Ryou and Serenity sat in the back of the classroom. Both of them shared the same tired eyes and worn expressions. Lately, every day was becoming a challenge. They were both exhausted, and with good reason. Serenity had to move into her mom's house. While she was glad to be free of her father, she missed her brother terribly.

Ryou was even worse. He was alone in almost every way. His parents couldn't stand to look at him so they made themselves scarce around the house. Everyone in the school, discarding Serenity, were terrified of him. Some students were even cruel. They called him a monster, a freak, a psychopath. He could have dealt with that of Bakura had been around. But Bakura wasn't around, he was in jail.

Visiting Bakura in jail was a weekly hell Ryou faced. Every part of Bakura seemed to bristle, and his hair grew long and unkempt. He became aggressive and defensive. When Bakura and Ryou looked at each other it was no longer like looking in a mirror, it was like looking in a time machine. Bakura saw what he was in the past and Ryou saw what he feared would become of his future.

Serenity saw the same thing happen to her brother, although the change wasn't as drastic. Joey had always been aggressive and defensive because he had to be. The only difference was he was no longer protecting her, he was protecting himself.

One thing was clear to Ryou and Serenity. Things were never going to be the same. And change might be a demon they are not ready to face.

"Class we have a new student," the teacher announced, interrupting Ryou and Serenity's spiral of heavy thoughts, "This is Marik Ishtar."

Twenty-six pairs of eyes looked at Marik. Marik looked back at them. He smiled. He wanted more than anything to be liked.

"Is that a guy or a girl?" Someone whispered, a little too loudly, from the back of the room.

Marik's face reddened slightly at the question, "I'm a guy."

A few guys snickered and a few girls had shocked expressions plastered across their faces. It was clear that the majority if the class had thought Marik was a girl. Ryou rolled his eyes, "Poor kid," he thought, "they're gonna tear him apart." A small part of him was happy. If his peers were focused on harassing Marik, they wouldn't be harassing him.

Ryou and Serenity went through the next few weeks attending regular classes and watching as Marik was beaten into the ground by every bully in the school. They didn't interfere. They stayed in their own little bubble, wearing fake smiles and exchanging friendly small talk. Ryou and Serenity pretended to be happy to ease the burden on the other, because they both believed the other had it worse than they did.

It was a rainy April day. Serenity and her mom had a fight the night before. Serenity never wanted to speak to her mother ever again, and was fairly certain the feeling was mutual. But the sickening reality was that Serenity had no one else to turn too. And the worst part was that he was going to have to put on another fake smile and brave the day, for Ryou's sake.

Meanwhile, Ryou wasn't fairing much better. His parents hasn't returned home for three days. He felt like a doll trapped in a dollhouse far too big for him. He wanted more than anything just to leave home and start over somewhere far away. No one would miss him if he were gone. Well, no one except Serenity, he decided. And so, for Serenity's sake, he stayed and pretended he was content with his lonely existence.

They passed through first, second and third periods with seemingly no problems. But then fourth period, lunch, was a different story.

Ryou and Serenity sat at a lonely table near the main office. They both unpacked their lunches and an unusual silence passed between them. Neither one wanted to be the first to start conversation because neither one had the energy. They were exhausted. Pretending is hard.

"Why are you crying?" Ryou asked, concern in his voice.

Serenity truthfully hadn't realized she was crying. She turned away from Ryou and tried to control herself, in vain. The tears just kept flowing.

Ryou grabbed her by the shoulders, "Shhhhhhh! It's ok!" He whispered.

She shook her head violently, trying to free herself from Ryou's grasp.

"Everything is fine, Serenity."

Serenity looked at Ryou. "Everything is not fine," she said in a small shaky voice.

And that's when the floodgates opened. Everything was not fine. Any false reality they had held was gone. All that was left was the truth. And the truth hurt.

Waves of pain washed over Ryou and Serenity. Every friendly conversation, every smile, every laugh; meaningless. It hit them like a silent earthquake, rocking their world spinning everything out if control. Ryou felt nauseous. Serenity wouldn't stop crying.

The door to the main office swung open. Marik walked out holding a tissue to his face. Someone had punched him in the face and his nose was bleeding. He walked into the threshold of the cafeteria. Out if the corner of his eye he saw a table with two people sitting at it, a boy and a girl. The girl was crying, hard, and the boy was just sitting there, his eyes glazed over. Marik walked over to the table.

Once he reached the head of the table he stared at them. They turned to look at them. Their faces were both equally as hopeless. Marik shrugged his shoulders.

"Ya know, it'll get better," he said quietly. This coming from the kid who had just been punched in the face by a bully whose name he didn't even know. This coming from the kid who people laughed at every time he spoke. This coming from the kid who looked like he had it worse than anyone. It'll get better, he said. Ryou and Serenitu clung to those words.

Marik sat with Ryou and Serenity every day after that. People gradually stopped bothering him. Ryou and Serenity stopped lying to themselves, and never started lying to Marik. Marik new the whole ugly truth about their lives, and that was ok. In fact, it was a relief. Someone knowing the truth is what saved Ryou and Serenity. Marik, the listener, the comforter, the foreign kid.

A/N Ah, yes, Marik's chapter. I actually wrote two different versions of this chapter and thought this one flowed better with the rest of the story. What do you think?

Happy Holidays and. Merry New Year, dear reader!

Next chapter: The girl who was in the hospital a lot. Should be fun!

R&R!