I am quite happy to inform you all that I have not died. You have no idea how sorry I am that I haven't updated, and I especially have no excuse since it's summer. I am dreadfully, dreadfully, dreadfully sorry. I really am.

Pairings: Yami/Yuugi, Ryou/Bakura, Malik/Mariku. Maybe Kaiba/Jou if they fit into the plot. Perhaps Shaadi/Isis as well… Or Rishid/Isis? I don't know. Review and tell me. -- THIS IS IMPORTANT! So far, only 1-2 people have said Rishid/Isis. Please tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: Saying that I own Yuu-Gi-Oh! Is like saying that the ocean is purple because of the leopards. It's just not right. Still, the plot's mine, and I don't tolerate plagiarism. If you want to borrow something, just ask. ALSO! All songs are MINE. I WRITE ALL OF THE SONGS IN THIS STORY. DO NOT TAKE THEM. THEY ARE MINE.

Notes on this chapter: The FUU clan is the one that Ryou, Malik, and Isis belong to. Ryou has a different last name, but never fear: it does work out. If you want his family tree, then ask me for it. And remember, this is a clan. You belong to it no matter how far removed you are.

The KEI clan is their rival. Generations of …well, not quite hatred, but strong dislike have made them misunderstand each other. However, despite their rivalry, they still have a strong respect for each other.

Let's just get on with it, shall we? I don't want to bore you to tears after all this time.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Bakura's eyes were glazed over as he played the opening riff to "Angel"; he knew the damn song by heart already, and he was focusing his thoughts on more important things.

The thought of sweet freedom, for one.

"Damn Keith," he growled mentally, fingers still dancing between frets. "Damn Mutou, so 'cute', so 'in-no-cent'!" His eyes narrowed. Stupid Bandits. Stupid crowd. Stupid club. His hands found the final chord of the chorus and he snapped back to reality. Solo time, and he'd be damned himself if he screwed this last gig up.

Teeth grinding together – he didn't want to be here anyways, damn that stupid spike-head! – He poured his anger into the diatonic scale he started out with.

Damn Keith--!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Behind Bakura, Yuugi's eyebrows were raised as he enjoyed his 15-second break. Was it just him… or was Bakura playing a little more explosively tonight than usual?

Yuugi came back in steadily, now shifting his attention to Keith. Still the same hoarse and raspy voice, still the same tacky clothes (especially the bandana!) that he'd had since Yuugi had joined the band a year and a half ago. "How could I have been so dumb?" he asked himself, bewildered. "I'm not usually this stupid, am I?"

Well, the nightmare was ending, now, ending with the final words that Keith was attempting to sing: "Even the brightest angels fa-a-a-all."

His voice cracked a little, and Yuugi snickered before feeling a pang of guilt. "He deserves more than laughter," he told himself firmly, to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling.

As their audience cheered (Heaven only knew why), Bakura seemed to take things into his own hands, and he grabbed the microphone from Keith. "I've got news for you people," he announced, while Keith turned an angry red.

Yuugi stood up and joined the guitarist as he said calmly, "Mutou Yuugi and I, Takahashi Bakura, are quitting the Bandits."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Malik had been enjoying the performance. They had been really, really good… well, the band members, anyways. Keith was pushing his voice to reach notes he wasn't meant to hit, and it was painful to hear him wailing. Malik winced as he thought of how Ryou must be taking the noise.

"Oh yeah, yeah, ye-ah," Keith crowed. Malik laughed freely as Keith tried to dance during the guitar solo: it was reminiscent of a grounded fish flopping around, trying desperately to make it back into the water.

They finished, and Malik cheered enthusiastically with the rest of the crowd, and watched as the mic was wrenched from Keith's grasp, and the announcement made:

The Bandits were going to lose their prized players. They were up for grabs. And Ryou. Needed. A. New. Band.

Malik danced his way through the mob within the space of 3 songs before he finally reached the backstage area. They security guard glared at him, flexing an impressive set of muscles.

"Hi," Malik said, fluttering his eyelashes. The man didn't budge. "I need to get backstage, so pretty please?" The man smirked, but said nothing.

Malik growled softly. Time for more drastic measures. He slid his body closer, and pouted. "Please?"

Malik saw the man's jaw tighten, and grinned inwardly. Horny bastard… so easy to manipulate, though. I should really count my blessings.

"I won't make a fuss, I promise," Malik continued, lavender eyes wide and solemn as crocodile tears gathered at the corners of his eyes. "I'll do anything…"

As a ghost of a grin flitted across the man's face, Malik blinked to shed a few tears, which slipped down his face slowly. His lower lip began to tremble, and inside he was congratulating himself on a job well done.

Two quick glances to either side told the guard that no one else was around. "Maybe for a kiss, I would," he said slyly.

Ick, Malik thought. Bleah, Ryou had better appreciate this…

When their lips met, it wasn't so bad. But when tongues came into play, Malik nearly gagged. Ooh, Ryou, you owe me so much…

"All right," the guard panted. "Go on through. I'll say I went to the bathroom or something. Now scat. But…" a business card was pulled from his breast pocket and handed over, "…call me if you want to."

Malik said nothing, but winked and slid past. Once he was out of sight, he ripped the card into confetti and scattered it around the floor before continuing his search.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"We're free, we're free, we're free!" Yuugi shouted as Bakura glared at him.

"Put a sock in it, boy, unless you want a dagger in your throat," he snarled. "You are much too perpetually happy than can possibly be healthy. The least you could do is keep it to yourself."

"But Bakura," Yuugi whined. "No more Keith! No more out of tune songs! No more pain! No more misery!"

Bakura thought about that for a second. "Fine," he relented. "But keep it down. Or that dagger is yours."

"Actually," a tenor voice said from the doorway, "I'm rather glad he was loud. It helped me find you."

Two pairs of eyes swung towards the speaker and his companion. "My, my," Bakura said, a slight note of sarcasm in his voice. "And who exactly are you two?"

The speaker bowed. "Bakura Ryou, at your service. And this is Ishtar Isis."

"And Ishtar Malik," the blonde said, pushing his way in between them. "Damn security guard! How'd you guys get through?"

Isis smiled. "A sketch and two autographs."

Malik narrowed his eyes – what happened to keeping their identities secret?—but Yuugi interrupted.

"Right!" he beamed. "I've heard about all three of you." He looked quizzically at the two boys. "Is it true that you guys are going out?"

Ryou's mouth dropped open as Malik blinked. "I'm positive I didn't hear that right. Me? Ryou?"

"Well, that's what Keith said…" Well, actually, it was more of 'those two disgustingly pretty boys are together, did ya hear? Hmph, no guys that pretty could ever be straight,'… but you don't need to know that.

Malik's eyes began to gleam wickedly as he exclaimed, "Together! That doesn't even begin to cover it. How could anyone say that Ryou and I are merely together? We're engaged! No, we're married! He's hot in bed! 'Together' doesn't even begin to describe – !"

"Ishtar Malik, I am never, ever, cooking anything for you again!"

Ohh shit, was Malik's first thought. "B-but Ryou, you can't do that!" he cried in horror.

"You… ah, cook for him?" Yuugi prodded delicately.

"No! Wait, yes! But it's not… we're not…"

Malik couldn't resist temptation. "Aww, Ryou honey, you don't have to deny it – I mean—!"

"Ishtar Malik, you had better think about how much you value your life…!"

Malik's eyes widened. "Okay, okay!" he cried, alarmed. "It was a joke, Ryou, geez…"

Ryou's rosebud lips twisted, and he folded his arms across his chest and looked away pointedly.

"I mean, I already have my lovely wife Isis, don't I – OUCH!"

Isis had rapped him sharply on the head. "You're grounded," she told him too-sweetly, and then turned to the wide-eyed drummer and somewhat annoyed guitarist.

"That," she said, glaring at Malik, "Is my idiot brother. And Ryou here is our cousin. We all wanted to know exactly what you meant by your announcement.

Bakura stared at her. "What don't you get, woman? We quit. We're out. We're gone."

"We're free," Yuugi added cheerfully.

"Ah, well, okay," was Isis' diplomatic answer. "And were you wanting to quit the business entirely, or just take a break, or was it because you didn't like being part of the Bandits…?"

"Didn't like the band," Yuugi said, nodding fervently to emphasize his point. "Keith is a freaking dumbass mother fucking… and I'll leave it at that," he said, smiling happily.

"Aww, how cute. The little drummer boy learned how to cuss," Bakura cooed, sarcasm dripping like honey from his words.

"Have you ever heard Ryou sing?" Isis cut in abruptly, before Yuugi could deliver a counter.

Yuugi cocked his head to the side. "We've never really had time. I've heard you're good, though. Really good. Still, I don't understand how you balance classical and pop rock. And what do you do to keep your voice in shape?"

Bakura squashed Yuugi's hair across his head. "So what's your point?" he deadpanned.

"I want to hire you," Isis answered just as bluntly.

Bakura shrugged. "Okay."

The usually unruffled Isis blinked. "Just like that?"

"You've got a good rep. And Ryou sings pretty. I heard him on the radio. And his current guy is good, but believe me when I say I can do better."

"Me too, me too!" Yuugi chirped.

"Just how much fucking sugar did you fucking have…?" Bakura demanded.

Completely ignoring them, Isis whipped out her Palm Pilot. "Lovely!" she exclaimed. "So, let's see…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A figure sat in the shadows, eyes fixed on the TV. "Mm… so the Bandits are no more," the leader of the Kei clan mused.

"Those two are talented. Very talented… and our clan doesn't have a band out, currently. If we could recruit those two, and just find a singer… we already have Mariku and Yami, even if they will need a talking to…"

A singer. The only problem was the singer. Bakura Ryou… that boy was entirely too troublesome. Maybe it wouldn't have irked him so much if he only stuck to one genre of music, but now he had the monopoly on both classical and what teens called "normal" music…

Shaadi ground his teeth together in frustration. Why couldn't anything be simple…?

Flipping open his laptop, he logged into his email. Time to contact those two idiots…

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Hello, Yami, Mariku,

I'm sure you've heard by now that Takahashi Bakura and Mutou Yuugi are up for grabs. I know you've never been really interested in the Arts, despite the families you were born in, and I know you still resent us because we forced you to learn your respective instruments. Forgive me when I say that I don't apologize.

The Kei clan has to start their own band before the Fuu clan gets too far ahead. It would be disastrous! They would rub it in our faces. You two must help prevent that dire future from occurring.

Mariku, I hope you've been practicing your bass guitar. If you haven't, start now. I'll even buy you a new one if you like, just so long as you practice. Yami, practice your piano pieces. I expect you to have a repertoire of 25 memorized songs when I see you a week from now. Do try to make one of them that lovely Chopin that I adore so much… but also try your hand at songwriting this…this pop rock or whatever you children call it. It's going to be the music of the future, and we've got to catch up.

Mariku, I'll see you 5 days from now. I want you to songwrite as well, and don't go running about setting small children on fire, or whatever it is that you do in your spare time.

Yami, I'll see you in a week.

Both of you, write to me about any possible singers that you know who might rival that… that Bakura child. And when you do, use complete sentences. You know that I hate your modern slang.

Yours truly,

Shaadi.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Yami stared at the screen in disbelief. What? 25 pieces in a fucking week? What was the man, insane? And then try his hand at songwriting?

Why, by all the Gods who had chosen to ignore him thus far in life, had he been born into this cursed, cursed clan? Music, art, dance, drama… they were wonderful things. He appreciated them greatly. Life would be so much duller without them. But that didn't mean he had to throw his life away doing them.

Piano was lovely. Sometimes, he got into a state where everything just meshed: all the notes, the pedal, his fingers, the emotion… and everything was beautiful.

But the memorizing, and the techniques, and the performing, and the… the everything that they made him do when he wasn't playing just for fun! Yami would have been perfectly happy just learning the basics, but no…

Of course, he played well. If Yami had a mind to do something, he did it, and did it well. But that didn't mean he enjoyed it.

What Yami really wanted to do was become a video game designer. He was good at it: he was currently interning at Sakura Corp. Having skipped several grades, he was the youngest intern that had ever been in the corporation yet. His fellows assured him he was going straight to the top.

Yami also wanted to meet Kaiba Seto. The leader of Kaiba Corp, the youngest CEO there ever was. And Yami didn't just want to meet him, he wanted to become his business partner. He knew he was good enough. And it wasn't overconfidence that made him think that – he was confident enough in his own skills to tell himself that he was a good enough designer.

He sat down heavily at the piano bench, staring at but not seeing the pristine black and white keys. He sighed, and began to plunk out the first notes of a Chopin sonata.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"…'Don't set small children on fire'?" Mariku blinked.

"How did he know?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Isis had just told Ryou about the Kei clan's plans to start a band of their own. "Effing bastards," the boy sniffed. "Just because someone from the Fuu clan gets a little bit of recognition, they have to get all defensive and start their own band… Idiots!"

Yuugi peeked his head into Ryou's bedroom. Since their mansion had had at least 5 empty floors, Bakura and Yuugi had been welcomed. "Ryou, are you still mad?"

"Kinda," Ryou said, attempting a smile. "It's just that… why can't they just let us be, for once? They always have to butt in, right when everything's going well…"

Yuugi shrugged. "Well, you know, doesn't your clan do that to them, too? I mean, your father bested their best organist at the height of his career, didn't he? The man was ruined. And well… I guess I can see it differently from the outside. It looks like a vicious never ending cycle to me."

Ryou's eyes blazed with fury. "Don't you talk about my father like that!"

Yuugi's own violet eyes widened. "Okay! Okay! I'm sorry!"

Ryou slumped back down. "No… it's not your fault… well, you do have a point, there. Your example just hit a little too close to home. You're right. We're all caught in this rat race to beat each other, every generation taught to try and best the other clan."

Yuugi nodded sympathetically. "Well, it was how you were raised. I can't blame you for getting so defensive, either. So," he said more lightly, "What kind of music are we looking at, here?"

Ryou pursed his lips in thought. "Well.. I don't know exactly what genre it is… pop rock? Something like that. But sometimes I'll do something completely different. Like… I don't know. Ohh, I just finished a rather depressing song, though, do you want to hear it?"

Yuugi raised an eyebrow. "Depressing?"

Ryou grinned. "I'm not about to commit suicide or anything, I promise. It was a very sad book that I was reading, though."

"Ah."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

When Malik flew into Ryou's room later, he found Bakura, Ryou, and Yuugi sitting on Ryou's bed, writing down notes and chords respectively for "I Used to Think".

"Oooh, aren't those the lyrics you were finishing yesterday?" Malik asked. "They were good. Made me want to slit my wrists, but good."

Ryou shot him a bemused look. "Was that a compliment, or an insulting compliment…. Or a complimenting insult?"

Malik shrugged. "I don't know. Don't make me think that much."

Ryou threw a pillow at his head. "Idiot."

Yuugi and Bakura watched this exchange somewhat curiously. They had just moved in yesterday, and the ways of the household were still somewhat odd to them.

"So how does it go so far?"

Ryou sighed. "I don't know… the last verse isn't working out quite the way I wanted it to…"

"Well, sing the chorus then!"

Ryou glared at him. "Malik, I could kick you out, you know. But fine. Takahashi-san, do you have all the chords for the chorus written down?"

Bakura stretched. "Yeah."

"All right then! And five, six, seven and eight and…

All these feelings inside

That I keep trying to sort out

I try to take it all in stride

But I'm blinded by so much doubt

All the emotions inside

That I need to let loose

There's nothing left of my pride

I keep trying but there's no use…"

Ryou let the last note trail away, and then beamed at the other with silver hair. "That was really good! You did something really cool in the middle, that part where you stopped playing the chords, and improvised…. Wow…. He's so much better than Tanobi was, isn't he, Malik?"

"Mm…" Malik agreed. "You were wasted on Keith."

The guitarist grinned. "Heh. I know."

Yuugi pouted. "That isn't a good song for heavy drums, though… maybe if I got a small hand held drum…?"

"Yeah… that would be good. It sounds great right now, but if only we had a pianist, and a bass guitar player…. Damn," Ryou sighed longingly.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Ah…Shaadi, you made it."

"Yes, I did, Yami. How has your music been doing?"

Yami resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Fine."

"How's the Chopin?"

"Fine."

"You're bored of me already, aren't you?"

"Fine…wait, what?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ughh, what a terrible ending for this chapter. I'm sorry I couldn't think of anything better. But… well, there's your chapter! I think I have a fun little oneshot coming up later, so be sure to check out my profile in the next few weeks. I'm also working on a fic with my friend, HellsfireScythe, and the first chapter will hopefully be done soon. Until then!

Review!