZ was my first anime. I still love it to bits. ^__^

By the way, if flamers accuse you of copying, send 'em my way. *waves flaming katana* I'll be ready.

Aika Hanyou:

MD: Wow, just like Kirara from IY! Wait, do I… know you? You seem familiar. Changed your name, perhaps?

Shadow's Girl12:

MD: You're back! *hugs* Where have you BEEN?!

CYD: *glares at Natina* You backed out on our fight. Pharaoh's still a baka. :P

Here's your awaited chapter!

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Back to School!

By this time it had been nearly three weeks since the beginning of the yamis' chibiness. Ryou and Yugi's grades were slipping rapidly due to having to stay with the chibies (they couldn't just leave them, and no babysitter deserved that sort of punishment,) and Seto's grades were good enough to withstand a month's worth of absences. And Malik? Well, Malik's grades were horrible to begin with, mostly from his frequent ditching.

"What are we going to do?" Ryou whispered, making sure to be quiet even though Malik had gone to sleep hours ago.

"We've got to go, otherwise we'll fail for sure. I don't think I could stand another year of being a freshman." Yugi whispered back.

"What'll we do with our yamis?"

"Here's the plan. I just hope they'll understand."

Later, at about 5 a.m to be exact, Ryou, Yugi, and Seto, who had decided to come just to get out of the apartment, were getting dressed and ready as silently as possible. Yugi, not exactly being a morning person, was stumbling into things at random. Luckily for them Malik sleeps like a rock. After what seemed like an eternity on pins and needles, they grabbed their school things. Ryou hesitated at the door. "Are you guys sure we should just leave him?"

Seto smirked. "I almost feel sorry for Ishitar, 'almost' being the key word in that sentence."

The three decided it would be safer to get breakfast at a diner before school. Sound sleeper though he was, Malik had an incredible sense of smell.

Malik rolled over from his sprawled out position on the bed, (Ryou let him have it, mostly so he could be closer to Bakura, in case he had more nightmares,) only to fall to the floor with a smack. That's the problem when you've become used to sleeping on the floor, don't you know.

Thought one: Ow. Hard wood floors and high beds definitely don't mix.

Thought two: When's breakfast?

He rolled over from his position on the floor. "Hey, Ryou…" He stopped. Ryou's futon (A/N: Hey, you didn't expect him to sleep on the floor, did you?) was empty. He raced as quickly as he could without waking Bakura into the next room. Sure enough, both bed and futon were empty. "Those…they left me!" He stormed into the kitchen. There was a little note from Yugi on the table:

Malik,

By the time you find this, Ryou, Seto and I will have left for school. We figured sine your grades are so horrible anyway you wouldn't mind staying home. We didn't have the heart (or the money) to get a babysitter. Watch the chibies, okay?

Yugi

Well, Malik thought sourly, this is great. They did have a point about his grades. Malik couldn't care less about school. He only went because his Nee-san Isis insisted on it. That woman could be really scary when she wanted to be.

"Where's koi?"

Malik jumped about ten feet. He turned around to see who had actually surprised him. "Wha…oh, it's you Bakura. Ryou is…wait, did you just call him koi?" He gave one of his evil smirks. "Oh, revenge is sweet."

Bakura cocked his head to the side, wondering what he had said wrong and definitely wondering what had happened to Ryou.

Malik noticed the somewhat put-out expression on Bakura's face. "Don't worry. He'll be back in a few hours. Until then, you're with me."

Bakura's put-out expression was soon mirrored by Marik, who walked into the room only to find 'his' Malik's attention stolen by another chibi. The nerve! He quickly stepped between 'his' Malik and the intrusive chibi, sticking out his tongue with a traditional "Mine."

Malik rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Oh, for Gods' sake…"

Seito and Yami entered the scene at this point, preventing Malik from uttering words that were definitely not chibi-appropriate. "Where's our hikari's?" they chorused. Malik rubbed his temples. Today was not going to be a good day.

Meanwhile, at school….

Ryou was also rubbing his temples, receiving a pounding headache after being chewed out by three teachers for his recent absences. He was now at the only truly safe haven in school; lunch. "Remind me again, please, why we came back to this hellhole?"

Yugi cuddled his head against his arms, the lack of sleep finally catching up with him. "The reason escapes me."

Seto looked up from his laptop, a.k.a. his daily escape from reality. "We were desperate to get out of the apartment?"

"Oh." They chorused.

Back at the apartment….

Malik had finally made amends with the chibies about their missing hikaris' by…playing video games. And Losing. Badly.

"NOO! THIS IS RIDICULOUS!" This was after, meh, maybe the third loss to Bakura. Now, Yami he could understand. He'd been losing to him constantly since the day they met. Even Seito he could understand. He'd spent his life under the same roof (even if it was a very big roof) as Yami. But Bakura? That kid had been much to shy to play video games the other day, so Malik was sure he'd never seen them before. What was with this sudden change in skill. Ouch… O_O He just beat me with a perfect. NOO! T_T As you can imagine, all of this had a very bad effect on poor Malik's self esteem. The others came home to find poor Malik-chan contemplating the meaning of life over some Oreos. Crushed self esteem can do strange and somewhat scary things to a person.

Yugi poked Malik gently in the shoulder. "Are…you okay?"

Malik turned a full double-barrel glare on the three of them. "You. Left. Me. Here. ALONE! And you ask if I'm okay?!"

"But,"

Ryou put up a hand. "No, no, leaving Malik alone with three, no four little kids was pretty cruel." He paused. "But even THAT could not compare to my day." He pulled up a chair. "Let me have some of those Oreos…"

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MD: Dear God it's a miracle!!

Ryou: ??

MD: The evil beings known as 4kids didn't edit out the part about Noa's accident! And they edit out EVERYTHING having to do with death! It's a miracle!

Malik: You really don't like them, do you?

MD: The way I see it, the cycle goes like this:

1. You like the dub, and probably even defend it

2. You discover the original version but continue to watch the dub because

It's all you have

3. You get subtitled versions of the original and discover that the dub is

even crappier than you thought.

MD: I'm still on step two.

Malik: I see. -_-U

NOTE: I'll be in Germany visiting my brother from about the 12-23, so don't expect another new chapter until probably early March or at best late February.

Malik: And you can't put another one up before then because….

MD: ….I'm lazy?

Malik: -__-U

Review!