Wow! So many reviews! You have no idea how happy you all made us! Huge, enormous thanks to: v son saiyan, fanficlunatic234, chibichibimalik, Chibi B-Channie, Rapturous Voice, Aseria, Dark Magician Girl/ Hikaru, Ryouholic, Sango-irss, and SupremeHyren (if you're reading this too….)
Dark Mysteries: Well, part of the point of the story is who ends up getting paired, so just wait and see…We're not sure how long this story will be, but definitely more than 10 chapters.
Wolfbane2: If we told you who he'd end up with, that would be giving it away, no?
Lilmatchgirl007: The table hockey thing was referring to before, when Malik thought about Bakura playing table hockey with his feelings. I told SeventhDaughter it was too obscure, but would she listen to me? Nooo….
HANDHELD Uber Rei Model 05: Sorry for scaring you with the chapter name! Yeah, Bakura's an ass…but we all love him anyway!
Ishtar Maliku: Sorry, but Yami Malik isn't going to be appearing here. He's just (as we say) not kashur to the storyline, and wouldn't fit. Glad you like the story anyway, though!
Enjoy the chapter!
CHAPTER FIVE
Three days after the unsuccessful semi-suicide-attempt, the gang crowded at table in the cafeteria during lunchtime. Malik joined them with his tray. "What's up, guys?"
"Hey, Malik. We're all gonna show up at the arcade today after school and have some fun. Wanna come along?" Joey asked.
Malik looked thoughtful for a moment. "Sorry, guys. No can do. I'm busy this afternoon, maybe some other time?"
"Oh, too bad," Yugi said.
Tristan tried to catch Malik's eye, but the blonde ignored him.
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That day was marked as special by the return of Otogi Ryuuji from his business trip to the Ukraine. Otogi tended to miss a lot of school because of his trips, and though it was rather annoying to have to keep up with material while on a business trip, he still quite enjoyed regaling everybody with his experiences when he got back.
Later that day, when they had all met up at the arcade, they sat around and eating dinner. Otogi had just finished telling them about his trip, when Tea abruptly changed the subject.
"Why do you suppose Malik couldn't come?" she wondered.
"Come where?" Otogi asked in confusion. "And with Malik? Isn't he that crazy guy from Battle City?"
"Shhh!" Tristan covered Otogi's mouth quickly. "We said we weren't going to mention that in public, remember?"
"He's actually pretty nice once you get to know him, if slightly weird," Joey corrected him.
Yugi agreed. "He is nice, but really mysterious. He wouldn't tell me where he lives."
"Wherever he lives, it must be somewhere poor," Tristan put in, "because I met him working after school at a motorcycle garage."
Tea leaned forward. "Joey, you went over his house to do the Geography project, didn't you?"
Joey looked uncomfortable. "Yeah, I was there."
"Well?" Otogi prompted.
"Listen," Joey said, "I really would rather not talk about it. I mean, it's his business, you know?"
"Does that mean it's bad?" Tea asked.
Joey sighed. "Forget it!"
"But Joey, maybe there's something we could do to help him," Yugi said worriedly
"Yugi," Joey said seriously, "if Malik's at all the way I get him to be, he's not going to thank you for trying to help him."
Otogi nodded in agreement. "He definitely doesn't seem like the really friendly type."
"Actually, he's pretty friendly," Tea said slowly.
"Maybe too friendly," Joey commented dryly, thinking back to when Malik had taken a nap on his stomach. Not to mention the enthusiastic hug he'd gotten along with his ginger ale.
"What do you mean?" Tristan asked.
"Well, haven't you noticed how...weird he acts sometimes?" Joey responded evasively
There were some tentative nods of agreement.
"He goes over Ryou's all the time," Tea said. "I know, I see him on the way."
"I've seen him there when we were studying," Yugi said. "He seemed awfully friendly with Ryou," he added reluctantly.
Ryou burst into the arcade. "Sorry I'm late, guys," he panted. He pulled up a chair. "What was everyone talking about?"
"Ah, you didn't miss much," Joey said cheerfully, "just dice-boy bragging about his trip."
"We were wondering what Malik does at your house all the time," Otogi said.
Ryou winced at how bad that sounded.
"Oh, we just hang around, talk, play games. Eat chocolate cake," he added as an afterthought.
"Chocolate cake?" Tristan wondered.
"Malik's not really a big eater," Joey muttered.
"Come to think of it, he's awfully thin." Tea looked thoughtful.
"Sounds like he has money problems," Otogi said quietly
Ryou looked startled. "What?"
"Doesn't Malik have a sister?" Yugi wanted to know.
Tristan recalled what Malik had told him at the garage. "She doesn't know he's here. He lives alone, I think."
"Worse than that." Everyone turned to Joey, whose eyes were fixed on something in his lap. "He lives in a dangerous neighborhood in this dirty two-room apartment that barely has any furniture in it. He wanted to offer me some food when I was there, but I don't think he had any. I think he uses all the money he earns to pay for the bills and for an Internet connection on his laptop."
"That sounds like him," Ryou muttered.
There was silence for a few moments.
"What should we do?" Tea finally asked.
"I don't know if we can do anything," Tristan said reluctantly. "It's rather obvious that Malik doesn't want any help. I don't think he'd be happy if we told anyone or did anything."
Ryou bit his lip, horrified. How could Malik be so cheerful all the time?
"We can invite him over for a sleepover or something," Yugi suggested, "and have a big dinner. That way we can give him a comfortable place to sleep for a night and lots of food."
"But we can't do that too often, or he'll notice," Otogi said. Despite the fact that he hardly knew Malik, he too was getting caught up in the planning.
"We can pass around some chocolate bars at school. He likes chocolate, right, Ryou?" Tristan rubbed his hands together, warming up the idea.
"Yeah, great idea!" Ryou said enthusiastically. "And I'll make sure to invite him over for dinner and stuff more often."
"Guys," Joey said. "If we keep this up long enough, he's gonna notice for sure."
"I think we should cross that bridge when we come to it." Yugi looked determined. "For the present, let's just make sure Malik has somewhere to go for dinner at least twice a week!"
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The next day at school, the gang had crowded around Otogi again in the cafeteria. Malik came up and put his tray down.
"Hey Malik, want some chocolate?" Yugi held out a bar. "Otogi brought some back from Switzerland to give to everybody."
Malik accepted the chocolate. "Thanks," he said.
Otogi, Joey and Tristan heaved sighs of relief.
"I'm planning a sleepover at my house on Thursday night," Yugi added. "Everyone said they could come, Malik. What about you?"
A small smile lit up Malik's eyes. "Thursday? I think I can make it, yeah."
"All right!" Joey grinned. "I'll bring the movies, you guys bring the popcorn. Let's rock!"
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The week passed quickly for Malik; during school, he concentrated on classes, and after school, he worked every day at the motorcycle garage. He avoided Bakura as best as he could, dreading any confrontation where the tomb robber might try to do more about his situation at home. Unfortunately, Malik wasn't able to avoid him completely. Bakura cornered him in school on the Wednesday before the sleepover.
He stood at the sink of the boy's bathroom during a break and splashed water on his face, trying to hide the signs of exhaustion that showed clearly beneath his eyes. He wiped his face with his sleeve and stared at his gaunt reflection in the mirror. He definitely looked sleep-deprived, and too thin; even his face was too thin. He'd been loath to eat the food that Bakura had bought him that night, but after a while the idea that it might go to waste had disgusted him enough to force him to eat it.
The bathroom door slammed shut as someone entered. Malik ignored whoever it was and rested his head wearily against the glass if the mirror. Rough hands grasped his shoulders and spun him around. He found himself staring into Bakura's angry eyes.
"Malik, this has got to stop."
Malik studied the other impassively. "Isn't it bad for you to be out during school? Someone might notice the difference between you and Ryou." He removed himself from Bakura's grip and headed for the door. "You should let him take over before something you'll regret happens."
Bakura caught his shoulder. "Damn it, Malik, stop trying to run away from me! Don't you understand that you need help!"
"No," Malik said coldly. "I don't understand and I don't need help."
"Look at you!" Bakura poked his chest. "People are going to start noticing how thin you are soon, if they haven't already. Or you'll just collapse from exhaustion. Why are you letting your STUPID-"
Malik slapped his hand away. "Not that it's any of your business," he snapped, "but I'm going to get my first paycheck in two days. I'm doing quite fine on my own, thanks a lot. I don't need help, especially not from YOU." He pulled the bathroom door open violently and left, slamming it behind him.
Bakura sighed and sagged against a stall door. So much for trying to reason logically with Malik. Why did he care so much what happened to the stupid blonde anyway? Why couldn't he stop thinking about the bare cupboards in Malik's kitchen, the empty living room, the whole damn shabby apartment? Why did he keep feeling Malik's jutting ribs under his fingers? Was it possible that he cared for Malik as more than just a friend?
Ridiculous, he told himself. Malik was no longer the daring, dangerous, crazy boy he had teamed up with in Battle City. Now he was just like all the other weaklings, alternating between serious, cheerful and depressed, and just plain too innocent.
Abruptly, he remembered how Malik had looked coming out of his shower shirtless, with the anger burning in his eyes.
Oh, but the bastard sure was sexy as hell.
Maybe if he just screwed the Egyptain's brains out he'd feel better... he groaned as images of sweating, naked Malik writhing beneath him crossed his mind. He leaned against the wall, trying to get his breathing back to normal. Now he was fucking obsessed with Malik. And it looked like he would be until he'd had his fun with the Egyptian.
Now all he had to do was figure out how. Bakura made a face. The way Malik was treating him now, the Egyptian would probably be quicker to bed the Winged Dragon of Ra.
School was going fairly well for Malik. He managed to scrape up pretty good grades without having to try very hard, and most of the teachers had learned to accept his disrespectful attitude because of it. The ones who hadn't just weren't wasting any more time over.
The students had also learned to accept him. After the rest of the class had seen how well he got along with Yugi and the gang they had decided he was pretty much okay. He still had occasional brush-ups with some of the more overconfident pricks in his grade, but he knew how to take care of himself, so he wasn't particularly worried.
He plopped down wearily in his seat, having left the bathroom and Bakura behind in a dark mood. He hoped that the tomb robber had taken his advice and gone to his soul room. He really didn't have the strength for another confrontation.
The bell rang and the break ended. Minutes later, Ishimura Sensei minced into the classroom. Malik slouched down in his seat, reaching into his backpack to pull out his books. He jumped in surprise when his hand met with a silky, slightly bumpy surface.
"Is there something wrong, Ishtar?" Ishimura Sensei demanded.
"Uhh," Malik stammered, then looked down at his backpack, which had started moving. A slight hiss was heard, and a triangular head poked out of his backpack. The girl who sat behind Malik screamed and leapt out of her chair. "What is that thing?"
Other screams were heard as the other students noticed the snake, and soon a large circle cleared around Malik's desk.
"Ishtar, what is the meaning of this?" the teacher demanded
"I swear, I don't know where it came from!" Malik said nervously, as the snake wrapped several coils around his waist and was moving its head back and forth in front in front of his face.
"It was in your backpack!" one of the girls screamed, "why did you bring that THING to school?!"
"It's not mine!" Malik protested.
"It seems to know you quite well," Ishimura Sensei remarked dryly.
"I find it impressive that he managed to fit a ten-foot snake into his bag," Kaiba commented.
"What he said!" Malik said quickly. The snake was now rubbing its head affectionately against Malik's cheek, something that tended to make him very nervous. That, and the coils around his whole body that shifted and moved constantly, tightening and loosening.
"Please leave the classroom, and take your pet snake with you," the teacher snapped in annoyance.
"It's not my-"
"See me after class, Ishtar. Now, get out!" Ishimura Sensei pointed a firm finger toward the door. Malik tried to get up, with the snake still coiled around him and casting evil looks at the rest of the class. He promptly collapsed on the floor, unable to carry the heavy snake. Malik registered the Evil Eye the rest of the class was giving him, and continued to try to crawl out of the classroom. The snake was unhelpful.
At that moment, the door opened and Bakura stood gaping in the doorway. He took in the scene and let out an explosive string of curses, both in Japanese and in Egyptian. He lunged forward, as if to help Malik on the floor, but the snake turned its head in his direction and hissed loudly, warning him away. Bakura backed away nervously. "Malik?" he asked, not having a clue what was going on.
"Don't look at me like that, I have no idea where this thing came from!"
Malik crawled out of the classroom, preserving what dignity he could. The snake continued to watch the class insolently until they were out of the room and the door was shut.
As soon as the door was closed, Malik collapsed onto the floor. He collided with a thump. It hurt, and when he looked down, the snake was no longer there. "Wha...?" he stared around, but it was nowhere to be seen. Malik dropped his head into his hands with a groan. This was not his day
He met with Ishimura Sensei after school in the teachers' lounge. Ishimura Sensei sat in a comfortable lounge chair and stared at Malik over the rim of a steaming cup of tea.
"That was a despicable thing you did," he began.
"I didn't-"
"By all means, I would never have expected a student of Domino High School to even consider such an act." He sipped his tea delicately.
"I'm sorry, but if you'll just listen-"
"Bringing a pet to school, much less a dangerous one, is a violation of restriction 312 of the book of rules. Therefore, the appropriate punishment is-"
"It's not my pet!" Malik growled. "How the HELL do you expect me to fit a ten foot PYTHON in my FUCKING BACKPACK?!" Malik slammed both hands onto the desk, by now completely furious.
"That will be quite enough, Ishtar," Ishimura Sensei said coldly, putting down his teacup. "You are hereby suspended until your parents come and clear this matter up with me." Ishimura Sensei stood up. "You are also required to do some community work for going over the pets restriction. I will contact you later to let you know what your duty will be. You're dismissed."
Malik stared in horror, the teacher's words reverberating through his head. There was no way his parents could come, considering they were both dead, and Isis, his legal guardian, didn't know where he was. He turned mutely and left the room, trying to figure out what to do.