No, I am not dead. Shut up and give an authoress a break. I have a history of taking forever to finish anything. And it doesn't help that I don't do much with fan fiction anymore anyway. Also bad that I kinda lost some of my plot…and even worse, I lost a bit of my writing style.

Watch FFN butcher this. The last time I posted something, FFN destroyed it. Yeah, I was pretty pissed about that. Whatever. I really don't care so much anymore. If you look at my bio, you can understand my full annoyance.

Oh, and by the way, technically everything I've written if breaking the TOS because I have copy and pasted lyrics in my writing. Oops, sorry, I do like my opening quotes. Cualquier

Chapter Six

"I fall like the sands of time, like some broken rhyme, at feet no longer there." --No Reply: Cowboy Bebop

"What did you do!"

Otogi only looked up from his lunch with a small smile, a twinkle of amusement shining in his eyes. He gave no answer to the angered fellow before him and merely leaned back. He ignored the yell of a teacher from across the cafeteria to sit his chair down on all four legs.

Hands came forth and slammed down on the table. "What the Hell have you been doing!"

"Is something wrong?" Otogi asked innocently. Two seconds later an arm flung his lunch tray off his table. His smile turned into a smirk. "Why are you looking at me like that, Bakura?"

"Where's Yami?" the light-haired figure forced out through clenched teeth.

"How should I know that?"

"Otogi, what the fuck are you up to!" Bakura was back to yelling.

Otogi didn't seem to care. He only leaned forward, arms folding on the table where his lunch tray used to be and smiled casually up at the other. His voice was so calm, his attitude like liquid. "Kings don't enjoy falling, you see. And when they fall, they get angry. And when they get angry, they like to rebel."

Bakura's eyes widened, scared suddenly. "…What did you do? Where is he?"

"I don't know. That isn't my problem. All that matters is that I won, you see? I'm the new superior one. Again. You run under me now."

"This school is run equally," he started now just scrambling to hold his position. He could find Yami later, hopefully. He knew it had been odd to see the Ishtars -- yes, both of them -- gliding through the hallways a bit overly confident and then less and less of Yami being around. He should have caught on more quickly. He should have seen something wrong sooner. But Malik still looked like Hell…problem was, Yami did too.

"Not anymore, Bakura," Otogi stood up, leaning to one side. The cafeteria began to empty. People passed by the table in a flooding to get to their next classes. "I'm on the top of it all. I'm the top-cat, the head honcho, get it? Why don't you start your lower duties by making my crown?" he laughed and entered the river of students, started to be swept away when Bakura's hand flew out and clutched his wrist tightly. "Oh, please don't protest. I'll only sick Mariku on you." His eyes were warning and Bakura let him go and Otogi was gone.

He stood there; the only student remaining in the cafeteria. "…Mariku?"

Bakura grabbed Malik and dragged him away from their science class and towards a stairwell. He waited in silence until the halls had settled down before rounded on the boy. "This is all your fault. You just had to go sic your brother on him, didn't you?" voice was hushed, but still bitter.

Malik stared at a wall. "It wasn't me. I wasn't apart of anything."

But he wasn't believed. "Do you know how things will be with Otogi 'in charge' again? Do you even realize how you just came in and shattered a system! Sure, it was all Otogi who developed the system, him and all those on his side. Maybe even what was my side. You just made yourself worse off! Do you even know that! You had it easy! Easy! Easier than he ever had it -- especially when Otogi was in charge! Now if we find you splattered against a wall with blood coming from your head, it won't be a surprise, because that's god damned what has happened before to him!"

Malik shrunk back even more, almost tripping back on the stairs and he changed route quickly against a wall. "I never said anything to Mariku. I don't know why anything happened," he whispered, eyes trembling as thoughts rushed through his head. Bakura gave him more information than he should have, more than he probably even wanted to. "Why not break the system entirely? Why not let the teachers run the school like they should…?"

"Look, Desert-Boy, those sort of ideas never worked. The teachers ruled and chaos broke out more often, because all they did when it happened was give a detention. That was it. Things kept happening. But maybe the school never was run by them, because Otogi was always here, and we started to always do as Otogi said -- it was how things worked. Anyone who moved into this town, to this school, had it hard. But only for a certain time."

"Somehow I don't believe that," he was calming down. Bakura just seemed plain angry, but less at him. He didn't show any motives to thrash out at Malik.

"You're 'certain time' has hardly matched up to anyone's from the past. Don't think a few weeks or whatever are enough to clear your record."

"What's the record…?"

"A year," Bakura growled.

Malik backed further into the wall. Was he going to hold a new record? He wanted to run from this place quickly if that was going to be true. But Bakura wasn't done yet. He wanted to keep talking. "And the person holding that record is Yami." Malik stared at him. "That's right. Yami. It took him a year, you see, for him to create a whole new persona -- he got lost behind its mask -- and fought through Otogi. Could say he 'edited' the hierarchy at that point. It was always a real mess though."

"Are you done, Bakura?"

The dead-panned voice made the two straighten. Bakura turned around, Malik had been so focused on the other talking that he never noticed Yami standing at the top of the stairs. He walked down slowly and stood a bit off to the side near the two, eyes weary and heavy. He looked so tired. So weak.

"…Y-Yami…?" Bakura's eyes widened with worry. "What'd he do to you…?"

Yami smirked, but it wasn't even fooling himself. His body was thinner than it used to be; he was more of a stick than Malik was. "There was a revolt. The former ruler made an uprising," the words came out nonchalantly. He glanced towards Malik. "Enjoy the little story time of Bakura's?"

"Uh…well…" he trailed off, not entirely sure how to respond.

Yami approached him, closely, strands of hair drooping down over his face and blowing out to touch Malik's cheek as he spoke. "You won't be stupid and make a mask now, will you?" he was complete zombie like; hardly even blinked. "Those who oppose it will only work harder to break it. And they can. They will. There's always a flaw even in those seemingly perfect, little masks…"

"Yami, I think you're really freaking him out."

His head rolled along his shoulders, looking back at Bakura. "At least I'm not beating him."

"Yes, at least there's that…" Bakura sighed, then added more to himself, "I doubt you would at this point."

"You see," Yami trapped Malik, hands against the wall and arms boxing him in. "Wherever you turn there will always be a vulture, waiting for one little stumble, and then sweeping in closer, catching its prey off guard, and finally watching it fall and scavenge at whatever is left. These vultures will pick apart a body: alive or dead. And they do it for fun, not to protect themselves. Not at all."

"Ok, Yami, now you're just scaring me…" Bakura reached out to try and touch the other's shoulder, to try and move him away from Malik, but Yami recoiled towards the wall, one of his arms pushing into Malik's chest. His eyes were wild, animal like. Bakura's hand pulled quickly back and Yami sunk to the floor, head falling into his arms.

The motion was so quick that it seemed as though he had practiced it enough, recently at that. Malik glanced down and stepped away, not enough to be incredibly noticeable, but just enough to keep him away from the broken body.

What wasn't on Malik's agenda was Yami sliding against the wall and against Malik's legs. He stilled and looked towards Bakura for help. When receiving none, he only sighed and stared at the floor. "This is my brother's and my fault, isn't it?"

"I personally want to straight out yell yes, but something else in my mind is telling me that'd be kind of wrong. I suppose the blame could be placed on anyone, but it was inevitable that this would happen." He shook his head. They needed to move soon; sixth period would be over and he couldn't have both Yami and Malik in the halls. He almost found himself naturally defending Malik now with Yami's false persona knocked down. "Yami?"

The head nodded slightly to show life in it.

"Where have you been for the past few weeks…?"

"Couldn't go home, was being watched," the jumbled words responded. "Hid around Merle's often. Couldn't be found there."

"Um…that's just great then. We have to move, Yami… Can you get up?" Bakura's eyes darted around, trying to find a clock.

"Sure I can," the other mumbled, pushing up from the floor. For a moment Bakura actually thought that Yami could stand, but his eyes widened when his friend tipped forward, and instinctively moved his arms out. …Only Malik caught the falling body before Bakura was even close.

"I got him," Malik insisted firmly. "If we can get him outside we should be set. "I'd like to find my brother too."

"And we have to avoid Otogi if possible. I'm sure he'd just love to find Yami at the moment…" Bakura sighed.

"He's in study hall seventh period, same as me."

"Then we'll take this stairwell." Bakura was already on the move when the bell rang. He waited at the bottom of the stairs as Malik tried to get Yami's body to move…even just a little. Yami seemed barely conscious though. Bakura wondered when the last time the other actually ate was.

"My brother technically has Spanish class. He'll probably be late anyway, so I can catch him there," Malik explained. He dragged Yami passed Bakura and they continued on. But Malik's footsteps paused and he looked up at Bakura. "I didn't mean for this to happen."

"Yeah, I got that. Can't change any of that now though…"

Malik nodded and pulled Yami's frail form closer to him as he carried him down the hall.

"Well, if it isn't the fallen ruler…" Bakura and Malik froze at the voice. Bakura instinctively moved behind Malik to protect both him and the body strung against his shoulders. "I quite like being on top again. And it's funny…how much the hierarchy reformed beneath me, really, it is… But none of you seem to be laughing much."

"Otogi," Bakura sneered, fists curling. "You did this…"

"Of course!" he smiled in return. "But it was a game and he lost. I though Yami won all games? I'm disappointed. He didn't make things much fun for me…"

"How could you do this to someone!" Malik snapped.

"That question shouldn't be coming from you," Otogi chuckled, slipping near a wall and moving around Bakura's side and up to Malik's. "Don't you know? It was your brother who gave me the idea for the game. I thought it was clever… What was it he called it…?"

"Flip, Target, Destroy," a new voice chuckled. Otogi smirked at it, but the others weren't as amused.

"That's what it was…so very right… Thank your for the idea, Mariku."

"I thought you were a better person than this…" Malik stared at his brother.

"I'm a very good person! I had to keep you safe, Malik! And I succeeded!" Mariku pointed at the limp body. His eyes narrowed upon it. "Yet there you are, protecting the one that gave you pain without ever caring about you. Why are you protecting him! Drop him to the ground, Malik! He's not deserving of your attention!"

"I'd never wish my fate upon anyone else."

"Isn't that just sweet…" Otogi snorted. He swiped out a hand to grab for Yami, but Bakura moved in the way. "Bakura, you realize now that I'm back where I belong, that you serve under me, not with me like Yami's little games."

It was all a statement. It was all forced towards them as if it were the only way. Was it? Yami couldn't defend himself anymore and the other two weren't doing such a good job against Mariku and Otogi. Malik wondered what was making his brother the way he was… It had to be all the work in Egypt he had to go through; it had to be Shaadi stressing duties upon him.

Or maybe…his brother had been like this for awhile. But even if Malik was defending Yami now, Mariku would never harm him, right? It's impossible, Malik forced himself to think.

"Just go home," Malik whispered, his head lowered. "Please, just go home…you aren't helping me…you're making everything worse…"