Another chapter for you all but as usual, I haven't got any reviews at all! So, no one to reply to.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, and for this part only, "The Logical Song" by Supertramp. The original, not that shitty version by Scooter.
Warning: This is yaoi, as usual, although there isn't any in this chapter. Instead we've got the introduction of Malik and Bakura (who definitely deserve all the warnings you can get) and there's a very bad word in here, which I won't say because it's nasty. This is not my personal opinion, it's one of the main themes of the story so please don't flame me about it.
Note: Hmm, I can't think of anything. Except for there will be people who will be OOC from now onwards. Oh yeah, a reminder that there are no ancient spirits, this is an AU.
"Blah" is speaking, #blah# is thinking and songs while /blah/ is emphasis. xxxxxx and xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx are dividers in a chapter.
Yet again, there are more introductions (far too many to count) as now all the 'lights' are in here, it's time for the arrival of the 'darks'! Heh, let's get on with it...
At the end of the last chapter:
"Don't get all emotional on me, it's nothing major! Look, here's your house." They stopped in front of number five. "I'll come pick you up tomorrow at about quarter to eight and we'll walk to school together. You'll have to walk with my sister but she's usually with her friend and is slower than me anyway. What do you say?"
"Yeah, that'd be…cool." Ryou said slowly, not wanting to sound too eager. Marik smiled, seeming to be all knowing before turning to continue down the road. "See you tomorrow Marik!"
"Yeah, see ya!"
Chapter two: The Illusion is Cracked
"So then what does he do? He only goes and makes the teacher have a nervous breakdown by asking him to explain it again after spending a whole lesson trying to do just that!" Tristan said as the group sat together at lunch.
Several weeks had passed since Ryou joined and school was going ok, if slowly for the group of six. Ryou had started doing P.E. occasionally but he never did football along with Yugi while Marik had turned out to be rather good at throwing the ball, even if he did end up hitting the other players a lot of the time. Meanwhile, maths had not improved for Joey as Tristan had just explained.
"But I don't understand it when he tries and explains it to me! It's just a pile of mumbo jumbo!" Joey exclaimed, trying to get the others to back him up.
"I think it's time for you to invest in extra help." Téa commented grimly and the others nodded in agreement, equalling Téa's face.
"Yeah, maybe you're right." As he said this, the group noticed someone walking past them who looked remarkably like Yugi only he was a lot taller and had crimson eyes that were smaller and darker. He looked over at them and smiled when he saw Yugi.
"Hey Yugi!" He walked over to where they were, causing Marik to frown and look away. "We haven't spoken in ages!"
"Yami, why don't you come and sit down with us?" Yugi suggested and he turned to the others while Yami did as he said, "Guys, this is Yami Atemu and he lives down the road from me. We used to play together when we were little." Yugi explained to them. "Yami, these are my friends Ryou, Tristan, Téa, Joey and Marik."
"I know Marik, we went to junior high together and you must be the famous Joey Wheeler who's just made their maths teacher have a breakdown." Yami said, causing the former to sniff while the other blushed in embarrassment.
"Hey, what set are you in for maths?" Yugi asked.
"Set one."
"Maybe /you/ could give Joey extra help!" Téa suggested.
"Extra help?"
"Yeah, I had it back in junior high but I don't think Téa wants to do it for another four years." Joey said while Téa nodded in agreement.
"I suppose I could help…" Yami said slowly.
"Yay, no more moaning from Joey!" Tristan said, doing a little dance of celebration.
"What do you mean? We've got physics and C.R.E. this afternoon! If that isn't a time to moan then I don't know what is!" Joey ranted, his arms flaying about in the air. "Physics is bad enough as it is but put together with C.R.E. is absolute-"
"All right Joey, we get the point! Now just shut up already!" Marik suddenly snapped and Joey was so shocked by what he had just said that he /did/ shut up.
"Sorry man, didn't mean to annoy you." Joey said quietly. There was an uncomfortable silence until Yami stood up.
"Anyway, I'd better get going now. See you guys sometime."
"Hey, why don't you come to the park with us after school Yami?" Yugi said.
"You go to the park?" He asked, curious.
"Yeah, on Fridays because most of us are busy at the weekend so we don't see each other. My grandpa picks up our bags and we stay at the park until half five when he comes pick us four up to take us home while Marik and Ryou walk as they live just down the road from there." He explained. "So what do you say?"
"Sounds cool, I'll meet you by the gates then." Yami left the group, Marik muttering curses under his breath at him. Once he was gone, Téa turned on Marik.
"There was no need to be nasty Marik!"
"I'm sorry but unless Joey /wants/ extra C.R.E., he'd be well advised to be careful around Atemu."
"Why?"
"Because in junior high, he gained a reputation of being a snitch and you know how important C.R.E. is to the council. They would have /made/ you like it." Marik said to Joey.
"What did he do to you then?" Ryou asked, the first thing he had said this lunchtime.
"Not him in particular, but snitches in general. They're the reason I was forced to have therapy for a whole year." He blurted out, his eyes clouding in anger.
"Therapy for what?" Suddenly the anger was gone and Marik shook his head, realising what he had just said.
"Nothing important."
The afternoon lessons passed slowly, but then it was physics and C.R.E. so that was understandable. For an explanation of C.R.E. (the terrible thing) it's basically Citizenship with R.E. Mostly it's like a watered down version of politics and everybody hates it. They spent most of their time copying out of the textbook and even Yugi, the calm and neutral one, detested it. So they spent their time amusing themselves by doing a countdown on a piece of paper and passing it around, each person crossing off a minute.
They left the lesson as soon as the bell rang and walked out of the gate, meeting Yami at the front. Marik frowned moodily, trailing behind the others as they chatted happily to him once they had dropped their bags off with Yugi's Grandpa. They entered the park and still feeling alone, Marik considered going home until Yugi turned around and noticing his sad look, stopped walking with others and waited for him.
"Hey Marik, are you all right?" He asked, smiling gently but suddenly his eyes widened in fear and he pointed over Marik's shoulder. "Err Marik…" Seeing the look on his face, he turned around, only to be met with a pair of pale blue eyes and a large amount of light grey hair.
"Marik Ishtar." They spat, looking down at him. He felt anger flowing through his body as he glared.
"Malik Wood." He glanced up and down, noticing the uniform for the first time. "I thought you were expelled from school." He commented haughtily, crossing his arms.
"And /I/ thought you were still in therapy but that's not the point." He replied, smirking as he peered over Marik's shoulder. "And who's your /little/ friend?"
"He has got nothing to do with this so keep him out of it." Marik growled.
"Looks a lot like Yami, which reminds me, did you find out who it was that landed you in therapy for a year?" Malik said tauntingly. Yugi saw Marik clench his fists in anger and not wanting him to get into trouble, he stepped forward so he was standing next to Marik.
"Come on Marik. He's not worth the effort."
"Did Marik ever tell you why he was in therapy?" Malik suddenly asked Yugi.
"No he didn't but he doesn't have to if he feels uncomfortable about it." He replied bravely, grabbing Marik's arm to try and drag him away.
"What, even if it was corrective therapy, type F?"
"You fucking bastard!" Marik yelled, lunging forward and knocking Malik over while Yugi reeled from the shock of what Malik had just said. F-therapy was really bad, the people remained outcasts for the rest of their lives. Marik was probably only still around because he held a Millennium Item and so it was important for him to get rehabilitated.
Yugi felt something knock into him and realising it was Marik's bag, he backed away to avoid the two boys who were currently rolling around on the floor, kicking and punching when possible. He heard footsteps thundering getting near and saw the others running towards him as well as several people wandering over to see what was going on. By now Malik had Marik pinned down and had his knee pressed into his stomach while squeezing his wrists hard.
"Typical." One boy tutted, also wearing blue uniform. He had a red and black diamond checked bandana holding back most of his black hair while the rest was tied together. He rolled his piercing green eyes at the two on the floor.
"You know him?" Téa asked quickly, staring at the boy.
"Well yeah, I suppose so…"
"Then get him off!" She demanded, pointing to Marik and Malik.
"Sorry, no can do. This feud goes back a long way, I'd be signing my own death sentence if I got involved." Suddenly Malik was thrown off Marik and he stood up quickly, facing Marik as he hissed in annoyance.
"Now that was just low…"
"Well that's alright then, seeing as you're the scum of the earth." Marik retorted as they began to circle each other.
xxxxxx
"Hello Ryou." Someone whispered and Ryou looked around, surprised when he saw similar coloured hair and steely grey eyes.
"Who are you?" He asked, taking a step backwards. He felt nervous being this close to him, he seemed to represent trouble and he felt like something bad was going to happen.
"My name is Bakura." He noticed the look of shock on Ryou's face and smiled. "Yes, the same name as your surname."
"What do you want with me?"
"Don't look so worried, I just wanted to see if you're okay." He turned to face him. "After all, you must feel awful having bulimia."
"How do you know that?" Ryou squeaked, upset that someone knew about it and they looked like they would tell any number of people just for fun.
"I know everybody's secrets." He looked around the group. "For instance, I know Yugi spent a year in hospital with a life threatening disease and /he/ has the Millennium Puzzle. Marik has the Rod and ended up in therapy because one of his friends was a faggot. Malik's jealous of him because he has friends and family who care about him while Duke," He nodded to the boy with black hair. "Is possibly the only person who likes Malik and holds a lot of contraband, some of it belonging to Marik."
"How do you know all this?" Ryou demanded as Bakura shook his head.
"See how we're all connected? Joey's got dyscalculia (1) while the only reason Tristan acts like a dumbass is because he doesn't want to leave Joey on his own. And Téa's now got a crush on Yami and he's the only person who isn't a member of the council who knows where the Millennium Eye is /and/ who has it." He paused and looked into the distance. "And although Kaiba's trying to look casual, he actually has a lot on his mind as someone's hacking onto his computers, making his security technology…well, not very secure." Ryou saw a figure under a tree not very far away from where they were and assumed it was 'Kaiba'. But he couldn't believe half the things he had been told, how could one person know so much? In his heart though, Ryou knew it was true.
"Then what is /your/ secret?" He said sarcastically.
"Now why would I tell you that?" Bakura replied, turning back to Ryou. "So then, how does it feel to be a Nancy with a illness to go with it? That you're a freak and you're all alone in a world that doesn't accept you. Everywhere you go, people wonder what you are and how you can live the way you do. I bet the others are only friends with you because they feel pity for you and how useless you are…" He continued to whisper, his smile increasing as Ryou looked more and more upset. "Why do you continue living, there's no point."
"You'll regret saying that you fool…" Suddenly Ryou's eyes started to glow blue and the Ring appeared, glowing too as a blast of energy issued from it, hitting Bakura directly in the chest and knocking him over.
The others looked over when they heard the blast and they backed away in shock as his eyes continued to glow. Even Marik and Malik stopped fighting and Malik frowned when he saw Bakura on the ground.
"What the fuck did you do?" He snarled and Ryou's head snapped in his direction.
"Nothing you don't deserve too." The darkness seemed to increase in his voice as Malik fell to the ground, eyes closed.
"Ryou, what are you doing?" Téa yelled, covering her face to stop herself from crying at what had just happened. The glow disappeared and he stumbled backwards a few steps, taking in the looks on their faces and the people lying on the grass.
"What happened?" He backed away, a frightened look on his face. "Oh no, I've done it again." He glanced at the group again before running away towards the gates of the park.
"Hey Ryou, wait!" Marik said, snatching his bag from Yugi before running after him. The others stood in silence, still not quite sure what had happened while the other boy stepped forward and inspected the two bodies on the ground.
"Hmm, interesting. Well that certainly made my day…" He commented, flicking back a stray lock of black hair.
"Why don't you just leave us alone, seeing as you haven't got anything nice to say?" Tristan snapped, stepping forward with his fist in front of him.
"Well it was /your/ friend who knocked them out." He retorted, crossing his arms.
"Because of what /they/ did! Tristan's right, if you haven't got anything nice to say then don't say anything at all." Yugi added, standing beside Tristan.
"That's a bit of an attitude to have for a ten year old but whatever. It's not like I care…" He said before walking away towards the other side of the park.
"Some people just shouldn't be allowed out…" Téa said distastefully.
"Hey guys, what are we going to do about these two here?" Joey suddenly asked, indicating the two boys on the ground.
"Just leave them, they're not worth bothering about." Yami said, turning away to prove his point.
"But then someone's only worth bothering about if there are suspicions about them in your opinion." Bakura replied, sitting up and rubbing his head. "Where's the little shit head gone?"
"Don't you dare call him that! What gives you the right to say stuff like that about him? He didn't do anything to you!" Téa screeched.
"He had the cheek to-" He paused, one so he could stand up but mostly because he wasn't actually sure what had happened. Then he realised, it was so bloody obvious. "So he's another member of the Millennium Item society…too bad he's completely cracked." He commented, dusting off his trousers.
"Shut up, you don't know anything about what he's been through!" Yugi snapped, enraged that someone could talk so lightly about it.
"I know he's got bulimia and problems with his emotions so they get channelled into the wrong things. Which is bad news, seeing as the holders of the Millennium Items are supposed to be perfect." Bakura stopped and turned to face Yugi. "But then, you aren't exactly perfect yourselves, you and Marik. You, with your disease and stumpiness while Marik's profile could cause a field day with the press if they knew. F-therapy, bouts of extreme violence, arson…the list seems endless." He picked up his bag, flung it onto his shoulder and began to walk away before glancing back and shouting, "Do your friends seem as nice now, Yugi? If you think that's bad, you don't want to know what I know about the rest of you!"
He disappeared into the gathering gloom, leaving behind a group of people who were completely astounded by what they had heard. Who would have guessed that Ryou and Marik had so many problems? And that there was someone who knew stuff about them that nobody else knew? That scared most of them, everybody had secrets they didn't want others to know about…
"We should probably go before the creepy guy wakes up. I don't want to deal with anything else today…" Joey whispered, afraid that he would wake him up.
"Yeah, I'll go and call my Grandpa seeing as the shop's shut now." Yugi said and the group left the scene, Yugi reaching into his pocket for his mobile phone.
The darkness continued to stain the land, mixing the senses up as time poured downwards into the infinity of the bottom bulb and twisted the shapes of everything that could be seen. All that was left was a black-like figure that rose from the ground and looked around, their seemingly glowing eyes piercing the darkness as it crept through. But then it stumbled and swore, very badly.
"Fucking hell, why am I still here in this shit hole?" It questioned. "Oh yeah, because Bakura thought it would be funny to piss Nancy off. And although Nancy doesn't know his secret, I do and one day I'll tell a certain brown-haired boy who'll be very interested in my information." It stopped talking as it walked to the entrance where it was finally lighted in all its glory. Malik looked down the road and grinned. "And one day Marik, you'll realise it was me who made your life absolute hell and there's not a single thing you can do to me to change it." He chuckled to himself as he disappeared once more into the darkness of night…
xxxxxx
It was dinner time at the Muto household but so far, little had been said, Yugi still thinking about what had happened and Solomon concerned by the behaviour of the group when he had come to pick them up. They were usually chatting and laughing but this time they had been silent, much like Yugi was now. He sighed and cleared his throat.
"Yugi, what happened at the park?" He glanced up before looking away.
"Grandpa, how well do you know the Ishtars?" He asked, ignoring his question.
"Well I've been in contact with them since they moved here but it's been irregular because of several things." Grandpa replied.
"Like corrective therapy?" He suggested casually.
"Yes, like that I suppose. That and-" He stopped abruptly and stared at Yugi. "How do you know about that?"
"We were at the park when someone called Malik Wood came along. He saw me and told me, although we knew something had happened as Marik had mentioned it by accident once." Yugi explained and when Solomon heard Malik's name, he became deeply concerned.
"Is he still around? Yugi, I want you to avoid that boy. He's caused enough problems for Marik and I don't want the same thing to happen to you." He paused, looking thoughtful. "Those two have always been at each other's throats ever since they first met at junior high. It was him who told the authorities about Lee and put Marik into therapy."
"Who's Lee?"
"He was a friend of Ishizu's but became quite close to Marik too. He probably saw Lee as someone who could fill Odion's shoes as he was around a lot. Well it turned out that he was a…well, you know and he was taken away. But then concerns rose about Marik's mentality so they put him into therapy to make sure." Solomon sighed and shook his head. "Poor old thing, he was only twelve. No one his age should have to go through something like that."
"Was it really bad then?"
"Well Marik refused to talk at first when he went back home and then the council confiscated a lot of his stuff. Music was one of his great loves and most of it got taken away. It's made him really jumpy about making any friends in case it happens again." Yugi sat there, stunned by what he had just heard, no wonder Marik had been angry when Malik told him, it brought back so many painful memories.
"Was there anything to do with arson and violence?" He said, suddenly remembering the person who had talked to them afterwards.
"During the therapy, Marik became extremely violent and little things used to set him off. Three people ended up in hospital because of him although they did survive. As for the 'arson'…it wasn't really arson, he just used to have a fascination with fire. He did set a couple of things off but they soon realised and wouldn't let him near anything flammable again. They tried to take away the matches but gave up, he was just too aggressive."
"And nobody tried to make sure he was all right?" Yugi exclaimed.
"Well that wasn't their concern…" Grandpa argued. "So is that what happened at the park then? Malik told everyone about Marik's secret?"
"That was only one thing that happened… This person came along and he must have said some stuff to Ryou because he got really mad and…the Ring started glowing, he completely changed! He knocked the person and Malik unconscious and when he saw what had happened, he said something about it happening again before running off with Marik behind him." Yugi said, his speech becoming disjointed as he tried to remember the events. "When the person woke up, he said loads of stuff about Ryou and Marik before announcing that he knew everybody else's secrets too. He left after that, asking me if my friends seemed nice now."
"This person seems to have an agenda with you and your friends… What did he look like?" Grandpa said, musing over Yugi's words.
"Well he had similar coloured hair to Ryou but his eyes were grey and steely and he was taller too. He seemed so cold hearted… We don't know him though; we've never seen him up until that point. He does go to my school though." Yugi described, wondering if he did have an agenda. If so, what was it?
"Ah yes, Bakura Zork. The one who knows everything about everyone, yet little is known about him. In which case he was probably just showing off to make you afraid. Don't give in to him, he has secrets of his own, which he doesn't want anyone to know about either." Grandpa advised as he put his plate by the sink. "Finished Yugi?" He asked, indicating the plate.
"Oh, yes. Thank you for the dinner grandpa." Yugi said cheerfully as he passed over his plate.
Soon Yugi was eating strawberry flavoured ice cream (his favourite) while grandpa did the washing up in silence. He was soon finished though and he sat back down at the table facing Yugi.
"So what did he say about Ryou?"
"That he has bulimia and he has problems with his emotions." Yugi muttered, remembering how trivial Bakura had made it sound.
"I haven't really had a chance to talk to Ryou's dad properly but we have met. I assume you know about the whole moving thing?"
"Yes, Ryou told me when he skived off of P.E. He told me everything about his bulimia, well he told me a lot anyway." Yugi explained.
"His father talked about his bulimia but said he hadn't made himself ill for several months until he found out he was moving."
"So what about his emotion problems?"
"Well his bulimia was mainly caused by a power cut in his house when he was about ten. At that point, he had a fear of the dark and he was so nervous and panicky that he threw up. From then onwards, he used to do it to make himself feel better whenever he was in a strange situation. As for the thing at the park, he just got really angry. He was always told to keep calm if he ever felt angry but since he got the Millennium Ring he hasn't been able to control it and it ends up being channelled through the Ring instead."
"Isn't there anything me or Marik could do?" Yugi said desperately. "After all, we both have Millennium Items so couldn't we just use our power to stop the blast or deflect it or something?" He suggested.
"Only if you could control Ryou and stop him from turning on you. The power of the Millennium Items can be very volatile so you'd have to make sure you can protect yourself." Grandpa explained. "Luckily I don't think it happens very often so you might be ok."
"Yeah, maybe you're right…" Yugi said hopefully. "But that still leaves me with the problem of what to do on Monday."
"What do you mean?" Solomon said, a puzzled expression on his face.
"I wasn't the only one at the park remember? Nobody knows any of the stuff you've just told me, they only know what Bakura and Malik said. I wouldn't usually think of telling them the truth but they'll be concerned too and if no one says anything, they might make their own assumptions, which could be dangerous. But I don't think they'll talk about it even though they /deserve/ to know. What do I do?"
"Wait until Monday and see what they say. Tell them you know the truth and that you'll be there for them if they need it and that everyone else is supporting them too. Maybe they'll tell the others in time but try not to be too demanding, just leave them be if necessary. Don't just casually mention it though, especially to Ryou, as it'll only make him anxious, which you don't really need. As long as you're there for them, it'll be ok." Grandpa said wisely as he took Yugi's bowl and washed it up.
"Grandpa, doesn't any of this bother you? The fact that my friends have had problems in the past?" He couldn't understand, most of society would have labelled them as outcasts yet his grandpa, an important man, had very little opinion on it.
"I know them for who they really are and that in the end, these things can happen to anyone in a similar situation. You have to learn to be open minded…"
"You know, I was called a ten year old and a stump but I don't really care. Isn't that strange?" Yugi suddenly said, laughing.
"It means that you accept whatever people think of you and that Yugi, is one of the most important lessons in life." He patted Yugi on top of his head fondly. "You have much homework this weekend?"
"No, just some questions for maths and a couple of bits of reading so I'll be able to help you in the shop."
"As long as you get your homework done…" He muttered.
"Don't worry, I will." Yugi stood up and walked to the kitchen door. "Goodnight grandpa."
"Goodnight Yugi."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Monday soon came around (as it always does) and as Joey, Tristan, Téa and Yugi walked to school, they wondered about the events. Well three of them did, Yugi remained silent. They soon realised this though and so tried to raise him from his stupor.
"Hey Yugi, what do you think about it?" Joey suddenly asked and he blinked, wary about what he might say.
"Well…I think that it doesn't matter and that if they want to talk to us about it then we'll listen to them but until then we should leave it." Yugi said.
"What, you mean we should forget about it? Because I don't know Yugi, quite a lot happened." Joey replied.
"No, not forget about it, just not let it ruin everything." He explained, shrugging his shoulders.
"Well we'll see what happens once we get to school."
They duly arrived at school and after not finding Ryou or Marik, they decided to go to their homeroom and see if they were there instead. They entered the room and found one very depressed looking Marik but no Ryou. He continued to sit there, slouched in his chair, even when they were right in front of him.
"Hey Marik, where's Ryou? Didn't he walk with you to school this morning?" Yugi asked, sitting on his desk which was next to Marik's.
"Dunno, gone somewhere. He said something about the Principal." He replied dully, like he had come down with something.
"The Principal? I wonder what happened…" Joey commented, glancing out of the window towards the Principal's office.
"Yeah, me too…" Marik replied sarcastically.
"Well there's no need to be a bitch about it." Joey snapped, causing Marik to jump up, filled with rage.
"Oh so now I'm a bitch? Why didn't you just say outright you think I'm a freak?" He yelled before grabbing his bag and storming out of the room.
"Marik, wait!" Tristan shouted, running after him. Joey stood there dumbfounded while Téa glared at him.
"Oh well done Joey! You've gone and done it now!" Téa barked, cuffing him around the back of the head.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't supposed to say that!" Joey said in exasperation, rubbing his head where Téa had hit him.
"Let's just hope Tristan finds him…" Yugi said quietly, moving so he was sitting on his chair.
Tristan soon came back but they quickly realised he was alone and looked concerned as he finally reached them while others had started to take interest. After all Marik had yelled quite loudly. They looked at him expectantly as he slumped down in his chair.
"He went to the toilets but he won't come out. I tried to tell him that Joey was sorry but he wouldn't listen. I think he was crying." Tristan explained, putting his face in his hands.
"Oh dear, what if he doesn't go to any of his lessons?" Téa suddenly asked, noticing that it was nearly registration.
"We'll just say we haven't seen him this morning." Yugi replied. "Everybody else will keep quiet, they always do in maths anyway."
"I wonder when Ryou's coming back from the Principal… Do you think he's in trouble?"
"He probably just wants to talk about what happened on Friday. If it's on his records then they'll already know about it."
"I've just wondered…what're first lessons?" Joey said.
"I don't think you want to know Joey."
"Yes but I need my books-" He stopped as Tristan kindly passed over his timetable and stared at it for a few moments. "Please tell me that does /not/ say what I think it says…"
"If you're hoping that it says double P.E. then you're wrong but it /does/ say English and chemistry…" Tristan tried to sound optimistic but failed miserably as Joey's eyes widened in fear.
"No, not E-English and c-c-chemistry…" He stuttered, dropping the planner and backing away from it.
"Oh please, you are so stupid sometimes. Come on, let's go and get your books…" Téa scolded as she dragged Joey out of the room by his arm.
"Hey Yugi, did we have any homework?"
"Only to do that bit of reading for English."
"Oh, I did that so that's ok then."
Just then Téa and Joey came back in, she ranting and raging about something while he looked dazed. They arrived back at their tables and she noticed the puzzled looks on Yugi and Tristan's faces.
"Sorry about that but Mr Wheeler here thought it would be a great idea to knock his head on the locker door in an attempt to knock himself out." Yugi and Tristan started laughing when they heard this while Joey covered his ears.
"Don't do that, it hurts!"
"Well I'm not surprised Joey to be honest." Yugi said, his eyebrow raised. Of course the bell then went, making Joey's head feel even worse.
xxxxxx
"Hi guys!" It was break time and the four of them were sitting outside on a bench when they heard the cheerful voice. They turned around and saw Ryou coming towards them, smiling gently.
"Ryou, you came back!" Joey yelled happily, doing a little jig. "We thought you'd been eaten by the Principal!"
"No, we just talked for a bit. You know, about what happened on Friday." He said, Joey's words causing him to grin. Suddenly Joey stared at him with narrowed eyes, looking closely at him.
"Why are you happy?" He demanded in a mock serious voice.
"Err…shouldn't I be?"
"Well Marik isn't." Joey said, leaning back again and relaxing as Ryou suddenly realised that he wasn't there.
"Hey, where /is/ Marik?"
"In the toilets, last time I checked." Tristan replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"He got a bit upset this morning and ran off but he won't leave the toilets." Téa added, giving Joey a significant look.
"You tried talking to him?"
"Yes, with little success apart from a string of swearwords and possibly a broken toilet." Tristan said and his eyes suddenly widened at an idea that had just appeared in his mind. "Hey Ryou, why don't /you/ try and talk to him? You two are closer than we are."
"Uh, ok then. I'll try and see what I can do. I assume he's in the main toilets?" Tristan nodded his head and Ryou left the group to find Marik.
"Hey Tristan, did you say a broken toilet?" Téa suddenly asked.
"I don't know if the toilet got broken but when I said that Joey was sorry, he went off the rails completely! He was swearing and there was a huge crash, what it was I don't know, and then he wouldn't say anything else." Tristan said quickly.
"Oh dear, I hope he didn't get too mad…"
Five minutes later of dissecting what had happened, Ryou came back but there was /still/ no Marik. He seemed relaxed and happy though so they waited for him to speak with hope.
"I managed to persuade him to come out after telling him that people were suspicious that the person in the toilet had a bad case of diarrhoea, which made him laugh. We talked for a little bit but then Ishizu came along so I left them to talk." He stopped and turned to Téa. "He said he would meet you in the maths room."
"Is he still upset?"
"Yeah, he thinks that none of you like him but I told him that nothing's changed." He looked at them. "Nothing /has/ changed, has it? Because they only did it to make sure…"
"Of course nothing has changed! We just want him to know that we'll always be there for him." Yugi said and the others nodded in agreement.
"Well now that that is sorted out, we'd better go to maths." They stood up and left the bench, Joey dragging his feet along so he wouldn't get there too quickly.
xxxxxx
It was maths and Ryou and Yugi were discussing the situation with Marik while doing some questions from the textbook. Well, attempting to do them anyway.
"I just wish we could do something to cheer him up…" Yugi said sadly as he finished a sum off.
"Well I had an idea but it's a bit silly really." Ryou said shyly. Yugi looked expectantly at him and he sighed. "Bakura told me on Friday that a lot of Marik's stuff was confiscated and guess who ended up with it?"
"Who?" Ryou pointed slightly behind him and Yugi followed it, only to lock eyes with the black haired boy from Friday. He turned around again, surprised at seeing him. "I didn't know he was in our set."
"His name is Duke and I thought we could see him at lunchtime to find out if we could get some of his stuff back." Yugi thought about it for a moment before smiling excitedly.
"That's a great idea! But what do you think we have to do?"
"I don't know, that's why I wanted to talk to him." He paused, suddenly looking embarrassed. "But I don't want to go on my own…"
"Of course you're not! I'll come with you and the others can keep Yami busy so he won't find out." Yugi smiled mischievously.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about Yami…" He thought for a moment. "Do you think he knows about the Millennium Ring?"
"He didn't say anything about it. Why?"
"Because Bakura told me on Friday that Yami is the only person who knows where the Eye is who isn't a member of the council."
"Really? Maybe that means he's /definitely/ a snitch then."
"Yugi Muto and Ryou Bakura, do you want to do extra maths this lunchtime?" They jumped when they heard the voice and looked up guiltily at the teacher.
"No sir." Yugi said nervously, hoping he hadn't heard what they were talking about.
"Then would you please get on with your work?" He said in exasperation before turning back to help another student.
Once the lesson ended, they packed away quickly so they could corner Duke and they found him closing his bag before hooking it onto his shoulder. He looked up, seeing them, frowning for a moment as he tried to remember where he had seen them before. Then it clicked.
"The ten year old and Nancy… What do you want?"
"We wanted to know if we could talk to you at lunchtime." Yugi requested, feeling Ryou stiffen at his side at being called 'Nancy'.
"Whatever for?"
"Because we know your secret about Marik." Ryou said quietly, giving him a significant look.
"Dear old Bakura, can't keep his mouth shut…" Duke sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Fine then, you know. What about it specifically?"
"We want to get some of Marik's stuff off of you, you shouldn't have it anyway." Yugi said haughtily.
"What could you do that I want? And anyway, it's not available." He replied, crossing his arms.
"Any why not? It's not yours for a start off and if it weren't for your little friend, you wouldn't have it anyway. You have no right to that stuff, he does. And I'm sure there must be something you want…" Ryou said, causing Duke to stare at him. Was he saying that…? If he was, it wasn't worth risking a refusal.
"Fine then. Meet me around the back of the C block at lunch. Just you two, no one else. And no followers either…" He threatened, before walking away from them and out of the room.
"Well that went all right I suppose. Now we just need to get the others to keep Marik and Yami busy."
xxxxxx
Ryou and Yugi set off at lunchtime around the back of the block and they found Duke leaning against the wall with…a cigarette in his hand? They stared at him as he put it to his mouth and then blew the smoke out. Wasn't he the same age as them? And if so, then how did he get any? Was this part of the contraband? They continued to gaze at him in silence and he looked up, smiling when he saw their slightly gawping faces.
"What, you've never seen a cigarette before?"
"No, it's just that… How old are you?" Yugi asked, causing Duke to roll his eyes and sigh.
"Not another lecture… I'm fourteen and please don't go on about legalities because I really don't care."
"Yeah, we noticed… Can you at least put it out for now please?"
"Whatever." He shrugged his shoulders before stubbing it against the wall. "Now then, what can I do you for?"
"We want one of Marik's CDs." Yugi demanded, looking seriously at him.
"A CD eh?" He thought for a moment before opening his bag. "Can any of you draw?"
"Yeah, Ryou's really good at art." Yugi said, causing Ryou to blush and mutter incoherently. "And there's no point in being modest Ryou because you know it's true."
"If I give you this, can you draw it?" Duke held a piece of paper in his hand and Ryou frowned at it. "It's got some instructions on it."
"I don't know, what is it? Can I see the paper first?" He asked hesitantly.
"No. You either accept it and do it or you get no CD." Duke said and nodding his head slightly, Ryou took the piece of paper and looked at it for a moment, scanning over the words.
"How realistic do you want this to be?"
"No cartoons, so pretty realistic."
"Then could you do me a favour? Could you pose for me?" He saw Duke's face and sighed. "I won't be able to get the proportions right if you don't."
"Why can't Yugi do it?" Duke asked, indignant that he had to model like a girl.
"Because…" He looked at Yugi, not wanting to say why in front of him but he got the drift.
"I'm too short Duke so just get on with it ok?" He said, not angrily but business like.
"Fine then, whatever. What do you want me to do?"
"Could you turn around, with your back facing me but looking over your shoulder to the side? Looking to the…left." Duke did as he said, crossing his arms and pouting slightly. "Uncross your arms and don't frown please." He said sharply as he got his sketchpad and pencils out before opening it and looking at the piece of paper again. "Now keep still, I'll try to be as quick as I can…"
"You're so generous…" Duke muttered as he shifted slightly in his place.
"So then Duke, what is it that Ryou's drawing?" Yugi asked, hoping to stop Duke from getting bored so he wouldn't fidget.
"Just an idea I had for something…" He said vaguely, not really wanting to talk about it. Just then, he saw Bakura out of the corner of his eye. "Hey, Bakura!"
"Duke, what the hell are you doing?" Bakura asked, frowning at first him before noticing Yugi staring at him while Ryou was glancing up at Duke every few seconds. "And what are those two doing here?"
"They're doing something for me in return for me giving them a little present…" Duke said.
"But that doesn't explain what you're doing…"
"This is the catch. I have to stand here like an idiot." Duke said and by now Ryou had stopped what he was doing and flicking back to another page in his book. "Hey you, don't take a break now! This is boring you know."
"Hey Bakura?" Ryou said nervously, ignoring Duke's rant. "I wanted to say sorry for what happened on Friday and to give you this." He ripped a page out of his book and passed it over to him.
"What's this?"
"When I got home I drew it and it helped me calm down a lot. But the problem is, if my dad found it, he'd probably give it to my…doctor, who would have a field day trying to analyse it so there's no point in me keeping it. Hence I'm giving it to you." He explained and Bakura looked at, frowning at what he saw.
"Why did you…?"
"Because it was the first thing that came to my head. You don't have to keep it if you don't want to but I can't risk having it for any longer." He smiled sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders. "It's not that great really, that's the problem with ink."
"Did you create it yourself?"
"No, I got it from a painting by Dalí called 'Metamorphosis of Narcissus'. He's one of my favourite artists." He smiled gently before turning back to Duke, who was starting to fume. "All right Duke, no need to blow a fuse." He tisked as he picked up his sketchbook again.
Bakura stared at the sketch in front of him. It was drawn in red ink and despite Ryou's insistence, it was actually quite good. Well he thought it was, although he had never seen the real thing. He had never even /heard/ of Dalí. It showed an egg, cracks travelling, splitting down the sides, the red ink making it look like blood while a simple daisy grew out of the top of it, alone against the stark background. It was so haunting; he had never seen any drawing like this before. What was the style? And most importantly, why had Ryou given it to him? What was he trying to tell him? That he felt like the egg, cracked and defeated? Or was he the daisy, triumphing over everything that came in his way, even if it wasn't physically possible? Maybe he was looking into it too deeply but… The title didn't seem right though, or at least he didn't understand it. Maybe he should ask about it at some point…
"Hey Bakura, is it any good?" Duke suddenly called out and he looked up at him.
"It's…" He didn't know what to say, he could either tell the truth or he could act sensibly. "It's all right…" He said casually, folding it up and placing it in the inside pocket of his blazer. "So then Duke, what are you giving them?"
"It depends on whether the picture looks all right…" He gave Ryou a meaningful glare and he looked up, seeming to sense it.
"So no pressure…" He muttered, rubbing out a line before redrawing it. "It won't look that great because it's got no colour but you'll have a basic idea." He ripped the page out and Duke sighed in relief, stretching his arms. "Here." He passed the piece of paper over and he looked at it closely.
"Is that Bakura's hair?" Duke suddenly asked, causing Ryou to blush.
"Not specifically, it's just a similar length…" Ryou replied, packing his stuff away. "I hope it's 'all right' enough for you."
"Here, take this." Duke suddenly said, reaching into his bag and taking out a square case. One that looked like it could contain a CD.
"You had one on you?" Yugi asked in amazement, taking it from him.
"I had the feeling that you might do something foolish like this so I brought it in." He replied, shrugging his shoulders and taking out his cigarette and lighter. "Now I can finally finish this off."
"Lend me your lighter Duke please." Bakura said, holding his hand out.
"You still haven't got another one?" Duke said, throwing it in his direction.
"My mum's been watching me like a hawk since she found my last one. I haven't had a smoke since yesterday afternoon."
"Aw, poor old you." Yugi said sarcastically. He hated smoking because it got right into his lungs and made him feel really horrible. Not only that but it was just disgusting in general.
"You keep your mouth shut dwarf, unless you want me to shove this down your throat!" Bakura snapped, pointing the cigarette in his direction.
"Just try it!"
"Come on Yugi, we got what we wanted so let's just go." Ryou said, grabbing his arm in an attempt to drag him away.
"Yeah, you're right." He relaxed and they turned around, starting to walk away. Until they noticed a figure standing nearby under a tree, watching them intently. "Err…"
"What?" Duke looked in their direction and grinned, seeing the person. "Oh, don't worry about him, it's just Kaiba."
"Kaiba /Seto/ Kaiba?" Yugi asked in amazement. "I didn't realise he went to school…"
"Yes, it's rather embarrassing really. They won't let him take over the company until he's got some qualifications so he's now going to school. Sucker." Bakura spat, looking at him with hate.
"Will he say anything about…this?"
"No, I don't think so. He will stare at anyone within a hundred metres of him, it's perfectly normal. We've never got into trouble at any rate." Duke said, waving in his direction. "Hey Kaiba, say hello!" He yelled, getting a finger in response from him. "Now that isn't very nice now, is it?" He said in shocked tones, giving him the finger too. "I hate that bastard, he's always so smug…"
"Who's so smug?" Yugi and Ryou instantly recognised the voice and backed away slightly, seeing the wild, light grey hair. Malik Wood.
"Kaiba." Duke growled, indicating with his head.
"Oh, him." He said indifferently. "And what are /they/ doing here?" He pointed in Yugi and Ryou's direction, sniffing loudly.
"Nothing, we were just going." Yugi said quickly as they continued to edge away.
"They just helped me with something, don't be nasty to them." Duke said, frowning at Malik to show he was serious. "You may make Marik's life miserable but that doesn't give you the right to make their lives hell too."
"Watch it Devlin!" Malik snarled, stepping forward, crouched slightly.
"Oh please Malik, that act's so boring now." Duke said lazily before turning to Ryou and Yugi. "Hey guys, let's go and find Marik. I want to see how he reacts." He smiled at them and they returned it, knowing he was trying to help them.
"Hey Ryou, before you go, what's the name of your picture?" Bakura asked.
"Didn't I tell you? It's called 'Metamorphosis of Narcissus'."
"No, not that name, the one /you/ want to call it." Ryou thought for a moment before looking at the CD that was in Yugi's hands.
"Any time you like." He said, shrugging his shoulders before leaving with Duke and Yugi.
"Any time you like…?" Bakura murmured, thinking back to the picture. Did he say that for a reason? Or was it just because it was the title of the album?
xxxxxx
"Hey Duke, thanks for getting us out of there." Yugi said quietly as they made their way back to the others.
"No problem, Malik was being a jerk. He always is to those younger than him. He's redoing his first year though; apparently he completely failed his exams. So maybe he's just bitter about all the first years." Duke explained.
"Really? I didn't know that."
"It's true, the same thing goes for Bakura. While Kaiba is in the year above…or two I think." He added.
"And what about you? Are you redoing this year?"
"No, I am /actually/ in the first year."
"Oh, sorry." Ryou mumbled, but Duke merely grinned and shrugged his shoulders.
"That's ok. Where are your friends?"
"Over there." Yugi pointed at a group sitting under a tree, noticing, to his relief that Yami wasn't with them. "Hey, Yami's not with them! That means we can give Marik his CD now!"
They reached the group and noticed straight away that Marik was sitting slightly apart from the others, looking down at the grass. The others saw Yugi and Ryou with Duke standing beside them, looking nervous.
"Hey guys, sorry we took so long." Yugi said calmly as he sat down with them.
"Yeah, what did you do, go on holiday on the way or something?" Joey said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. The three of them had been told what Yugi and Ryou were doing, although they didn't mention where they were going to get it from.
"Yeah, you could say that." Yugi replied. "Anyway guys, this is Duke and he helped us."
"Aren't you the one from Friday?" Tristan looked suspiciously at him.
"Err…yeah that was me." He said, laughing nervously as he wondered whether this was a good idea or not. At least Yugi hadn't told them the truth.
"Hey Marik, are you ok?" Ryou asked quietly, sitting beside him.
"No." He said miserably, refusing to look at him.
"Well we wanted you to know that nothing's changed. You're still our friend and we hope that we're still yours. You've been through some bad stuff in the past but don't clam up please. Just be happy, ok?" He took the CD from Yugi and held it out to Marik. "Here, we found this for you." He looked up and stared blearily at the CD, reading what it said on the front. Then it registered with his brain.
"Where…where did you get this from?" He asked, taking it slowly and looking at it. "My friend made this for me back in Egypt just before I left. It's got all my favourite songs on it…" He murmured, opening the case and peering at the actual CD. "How, why?"
"Duke helped us get it and we got it because we wanted to see you smile again." Ryou said quickly, not wanting Marik to question how they actually got it. He didn't think Duke would appreciate it and anyway, Ryou was always willing to let people show their true selves. He looked at Marik and saw that he was ready to cry.
"Thank you guys…thank you so much…" He sniffed loudly and not wanting him to cry, Téa gave him a tissue so he could blow his nose. "What would I do without you?"
"Well that's what friends are for…" Téa said happily.
"Where are you going to keep it?" The others looked puzzled and Marik looked up at Duke. "Well I assume if it got…taken away from you then if someone finds it they'll just take it away again."
"One of us can look after it…" Yugi suggested.
"That's a good idea but we'll worry about that in a moment…" Duke reached into his bag and took out a Discman. "You may as well listen to it." Marik smiled before placing the CD in it and turning it on. He searched to track three and listened to it…
#When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful
A miracle, oh it was beautiful, magical
And all the birds in the trees, well they'd be singing so happily
Joyfully, playfully watching me
But then they send me away to teach me how to be sensible
Logical, responsible, practical
And they showed me a world where I could be so dependable
Clinical, intellectual, cynical#
#There are times when all the world's asleep
The questions run too deep
For such a simple man
Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned
I know it sounds absurd
But please tell me who I am#
#Now watch what you say or they'll be calling you a radical
Liberal, fanatical, criminal
Won't you sign up your name, we'd like to feel you're
Acceptable, respectable, presentable, a vegetable#
#But at night, when all the world's asleep
The questions run so deep
For such a simple man
Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned
I know it sounds absurd
But please tell me who I am
Who I am
Who I am
Who I am#
This was Marik's favourite song and now the words just seemed to have more meaning than ever before. They just seemed to describe his situation perfectly but maybe he could put the whole thing behind him and start living life like he had done in the beginning, like it /was/ a miracle…
It's always nice to end a chapter with a song, but not with a crappy little thought blurb at the end. This chapter's ok, a lot less happens than I first thought actually. Just a couple of things I want to note today:
(1) Dyscalculia – This is the number version of dyslexia.
2. C.R.E. is an idea from my sister's school and from the descriptions she gives me, it sounds pretty torturous. I consider it to be a watered down version of politics.
3. The CD that is mentioned right at the end is a CD that my friend made for me when she wrote me a play for Christmas and it was the soundtrack for it. And I do love it and "The Logical Song" is one of the tracks. I'm thinking of making it the title for the sequel, but I have to ask permission first.
4. One of my other favourite things is surrealism. It's just the coolest thing ever and even though I can't draw, I still like it. The 'Metamorphosis of Narcissus' is one of his best pieces and for an explanation of the title, first find a copy of the painting and then look up who Narcissus was. It'll make sense then.
But in general, everyone's been introduced and although it seems a bit weird that Kaiba, Malik and Bakura become friends with them, it's explained in the next part. Which will not be as long as this. Promise.
Please review as usual, mainly about how it's going or any little rants you'd like to have about how I've destroyed the characters. By the way, you might have got the impression that I don't like Téa very much but that isn't true. I think she's ok in the TV series, Yami actually annoys me more because he goes on about his destiny and everything is oh so deadly serious...I'm planning to fully exploit this in another story called 'Homo yamius', which is basically a piss take of the yamis and all their bad habits. But that won't be for a little while yet. Anyway, I'm blabbing on again so it's time for me to go and...PLEASE REVIEW!
Thanks, love Chen.