A/N: Oh ma Ra, look, it's a real length chapter! Also one of my favorite characters in this fic is introduced this chapter (put away those shining hopeful faces, it's not Bakura sady)! Go ahead and guess who it is, I'm sure it'll be absolutely obvious, though ;)

Disclaimer: Not mine!

I remember my first day of high school.

For the first time, I walked into school with my head held high. It was a new school with a mix of new and old classmates –and some of those classmates were girls! It was a mixed gender school!

I couldn't have been more excited or confident.

For the start of my school year, Ishizu had given me a small budget and I managed to get some new jewellery as well as eyeliner. I had secretly always wanted to wear eyeliner like hers in the traditional Egyptian style.

She had seemed a bit taken aback by my choices, but, as she had since she'd taken me in a couple months ago, she simply smiled and supported my decisions.

I wasn't sure how a recent school graduate like her was able to support both of us and even send me to high school. She didn't even get to go, and father definitely made more money than she made now.

I think it had something to do with her mysterious boyfriend that I sometimes heard her talking to on the phone. He was a business person, so he wasn't around much apparently.

These thoughts were hardly at the forefront of my mind, though. It was my first day of high school, and I looked great.

This school was definitely going to be different!

"Hey, Yuug! Long-time no see!"

Those simple words stopped me dead in my tracks. Turning slightly, I was shocked to see Yuugi, being greeted rather rambunctiously by a tall guy with messy blond hair, Jounouchi-kun, I think.

I couldn't tear my eyes from Yuugi's short frame with his unmistakeable hair. It wasn't that I still had feelings for him; I just had never expected to see him here.

Somehow, the idea of the same old faces following me to this new school simply hadn't computed until now.

I knew there would be lots of new people, but I hadn't really stopped to consider that my old tormentors would also return.

"Hey, is that…Marik-kun?"

I didn't even stop to find out who had recognized me. I was gone down the hall before anyone could do anything to further ruin my first day of high school.

This wasn't the way it was supposed to be! It was supposed to be new –different.

In my hurry, I bumped into another guy.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!"

"O-oh, sorry. Just…not looking, I guess."

The guy who was busy brushing off his jacket, paused in his actions to flick his eyes up and down my body –and then again, only slower this time.

Licking his lips, he flicked back some of his black hair casually, though it merely popped out of his red headband again anyways.

Though it was rude to stare at someone you'd just run into (was I really trying to alienate even the people I hadn't met yet?) I couldn't help it.

The first thing I noticed was that his eyes were really green. Like, really, really green. And very attractive.

The second was that he was also wearing jewellery –an earring in the shape of a dice fell from his ear. He made it look cool, not girly. I could only hope I made my jewellery look that good.

"No problem…though I invite you to do all the looking you'd like. I certainly will."

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry, sorry! It's just…you're very pretty!"

His apology really didn't make him sound sorry, especially from the way he laughed after, flicking back more stylized hair.

Well, I'd been insulted before, but never quite like this!

"I'm not a girl, you know!"

"Oh, I know."

And with a wink, he was gone.

I stood there, both stunned and confused. Did that mean…he had been…hitting on me? From nearby I heard people beginning to whisper.

My first reaction was to be annoyed by this strange, good looking boy who seemed to be trying to make it difficult for me to fit in. That is, until I listened in closer to the distinctly female whispers.

"Did you see that? He was totally hitting on that freshman!"

"I wish he would notice me like that!"

"Oh, come on, you know he plays for the other side."

"I heard he plays both! I could have a chance!"

"With Ryuji? No way! I can't even believe that guy got his attention!"

Flushing, as I realized they were talking about me, I hurried to my class, which was my original destination. Their words were still echoing when I sat down.

Did I really catch another boy's attention? Even a popular, upperclassman? And…that was okay with some of the people here? Even enviable?

My head was spinning with that realization when the teacher entered. I heard a collective groan from the class and realized I should probably be paying attention.

I quickly gathered that the teacher was having us stand up and introduce ourselves and inform the class of one thing that we wanted them to know about us.

Still dazed, I let my gaze wander around the room, taking in my new classmates. A voice drilled through my haze, grabbing my attention. It had a strong accent which I immediately recognized as Jounouchi's.

Oh, great.

If he was in my class, than that probably meant –yup. There was that tri-colored hair and innocent pale face.

Ra, my nerves were not going to survive a year in the same class as him.

The memories seeing him brought back…they definitely weren't nice ones.

The mere recollection made my back itch uncomfortably.

My confidence was in full nosedive, until I caught a glance of who was sitting right next to Yuugi. How had I missed her before? It was Anzu, that girl I had met in the rain.

I had always assumed she was an upperclassman like Ishizu since Yami had claimed they were studying that day, but maybe she was just advanced in her classes.

(Or maybe they were doing more than just 'studying'.)

Catching my eye across the room, she gave an excited wave, face lighting up when she saw me.

I didn't know how to respond exactly, but gave a shy wave in response.

"Ishtar-san!"

The sharp bark of my teacher's voice had me rocketing out of my seat, realizing I'd missed my spot on roll call.

"U-um, I'm Ishtar Marik. And I…"

An awkward pause. My gaze strayed back to Anzu and Yuugi, trying and failing to think of something 'not gay' to say about myself.

"And I…I like…playing games."

With that said, I sunk back into my seat, wishing the floor would swallow me up. Surprisingly, the next person that was called was none other than my old crush.

"My name is Mutou Yuugi, and I also like playing games."

He sat back down, but not before shooting me a small, nervous smile. From somewhere in the back of the room someone coughed out the word 'gay'.

There were a couple giggles, but then Anzu, in a quite 'unladylike' fashion, coughed back the word 'asshole'.

The giggles immediately stopped.

The next person called was a cute, purple haired girl with a big yellow ribbon in her hair. Jumping up from her seat, she fairly glowed with happiness.

"My name is Nosaka Miho, and Miho loves yaoi!"

The class burst into laughter, but for the first time, it didn't seem like malicious laughter. It was just…the release of tension. Like the relaxing of muscles after a workout.

Though I was a little later than most people, I managed to let out a very small, rusty laugh of my own.

I felt my cheeks heat, but I couldn't help smiling a little despite a couple funny looks I got. After seeing the subtle ways that people who barely knew me were willing to stand up for me…I knew that things really could be different, here.

I knew, at long last, it was really okay to be myself.

A/N: So, I know I already did a chapter where he realized it was okay to be himself, but the idea is that he now knows it's okay to be himself PUBLICALLY. Also, I threw Miho in there because she is the perfect cliché yaoi fangirl and people seemed to like what I did with her in "Perfect"! Actually, one of the main reasons I'm writing this story is do something that I neglected to do in "Perfect" that, in retrospect, I wish I had. I wish I had used canon characters instead of OCs for the random side people. So this story is letting me do that! Yay!