I got a little carried away in this chapter, that's why it's a bit long (around 3000 words I think). Sorry about that! Just consider the added length as a 'thank you' to all your wonderful reviews last chapter. I hope you manage to read through it…

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Chapter 6:

Let's Hold Hands

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Marik ate his salad in a brutal fashion. He was basically stabbing the tomatoes, leaves of lettuces, and thin rings of onions in a murderous rage. Sitting across him was Malik, who was pretty much acting the same way himself.

The two Egyptians looked worn out. Malik was nursing a slightly bleeding lip, and a sore nose, not to mention a very colorful bruise on one of his shoulders. His purple shirt was in ripped at the side and the boy had to take care of his movement incase the tear would even grow larger. Sure he had a couple more of these at home, but he wasn't really willing to prance around shirtless around Seto's mansion. They weren't done with the day's 'lessons' yet.

Marik was not much in a better shape. The dark was sporting some scratch marks along his arms and quite a few bite marks as well (courtesy of Malik), and his black sleeveless shirt was ripped at the front, where his dear light had literally tore with his teeth.

Yes, the air was extremely tense around those two, and though both have calmed down considerably than before, it was obvious that they weren't planning on getting along anytime soon.

Malik glared at his other self, and said in a low voice, "You ripped my shirt."

Marik glared back, "Well," he said, "You ripped mine too…with your teeth."

Yami wisely ushered Yugi to slide a bit farther from the two; no need for them to get involved when they can avoid it.

Seeing this, Ryou made to follow the others' example. He slid his plate slightly to the left, away from Malik, and was about to motion to Bakura to do the same, but stopped when he saw that mischievous smirk on his dark's face.

Oh no, Ryou thought.

"Hey, Marik," Bakura started with a casual air. The other dark dragged his eyes away from Malik and pinned Bakura with his glare instead. The thief was unperturbed, "What are all those red marks on your skin?"

Marik gritted his teeth, "They're scratches…what else do they look like?"

Bakura pretended to think about this for a moment, ignoring Ryou's silent pleas for him to just shut up (the boy was miming zipping his lips). "Well...some of them are bite marks right?"

"So? What's your point?" came the clearly irritated answer. Bakura was really testing his patience.

The other allowed himself a smirk before saying, "Are some of them hickies?"

Marik reacted immediately, with an angry cry, he had lunged at Bakura, ready to strangle him for all he's worth. Unfortunately, the thief got up from his chair just in time, causing Marik to crash into the empty seat instead.

This only fueled his anger more. He got up and shouted, "I'M GOING TO TAKE YOUR DAMN TONGUE OUT, WASH IT WITH SOAP, AND THEN FORCE IT DOWN YOUR SLIMY THROAT! LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN STILL BE A FREAKING SMARTASS THEN!"

"Hehe," Bakura snickered, leaping away easily from Marik's grasp, "Damn, Marik. I didn't know you and Malik were taking this gay stuff this seriously! Where else has Malik been 'biting' you, huh?"

Yami looked on worriedly, shielding an extremely wide-eyed Yugi behind him. The two had abandoned their seats (and food) the moment the crazed Egyptian leaped from his seat and were now huddled at the corner of the room.

Ryou was in hysterics, "Ah! Bakura! Stop right now!"

Malik was still sitting at the table, a fork frozen in mid-stab at his half-eaten plate of salad.

Knowing that Ryou's pleading cries would only fall on deaf ears, Yami decided to take matters in his own hands. Or rather, take it in his own hands, and then pass it to another who can probably take care of things better than himself.

"I'm going to call Kaiba before things get worse," he told Yugi.

The smallest light looked up at him, "Y-You're l-leaving me here with t-them?" he said fearfully.

"Eh…" he hesitated, "Alright, why don't yougo find Kaiba then? I'll stay here and…" he looked at Ryou, who was currently screaming at the pair of darks who were rolling on the floor, "See what I can do…"

Yugi nodded as he rushed out of the room, but not before saying, "Don't worry, Yami! I'll find Kaiba as fast as I can!"

As soon as his light left, Yami released a sigh and turned back to watch the (very brutal) fight. In truth, he wasn't really worried about Marik or Bakura getting hurt, he assumed the two enjoy pain. He was more worried abut the damage the pair was causing to the room. Not even five minutes and they've managed to break anything that was breakable within a six foot radius from themselves. Seto wouldn't be happy.

"By the way, isn't it the uke who gets 'marked'?"

This only earned another furious shout from Marik as he tackled Bakura in a fit of frenzy. However, since Bakura was too preoccupied raising hell, he didn't notice that they've come dangerously close to Malik's still unmoving figure, the same could be said with Marik, who was too busy thinking of a way to send the tomb robber to hell the moment he has the chance.

"Malik! Look out!" Ryou shouted to warn his friend.

Malik blinked, but before he can do anything else, he found a flurry of two tangled bodies (one tanned and one pale) coming at him. With an 'Oof!' the poor boy was pushed none-too-gently out of his chair, and was soon pinned down by the combined weight of his dark and Ryou's.

Ryou gasped and rushed over at the groaning pile, Yami close behind him. Apparently, the fall did not go well with the two darks too. Marik was the luckiest, having ended up on top, he gave a small pained moan and rolled to the side, freeing Bakura from his 'sandwiched' position between the two Egyptians.

"Ah, good thing Malik here was there to break our fall," said the white-haired dark, getting up.

"Idiot," Yami said.

Malik groaned from his lying position on the floor, and muttered something alone the lines of, "Damn you to hell," before sitting up with a painful wince; his already bruised shoulder has just taken another beating from that fall. Noticing this, Ryou gladly lent a hand to pull the Egyptian up, which said boy took gratefully.

When he was sure that Malik was alright, Ryou turned to Bakura, eyes sparkling with anger.

"Look what you've done!" he said accusingly.

Though slightly taken aback by his normally-quiet light's tone, Bakura didn't let it show.

"I told you not to get Marik riled up!" Ryou continued, this time a bit louder, "And don't say you didn't see me motioning for you to stop! Because I know you did!"

Bakura merely snorted, "It's not my fault he couldn't take a joke," he said, jerking his head at Marik's still prone figure. The Egyptian dark was holding his head in pain, probably having bumped it quite hard during the fight, and muttering curses under his breath.

"Hmph, are you saying you can?" Yami asked in an accusing tone.

"Well…"

Malik turned away from the conversation and looked at his dark side. Marik was sitting up, but a hand was still held onto his forehead. Though he wasn't exactly on good terms with his dark at the moment, Malik felt that it was his obligation to at least make sure his other self was still in his right mind (or whatever state of mind Marik normally has), one could never be too careful with an unbalanced psychopath.

"It hurts, huh?" but no way in hell was he going to act concerned.

"Damn floor was too damn hard…" Marik growled, rubbing his still-aching head.

Malik rolled his eyes and refrained himself from making a smart comment.

When the pain subsided, Marik squinted at the scene before him. It sounded like Bakura and Ryou were having a sparring match, with the latter surprisingly winning. Suddenly realizing something, he grinned and inched closer to Bakura. Said boy was totally unaware of this, his attention focused solely on his nearly hyperventilating light.

Marik was just about to grab Bakura's leg when a new voice spoke in the room, "What the hell is going on here?"

They looked at the doorway and found an irate Seto Kaiba, with a panting Yugi in his wake. The taller of the two stepped forward with his usual air of authority, pinning each individual with a look before speaking once more, "First Marik and Malik, and then Yugi here tells me Bakura and Marik were attempting to murder each other…not to mention trashing my waiting room," he muttered to himself, noticing the broken vases and upturned chairs around them. Some of those present wondered why Seto had a waiting room in his mansion in the first place, but wisely kept it to themselves as their brown-haired host continued, "And now I see you two on the verge of tearing each other's faces off!"

Ryou had the decency to blush and mutter an apology but Bakura's face remained indifferent.

Seto ran a hand through his hair in an exasperated manner, "Mokuba's probably more mature than all of you put together…" he muttered.

Yami seemed to want to retort at that moment, but after receiving a look from his partner, held his tongue.

A frustrated sigh escaped his lips, "Anyways, Pegasus has everything set up for…whatever he has planned, so I suggest you move your behinds right this second or I just might decide to charge you all for the damages you've caused."

Needless to say, all of lights and darks heeded his command. No way in hell were they paying Seto anything, the general value of the contents of any one of the rooms in Seto's mansion could likely be worth more than their entire house!

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The numerous fights and conflicts before did nothing to hinder Pegasus' enthusiasm though. As soon as he boys entered their 'training room' (which was basically one of the mansion's spare rooms which Pegasus had furnished with stuff they'd need in their lessons), he had ushered the boys to a row of six chairs, smiling all the way as he did so.

Now standing in front of the boys, Pegasus started, "Now…we were suppose to do this before the break you just had…but due to certain complications…" he glanced at Marik and Malik, whom were both seated at each of the far ends of the seats, "We didn't have time for it."

"Oh, just tell us what we're supposed to do so we can get over it," Bakura said impatiently, earning a warning glare from Ryou at his side.

Pegasus didn't seem to mind, "Of course, of course. Well, the next thing we'd be tackling will be easy, I don't think we'd have any…'domination' problems since both of you would be doing the same thing."

"And that will be?" Yami prompted.

The older man smiled, "Holding hands."

The reactions to these two words were immediate and varied.

"What the fu—"

"Bakura! Watch your mouth."

"That doesn't sound too bad…"

"No way in hell am I going to—"

"Do you think I like holding your hand?"

"I'm alright with it."

Seto watched as Pegasus attempted to calm them all, ready to interfere should any problems occur.

"Now, now, children," Pegasus said in a reasonable tone, "This is basic stuff. Remember; you're a couple! People would find it strange if you walk a foot apart from each other when you claim to be in a relationship, wouldn't they?"

"That's what you said last time with the arms-around-the-shoulder thing," Marik grumbled, "And look where that got me! Malik ruined my flawless arms!"

Malik glared at his dark side, even though the other was a bit far away, "Flawless arms my ass…"

"Oh come now, people," Pegasus said, still in that optimistic tone of his, "Let's start now, shall we?"

Though there were a few mumbled curses here and there, as well as growls of annoyance, all boys piped down after a while.

"Excellent," he said. He looked at Yami and Yugi, "You two first as always."

Both boys offered no trouble as they positioned themselves at the place Pegasus was pointing at. Looking down, Yugi noticed a red line, probably colored tape, laid out just a couple of inches before his and his dark's feet.

"Now, all you have to do is walk, while holding hands, from that point to there," Pegasus pointed at another red line that was around ten meters away from their starting point. "Like before, me and Kaiba-boy—" Seto cringed involuntarily at this point, "—will see whether you're doing a good job. Alright?"

Yami and Yugi nodded.

"And just a tip…don't walk too fast, relax, imagine you're taking a nice stroll at the park; no rushing, no worries," Pegasus said, "Start whenever you're ready."

Yami let out a deep breath and held out his hand to Yugi. The smaller boy hesitated for a moment before placing his smaller hand in his other self's. He felt his face redden when Yami tightened his grip slightly. This didn't feel too bad, Yugi thought.

"Alright, Yugi?" Yami said gently. "We'll go whenever you're ready."

Yugi gave a small smile and nodded.

Yami took the first step, with Yugi following a mere second later. It didn't seem so hard, they both thought. Though it felt as if Yami was taking the lead in a way, Yugi didn't mind at all, sometimes, the pharaoh's 'leadership' tendencies starts making itself known automatically, with or without Yami's intention of it doing so.

"I feel like one of those women in those fashion shows at TV…" Yami mumbled lowly as they walked in a straight line towards the other end.

Hearing this, Yugi gave a slight giggle before whispering back "Does it make you feel girly, Yami?"

Yami looked at his light and said in a mocked shocked tone, "Yugi!"

"The pharaoh's whispering sweet nothings at Yugi's ear. How adorable," Bakura said loudly, snickering.

Yugi blushed and looked down, whilst Yami took on the task of glaring at the tomb robber and mouthing, 'Shut up'. Aside from the minor drawback, both boys managed to finish their 'walk' splendidly, earning praises from Pegasus.

Seto nodded in approval, "The 'sweet nothings' were a nice effect too."

Yami decided not to comment.

"Well, you next, Bakura-boys!" Pegasus said excitedly.

Bakura stomped towards the starting point, poor Ryou sighing exasperatedly before following behind. Once more, Pegasus sad, "Whenever you're ready."

Scowling, Bakura looked down at his light and thrust out his hand, "Just grab on and let me handle everything."

Ryou rolled his eyes before gripping the other's hand, "You don't need to handle anything, Bakura. It's easy if you'd just stop making things difficult for the both of us," seeing that the other remained silent, Ryou continued, "All we have to do is walk from here to there, you don't have to enjoy it."

Bakura glared and immediately walked forward, making Ryou stumble at the first feet or two. His grip on the other's hand was hard, but he didn't really care.

"Now, now, Bakura-boy!" they heard Pegasus say, "You're not supposed to drag your partner around! Your walking should be in-sync, side-by-side too."

Gritting his teeth, Bakura slowed down his pace, Ryou taking his place by his side where he should be.

They've managed to cover a few more feet when Ryou spoke, "This doesn't seem so bad now, does it?"

Bakura glared at him briefly before facing forward once more. "I still don't like it."

Ryou sighed, "I didn't say you have—"

"I don't like it."

"Fine, fine…"

After their performance Pegasus commented, "Well…it's a little more stiff than what I prefer, but acceptable, I guess. And, Bakura-boy?"

Bakura glared. "What?"

"Smile."

"Smile? SMILE?" the boy shouted in barely-contained rage.

Pegasus turned to the last pair and grinned, "Well, boys? Care to make up for your last…eh…"

Both Egyptians stood up in a huff, and upon arriving at their starting point, glared whole-heartedly at each other, hardly the picture of a harmonious couple.

They barely took notice of Pegasus' "Whenever you're ready."

Marik's mouth slowly formed a malicious smile, making Malik wonder what was going on that demented head of his. "Well, come on, Malik."

He grabbed Malik's hand himself without waiting for the other to extend it, before marching forward with the poor boy mercilessly dragged behind. Thinking that this was another 'dominant' act the other was pulling, Malik buried his heels on the floor, shouting, "No you don't! We're going to do this right, whether you like it or not!"

Marik ignored his shouts and continued forward, attempting to drag his light with him.

"Ugh! MARIK!"

"What the hell's your problem!" the dark turned around, "If you expect me to act like his majesty and whisper nonsense in your ears—"

Yami started to protest, "Hey! For your information, I was—"

But Marik heeded him no mind, "—or that goddamned tomb robber and act all understanding—"

This time Bakura shouted, "Understanding? Marik—!"

"—THEN YOU'RE WRONG!" he roared.

"WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT?" Malik roared back, "I THINK BAKURA AND YAMI WOULD MAKE A BETTER BOYFRIEND THAN YOU! HELL, I EVEN ENVY RYOU AND YUGI!"

Said lights shifted in their seats.

Marik's eyes narrowed dangerously, "So that's how it is, huh…"

Despite himself, Malik blinked, "What?"

Marik released his grip from his light's hand, now turning around fully and giving his counterpart a disgusted look, "I should've known…"

By now, all the boys were looking at him with confused expressions.

He continued, "I've always wondered why you spend so much time with Bakura…" said white-haired boy looked suspiciously at the other dark, wondering what this is about, "And you've always had that obsession with the pharaoh…" Yami's brow furrowed. Marik's eyes narrowed into slits, "You really are gay, aren't you Lightside? And I guess your coming on to Bakura and Yami, you've probably been waiting for your moment to jump them all this time!" he declared, pointing a shaking finger at his light side.

Malik's eyes widened to an extent that it wasn't even funny. Bakura and Yami were looking at said boy, not knowing how to react to Marik's accusation. On the side, Seto had his cell phone posed on his ear, ready to contact security if the situation would turn out as badly as he was predicting.

Seeing his chance, Marik smirked and grabbed his other's hand, noting with satisfaction that Malik wasn't making any resistance whatsoever as he pulled his light almost gently across the finish line.

When done, Marik patted Malik's head, "But don't worry Lightside, I still love you."

And with that, Marik walked casually away towards the door, upon passing Yami and Bakura's shocked frozen faces he rolled his eyes and said, "If you haven't caught on yet, that wasn't true…as far as I know," he mumbled, "And like hell if my Lightside ever takes an interest in someone like you two..." and he disappeared out the door.

Malik crumpled to the floor a second later. Yugi and Ryou looked at their darks with concern, since they didn't seem that far from fainting themselves.

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When Seto ran the course of that day in his head, it only served to give him a headache. It wouldn't have been so bad if Marik and Malik would stop their senseless squabble with one another. Ryou and Bakura were…alright he, guessed, apart from that time when they were shouting at each other's faces at the waiting room. But so far, only Yami and Yugi seemed to have the chance of convincing Dream that they're actually together (and not out to kill each other like a certain Egyptian pair).

If only there was some way to make them really put an effort on their acting. Some sort of incentive…but what? What could be impossible for Marik and Bakura to resist (since it seemed that it was the two darks who were more of the problem), that they'd be extremely willing to cooperate…

Seto sighed, well, the two could never pass on the chance of proving that they're better than Yami…

As that thought crossed his mind, Seto's eyes widened, an idea sparking in his head. And what an idea it was, he smirked; now all he had to do was seek the assistance of their beloved pharaoh.

He wasn't going to give up on them yet.

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I congratulate you for making it this far.

Erm, school's starting again next Monday so my usual regular updates might be hindered by then, but believe me when I say I'll try my best to stay alive on the internet. Hehe.