1I'm eighteen! Zomg! Sorry I didn't get this out sooner. Love you all for sticking around for me!

I have no idea how the Japanese police system works, so I just used the U.S.'s, mmkay? It's not like I have internet to research it on, anyways. Le cry. JUST BEAR WITH ME, OKAY! D:

.: Chapter sixteen - Don't Drop the Soap :.

Yuugi and the gang had a good chunk of Ryou's apartment cleaned by the time Mariku returned with his precious pet in his arms. The deeply tanned blonde also seemed to be very proud of himself, what with the way he was acting. He stood with a certain air about him, it showed through even in the way he moved, and it almost seemed irregular with the way he normally acted. Yami immediately noticed. It was the look someone had when they did something they know they shouldn't have but did anyway and got something they wanted. But he wasn't left much time to ponder on what it could have possibly been, seeing as how he suddenly had a box of dirty dishes shoved into his hands.

"Take that to the kitchen, please," Yuugi asked, before turning around and helping Jounouchi set up the vacuum. The floor was finally clean enough to start on the carpet-cleaning.

Bakura, meanwhile, made himself perfectly at home at he lounged on the couch, his feet propped up on one end, while his head rested at the opposite one, supported by his hand. He watched everyone work around him in a bored manner. This was the exact position he had been in from the start, but Yami had nagged at him at one point, so he helped for a few minutes. Helped, meaning stood around and made it look like he was doing something and maybe assisted in moving some things out of the way, but did nothing much overall. He watched the spiky-haired prince make his way into the other room, before turning his eyes to Mariku. They narrowed. There was definitely something going on.

Ryou entered the room from the hallway, and was about to say something, when he spotted Mariku, and an almost worried expression crossed his face. "When did you get back?" he finally asked. The tall male grinned, before setting his pet down on the floor to go explore or something. He then straightened back up and made his way over to the white-haired human, lips still tugged upwards.

"Mariku walked through that door just now," he replied, but his voice held an odd tone to it. "So what is the little Baku-lookalike doing?" he asked, moving in far too close to the teen. The said "Baku-lookalike" seemed even more nervous than he had been, and backed up a step, re-entering the hallway.

"C-cleaning," he managed, mind already coming up with a method of escape. But it turned out to be unnecessary, seeing as how Mariku was suddenly jerked backwards, letting out a pained squawk in the process as he fell to the floor. And in his place, stood Bakura, glaring as though it would off the one who was such an annoyance in his life.

"Did you sniff some chemical, you idiot?" he snapped, but his companion didn't answer; he simply began to roll around in place, gripping his head as if he were in agony. The paler Althasian just rolled his eyes, not intending to waste his time with pity. Ryou briefly paid mind to Mariku, but then turned his attention to his savior.

"Did, uh... Did you need something, Bakura?"

The elder eyed Ryou for a few moments before replying; "Don't let him get too close to you when he's like this." But to quickly cover up the fact that he so obviously wasn't concerned, because, of course, he wasn't, he added, "He might do something stupid, and I doubt you'd be able to stop him."

Yeah. That really made sense.

The shorter of the two blinked a few times, before replying, "Oh, uh... thanks, then." Bakura snorted in reply. From there, they fell to silence, which seemed rather awkward. Then the roar of the vacuum startled both of them out of whatever moment they might have been having.

A very undignified yelp came from Jounouchi as dust from the vacuum puffed up into a rather large cloud which quickly filled the room. When the cloud finally settled, the whole room was completely covered in a layer of sickly gray. Ryou stood speechless, now able to see the scene before him since Bakura had moved to the side after he turned, wanting to see for himself.

"Wha, but, no, we just..."

And the pale human's words just about summed up the entire situation right there.

The neighbors could probably hear his scream seconds later, too.

---

Because of a slight setback due to technical difficulties, the group had to spend somewhere around two hours re-cleaning. It really only took a little over an hour, but Ryou had gone through an emotional breakdown that just couldn't be helped, and Yuugi had to walk him through the path to recovery for a bit. And while this was being taken care of, the plumber had been called to fix the toilet, and Yami and Bakura had dragged Mariku off to a corner and started questioning him on what the hell he'd done. Of course, he tried to play dumb – or perhaps he wasn't really playing – but it eventually slipped out that he'd gone to see "Pretty Malik". And with the way he'd been acting, it seemed like he'd done a lot more than just "saw" him.

Of course, they doubted that the other had done anything too heinous, since it was in his genetics, as well as the rest of their species', to only mate with one person. He had probably just gotten a few gropes in here and there, though it was questionable on why he was going through all this trouble just to freak the kid out in the first place. When this was brought up, Mariku slipped into an odd silence, and just grinned insanely, a glint flickering on in his eyes.

It was a disturbing sight, considering they were used to him acting like a complete moron most of the time. But it was obvious that something went on behind those eyes, at least part of the time.

Princess had wandered off once again and the group heard some very unnerving sounds coming from somewhere in the house. Jounouchi had offered to go look for the feline, wanting to do something to make up for his recent havoc-wreaking, but Ryou had refused a bit too quickly. The poor blonde teen slumped down into a chair, feeling horrible. First Yuugi, now Ryou. Whose life would he ruin next?

The said spiky-haired human had suggested that maybe they should try to invite Malik over to finally join him, since he never had shown up at the other sleep-over destination. Both knew just how much of a clean-freak the Egyptian could be when he was at someone else's house. But when it came to his own room, however, that was obviously a different story, though Isis made sure he kept it at least semi-decent for when guests came over.

Ryou, however, didn't really feel like calling up the other to ask if he wanted to come over. He had the feeling that Malik would just decline or something, and the pale boy still hadn't exactly forgiven his friend's little outburst about persons of a certain sexuality. He made the excuse that he just didn't feel like calling anyone right now, but that kind of backfired in his face, since Yuugi had smiled and offered to do it for him.

It took only three rings for someone to answer the phone. The petite teen figured that they just must have been busy, since neither Isis or Malik answered. That wasn't completely strange, since sometimes they just couldn't reach the phone at the moment, but when he'd asked to speak with either of them, the man told him that they had gone home already. Now this did seem a little strange. What if something had happened that concerned both of them? It wasn't out of place for Malik to leave early, since he didn't like working overtime, though Isis usually stayed behind to check everything over, at least.

Yuugi frowned and hung up, before picking the phone back up and dialing the Ishtar's home phone. This time, it took three or four extra rings than normal for someone to pick up. The caller was starting to really become concerned, now.

"Ishtar," Isis said into the receiver, but it sounded much more... worn out than normal. Not just tired, though. Almost... frustrated? Upset? What had happened?

"Hi, Isis, it's Yuugi, I just wanted to ask Malik something," he began, but the woman on the other end softly interrupted him.

"I'm sorry, Yuugi, he can't talk right now."

Okay, he might have been concerned before, but now he was really worried. "What happened?" he asked.

There was a pause from the other end. "Yuugi, I don't know. He won't tell me. He just started crying and acting like he was scared." The only reason she would ever tell the boy this, was because she trusted him not to tell the whole world about this. And Yuugi had a large, kind heart, and if anyone could help her brother, he would be willing to give it his best effort and more. "I was hoping you might have known something, but..." she admitted, then trailed off. It hurt her so badly so see her younger sibling in such a depressed state. Then protective anger burned in her chest, for she knew that it must have been something Mariku had done. He had seemed so chivalrous and polite that Isis didn't want to believe it, but there was no other logical explanation, at least for now.

Yuugi was dumbfounded. Malik never cried. At least, not as far as he had ever seen. Even when he'd broken his wrist, he hadn't cried. He was always the tough one of their group. If a serious situation came up, he was always the one who didn't act like he was worried or afraid. He was always the one who seemed to know what to do. He was the one who protected them. Of course Jounouchi did the same, as far as protecting. The gray-eyed boy was immensely grateful that he had such great friends, but that didn't stay long. His feelings all went straight to one of those amazing people; one who needed help.

"I... I don't. I'm sorry."

There was another reel of silence. Isis broke it once more. "I'll tell Malik you called."

"Thanks." Yuugi was still somewhat shocked to hear about his friend's state. Just imagining it... He hung up almost in a dazed manner, before turning and blinking at the rest of the room. His eyes fell on Mariku. Malik had been fine after they left the police station. Mariku left the apartment, and came back looking smug about something. Malik suddenly broke down and wouldn't even tell his own sister why.

He swallowed hard.

He had a really strong feeling that the tanned blonde man with psychotic tendencies had done something to Malik; something bad enough to make him act so suddenly out of character. A sort of protectiveness bubbled up inside of the short male, his eyes turning from their normal kind state into something colder. It wasn't exactly a hateful look, but... for Yuugi, it was close enough.

And suddenly, despite how he and Yami had become something like friends, he couldn't help but wonder, just who were these people? He had accepted their answers about their oddities with ease, but now he was really starting to become skeptical. What kind of people filed their teeth to be that sharp, or had surgery to make their ears as pointy as theirs? And where exactly did they get those things they called translators? And now that he really thought about it... what language were they speaking when they first met?

But his face grew flushed and he felt ashamed of himself for letting such bad thoughts enter his mind. No. He trusted Yami. He did. And there was really no reason to suspect them of being criminals, and Mariku always acted weird, so...

"Yuugi? What did he say?" Ryou's voice asked from his side, making the said boy jump and turn to look at his pale friend. He gave a laugh to cover up his embarrassment.

"Oh! I just talked with Isis. Malik suddenly got real sick and couldn't even leave his room. I was just wondering what he could have come down with, and hoping that he would be okay, you know?" Yes, that explained the way he was acting. At least, he hoped it did. Ryou's expression changed a bit.

"Sick? But he was fine earlier." He unconsciously put emphasis on the word "fine."

Yuugi suddenly grew fearful that the other would try to go see Malik or call him or something. But it didn't seem Ryou was that concerned, but he certainly didn't just blow it off. The tri-color haired boy suddenly realized just how weird Ryou was acting as well. Usually he'd jump at any chance to see their Egyptian friend. But right now... Something had changed between that morning and now. Were Ryou and Malik having a fight or something? But he would have remembered something like that had he been around for it. Then slowly his mind crept up and startedto wrap itself around the events of the day. It went straight to when Mariku revealed that he was gay, and Malik mentioned how disgusted he was. And come to think of it, Ryou had been acting a bit cold to the other since then, so either the youngest Ishtar sibling had done something after that to irritate his white-haired friend, or that had been the cause of this mess.

Yuugi felt his head heat up a bit and felt something in his chest fall into his stomach. No, it just now clicked. The way Ryou acted around Malik... it had seemed to just be friendly admiration, and Yuugi had joked about that many times before, but now it seemed... exactly like what someone who had a crush on another would act like. He swallowed again, and it sounded so loud to his own ears. How had he not seen it before? Was it because he was blocking it out? He himself didn't dislike gays, but the thought of two men acting like a man and a woman do... it unnerved him; made him feel uneasy.

What was wrong with him? All of these strange thoughts were bombarding him at once, thoughts he'd never had before.

And they most likely would have continued, had there not been a very sudden, and very demanding banging at the door. It startled everyone inside, and both Yuugi and Ryou became fearful of who could be making such a racket. But Jounouchi, wearing a serious look, went in first to open then door. If it was someone with ill intentions, he'd either take the first hit, or take the bad guy out. No one touched his friends. No one.

But as he turned the knob, the door was thrown open and hit him in the face, knocking him backwards into a wall, holding his hands over his nose. "Shit!"

No, that didn't really feel good, for those of you who were wondering.

"Police!"

That made every single person in the room's hearts stop. Jounouchi, though still in pain, yelped a pathetic, "I've been here all day! I haven't done anything!" But then his mind caught the fact that the three new guys had just been on the news as wanted criminals. That, and they'd gone out in public. What a stupid thing to do...

But it appeared that now they were after everyone in the apartment, not just the convicts on the run. "You have the right to remain silent; everything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney; if you can't afford one, one will be provided for you."

Yuugi had tears of confusion and fright in his eyes. "I haven't done anything! Let me go!" he cried as he had cuffs put around his wrists. "Stop!"

"You housed and assisted wanted criminals, which is just as much a crime as what these three have done themselves."

There was stunned silence, though Jounouchi was now having to be dragged to the ground, because he obviously did not like police. "Let them go!" he screamed, wriggling fiercely in his attempt to get free, even though the cop already had one of his hands cuffed. A foot caught the man in the stomach, and he doubled over, having the wind knocked out of him, giving the blonde time to free himself. He ran over and his fist connected with the officer who was starting to take Yuugi out the door.

No one touched his friends. Not even police.

It took three people to finally get Jounouchi out of Ryou's apartment and into the awaiting car. Mariku had leapt away from the men in uniform, trying desperately to pull off the vent cover and crawl up into the ceiling once again, but he was pulled back down and restrained. It took over an hour to get everyone to the station.

---

The translators that Yami, Bakura, and Mariku wore had been taken away from them, for fear they might actually be radio receptors or, even worse, explosives of some sort. Yuugi was the first to get interrogated, and he was nervous and shaking. They kept asking who the three convicts were, but the teen, in turn, kept insisting that he knew nothing. The said three men, surrounded by officers, watched the boy fidget in his chair from their spots in the room behind the "mirror". It was apparent that Yuugi couldn't see them, and they couldn't understand a word that was spoken anyway.

This wasn't good.

"You understand that you're going to be prosecuted with them if you don't stop covering for them?"

Yuugi shook his head, his face pale and eyes wide. "I swear, I don't know anything! When we saw the report for them on the news, Mariku pulled out a badge and explained that he'd stolen it from you all! That's why I thought... I don't know..." He felt so stupid right now. He should have known not to trust three complete strangers! They were no-good criminals after all...

"Badge?" the man who had been the main questioner of the aliens beforehand asked. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out his wallet, but his face grew red as he saw nothing in there. Even the pictures of his family were gone! How the hell did this happen without him noticing!

He growled, and snapped the wallet shut. He'd get that damn punk later.

"Kid, you're way in over your head. These guys could easily have killed you and your friends and family. Now, we're going to hold you, and your parents have been phoned." After so many times of the kid denying this, he did seem truthful enough. And he was just a kid... That would be taken into consideration. "But it's likely you're just going to go home after a few hours. Unless, of course, we find other evidence..."

"What about Ryou and Jounouchi-kun? They didn't do anything, either! I'm the one who convinced Ryou to take those guys in! This is all my fault..."

"Yes, it may be, but now that you're aware of the situation, you're going to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Yuugi's two friends were in similar situations, though Ryou was, in fact, holding something back. He wasn't opening his mouth to what he had heard after Jounouchi's little spat with Seto Kaiba. But he was so very tempted to... He wasn't even sure why he wasn't saying anything about it. He just wasn't.

And it turned out that, after a few hours, they were, indeed, cleared and free to go, though charges might be filed later. The blonde former gang member, unfortunately, left with a fine for assaulting two officers. He wasn't too pleased about that, either.

"I knew those guys couldn't be trusted!"

Yuugi and Ryou knew he was lying.

"You were right, Ryou," Yuugi mumbled, having ignored his other friend. His grandfather and mother had come to get all of them, since Ryou's dad wasn't in Japan, and Jounouchi's never answered the phone. The blonde couldn't be more thankful about that, either.

The shortest of the three felt completely awful. He had put his grandfather, his mother, and his best friends in danger. It was all his fault. And he was so sure that Mariku had done something to Malik. It all made sense. So why did he feel so horrible that Yami was a lying sneak?

---

Mariku stuck his head against the bars, ignoring how swollen and painful his face had become since that nasty man who he'd stolen the badge off of smacked his in the face with his gun. That just didn't seem legal, but he couldn't really do much about it in his current position, seeing as how he could no longer even speak the human's language.

Bakura was sitting on the bunk in the cell across from his, and Yami's was right next to Mariku's. He sighed and let out a little whine, sliding down to his knees, looking completely defeated. "I want my mommy!" he screamed, but everyone else ignored him. Except, of course, the other man in his cell.

"Shut the fuck up! I'm tryin' to get some sleep." He was a big, burly man, but the tanned blonde didn't show that he had heard him. This angered the man who must have been living off steroids for the past few months. He got up and grabbed Mariku by the shoulder and rolled him over, slamming him against the bars as he kneeled down over the other. "Don't you fucking ignore me. I could kill you," he sneered. This kid might just end up meeting the fate of those who didn't quite understand who was the boss, and what their place was in prison.

But instead, he had teeth sunken into his arm and screamed, trying to get the other off. But Mariku dodged another blow and jumped, landing on the top bunk. There was no way a normal person could have ever done that. But ignoring physics, he turned and pressed himself against the hard mattress and hissed, revealing his two front fangs. Exactly like a cat.

Shit, this guy was insane!

"Guard! Guard! This guy just bit me! Fuck, I think he had rabies!"

This was going to be a long, long night.

.: Chapter end :.

Well, um. That sucked. Horribly. D: Please forgive. ;-; Life's been really hectic, and I've spent all week in the hospital. x.x But I decided to get this up before I had planned to, just because you guys stick with me. Thanks so much!

WATCH OUT FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER: "Houston, We Have a Problem"!

-Cecilia