Hibiko: Ooh, new fic. I know, I know, I should be updating 'Locked Doors', but nooo, I have to write a new one! Yes, I'm bitchy like that xP

Bakura: o.O She paired me with Ryou..again.

Ryou: What, you don't like me? -sniffles-

Bakura: NOOO! It's not that, but I wish she would do a different couple someday.

Hibiko: Congrats, Bakura, you have gotten your wish! On a whim, this is yaoi, shonen-ai, however ya look at it. It's Malik paired with my character Dea. And gasp, Dea is a boy. Albino, blue eyes, thigh-length hair. oh my Ra, it's longer than Ryou's. -faints-

Bakura: Damn, I have to do the disclaimer again. Anyways..Hibiko doesn't own YuGiOh or it would be banned from daytime shows because of the almost-to-none dueling and lots more fluffy yaoi. x.x And Ryou and I would be the center, and Yami would grovel at my feet! Ahahaha! (No seriously, I said that! o.o)

Without further adieu..

That's The Way You Are


Beeeeep! Malik jumped as the shrill alarm clock's bell rang right beside his head. He rubbed his sleepy lavender eyes and yawned, stretching. And then he sighed; another boring day of school. Malik grabbed his boring old school uniform and changed quickly, not bothering to brush his hair. It was fine the way it was, wasn't it?

"Psycho! Get your lazy ass out of bed!" Malik heard Ishizu's voice from downstairs, probably yelling at his yami Marik. "I'm up!" Marik protested, and there was a whacking sound.

"They argue like a married couple," Malik chuckled. He went downstairs and abandoned hopes of breakfast; anyway, he had eaten around midnight. On a whim, yes; or was he psychic? Not likely, Malik mused as he went out the door. He spotted a head of brown hair a ways up on the sidewalk. And a trenchcoat, and a briefcase..

Seto Kaiba was walking to school!

Oh, yeah! That was the ultimate blackmail! Maybe he had gone broke! Malik tiptoed towards the CEO, intending to scare him when he spoke up.

"I know you're there, Malik." Seto said calmly. Malik pouted.

"I hate you." He said. Seto shrugged. "Come back later and see if I care yet," he said. Malik frowned. "You're mean."

"And you're stupid. Balances out, doesn't it?"

"Bastard.." The two walked along in reasonable silence until they got to the school, where the two parted. Malik checked his watch; he was early, for once! Wow, what an accomplishment! He made a mental note to write that down in his 'Book of Firsts' when he ran smack-dab (A/N: I love that word! xD) into his classroom door. Malik frowned, rubbed his head, and went in.

He spotted a head of long white hair towards the back of the class. Malik was about to call 'Ryou!" When he noticed two things. First, was the fact that Ryou never went anywhere without Bakura. And two, this person had sapphire blue eyes, ones that were very different from the doe-eyed hikari. The person--was it a girl or a boy? Malik couldn't tell--smiled brightly and waved. Malik felt oddly attracted to the pretty boy/girl thing. He's kinda cute, Malik thought, and mentally slapped himself. Itai..Stupid Malik, thinking stupid thoughts about a stupid kid you don't even stupid know yet..stupid.

"Hey there," Malik said as casually as he could, striding over to the boy/girl thing's desk. He grinned. "I'm Malik Ishtar. Are you new here?"

The boy/girl thing nodded, smiling brightly. "Yeah, I'm new. My name's Dea Shikoru, nice to meet you Malik." Now it was obvious to Malik that Dea was a boy. Well, that made him even cuter! Malik wasn't as straight as most people thought..but then again, neither were any of the boys at their school. Chances were that this boy was either flamboyantly gay, homophobic, or so straight that it was scary. Right now he could rule out 'so straight that it was scary' because he was making eye contact and smiling, thus leaving the other two. Malik swallowed.

"Nice to meet you too, Dea. Hey, if you want I'll show you around school today," Malik offered. Dea nodded, smiling gratefully. "Thanks, I'd appreciate that, Ishtar-san."

"No need for that, just call me Malik. Or if you feel the need to, Malik Almighty. But mostly just Malik," the aforementioned joked. His grin widened as Dea giggled.

"Okay, Malik." Dea replied, still chuckling. The door banged open; Malik and Dea winced in unison, the former turning to look at the doorway and the latter craning his neck to see around him.

In strode Seto Kaiba, world's youngest CEO billionaire, white trenchcoat flying behind him. The material billowed behind him in a nonexistant breeze. "Why is his coat flapping around if there's no wind?" Dea asked. Malik walked over, shoving the CEO out of the way and looking into the hallway. There was a giant fan set on the low setting. Malik smirked evilly as he walked over and flipped the switch from low to high and Kaiba's trenchcoat flew over his head. "Giant fan," Malik replied casually, sitting down in a desk beside Dea.

"Bastard," Kaiba muttered under his breath at Malik. The platinum blonde Egyptian merely smiled arrogantly. Dea, however smiled and waved. "Good morning."

"Good morning," Kaiba returned, smiling back. Malik blinked. That was odd..had Kaiba gone soft on the world? He never smiled, like, never ever never never ever never. Ooh, too many never ever's. That hurt, Malik thought, rubbing his head. But he quickly got un-spaced-out-ish when Kaiba made a move on his man.

WHOA! Where the flying fuck did that come from? Malik hadn't even known the albino teen for ten minutes yet, and already he was getting protective.

"Seto Kaiba. You must be new here," Kaiba was saying. Dea was smiling as he shook his hand. "I'm Dea Shikoru, it's very nice to meet you Kaiba-san."

"No, just call me Seto." Kaiba shrugged.

"Alright, Seto." Dea face flushed light pink. Malik fumed. Kaiba was going to hell, or at least the shadow realm. But, fortunately (or unfortunately, for you who want Kaiba to be sent to the shadow realm) the bell for class rang and everyone filed in. Malik gave out his usual greetings (one of which was 'good morning, motherfucker--I mean, Yami.') The teacher, whose name was Mr. Bob, looked around before spotting Dea.

"Class, we have a new student! Dea Shikoru, would you please stand up?" Mr. Bob asked. Dea complied, flushing slightly darker. "Well, Dea, have you met anyone yet?"

"Yes," Dea replied quietly, "I met Malik." Malik grinned triumphantly, looking over at Kaiba. Kaiba looked just a little more than pissed right now that Dea hadn't mentioned his name.

"Well, seeing as you know him Mr. Malik, you may be his guide for the rest of the day. Make sure he doesn't get lost or anything, or you'll have detention for quite a while." Malik nodded and Dea sat back down, tucking a lock of white hair behind his ear. For the rest of the class, the two passed notes, chatted aimably, and simply revelled in their newfound friendship.

And both were unaware of the eyes that followed them.


Whew.. -wipes head off- That was excruciating. Took me four damn days, that did. And it's barely a page...I'm so ashamed. -sobs-

Kib muse: O.O And since when the hell am I a muse?

Bakura muse: Uhm..yeah. I'm with her on that one.

Ryou muse: Whee! I'm a muse! -flies past and crashes into a wall-

Okay, who gave Ryou sugar? Nevermind..I'll clean up later. Off to write another chappie for 'Locked Doors'. Buh-bye, and remember to review!