ell, here we are at chapter four. It's nice to know you guys like my pairings, however bizarre they may be. Also, as my school break comes to an end, it may take me longer… much longer to update. I just wanted you guys to be aware of that.

So, what do you think, now that you've met the entire cast? I know the gangs are a bit confusing, so I'll lay them out for you again.

Yami – Yuugi, Seto, Isis, and Rebecca

Bakura – Malik, Noah, Anzu, and Ryuuji

Mariku – Everyone else, or more specifically, Rishid, Mokuba, Shizuka, and Mai

Sorry if that's confusing. The gangs are all very important, and each member plays a part in getting Ryou's attention. It's all very complicated.

In other news, today we head our focus back to Yami and his group, with a devious plan from Mariku's gang, another confrontation from Bakura, and Yami befriending Ryou, while thinking perverse thoughts about the poor boy. I pity Ryou, with all I've done to him.

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XxxLamb FodderxxX

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"No accidents on the roads today so all should be clear on your way to work-,"

Ryou groaned as his alarm went off. Groggily, he stared at the neon lights flashing 6:15 on his clock in a lazy state. It was far too early to be getting up. It wasn't humane.

Lazily, Ryou rolled onto his back and stared up at his ceiling, the morning news still droning on in the background. A pale hand indolently flicked the alarm to the 'off' position. Doe eyes stared blankly at the white plaster above him, trying to futilely shake off the sleep from the past night. As the clock flashed 6:20, Ryou finally managed to pull himself out of bed.

In the same sleepy haze, Ryou pulled out his new uniform at put it on, first the white undershirt, then the black pants, and finally the black overcoat, doing up each of the gold buttons except for the one at the very top, which would restrict his breathing.

As he looked in the mirror he grimaced. From a distance, the black gakuran (1) didn't really look all that different than Domino's blue one. However, on closer inspection, it was clear to see that Miyagi's uniform was about ten times better in quality. The cotton was smoother, shinier. More comfortable… it almost felt like satin. Ryou didn't even know that it was possible for cotton to feel like satin!

Ryou sighed. Just another sign that he didn't belong at Miyagi High.

He made his way to the kitchen of his one floor house, where he heated up some miso soup and plain rice, to lazy to grill up fish to add in (2). As he picked at his rice, he mulled over the previous day's events.

It was kind of hard to believe, actually. So much had happened yesterday, it was a blur. A really confusing blur.

He vaguely considered the idea that it had all been a dream. Just for kicks, he glanced over at his calendar, which had Monday clearly crossed out; meaning yesterday was all too real. Ryou rubbed the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb. How was he going to survive?

Sighing, he placed his dishes in the sink and grabbed his bag and coat. He hurriedly stepped outside; he was running late and might have missed the bus. However…

"Finally, it took you long enough. Get in the car."

…It didn't look like Ryou would be taking the bus this morning.

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"Mokuba, hurry!"

"I'm going as fast as I can Shizuka!"

"Well it's not fast enough!"

"Look, Shizuka, I'm almost done. Why don't you go check on Kujaku-senpai?"

"Fine. Just pick up the pace."

Mokuba made a clucking noise from his place in front of the computer. While all three of the Kaiba brothers excelled in the technology department, each had a specialty.

Mokuba's was hacking. And thus, he hacked away.

Really, his skills were the only thing that had kept his group with passing grades. Especially Mariku, who barely showed up a day a month, if even. Had Mokuba not hacked into the school system, he surely would've repeated multiple grades.

Though, Mokuba thought idly to himself. They'd probably being seeing more of him now that the new kid was around.

Outside, in the hallway, Shizuka was checking up on Mai. The busty woman had been keeping guard outside.

"Mai-senpai, is everything alright?" The blonde cocked an eyebrow at the younger girl's arrival.

"Hm? Oh yeah, everything's great. It's too easy to manipulate the testosterone in the hall monitors." Just as she finished speaking, a boy with scraggly gray hair and sunken cheeks spotted them.

"Hey! You two! What do you think you're doing? You're supposed to be in class!" Mai waited for the boy to come up to them before leaning down, allowing her cleavage to show.

"Oh, Bonz, sweetheart, I'm so sorry. This is my entire fault. You see, I was having a really stressful day, so I left the classroom for some fresh air. Shizuka, being the dear she is," she said, wrapping one arm around the red-haired girl, but doing so that her breasts were still in full view. "Came with me. I know its wrong, but could you please let us off, just this once?"

"W-well…"

"I promise it won't ever happen again."

"I-I guess I c-c-could let it go j-just this once."

"Thanks hon, you're a dear." She pecked his cheek. "See ya around."

"Y-Yeah. Bye." Mai watched him go, waiting until he was around a corner before smirking. Shizuka let out a small giggle.

"See? I told you. Too easy."

"Hey! You guys! I got it!" Both girls turned their heads to the raven-haired boy, who came towards them with a devious grin.

"So, you changed it?"

"Yep," he said.

"So…?"

"So," he began. "Ryou Sasaki's partner for the upcoming literature project is now officially Mariku."

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As soon as Seto had stopped the car, and Ryou had stepped out, Yuugi had launched himself at the pale boy.

"Hey Ryou!"

"Oh… hello, Yuugi." Mentally, Ryou sighed. He supposed he should get used to this. Then he looked down at the boy hugging him, and equally reprimanded himself. Yuugi was just trying to be friendly, not annoying. Ryou should've been grateful.

"Oi, Mutou, get off of him, he's suffocating." The smaller boy looked up at the brunet who had addressed him, and blushed, smiling sheepishly. Slowly, he removed himself from Ryou.

"Ah, right Seto-kun. Sorry about that Ryou."

"It's fine, Yuugi." The short kid smiled more confidently.

"Hey, Ryou, let's go meet up with the others!" Smiling softly, Ryou allowed Yuugi to drag him away from the Kaiba brother and limo into the school, where they ran into Isis. The Egyptian girl was waiting by herself. She stood to the side, away from the other girls dressed in the exact same uniform. The Miyagi High girl's uniform consisted of a black long-sleeved shirt with a collar, and an indecently short black pleated skirt, all of which were outlined in gold, matching the boys' gakuran.

"Hello there, Yuugi, Ryou." She glanced up behind them. "Seto." A grunt of affirmation came from behind them, and Ryou looked back to see that Seto was indeed there. Isis nodded her head in response.

It was just a guess, but Ryou had a hunch these two weren't big talkers.

"So, Isis, where's Rebecca?" The tan girl put a finger to her chin and tapped, thinking.

"I believe she went to Takei-san's class early today. She said something about a make-up French exam." Ryou looked perplexed.

"French? Why French?"

"Rebecca is studying three languages," Yuugi explained. "English, for obvious reasons, Arabic, because her father is an archaeologist, just like my grandpa, and French, because she thinks it's romantic." He shrugged. "I'll never understand girls."

"You three should get to class," Isis interjected, and Seto was off before she could finish her sentence. "The first bell is about to ring." Sure enough, no sooner had she finished her sentence, the bell had rang. Ryou looked up at her with wide eyes.

"How did you do that?"

"It's just something Isis does," Yuugi interrupted, tugging on Ryou's arm. "She can explain later. We have to go, Ryou, or we'll be late for gym!"

The word late sent off warning signals is Ryou's head. His mother, while she was still alive, had always told him that tardiness was an excellent way of making a horrible first impression, and considering how physically unfit he was, Ryou realized that he needed to start off on as good a foot as possible. Thus, as Yuugi shot off down the halls, Ryou was close on his trail. They just barely made it into the gym before the late bell rang. Both of them were exhausted when they got there, and slumped against the padded wall. However, both were snapped out of their peaceful rest when the gym teacher began talking.

"My name is Coach Karita, and I'll be your gym teacher for the next few months! There are important things to know in this class…"

"Scary guy, isn't he?" Ryou asked Yuugi, who just nodded his head. To their side, there was a brief laugh, and both of their heads turned to face the speaker.

"You think Karita is scary? Ha, you haven't seen anything yet." Ryou's eyes widened.

"Y-you!"

"Bakura!"

"Yeah, that's me. What about it, shrimp?" the white-haired fiend asked, glancing over at the vertically impaired boy.

"W-what are you doing here?" Bakura rolled his eyes, and reached into his pocket, drawing out a paper.

"It's time for gym," he said pointing to the schedule.

"No, I mean, what are you doing in school?" Bakura closed his eyes and leaned up against the wall, resting his head in his palms, which were behind him.

"It's my choice. Why, you got a problem with it?" Yuugi looked down to the floor.

"W-well, no, but…"

"But I do," came a new voice. Bakura cracked open one eye and stared at the newcomer, his grin turning into a frown. Meanwhile, Ryou could feel his eyes go even wider.

The new boy looked almost exactly like Yuugi! Well, except that he was taller, and his eyes were a piercing scarlet, rather than violet. Still, between Ryou and Bakura, and Yuugi and this new kid, one would've thought it was Bring-Your-Identical-Twin-to-School-Day.

Bakura's eyes were both closed again, though he was still frowning. "Bugger off, Yami, nobody asked for your opinion."

Ah, so this was the infamous Yami. Made sense. Ryou could feel the animosity between him and Bakura, almost as if it was a solid object.

"I don't need an invitation to share my thoughts, Bakura." Ryou looked on in awe. His voice held so much authority! "And right now, I'm thinking you just said the wrong thing to one of my friends." As the two enemies had a glaring contest, Ryou looked Yami up and down.

He wasn't that tall. In fact, Ryou was taller than him. At the same time, he held himself so calmly, so confidently, so regally…. The word 'king' came to mind.

And those eyes… Christ, those eyes could look through your very soul!

However, the tension in the air was getting thicker by the minute, with Bakura gritting his teeth and Yami clenching and unclenching his fists. Ryou swore one of them was going to hit the other when suddenly:

"Bakura Ito, come get your uniform and locker number." Bakura looked over at the table where the other boys had lined up, and with a snarl towards Yami and a wink towards Ryou (who of course, blushed profusely) he stalked off towards the table. Yuugi let out a sigh of relief and collapsed against the wall. Ryou's shoulders visibly relaxed as he looked over at Yami with a grateful expression.

"Um, Yami right?" he asked softly. He felt like he was performing a great blasphemy like a commoner speaking to royalty. "I'm Ryou. Um, thank you for… stopping Bakura."

"Mm," came the grunted response.

"You see, he seems to be after me for some reason, and I don't understand why."

Ryou may not have understood, but Yami sure as hell did. His cheeks were still rosy and breath short from the run to the class, and the commotion that followed. Of course, Yami's mind began reeling at the possible other situations where Ryou could be panting and sweating, most likely with a little moaning involved, as he looked Ryou up and down. Ryou began to notice the appreciative stares Yami was giving him, and became slightly uncomfortable as he felt Yami undressing him slowly with his eyes.

Yuugi, of course, remained oblivious.

"Well, Ryou," Yami stated, his voice low and commanding. "It's a pleasure to meet you." He held out his hand as the gleam in his eye turned to a friendly shine. Ryou shook his hand, feeling instantly more comfortable with the change in expression. The rest of the class was rather uneventful for those three. Yami and Ryou found they had something in common in that Ryou was theatre buff and loved acting, and Yami was one of the three heads of Stage Crew at Miyagi High. They chatted it up for quite some time until Karita came by with announcements.

However, on the other side of the room, Bakura was sulking next to Otogi, who he had found after he had gotten his uniform.

"That goddamn Suzuki! Who the hell does he think he is?" Ryuuji patted him on the back.

"There, there, fearless leader. No worries, ne? You're target's that Ryou kid, not Yami, and last I heard, Anzu was on the case." Bakura grumbled under his breath and Otogi laughed. "You're just a big sore loser, aren't you Bakura?"

"Shut it, Ryuuji."

"Alright class!" came Karita's voice from in front of them. "This is an announcement from the Theatre Department. They wanted me to tell all you little wimps that the play this year will be the Prince and the Pauper." He motioned to two kids beside him to hand out flyers. "Don't know why I needed to tell you, though," he added more quietly, with a bitter tinge behind it.

Bakura rested his chin in his hands as he mulled that over. The Prince and the Pauper, huh? He was actually familiar with that play. The story of a prince and a peasant boy who look exactly alike and switch places for a day so they can-

Whoa, wait, back up a second.

Look exactly alike.

He glanced over at Ryou across the room, and noticed his light counterpart looking very excited over the news of the play. He leaned his head against the gym wall, closed his eyes, and grinned slyly.

This would be too easy.

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1) Gakuran – A traditional Japanese uniform with a stiff-standing collar. It's what Domino High uses.

2) A typical Japanese breakfast consists of rice, miso soup, and other assorted things such as grilled fish, pickles, or onigiri.

So, yeah, I really did make you guys wait almost a month for this crap. Sorry.

On another note, Jazhira likes this story! (Does the One-of-my-Favorite-Authors-Likes-my-Story Dance). All hail! And of course, thanks to all my other reviewers who keep on giving this review whore support!

Another thing, pairings have been chosen! The stage has been set for this wonderful (pffft) story! Oh, and the two "losers" are going to be a pairing as well, so it'll either be Deathshipping with side Darkshipping, Tendershipping with side Clashipping, or Fragileshipping with side Psychoshipping.

Oh, and one more thing. This story will become rated M, in the not-so-distant future.

Also (yeah, I lied), I made my bestest friend in the whole wide world draw me a picture of what the girls' uniform looks like. Here the link:

http/ www . deviantart . com / deviation / 28135170 /

So I think that about sums it up. Please review!

Dewa Mata!

Saruwatari