Wow, this is my third chapter in two days. If I'm lucky, I'll write my entire story by New Year's and then post it periodically!

…Okay, so there's no chance of me finishing the entire story by then, but hey, a girl can dream. In the mean time, I'll just continue to write on, and do as much as I can in the time I have. Luckily, this story is just writing itself, so I don't really struggle with it or anything. I'm actually pretty pleased with it, which is… rare for me, to say the least.

Anyways, today we focus on Mariku and his gang, a truly bizarre collection of completely OOC people. Hey, I tried. Also, more with Ryou, and a brief confrontation with Bakura, not mention a party at Seto's. Yep, you better fasten your seatbelts, cause its going to be a bumpy ride!

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XxxLamb FodderxxX

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"Mariku! Mariku, I've got some important news!" Violent lavender eyes glared out from the shadows given off by the side of the building.

"This better be good, Mokuba."

"Oh it is, Mariku-sama!" the younger boy said, grasping his knees as he struggled to regain his breath. "There's this new kid, Ryou, and-"

"Silence!" The roar caused poor Mokuba to freeze mid-sentence, his only movement being his eyes following the cigarette butt that fell to the ground and was stomped out by a black leather shoe.

"Mokuba, you disappoint me," Mariku said, stepping out of the shadows. "You appear to be the last person to know about this. According to Rishid, Bakura's group is fully aware of his presence as well, thanks to that ridiculous dancing bitch Mazaki. Shizuka told me about him earlier this morning," he elaborated, pointing to the girl sitting to his left. "Is that all you have to report? If that's the case, get out of my presence."

"No, sir! I have one other thing. I saw him walking with one of Yami's gang… that Mutou kid. They seemed real buddy-buddy, by the way that starfish was pulling him." He waited a second as Mariku mulled this over.

"Interesting… so now even Yami has an interest in him… very interesting indeed. Shizuka, show me the picture again." The girl obediently passed her camera phone to him, where a snapshot of Ryou she had taken when he wasn't looking lay.

"Hm… I like him. He's cute, and the fact that the others want him too makes it that much more interesting. I want him." He peered through demonic eyes at the black-haired kid.

"Congratulations Mokuba, you have a chance to redeem yourself. I want this boy, and I always get what I want. Get him for me."

"Yes, Mariku-sama."

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Ryou looked up at the gray sky with worry. Of course he had missed the bus, due to his inability to find his way around, and now he was stuck walking back to his apartment, two miles away. As if that wasn't enough, it looked like it was going to rain, and he, being the genius that he is, forgot his umbrella.

"Great. Bloody brilliant."

Unbeknownst to him, a pair of deep mahogany eyes looked after him. Bakura licked his lips. The boy was everything Anzu had said… and so much more. The kid practically radiated innocence! He was definitely a virgin, and that made it so much more fun. He had to meet him.

Now.

Usually, being the bright boy he was, Bakura would not rush into things like this. He would spend time formulating a plan to perfection, and then would execute it just as well. Here's the thing.

Bakura really, really, really needed to get laid.

And so, primal instinct overrode logic and sensible thinking as Bakura dove in to get his prey. His snuck up behind the pale boy and…

"Boo."

Ryou let out a yelp as his books clattered to the floor for the second time that day. He could feel his face flushing as he turned around to meet his assailant.

As their eyes met, Bakura spoke.

"Why hello there," he stated with a sly grin.

Ryou let out a small squeak as he jumped back, startled by their close proximity. Bakura walked towards him again, and Ryou matched each of his footsteps with one of his own, in the other direction. This was all fine and dandy until Ryou found himself pushed up against a tree, with no place to run. Bakura closed the distance between them and pinned Ryou to the tree with a hand on either side of his head.

"My, my, what do we have here?" He smirked at the sharp intake of breath as Ryou looked up at him.

It was… incredible how similar they were. Same hair color, same pale skin… it was like they were twins. The only differences were that his hair seemed to spike up into a style that rather resembled devil horns, and his eyes were an earthy red color, as opposed to Ryou's bright green.

"Why hello, you must be the new kid, right?" Ryou nodded dumbly. "My name's Ito. Bakura Ito. What's yours?" he asked smoothly, as he leaned down so their noses were touching. Ryou gulped, and Bakura smirked at the blush on his face.

"R-R-Ryou… Ryou S-Sasaki…"

"Ryou, hm? Pretty name. I like it. In fact, I think I like you." Ryou just stood there, eye wide and mouth open in disbelief at what he had just heard. For a long moment, the two of the just stood like that, until Ryou ducked underneath Bakura's arms and bolted.

Bakura smirked, watching him, as he became a distant silhouette. The kid was really just too easy.

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Smoke wafted through the air as the busty woman exhaled slowly, glancing over at her leader nonchalantly.

"Don't you think you were a little hard on the kid, Mariku?" The Egyptian snarled.

"No, Mai, I think I was perfectly fair with him. He knew what he was getting into when he joined up with me, he should've been prepared. I expect better from my followers." Mai just shrugged.

"You sure he knew what he was doing? From what I saw, he was only doing it to get revenge on those darling brothers of his. And lord only knows how much you've done blindly in the name of revenge." Mariku glared.

"That's different."

"Uhuh, I'm sure." She turned to the younger girl beside her, offering her the cigarette. "Hey, Shizuka, want a hit?"

"No thank you, Mai." The blonde cocked an eyebrow.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Huh? Oh nothing. What makes you think something's wrong?" Mai looked at her blandly.

"You just declined a free smoke," she said flatly. "Something's wrong."

"I said nothing. Nothing… except…."

"Except…?" Mai continued for her, showing her infinite patience.

"Except that new kid, Ryou, he knows Katsuya." Mai lips formed an "o" shape as understanding flowed through her. "He was good friends with him at his old school. My old school. Domino." The blonde nodded her head in understanding.

"I see. That… sucks ass." Shizuka laughed dryly.

"Mai, that doesn't even begin to describe it."

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Ryou had had a really crazy, bizarre day, and was really looking forward to his trip home, two miles long or not. Home was where the heart was, or in this case sanity. Yep, he was going home and nothing could stop him….

Oh, silly Ryou. Did you really think I'd let you get off that easy? Oh no, as Ryou soon found out, this day was just beginning.

For just as Ryou was snapping out of his daze from his little… confrontation, a long, black limousine stopped in front of him. Already in a state of mighty confusion from the day's events, all the poor pale boy could do was watch in an awestruck haze as the tinted windows were rolled down, revealing brown hair and piercing blue eyes.

"You," the brunet addressed him. "You're Ryou Sasaki, right?" For at least the third time that day, Ryou found himself nodding mutely. "Good. Get in the car."

Ryou just continued to stare at the boy (at least what he could see of him from behind the dark window), who was growing impatient.

"I repeat, get in."

Ryou? Earth to Ryou? Come in, Ryou!

"For the last time, get in the fucking car!"

Houston we have a problem.

The brunet, who was now at his wits' end, opened the door to his fancy limo, grabbed Ryou, and before anyone could say 'it was a one-eyed, one-legged, flying, purple people eater!' they were off. Ryou of course, being the brilliant boy that he was, took a few minutes before realizing a rather good-looking, wealthy boy about his age was kidnapping him.

And in a brilliant moment of glory, it all clicked.

"W-what the…! Who… what… what's going on? Who are you?" Ryou sputtered, trying to make sense of his situation. Poor, poor Ryou. The brunet just sent an icy glare his way, which shut him up rather effectively.

"You really don't know who I am?" Ryou observed him carefully. Now that he had mentioned it, the boy did look familiar. Almost like…

"Oh my God, you're Seto Kaiba!" The boy rolled his blue eyes.

"No shit, Sherlock. Took you long enough."

"B-b-but, what would you possibly want with me?" Seto gave an aggravated sigh.

"Honestly? Nothing. I couldn't care less about you. However, Yuugi insisted I invite you, and Yami insisted I listen to Yuugi."

"Wait, you're Yuugi's friend?"

"That's what I just said, isn't it?" came the icy reply.

"And who is this Yami?" The only answer he got was scoff from the CEO.

"And invite me to what? Where are we going? I demand that you tell me!" The businessman turned to Ryou slowly, his lips pursed together in a vain attempt to quell his anger.

"We are going to a party. At my house. Yuugi asked me to invite you, and Yami made me. You do not need to know who Yami is right now. You'll find out in time. Does that answer all your questions?"

"Um… yes?" Christ, Seto Kaiba was a frightening man!

"Good. Now, if you don't mind, I have work to do, so I'd appreciate it if you would please kindly shut your trap for the remainder of the ride."

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The first thing Ryou saw when he entered the Kaiba mansion was a multicolored blur, which proceeded to tackle him.

"Oh my gosh, Ryou! I'm so glad you could make it!"

"Y-Yuugi… can't… bre-"

"I was getting worried for a moment, you know, you and Kaiba were taking so long!"

"Need… air-"

"Did Seto scare you? I'm sorry if he did, I know he can have that affect sometimes and- hey, Seto! Put me down!" Ryou thought those blue eyes of Seto's should be coming out of their sockets by now, judging on how often he rolled them.

"Yuugi, you were suffocating him."

"Oh my gosh, I'm, so sorry! Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine, Yuugi," he assured the smaller boy as he stood up and dusted himself off.

"Oh… well in that case, I want you to meet the others!" And for the second time that day, Ryou found himself being dragged along unfamiliar corridors by one Yuugi Mutou. Seto followed behind.

From the stairs, gray eyes followed their movements. Quickly and quietly, Mokuba stalked after them.

In (one of) the living room(s), a small group of people were now gathered. The group was composed of Yuugi, Seto, Ryou, a tan girl with long black hair, another girl with blonde hair and glasses, and a whole lot of snacks and games.

"Ryou, I'd like you to meet my good friends Isis Ishtar and Rebecca Hawkins."

"Yo."

"Pleased to meet you."

"Right then, now can we start the party?"

"Shouldn't we wait for Yami?" Yuugi looked crestfallen.

"Yami said he couldn't make it."

"You know how his parents are," Rebecca interjected. "I really pity him sometimes."

It was when she started speaking that Ryou really began to notice how young she looked.

"Um… Rebecca…?"

"Yeah?"

"I was just wondering… um… are you… actually in high school…?" She scowled at him.

"Of course I am!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," he began hurriedly. "Its just, I thought you were thirteen or something."

"I am thirteen!"

"Rebecca skipped two grades," came a voice from the right.

"Mokuba! What are you doing here?"

"It's my house too, big brother," came the reply with a sneer. Mokuba walked right past his brother and into the center of the group, wedging his way between Rebecca and Ryou. He took his time to study the near-albino boy. So this was his target, huh? Well, it would be a challenge. Mariku was right when he said that the others had an interest in him too. He then turned his focus to Rebecca…

Rebecca.

…And quickly turned away.

"So what do we have here? A little get together?"

"It's a party, Mokuba," Seto said through clenched teeth. "Now go away." Mokuba looked at his brother with wide eyes.

"You're having a party, and you didn't even invite me? Your own flesh and blood?" He placed a hand over his heart for melodramatic effect. "I am hurt, Seto, that is just painful." Isis looked deep in thought.

"Hm, yes. On the subject of your own flesh and blood, where is that vile brother of yours?" Mokuba gave her a flat stare.

"He's right in front of you. What are you, woman, blind?" It took all of Isis' willpower to stop her from murdering the little imp.

"I wasn't talking about Seto and you know it." Mokuba smirked.

"Oh, I get it, you mean Noah. Well, how should I know? He's probably off somewhere with Ito and your brother." Isis' stoic stare turned steely.

"Malik is no brother of mine."

"Uhuh," Mokuba said. "You keep telling yourself that. As long as you two sleep in the same room at night, you can't deny it." Now Isis was furious.

"How would you know-!"

"Rishid," was the simple answer uttered.

"Rishid," Isis repeated, growling low under her breath. "I'll kill him."

Now, as one would imagine, Ryou was thoroughly confuse by this point. However, one thing did click in his mind. That name, Ito. It sounded familiar, but from where…?

"My name's Ito. Bakura Ito. What's yours?"

"Holy crap!" Ryou's shocked yell startled everyone, and the arguments immediately halted.

"Um… Ryou…? Are you okay?"

"Hm? Oh yes, Yuugi, I'm fine. I, uh, think I forgot my, uh, math textbook at school, that's all." Mokuba snorted.

What a loser.

"Well, fine," Mokuba stated, getting up to leave. "I can tell when I'm not wanted." With that he made for the exit. He slowed down as he was leaving, however, eyes lingering on Rebecca. The he turned heel and stalked away.

And Rebecca watched him go until he was out of sight.

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The rest of the party was rather uneventful, which, as Ryou looked back on his day, he was quite grateful for. He didn't know if he could handle any more excitement.

It was really very remarkable. It one day, one day, he had had a more exciting life than all of the past sixteen years combined. He had gone to a prestigious school, signed forms for an hour, got spied on lord only knows how many times, met his best friend's apparently Goth sister, got hopelessly lost, met a boy with three colors in his hair, got stalked by someone who could've passed as his twin, was picked up by a billionaire CEO of the company that controlled half of Japan, and had a party at his house with other insanely wealthy people.

One. Fucking. Day.

Ryou collapsed on his bed, exhausted. Who knew the upper class led such exciting lives?

Television really didn't do them justice.

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Holy shit. That is the longest chapter I've ever written.

And yes, I know, poor Mokuba was terribly OOC! But, I'm using manga Mokuba, who is a swearing, homicidal imp, so that should make it a little better… I hope...

Again, constructive criticism greatly appreciated, as well as requests! Don't forget to drop a review! This is your last chance to cast your vote for whom Ryou will end up with, though I think I already know.

Happy New Year!

Dewa Mata!

Saruwatari