Angel:
Yeah, people reviewed! XD Well, here is the second chapter. But
first, time for some responses!
Meiko: The highlight of her
day.
Seto: Literally.
Angel: ignore my obnoxious yami
and prisoner peoples. -.-
Maruken – Well, maybe. If
this was going to be a yaoi it would have been a Malik/Marik but I'll
think about it. And Malik REALLY has no brains, you can tell in this
chapter. You can also tell he has no guts. Oh, and about that story
by Spyder Webb, I think, what's it's name? Spyder Webb has 51
stories, so, a little help?
Hershey-kiss – The insane
asylum? Well, I thought a mental institution would be a little minor
for Malik. :D And I'm not funny, I'm sarcastic! XD Thankz for the
compliments though.
Revlis – I like the Goo Goo Dolls
too! :D Though you can kind-of tell that already huh? XD Well, hope
this makes ya happy too!
IcyPanther- I'll try to add
more of Seto at . . . some point. XD
Sailor Mini Venus
– Well, I try. :D I had so much fun writing the flashback! And yur
right. School is evil! XP That's why I'm glad I don't have to go for
another two months!
FeatherWings- I've updated for ya!
XD Keep reviewing please!!!
Angel: Well, enough of that. Now
on to disclaimers.
Meiko: It's not my turn.
Angel: It's
never your turn.
Meiko: That's not my job.
Angel:
Whatever. -.- Well, then you get to do it.
Seto: Damn it all.
Dark-Angel302 doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh of the song I'm still here by the
Goo Goo Dolls.
Angel: See, that wasn't so bad.
Seto:
-.- Sure, I guess not.
Angel: But this is! types
frantically on the keyboard and Seto ends up tied to a chair with is
hands bound to the arms
Seto: SHIT! NOT AGAIN.
Meiko:
eating popcorn Wow, twice in two days.
Angel: sits
on Seto's lap since he can't do anything about it Well, enjoy the
chapter. starts to play with Seto's hair
---
I'm
still here
Chapter 2
/And
what do think you'd ever say?
I won't listen anyway:
You
ignore me,
And I'll never be what you want me to be/
Malik
leaned against the chain-link fence, the bell would ring in about 15
minutes, but Malik wasn't ready to go any where, let alone go through
another day of torture. He closed his eyes, only to be met by a
blasting throb in his head, when would this stupid headache go away.
Malik sunk to the pavement, and sighed, closing his eyes again.
'Maybe going to sleep will help . . .'
"MALIK!"
Came a distant voice, the blonde Egyptian looked up to see someone
running towards him. It was Ryou. The white-haired teen stopped in
front of Malik, breathing heavily and cheeks flushed from the bitter
fall wind.
"Hey," he breaths, smiling and sits down
in front of Malik who just stares at him.
"Hi,"
Malik says slowly. "Sorry, about yesterday."
"It's
okay," Ryou says, still smiling, and breathing heavily. "I'm
the one who should be apologizing-"
"No, I should
have looked where I was going."
"It's not about
that," Ryou interrupted. "About yesterday, at school."
Malik put on a confused look.
"You weren't here
yesterday, were you?"
"No, I wasn't. I'm apologizing
for the other guys," Ryou said quietly. "Joey still doesn't
forgive Marik for sending Mai to the shadow realm, and he doesn't
believe that you aren't him. Then Tristan, if something is bothering
Joey, he's going to go against it. Tea, well, I don't really
understand what her problem is, she has too many." He said with
a smile, Malik smiled back. "And, I think Yugi just feels odd
around you because, it really was you, before the Battle City finals
so . . ." he trailed off, looking at the ground.
"It's
okay, I get it," Malik replied, suddenly finding his shoes very
interesting to look at. "But, what about you?" Malik almost
whispered. Ryou looked up at him, his doe-brown eyes looking
confused. "I'm only worried about you Ryou," Malik said a
little louder than before. "You know you were the only person
yesterday that said something near nice to me?" A slight frown
appeared on Ryou's face.
"Well, I forgive you Malik, I
have for a long time. What happened in the past, just . . . happened.
We really can't do anything about it, so it's best to be left alone.
What matters is what is happening now, not then."
"You're
too forgiving, you know that," Malik said, a small smile
crawling up his face.
"You have no idea how many times I
hear that," Ryou sighed, falling backwards on to the pavement,
staring up at the sky. There were a few moments of silence before
Ryou said softly, "We're going to be late for homeroom."
"Screw
homeroom," Malik muttered. Ryou smiled a little, but it
disappeared as a thought accrued to him. "What class are you
in?"
"B"
Ryou sighed a little, "That's
my class, and everyone's else's."
"Don't remind me,"
Malik muttered, staring back at his feet. Ryou sat up, sitting
cross-legged, a look of sympathy for the Egyptian on his face.
"You
really don't like them, do you?"
"I would like them
fine, they're the ones that seem to have a problem with me."
"Well,"
Ryou was silent, thinking of a way to answer that. "They just
need get to know you." After running his own words through his
head, an idea came to Ryou's mind. "If they would just give you
a chance, I bet they could forgive you. I know Yugi and Tea would
easy." Malik thought that over, but there was something
else.
He had seen what good friends all of them were; Yugi
seemed like someone you could always go to for help, Tea would always
be your friend no matter what, Tristan was a good friend to have
around, especially if Joey was around as well, and Ryou was just the
finishing touch, someone who would always listen to you. The five
were friends, but what would Malik do if he was added to their group?
'Nothing,' he thought to himself. 'I just wouldn't fit in.
I'd screw everything up, maybe it's better if I just stayed by
myself. And I probably couldn't get them to like me anyway.'
It
was true, living underground for 12 years didn't really help his
people skills. To tell the truth, Malik didn't know how to make
friends.
'I would give anything to fit in . . .'
---
The
two made it to homeroom on time, mostly because Ryou dragged Malik
there. Malik sat down in the back of the room, and wasn't surprised
at all when Ryou went over to the other group. Sighing, he took out
another book to read. But soon found himself looking up at the group,
laughing, joking.
Why couldn't he be like them?
Why
couldn't he have friends who would always be there for him?
Malik
remembered Battle City, and seeing through his darker-half's eyes.
They would always be there for each other, almost considered each
other as family. They were such good friends they would risk their
lives for each other. That was true friendship.
All he had was
alliance. Bakura had helped him get his body back, but only because
Malik had bribed him with the Millennium Rod. The two ended up
fighting and arguing the whole time.
But then there was
Ryou.
Malik came back from his deep thoughts to see Ryou
laughing and joking with them. Did Ryou even consider him a friend?
He said that he forgave him, but Ryou didn't like seeing people hurt,
he might have said that just so Malik wouldn't feel bad.
Right
at that moment, Malik felt more alone than he had ever felt in his
life.
Tears stung his eyes, but he refused to let them fall.
'Stop being such a baby,' he tried to reassure himself.
'You don't need anyone. You made it by yourself before, screw them if
they didn't care. You're better off alone anyway.' Frowning at
himself, Malik stuffed his book in his backpack and dug out his CD
Player.
Malik had an interest in American Music for some
reason, mostly because it was fast and dealed with problems he was
experiencing, or would make him feel better if he was down. He
couldn't really explain it, he couldn't even think of a word for it,
maybe there wasn't one. But every morning, Malik would grab a random
CD and leave for school, he always ended up listening to it.
Right
now he wished he had Linkin Park or Evanescence.
Strapping his
headphones over his ears, he pressed play to find out he had grabbed
Yellowcard. He skipped to number eight, listening to the steady
rhythm.
There's a place off Ocean Avenue
Where I
used to sit and talk with you
We were both 16 and it felt so
right
Sleeping all day, staying up all night
Staying up
all night
Malik closed his eyes, leaning back in his
chair, not caring about anything, just losing himself in the
music.
There's a place on the corner of Cherry
Street
We would walk on the beach in our bare feet
We
were both 18 and it felt so right
Sleeping all day, staying up
all night
Staying up all night
If I
could find you now things would get better
We could leave this
town and run forever
Let your waves crash down on me and take
me away
He felt someone tapping his shoulder. Opening
his eyes slightly to see Ryou standing next to him, and his stuff on
the desk next to him. Lowering his earphones, still blasting music,
though it was very hard to make out the words.
"Sorry, I
had to ask them something," Ryou said, sitting down next to
Malik, who stared at him. Ryou was trying so hard to be his friend,
but Malik just realized he was just making it more difficult. Forcing
a smile, Malik turned off his CD Player.
"Is this your
assigned seat, or do you really want to sit by me," Malik
asked.
"Both," Ryou's smile never left his face. "I
have some good news for you too!"
"Oh, really,"
Malik said, sarcastically. "That's a first." Ryou pulled a
face on him, making Malik laugh.
Wait, he just laughed.
For
the first time in days . . .
Oh well, about time.
"Well,
I just talked to them, and they agreed to let you sit with us at
lunch." Malik raised his eyebrows at Ryou's words. 'They're
letting me sit with them.'
"How much did you pay them?"
Malik teased. Ryou rolled his eyes.
"Joey asked for
$10."
"He did!"
Ryou burst out laughing,
"No, but I owe him a math lesson." Malik had to laugh at
that.
But he had a feeling that the others didn't really want
him around at all, and were only doing it for Ryou. If one thing went
wrong, Malik could just forget about becoming friends with
them.
That was the thought he stressed over all
morning.
---
It was lunch, Malik had gotten there
early, and finally decided he couldn't go through with it. 'Joey
and Tristan are going stare me down the whole time, and what if I say
something wrong! What if they get mad at me!' He thought
hysterically. 'But Ryou wants me to, if I don't do it will that
get him mad at me?' He sighed.
'What am I supposed to
do?'
"Hey Malik!" Ryou yelled, coming up behind
him. 'crap, no chance turning back now.' Malik put on a fake
smile as Ryou approached. "We have to find a table, then I'll go
find everyone." Malik nodded, not speaking at all.
The
two picked a spot by a tall Sakura Tree, and I mean right next to it.
It was like the table was built into it. Malik sat down on the bench,
and leaned up against the tree at the same time, his feet on the
bench as well.
"I'll go and get them," Ryou said
quickly before darting off, not waiting for an answer. Malik sat
there for a moment, watching everyone else around him, eating their
lunches and talking with their friends. Malik didn't have a lunch, he
would have got one, but he didn't think he could keep it down. Malik
was stressing enough over this.
This was his one chance to set
things right, his one chance to make friends, to belong. His one
desire. 'But,' he realized, 'this is also my one chance to
escape since no one is here to stop me.' But there seemed to be
something stopping him from getting up and heading back inside. So he
sat there, deep in thought, and stressing so much he could barley
hear himself think.
Five minutes past, and Malik couldn't
stand it any longer. He didn't know what would happen, but he would
either explode or . . . . something else. HE COULDN'T EVEN THINK
STRAIGHT!!!
Trying to find something that would get his
mind he dug back into his backpack to find his CD Player and started
to listen to it:
There's a piece of you that's here with
me
It's everywhere I go, it's everything I see
When I
sleep, I dream and it gets me by
I can make believe that
you're here tonight
That you're here tonight
If
I could find you now things would get better
We could leave
this town and run forever
I know somewhere, somehow we'll be
together
Let your waves crash down on me and take me
away
Malik was really starting to get into the song
when, once again, he was tapped on the shoulder by none other than
Ryou. Only he had the others with him, and Malik automatically froze.
Tea sat by Yugi who was across from Malik, and Ryou took a seat next
to Malik. But Malik could feel Joey and Tristan's glares even though
he didn't dare look up at them.
The Egyptian moved his feet to
the ground under the table and turned off his CD player, sliding the
headphones off as well. 'Okay, this is it. Don't mess it up
Malik.' The four boys were eating while Tea was looking up at the
Sakura Blossoms in the tree, leaving Malik in his nerve-wrecking
silence.
"We should sit here more often," Tea said
out of the blue. "The tree is beautiful." Ryou and Yugi
nodded, their mouths seemingly full with food. Yugi swallowed hard
and looked up at Malik, who was also looking up in the
tree.
"Where's your lunch Malik?" he asked. The
lavender-eyed boy looked away from the tree. He had hoped they would
act like they always would and ignore him. He didn't think he could
speak; it was kind-of heard when you don't trust your own
words.
"I'm not really hungry," he managed to force
himself to say before staring at the wooden table-top.
"Yugi's
right, you really should eat something Malik," Ryou said
worriedly. Malik looked up at him, his eyes pleading him to not make
him do anything other than sit there at the moment. He couldn't move,
let alone eat. For one thing, he didn't think he could keep anything
down right now. Even speaking seemed dangerous.
Ryou suddenly
felt a pain of guilt, Malik was taking this really bad; why was it so
hard for him? He was only trying to help Malik, but the Egyptian was
sitting there like he couldn't trust himself to do anything. Ryou
decided to leave him alone, maybe the others wouldn't talk to
him.
No such luck.
"So, uh . . . Malik?" Yugi
asked, the silence was getting to him. "What do you do after
school now?" Malik gulped, he meant now that the Rare Hunters
were discontinued. He opened his mouth to say something, but he
couldn't get his words to come out, his voice was frozen, out of fear
he supposed. He swallowed again, hoping to build up the courage to
say something. One word, that was all he needed.
"Work."
'Good
going Einstein. You got to say one word, and one that practically
screams ask me more ask me more!!!'
"Really,"
Yugi said, trying to end the conversation. Malik seemed really
uncomfortable around them, and Yugi couldn't really blame him. Joey
and Tristan weren't really trying to make peace or anything
here.
"Where," came an unexpected voice. Malik's
head shot up to look at Tristan, who just stared at him in return.
'Come on Malik, stop being a baby and talk to them! It's not that
hard!!!'
"An Auto Shop," Malik said, sitting up
a little and talking louder than his previous mumbles.
"Oh,
the one right next to our Game Shop," Yugi added.
"Well,
I didn't know you owned that Game Shop Yugi," Malik continued.
"I usually come from the other way."
"But the
school is from da other way," Joey said, speaking up for the
first time since he sat down."
"Well, I kind-of have
to go home and change." He added in a teasing tone. Malik froze
after he uttered those words. He could have killed himself right then
and there. 'Somebody shoot me, please,' he thought
desperately. If only his Rod would let him disappear instead of
control peoples minds, that would come in handy so much more. 'No
sarcasm, now they think I think that they're stupid. BAD MALIK!!!
BAD!!!' Malik sunk a little in his seat, embarrassment and
regret nagging him in the back of his mind, not to mention
stupidity.
"Well, yeah," Yugi said, breaking the
silence once again. "You can't really work in your school
clothes, right Tristan?" Yugi looked over at the tallest of the
boys, who nodded, his eyes not lifting off of Malik.
It was
like he was being kept under close watch, like he would explode at
any moment. Tristan didn't trust him, no one at that table did, maybe
Ryou, but he would be the only one. 'Hell my own family doesn't
trust me. Isis was about to drag me back to Egypt with her!'
Malik looked around at his current situation. 'Actually that
wouldn't be a bad idea.'
"Well, you weren't there
yesterday for more than a few minutes," Tea pointed out. Malik
felt like strangling her. Why was it that everyone was insisting on
him talking. Or were they trying to break his nerves, this was
driving him insane!!! 'Well, at least the rumors would be
true.'
"I'm off work this week," Malik muttered.
Hoping to God that the bell would ring soon, he didn't dare look up
at the clock; Tristan was still watching him. It was like a
surveillance camera, and Malik felt like if he did one thing wrong he
was going to get jumped.
"Oh, well, then you wouldn't
mind meeting us at the arcade?" Yugi asked. Malik looked up,
blinking a couple of times. The arcade, the wanted to go do something
with him? Hope swelled up inside of Malik, but it popped as soon as
he looked at everyone else. The other three were staring at Yugi like
he had grown another head. Ryou just stared at Yugi, but a smile was
playing with his lips.
But Malik could tell the others didn't
want him at the arcade with them, and now everyone was staring at
him, waiting for an answer. 'Wait, if I go, that means another
whole afternoon being watched for one slight hint of insanity and
then get the shit kicked out of me. And we'd be out of school so
there was less of a risk of getting in trouble if someone did that to
me. I would love to go, but if they are acting like this I'd rather
be run over by a school bus. But I can't say no, then I can kiss my
chances of ever getting friends good-bye. But- oh – uh – SHIT!
What do I do?'
Malik opened his mouth to answer, but shut
it tightly, not knowing what he was doing. They were all still
staring at him, he was going to crack, he just knew it. Any minute
now. "Uh . . ."
"He can't," Ryou answered
quickly for him. Malik looked over at Ryou with everyone else. "We're
going to the movies this afternoon, so sorry." Malik nodded in
agreement when everyone looked over at him.
"Maybe next
time then?" Yugi offered.
"Yeah, maybe," that
was all Malik could manage to say. Before he looked up, seeing that
there was another fifteen minutes left of lunch. Malik's eyes
widened. 'No, no way, no way in hell am I sitting here for that
long.'
"Uh, Ryou, could I t-talk to you," Malik
managed, but only because he looked at Ryou and no one else.
"Sure,"
Ryou said uneasily and got up with Malik, but seemed to be the only
one to notice that Malik picked up his stuff when they left. Malik
stood by the side of the building before turning around to face
Ryou.
"I can't do this," his voice and tone showing
how desperate he had been to get away from them.
"What
are you talking about, you were doing f-fine." Fine wasn't
really the word, but he was still in one piece.
"Who are
you kidding Ryou, I was about to blow. I can't stand being over
there." Malik looked close to tears and his voice was straining.
"They don't like me, I know that. And I know you don't like
that, I don't either, but nothing is going to change their minds.
It's just too hard for me, too nerve-wrecking. But I appreciate this,
a lot, you've been my only real friend, ever." Malik paused, his
voice returning to normal.
Ryou smiled a little at the last
part. "Well, I consider you a friend, don't forget that."
Malik nodded, then got an odd look on his face.
"You
didn't really mean it when you said we were going to the movies, did
you?"
"Uh, no."
"Okay, good,"
Malik sighed. "I have to help Odion finish packing up the museum
this afternoon, and I really didn't want to turn you down
too."
"That's okay, I have to do something too,"
Ryou replied. Malik nodded, and the bell rang suddenly through the
school grounds. "I'll see you later okay?"
"All
right," Malik then turned around to leave but Ryou stopped him
once more.
"Are you going to be alright?"
Malik
paused for a moment before he nodded, "Yeah." He smiled at
the white- haired teen who nodded as well and left to get his stuff
back at the table. Malik couldn't help but smile then, even after the
nerve-wrecking near insanity experience he had just been in.
For
the first time in his entire life, he felt like someone cared about
him, and meant it.
---
End of Chapter 2.
And
that sucked! I know it, tell me, come on, tell me it sucked.
Meiko:
It sucked.
Angel: Oh, what do you know! hits Meiko with
large mallet
Meiko: XP
Angel: But she was right,
that sucked. Review please.
THEN YOU'LL GET A BIG BASKET
OF COOKIES AND A SETO PLUSHIE!!!
Seto: They'll get
what.
Angel: Oh stop, you have fans, make them happy.
Seto:
I would if you would GET OFF OF ME!!!
Angel: No you
wouldn't.
Seto: Really?
Angel: yeah, I've completely
messed up your hair! XD Oh, and people, Marik will be here next
chapter! Now, where was I? Oh yeah! continues playing with Seto's
hair
Seto: Help me, please!?!
---
Angel
Dark-Angel302
