In The Aftermath, There Was Chaos. And Yami Said…

In Which Things Are Chaotic

Japanese

Ano – Um…
Koi – Lover, Boy/Girlfriend
Nani? – What?
Urusai! – Shut up!

Bakura's choice of reading material was inspired by the Bakura/Ryou AU fic, 'The Thief' by The Inspector, which is a take-off on the book of the same name.

Baring her teeth, Yami gritted out, "If it's the last thing I ever do, I will make Marik pay for this."

Yugi sighed and, crossing her arms over her rather overdeveloped, even for a girl – which she was now, but only temporarily – chest, shot her koi a look. "Urusai, Yami," she snapped. "You've been repeating various versions of that for the last hour, and I'm sick of it."

"Well, if you'd just let me Mind-Crush him when we all woke up like this…" Yami gestured to her chest, which, thankfully for her, was not as well-endowed as her hikari's.

"It's a practical joke, Yami; there was no malicious intent on Marik's part. You can't kill him or even drive him insane for that," Yugi protested. "Besides, Téa shoved several of those magic chocolates down his throat when she found out what he'd done, so at least he's getting a taste of his own 'medicine' so to speak."

Yami brightened a little at that information. "I still want to have a little…talk…with him, though," she growled.

Rolling her eyes, Yugi muttered, "A talk. Riiiiggght, Yami."

How she wished Marik had grown up more than he had. He was apparently stuck in the preteen boy phase, with about as much intelligence – and hormones – as a thirteen-year-old.

The former dark spirit had used the Millennium Rod, and a spell he'd dug up from…somewhere…to imbue a couple of dozen chocolates with the ability to change the sex of whoever ate them for a specific period of time. He'd brought them to the beach party they'd had this past weekend and handed them out to all the party-goers.

And Joey's spiking of the punch at the party had gotten them all drunk enough to accept the chocolates from Marik. Now, almost no one was their correct gender.

Mokuba hadn't been at the party, and so he'd escaped. The same circumstances had saved Serenity. Mai, no fool she, had stayed away from the punch, and, subsequently, the chocolates. Bakura was able to hold her liquor better than even Joey, and hadn't gotten drunk in the first place, so had steered clear of Marik's chocolates. Not that it would have mattered, since apparently the chocolates only worked on men – Téa had eaten three, and was still female.

Of course, so was everybody else…

At The Other Game Shop

Duke leaned back against her bedroom wall, mirth dancing across her lips as she watched Malik – or, rather, her ass, which was the only part of her that Duke could see – dig through the walk-in closet. "Aren't you glad I kept you from throwing out all your girl clothes?" she said cheekily. "Otherwise you wouldn't have anything to wear."

Malik popped out of the doorway, an armful of clothes in her hands. She scowled at her lover. "And neither would you," she returned smartly. Dropping her pile of vestments on the bed, she proceeded to sort through for items of the feminine apparel that would fit Duke. It would be a pretty time-consuming process since Duke was both taller and broader than her.

"Point," Duke agreed complacently, folding her arms over her chest. She wasn't nearly as well-endowed as Malik was, but since she'd only eaten three chocolates, she hopefully wouldn't have time to get uncomfortable enough with her new 'assets' to need to wear a bra.

Malik, lucky girl, had only eaten two-thirds of one chocolate, so she would probably be back to normal by Thursday.

In the meantime, however…

"Malik?" Duke asked coyly, twirling one lock of raven hair around her finger.

Giving her 'girlfriend' a suspicious glance, Malik said slowly, "Yes…?"

"Aren't you at all curious?"

Malik's eyes narrowed. "About what?"

"What it feels like for a girl," Duke said suggestively, canting her hips forward in a blatant display of implications best left in the bedroom.

Which, actually, was their current locale…

"Nani?" Malik squeaked. She blushed. "You're kidding," she said, voice flat.

Duke just grinned.

"You must be kidding," Malik continued. "Because if you're not, then you've gone absolutely fucking crazy."

"I may be female at the moment, but my hormones are still male," Duke quipped. "And no matter what gender you are, you're damn fine, Malik."

Malik growled. "No fair using my own words against me," she said.

"All's fair in love and sex," Duke said airily.

Groaning, Malik buried her head in her hands.

Taylor (And, For The Foreseeable Future, Wheeler) Residence

"This is all your fault, Joey!" Tristan yelled, her voice rising with each word.

"It was Marik who spiked those chocolates," Joey protested, backing up until she hit the wall. She cringed as the walking embodiment of murderous rage that was her best friend came closer.

"And it was you who spiked the punch so none of us were sober enough not to take any of them," Tristan said pointedly, emphasizing her words by jabbing a finger against Joey's chest.

Joey moaned and slumped back against the wall, burying her head in her hands. "I know, I know…"

Tristan sighed and pulled back, dropping down on the couch. She was so glad her parents were out of town for the next month. Yugi and Yami had it easy, since Solomon already knew about Yami and the Shadow Magic, but his parents still thought they had a normal son with a normal life.

Yeah, right. It's the day after a high school beach party; do you know what gender your child is?

The Black Crown – Upstairs Bedroom

"Wow…that was…" Malik panted, still coming down from the high of her third orgasm.

In the past hour, yet. Women didn't have refractory periods – meaning way more orgasms were possible in the same amount of time as a man's orgasm.

Maybe being a girl wasn't all bad.

And she definitely should have given in to Duke's suggestion sooner, instead of keeping him at arms-length for the past two days. She'd turn back to her regular gender any day now.

Duke stretched like a cat, enjoying the flicker of arousal in Malik's eyes as she performed the movement. Yes, Malik liked guys better than girls – but she still liked breasts, especially when they were attached to her 'girlfriend's' chest. "Yeah, it was," she agreed smugly, eyes raking over her koi's sweat-sheened body.

Malik blushed and made an aborted movement to pull a sheet up over her naked torso. She sighed as she realized it would be a lost cause since Duke had already seen everything she had, and instead just turned onto her side so that her back wasn't on display.

A week of sex – no matter how body-shakingly arousing or heartbreakingly beautiful – was still not enough to fight off decade-old demons.

Maybe two weeks…

"You wanna go again?" Duke asked, trailing one hand suggestively over Malik's left thigh.

Breathing hitching in her throat, Malik could only nod. Even if she wasn't in love with Duke – and she was beginning to think that Cleopatra wasn't the only Queen of Denial – she certainly wanted him.

And he – or, well, for the next eighteen days she – definitely wanted her.

Someone who was physically attracted to Malik, and also genuinely liked her as a person. Not to mention was great in bed. What a novel concept.

Ryou And Bakura's House

"Morning," Ryou yawned as she came down the stairs two days after GC-Day.

Gender-Change Day, of course.

Bakura looked up from her copy of The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner and smiled at the tousled, rumpled, just-out-of-bed-and-sexy-as-all-hell picture her lover made. She'd always thought she was straight…

Maybe she was just Ryou-sexual? Anyway…

"Morning, Ry. Sleep well?" Bakura asked.

Ryou groaned and flopped down next to her on the couch, burying her head in Bakura's shoulder.

Bakura managed to keep the mirth out of her voice, but the smile still crept over her face. "I take it that's a 'no'?" she asked dryly.

One brown eye opened and glared at her. "Why didn't you ever tell me that PMS was this bad?" Ryou demanded. "I swear, these cramps are so awful I feel like I'm being split in half."

"Ah, poor hikari," Bakura said, words teasing, but tone conciliatory. "Lucky me, I don't get PMS."

"You don't?" Ryou asked, distinctly remembering several instances when she'd written her mischievous behavior off to her 'monthly hormonal eruptions' as she called them.

Sounded like a good description to her. Ryou felt like her whole body was waging war against itself.

She smirked. "No, I just use it as an excuse to act like a bitch."

An involuntary grin came over Ryou's face. "That is so you, 'Kura."

She shrugged, one arm coming around to wrap around Ryou's shoulders. "I gotta be me, Ryou."

Ishtar Residence

Malik should have been surprised by the fact that Isis opened the door before she could even get her key out – but she wasn't. Her older sister didn't use the Millennium Tauk to tell the future all that often. And when she did, it was more like the Tauk used her. But the longer the golden Item was in her possession, the more precognizant she got without its use.

Telemarketers had almost quit calling their house since no one ever answered when they did.

"Hello, Malik," Isis greeted her 'sister.'

Scuffing her feet against the welcome mat, Malik gave a crooked smile. "Hey, Isis," Malik said lowly as she stared with wary caution past her sister towards the interior of the apartment.

"Marik isn't here," Isis reassured the other. "You want to talk?" she asked needlessly. She knew what Malik was there for.

Malik nodded gratefully.

Moments later found the two – for the moment – female Ishtars sitting across from each other in the living room.

"What did you want to talk about, Malik?" Isis asked.

Taking a deep breath, Malik quickly spelled out her reasons for being there. "Do you know what spell Marik used in those chocolates?"

Isis blinked once, deliberately. She'd seen this coming, of course, but still hadn't quite been convinced that Malik would actually go through with her request.

Oh, Malik… Isis thought, compassion causing her heart to constrict. How could I not have noticed how low your self-esteem has gotten? I thought you knew… You don't need to change in order for people to love you. "Yes, but why would you want to use it? I thought you disliked being a girl."

Malik ducked her head. "It isn't all bad," she said defensively, but her tone wasn't very convincing. At all.

Quirking one raven brow, Isis waited for her 'sister' to continue.

Malik sighed and slumped back against the couch. "I…all right, I do dislike it. Hate it, really, despite the…" She blushed and looked down, her eyes glued to the floor. "…rather nice benefits. I like being a guy. But…" She halted, unable to make herself continue with her train of thought. But I like…love Duke more…

"Malik…" Isis said gently, coming over to wrap an arm around her younger sibling. " Duke likes you as a guy, too. He doesn't only want you because you're female right now. He likes you for you. Because of who you are. No matter what gender you happen to be."

Tears pricked at Malik's eyes before she roughly brushed them away. "How can you be so sure?" she asked, breath hitching with suppressed sobs. "You may be able to see the future, but you can't tell what people are thinking."

"I do see the future," Isis said agreeably. "And I've seen yours," she revealed.

Malik blinked in surprise. "You have?"

Isis nodded silently.

"What…what did you see?" Malik asked, throat dry from anxious anticipation.

"It was at least five years in the future," Isis said.

"And?" Malik asked anxiously, impatient.

Isis smiled. "You and Duke looked very happy together."

"We did?" Malik asked dubiously, unable to keep hope from rising inside him.

"Do you not believe me?" Isis asked archly.

Malik shook her head slowly, face hidden by a curtain of flaxen hair. "Of course it's not that, it's just…" She sighed, fiddling with a loose thread on the couch. "You know me – I've never been the most optimistic of people."

"I'm not saying that you and Duke will be together forever," Isis cautioned, tipping Malik's head up until the younger girl's lavender gaze met her own green one. "Even I can't be sure of that. But Duke genuinely cares about you. Loves you, even. Just the way you are. Just the way you will be tomorrow," she said, the last sentence punctuated by a smile.

A lump forming in her throat, Malik choked back her tears. Smiling back, she said quietly, "Thanks, Isis."

"What are sisters for?" Isis asked, one arm looping companionably around her younger sibling's shoulders.

Malik smiled. What else, indeed.

Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch… Ano, I Mean The Kame Game Shop…

"It's not the worst thing in the world, Yami," Yugi tried to console his other. He'd turned back to his normal gender two days previously and had been dealing with a short-tempered yami ever since. Sour grapes were indeed a bitter fruit. "And this go-round, we know there's a time limit. Each chocolate only lasts for a specific amount of time. You won't be a girl forever. I wasn't."

Yami's grimace – which looked just as fierce as when he was male, if slightly more winsome now that he was female – deepened. "Maybe not, but it'll still feel like it."

Something like dread coiled around Yugi's heart. "How many did you eat, Yami?" he asked fearfully. Marik had made several dozen of the little candies, and in all the confusion, no one had bothered to count how many were left over before packing them up to be disposed of.

"Five," Yami said, almost in a whisper.

Yugi breathed a sigh of relief. Okay, this wasn't necessarily good, but it wasn't as bad as he'd been fearing. "Well, then this shouldn't last for more than five weeks, maybe less. Each candy was supposed to last a week, but depending on metabolism, and some magical factors, they could only last four or five days. So in a little over a month, you'll be back to your old self. Just in time for school," he finished evilly.

Yami put her head in her hands and groaned.