Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Nor do I own Utada Hikaru, Boa, Yui, AC/DC, Metallica or Linkin Park!

Now for something different for Mitsuko and our favorite pharaoh!

Note: FYI, none of the band names in this chapter are real bands, they were just something I came up with a bad band name generator!

I hope everyone enjoys this!

Chapter 4: Party Animal

Yugi, Mitsuko and Atem ran onto the bus, panting as they squirmed through the crowd, looking for a seat.

"If we hadn't caught this bus, we'd be late for our field trip!" Yugi breathed in relief.

"Why is this 'field trip' so important?" Atem asked.

"Why else? It's for more learning opportunities. I hope we're going to the planetarium," Mitsuko answered, before squealing. "Oh the planetarium! Such a wonderful place!"

Yugi sighed. "I know you like going there Mi-ne, but what're the odds?"

"You're so mean to me, Yu-nii."

They found the back of the bus was a huge gap, before a pounding beat hit their ears. They looked over and the twins flinched.

/What's the matter?\\ Atem asked mentally when he felt Mitsuko's anxiety.

/Sozoji, the school's karaoke master. According to rumors and firsthand tales, he's enough to drive anyone to illness with his screams. Once a month he holds an all-night karaoke session and the casualties keep piling up.\

/You mean he kills people?!\\

/Weren't you listening? He—\

"Hey Mutou!"

Mitsuko and Yugi both pointed to themselves, eyes wide in horror. He looked directly at Mitsuko and beckoned. She grimaced, but came over to him.

/Is he going to harm you?\\

/No, unless he wants to have an angry pharaoh Shadow Game his butt.\

"Mutou, you know it's time again for my All Night Solo Live Show, I want you to sell tickets for it."

Mitsuko stared at the ten tickets that she had to sell and saw the rather hefty price tag. Two thousand yen? What teenager has that kind of money on them that they would want to waste on a show that's guaranteed to be horrifying? I'd better bring earplugs with me.

No one wanted the tickets, so Mitsuko went to the studio, heaving a sigh when she plunked herself down on one of the couches, resigning herself to torture. Once he starts singing, I'll just have to go to my happy place and wait it out.

"Mutou! What're you doing here so early? Did you give up on selling any?"

Sozoji marched over to her and saw the tickets in her pocket. "Well, you know what your punishment is!"

What she didn't expect for him to put headphones over her ears and turn the volume up to maximum. These earplugs might not be enough! I hope I don't lose my hearing over this!

He began to scream into his microphone, which made her flinch, but it was muffled enough that it was bearable. She squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth, telling herself, Go to your happy place, go to your happy place... She then paused. I know these lyrics! Without knowing it, she'd started bobbing her head and mouthing the words in perfect sync to him.

All of a sudden, he yanked off the headphones and grabbed her by the front of her uniform jacket. "Who said you could sing along, Mutou?! This is your punishment, not some girls' night out at the karaoke!"

She grinned and exclaimed, "Anyone who knows Funky Dust Monkeys has got to have a decent taste in music, Sozoji-san!"

"What'd you say?!"

"You want me to praise the music again?"

He shook her and demanded, "Some nerdy girl like you wouldn't know good music if it hit you over the head!"

"Tell me some of your favorites, I won't laugh."

"The Utensils."

"Ooooh! I love that group!"

He gritted his teeth. "Lesbian Clown Cartel."

"Yeah! 'Love Girls Dead' is my personal favorite!"

"You name one, then."

"The Economy Class Terrorists?"

"Now you're just being cheeky, Mutou!"

I hit the nail on the head. "What about Angsty Waitpersons? Or Full Size Origami Dudes?"

"How could you like all the bands I do?! Either you have telepathy or you've been spying on my shows!"

"Nah, I'm just your average student who likes bands everyone else hates. I've spent hours perfecting my screaming so it doesn't hurt my voice. Want me to demonstrate, without the volume up to max?"

"You're the freakiest girl I've ever met."

She winked. "To the bone, just to be different."

With that she turned the volume dial down to a more acceptable level and picked a song.

For the rest of the night, they sang, screamed, banged heads and just had all-around good time, once she took over the mike. He watched her like she was a pro, having removed his sunglasses to goggle at her.

"Are you really Mutou Mitsuko? You're nothing like that wussy geek from this afternoon!"

Her hair, which was down and wild, her glasses around her neck by a chain, her jacket open and skirt around her hips. She blew a kiss and winked. "This is a me that no one has seen before, but if you want, I could help you get better so no one will say no to your concerts again." Then you'd quit threatening kids like Yu-nii.

He grinned and bowed to her. "If you come to these concerts yourself to perform, it's a deal."

"Sure, why not? This is the most fun I've had in ages."

She giggled and tossed her head, hair flying about her face and shoulders. "Wanna go another round?"

He snorted and looked at the clock. "Perhaps next time. Even karaoke masters like me have to go to school."

I like this guy better and better. Best friends through music, who knew?

She came home with an ecstatic grin on her face, at the crack of dawn. She was still humming "Love Girls Dead" as she came in, going to her room in a pleasant daze. She giggled as she straightened her clothes and put her contacts in, smoothing her hair yet keeping it in its wild hairstyle. As she buttoned her jacket and tied the ribbon around her collar, her alarm went off.

For once she took her time getting herself ready in the bathroom, putting on some makeup she'd gotten for her birthday by Anzu and when she came out, she was humming again. She came down the stairs and Sugoroku stared at her as if the world was about to end.

"Mi? Is that you?"

She smiled cheerily and nodded. "Yep, it's me, Jii-chan."

"You've never come down early for breakfast, and your hair and makeup! You look so different!"

"Well, I decided it was time for a change."

She sat down at the table and ate her food, the sedate pace making her feel much better than wolfing it down and rushing out the door. She took her lunch and waved to him. "I'll see you after school, Jii-chan!"

"You're not going to walk with Yugi and Atem-san?"

"Not today, not when I can have a calm walk for once."

"All right, I'll see you later."

She walked to school and sighed at the beautiful day. It's a perfect time to sing, but I guess I'll just keep it to myself, since most girls my age are singing the more popular songs. I like being different for a change!

She got into her seat and started to doodle a maze in her notebook, humming the same song yet again.

"What's that weird tune you're humming, Mitsuko-chan?" Jonouchi asked as he and Honda came in with Anzu on their heels.

"Yeah, I never thought I'd hear such a rough song from a girl's mouth," Honda added as he pinched his eyebrows together in concentration.

"Oh, it's nothing special," she answered in a flighty voice, her eyes on the finished maze as she tried to solve it without touching her pencil to the paper.

"You're sure in a good mood today," Anzu observed as she sat next to her childhood friend. "What happened?"

Mitsuko pursed her lips as she got stuck in a particular section. "I got to sing karaoke."

"Karaoke? I didn't know you liked to sing," the blonde teen questioned as he sat in the chair of the desk in front of hers backwards, Honda leaning against her desk as they stared at her.

"You learn something new all the time with your friends," she replied, a smile on her face as she got free of the trap. "I like music a lot, especially—"

Anzu pounced immediately. "Oh, oh, oh, do you like Utada Hikaru? Boa? Yui? I want to hear you sing some of their songs when we go out for karaoke! I'm sure your voice is perfect!"

Mitsuko raised an eyebrow as she raised her head to stare at her female friend. "Are you serious? If you'd been listening, I don't sing the popular songs for teenage girls. I don't like those genres of music. I like heavy metal, hard rock, truly bad music. The light, bubbly, overemotional fluff that's those idols you've mentioned, no thanks."

"Really? What kind of singers do you like?"

"Not singers, groups."

"Like what?"

She was about to name off a few when Yugi and Atem raced in, both coming over to her.

"So Jii-chan was right! You look completely different today!"

"What's so bad about that?" she asked, before getting checked over by Atem. "Come on, do I look hurt?"

"I want to make sure Sozoji didn't lay a hand on you."

"Sozoji?!" the other three exclaimed.

"Yeah," Yugi confirmed. "He made her try to sell tickets for his karaoke session and when she didn't..." He turned to his sister. "Did the all-night session knock your brains loose? Maybe we should see a doctor."

"Yu-nii...Atem-ou... WOULD YOU FRICKIN' GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME?!"

They jumped back and she tossed her hair. "Sheesh, you two are sure overprotective. I'm fine. It just so happens that karaoke is a hobby of mine, and I taught Sozoji-san a few tips to sing better so that he doesn't make people physically ill anymore. I have all the singles of the songs he sang, and we share the same interests in groups and genres. We even talked of some of the American groups like AC/DC, Metallica, Linkin Park... I could sing those all day..."

She began humming again and drummed her fingers on the desk as she continued her way through the maze she'd drawn. You'd think they'd heard that I was dying. So what if I revealed I'm a lover of a different type of music? I'm not the cookie cutter teenager in the first place. Geez, it's making me annoyed that they keep staring at me, like I've grown an extra arm or two. Yu-nii did say that I'd look better if I let myself relax and work on my looks. "I haven't cracked, this is something I've liked for years, I just haven't told anybody."

She peeked at them and knew they wouldn't believe her just by word alone.

Mitsuko was positively sour by the time school ended, the eyes on her via her friends yet still the reason. Would they just QUIT IT?! This is really making me mad! They're acting like I've been possessed the whole day!

"Mi-ne, can we talk?"

She stopped in her tracks and whirled around. "What?"

He hesitated and then looked to Atem, who nodded. Her eyes zeroed in on the gesture and she stormed up to the Egyptian. "If you want to talk to me, don't use my brother as a mouthpiece! You can talk to me and just maybe I'll listen! You two are on the same page right now anyways!"

Atem sighed and put his hands behind him. "Mitsuko-sama, you know that whenever you're angry you don't want to be reasoned with and also what I want to speak to you about."

She put her hands on her hips. "I just let my hair down and put in my contacts! What's so bad about that? It's not like I'm the queen bee of the school now and completely ignore my real friends! I haven't snapped either! I just didn't want anyone to know that I'm a heavy metal fan and most of the groups here have weird names! Most people would laugh at me if I told them I like the group 'Angsty Waitpersons'! Yu-nii even told me to change my hair and put in my contacts so I wouldn't look like such a nerd! What's wrong with changing like I have?" She got in his face. "Well?!"

He got a good look at her and noticed that as she was now, she was very attractive, her eyes no longer blocked by her glasses, her gold bangs framing her face. Yet he had an inkling that her question wasn't simple to answer. "Perhaps...you are changing for the wrong reason, at the wrong time. It's such a jarring contrast might need to be done more...subtly for a while until everyone is used to it."

She scowled. He's right, even though I don't like it. I guess it was fun while it lasted. "Fine, you win, but don't think this look's gone forever."

The next day, she wore her old look again, everyone treating her normally again. She glowered as she looked out the window and thought, You guys have such a low opinion of me. Just you wait, I'll be awesome and become an astronomer without anyone's help. I'll work afternoon jobs and be at the top of the class for the rest of high school, just so I can get a scholarship for the college I want. No one's gonna help me, no matter what Yu-nii says about asking Jii-chan.

Who liked this side of Mitsuko? *looks around for any hands*

I mean, how many Japanese girls actually listen to heavy metal? I know that that's a stereotype, but Mitsuko is one of those who doesn't go the popular route.

*stares out onto the site* I know you're out there, I can hear your lips moving.

Please review!