And, today it's Tramontana doing the review responses! Haven't been around for a while, nice to see you peeps.
Sorry for the shorter chapter, but this felt like a good stopping place. Hopefully the next one should be out in not too long.
Now for today's trivia! You know the 'hip hip hooray' people shout? Well, it turns out that 'hip' is the acronym for 'hirosalima ist perdita', meaning 'Jerusalem is lost'. Weird, huh?
La Unity-Girl: Bakura really is being an idiot. Don't worry, it'll work out in the end…sort of…(grin)
Yuka Kitsune: We're not THAT sadistic!
Chibichibimalik2: Yep, from here on it's the home stretch, pretty much. Still a few things, but the end is nearing.
DemonicMistress Kree-kun: Yes sir! As you commanded!
Wolfjessica5: Don't worry, we believe in happy endings.
Sonny Goten: We actually contemplated the idea you suggested a while ago, and had many bitter fights over it. You'll see what we decided soon enough….
Amethyst Dragonflame: YES! Finally! Ever since chapter 4 I've been waiting for someone to ask that! Nareshkite means 'nonsense' or 'foolishness' in Yiddish. You get a cookie. And an update!
Dark Magician Girl Hikaru and Tenshi no Toki: Well…sorry about the hair. If it's any comfort to you, I drew him with short hair, and he was actually sorta cute. Not nearly as bad as you'd think. And don't worry, things will be getting better for him soon.
Aramis-chan: I refused to have Bakura do such an obviously stupid thing without making sure everybody knew that we knew that it was a really stupid thing to do. Otherwise what kind of authors would you think us!
Nanakojima: Thank you.
Rapturous Voice: Here's the update!
And thanks to all of you who are reading this, too!
Chapter Fifteen
Malik was more than his usual two minutes late. As their first period rolled by, Ryou kept glancing from Malik's empty seat to the classroom door, expecting Malik to burst in any minute, wearing his usual daredevil grin. Usually he would have walked with Malik to school, but he couldn't remember leaving the house this morning, which meant that Bakura had been the one to get him out. Consequently, he had no idea of Malik's whereabouts. When the second period bell rang and Malik still hadn't appeared, he began to wonder if something were wrong.
Ishimoto Sensei had launched into a detailed outline of the differences between urban and rural Brazilian culture when the door opened and Malik stood framed in the doorway, looking like a lawn mower had been at his hair after he'd hiked through a tornado. Ishimoto stopped mid-sentence and the general noise in the classroom turned to a deathly silence as all eyes stared at Malik. Ryou drew in a gasping breath and moved to get up, just as Kaiba behind him did the same. As one, they grabbed Malik's arms and dragged him backwards out of the classroom. Malik allowed himself to be led away from curious eyes. They dropped his backpack on the floor in front of the classroom.
"Do you have a good pair of scissors?" Ryou asked Kaiba on the way to the nearest bathroom.
"No."
"Drat. I don't either." Ryou frowned for a minute, then brightened and pulled Malik's knife out of the blonde's shoe. "Here, we'll use this."
They dragged Malik inside the bathroom and sat him on a toilet seat while they looked him over to assess the damage. "I'll do it," Kaiba said, holding his hand out for the knife. "I've got more experience."
"You do?"
Kaiba looked embarrassed. "I refused to let anybody wielding sharp implements near my brother's head."
Ryou looked impressed. "You really love Mokuba," he stated. Kaiba shrugged, as if to say, isn't it obvious? Malik was meanwhile occupying himself by counting the ants walking across the bathroom floor. One waved at him. He raised an eyebrow arrogantly back.
Kaiba took the knife and began sawing away at the uneven clumps at the back of Malik's head.
"What happened?" Ryou finally asked. He raised Malik's head from its defeated position contemplating the floor. "Was it Bakura?"
Malik flinched. "No."
Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Denial doesn't get you anywhere. At least, not in these parts it doesn't."
Malik looked at him. "Huh?"
"Glad to see you're so talkative."
"Kaiba, you're being weird," Ryou said tentatively.
Kaiba opened and closed his mouth. Ryou shook his head at him. "It's my prerogative," the CEO finally said huffily.
The corners of Malik's mouth twitched upwards.
"You know, if you wanted Kaiba to give you a haircut this badly you could've just asked," Ryou suggested.
"Mrrrmble," said Malik.
"Come again?" Kaiba asked.
"Nothing."
Kaiba crossed his arms on his chest. "It was Bakura, wasn't it."
"Not… not really." Malik swallowed, then sat up straighter. "I got sick of how people looked at my hair."
Ryou and Kaiba exchanged glances. "You mean…."
"No, guys, just drop it, okay? I got sick of it and that's it. Just leave me alone about it."
Ryou shoved Kaiba out of the way and crouched in front of Malik. "We need to do something about this mangled bit in the front. You look like a bush."
Kaiba frowned. "Should I cut it all off? The back is already really short."
"But Malik wouldn't look good in a buzz cut."
Kaiba sighed. "Anything's better than this!"
"I don't want my hair to look nice," inserted Malik. "Cut it all off."
"No!" Ryou spread his hands across the front of Malik's head, shielding the offending locks from view. "Don't touch him! He's my boyfriend, there's no way I'm gonna let you mangle him!"
Kaiba raised his hands in feigned innocence. "Don't worry; I wasn't going to touch his nose or his eyebrows."
Ryou stuck out his tongue.
Kaiba ran his fingers through the mess on Malik's forehead. "If we have to… I can cut a little here, push this to the side…" He chopped a little with the knife and stepped back. "Done!"
Malik brushed the hair from his shoulders and stood up to face the mirrors, only to discover that there were no mirrors in the boys' bathroom. "Uh… I'd like to see what you've done to me."
The three looked at each other for a moment, before Ryou tentatively said, "There are mirrors in the girls' bathroom, aren't there?"
"We're guys," said Kaiba patiently.
"We're gay," said Ryou patiently.
"Speak for yourselves," Kaiba muttered. "You can go in. I'll wait outside."
Ryou and Malik exchanged an evil glance, then jumped up, grabbed Kaiba, and promptly dragged him into the girls' bathroom. Kaiba's reputation was stomped into the ground as about seven giggling mini-skirted girls saw them sneaking in and out. He almost cried.
Malik paused in front of the mirror, leaning his elbows on the counter to get a better look at himself. He made a face. "It's really short in the back. You should have cut more off at the top." The hair at the back of his head had been cut down almost to his scalp, while an unruly mop was left on top his head, for the most part spiking upwards, but dropping a few strands on his forehead.
"I think it looks really good," Ryou said. He flicked the golden choker on the back of Malik's neck. "Now all you need to do is get rid of these obnoxious things. They're in the way."
"I can't! They're family heirlooms, and besides, they don't come off."
"What did they do, weld them on?" Kaiba scoffed.
"Uh…actually, yes."
The bathroom door behind them opened. A pigtailed girl with big pink bows entered the bathroom, caught sight of three of the school's biggest bishies, and squealed loudly, sounding the Bishie Alert to summon the rest of the school's female population. Kaiba, Ryou and Malik spent the next period trying to fight their way through a screaming crowd of rabid girls and avoid being groped at the same time.
Lunch that day was more interesting than usual. Well, interesting if you like being gawped at like zoo animals. Malik was unable to avoid the interested stares sent his way. Most of the school buzzed with news of the change in Malik's appearance, and rumors about the state he'd appeared in this morning and why flew like vultures about a corpse. There was already a poll running about whether his new look was better than his old one (results were still inconclusive, with 45 favoring the old, 40 favoring the new, and the rest undecided). Malik sat with Kaiba (hoping Kaiba's evil glare would help fend off curious people) in a quiet corner, trying to eat his lunch without being disturbed, but he was only halfway done with the gloop that passed for meatballs and the worms that passed for spaghetti when the Yugi gang surrounded his table ominously.
"Malik, you look so cute!" Anzu exclaimed enthusiastically.
"So I gathered…" Malik muttered, already rather annoyed about the whole business.
"We were just wondering if the rumor about the Russian black-belt and the ice cream was true," Joey said conspiratorially.
"The what?" Malik stared. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Joey looked rather disappointed. "How about the one about the rubber ducky on the highway?"
"No…"
"The Brazilian prostitute?"
"No! I was just trying to give myself a haircut, and discovered I was bad at it, that's all!"
Kaiba smirked and muttered something about gullible mongrels. Joey, predictably, exploded at him, and the rest of Malik's lunch went flying towards the ceiling. At least the sheer amount of noise managed to keep the crowds at bay fairly well.
Malik returned, grubby and splattered with grease, from his after-school job at the motorcycle garage. Even though he lived with Ryou now and didn't need to pay electricity or water bills anymore, he still felt like he should contribute to the household costs. Ryou was in his room doing homework. Malik said a quick hello, then went to pull out his laptop. He was finally ready to contact Rishid, at least to let the man who had been an older brother to him for years know that he was alright.
Malik opened his Gmail account (we're getting paid five quid to promote it! Gmail rocks! End commercial break.) and stared at it for several minutes, before he started writing.
Dear Rishid,
Hi. I'm in Domino City. I'm staying with Ryou. Everything's fine.
For some reason, Malik felt that it was rather dry. Not to mention that the last line wasn't really true.
Ok, fine, I'm not ok. I got dumped. Well, more like used actually. Don't laugh at me please.
Malik sighed, and decided it needed more elaboration; this just didn't quite cut it.
I thought there was something more between us, that maybe he even cared for me. But he just wanted me because of the way I look. So I got a little crazy and chopped off most of my hair. I swear I didn't do anything worse than that, but now I'm getting even more attention and I don't know what to do about it. I don't think I like myself very much right now. After he told me that he just wanted me for the way I look, I felt really dirty. I'm trying to be different from what I was, but it's not working so well.
Oh, and the yakuza is after me again. I thought they might've forgotten me…fine, so I was being dumb. You don't have to say that.
Are you really mad at me for changing my email address without telling you? I still check my old one and I saw the stuff you sent me. Nearly killed my inbox, I don't have that much storage space there! But I really do appreciate it. I realize that running away from you and Isis was rather stupid. And juvenile (well, I'm a teenager. I'm allowed to indulge in teenage angst) but I just couldn't manage with all that crap in Egypt. So I came here, but I didn't do any better. Well, maybe a little. My grades are better. And Ryou lets me have chocolate whenever I want. But now I messed up again. Am I doing something wrong? Why don't people like me?
-Malik
P.S. Do you know anything about a python that can appear anywhere at will? One has been bugging me. We call it Binky. He blinks, too. Snakes aren't supposed to do that.
Malik pressed the 'send' button without giving himself a chance to lose his nerve.