Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Winter Solstace ❯ Falling... Malik?! ( Chapter 5 )

A/N: Still here? Hayashiba-chan is honored. *^^* heehee, excuse the sarcasm kudasai! It's one in the morning as Hayashiba-chan writes this. She had coffee for breakfast. And lunch. And dinner. And she's even drinking more of it now. Mmm... Caffeine... Thank God for caffeine… Caffeine-sama decided to put a little bit of MM in here, ya? *^^* the RB MM pairings are easily done, but how to do the YY? Ah, so many choices! Wait `till you see, it's incredibly stupid. But Hayashiba-chan will stop prattling now. No spoilers for the readers, aye? And this fic'll bash Téa somewhat, since Sasuke-chan is fairly certain she's an ass. And Sasuke-chan is smarter than Hayashiba-chan, plus she draws prettier, therefore whatever Sasuke-chan says is LAW!

LAW, DAMMIT! WEE! DONKEYS ARE PINK AND PURPLE! WOO-HOO!!!

Okay, sorry… Too much caffeine.

… Mmm… Caffeine…*hands out compliments to every YGO character just for the hell of it* hell. Hayashiba-chan will have to put some angst in this chappy. *^^* ANGST! YAY! ANGST, ANGST, ANGST! And that RB you guys were hoping for? Not this chapter! *smirks smugly* *screams and runs away from the pissed off RB fans and anti-angst people* HEEEELLLPPPP MMMEEEEEEEE DAAAAMMMMNNNIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!

P.S.: *in a really tiny meepable voice* `m' really sorry for the lack of updates! *sob*

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"Winter Solstice"

05/20

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- Bakura's POV -

I hate women. Really, I do.

Mariku and Yami may not mind them, but I really, really, *REALLY* do.

The particular chick of fate looked to be in her early twenties, fake colored hair in a high ponytail, earrings that looked painful (although I can't say much there, as I wear several kinky-looking objects dangling from my left ear), a dress that was more like a loin cloth with straps, and boobs that looked…

… looked really, really fake…

… I'm not sure, but I *don't* think it's normal for a young woman to have…boobs that big and absolutely no cleavage…

Or maybe it was because, as she slid drooling off the stage, one breast stayed up on it and the other squished (painfully?) against the side of the stage as she slid down, and then completely passed out.

Women drink more than men, I think. Another reason I hate them. This one was DEFINITELY drunk.

She was also either extremely flat-chested, a freak of nature for having only one breast, or a boy dressed up as a girl.

My song ended and I hurried off stage. I swear I've never thought so much about a female. Stupid excuses for humans, all of `em. I'm not sure exactly *what* God was smoking when he created Eve, but oh, I want to smoke some, too.

I entered a backroom and closed the door firmly behind me before pouncing on the nearest sink-and-mirror to remove my make-up. It was in Ancient Egyptian style. So was Yami's and Mariku's. Mariku had already gone, and was, in fact, out in the bar having a blast, and Yami was performing now.

Yet, as I rubbed the eyeliner off with little difficulty, I couldn't get the woman's face out of my mind. Her make-up had been smearing, and some had even rubbed off completely, revealing that she was, indeed, extremely pale. If that chick had been a guy, I *know* I would be all over him. But I'm fairly certain that she was a freak of nature.

Sighing, I left the backroom feeling much more cleaner, and rounded by the owner's office to receive what was due to me. I walked in without knocking.

"-And your work hours will be from eleven to twelve P.M., that clear?" the owner was saying cheerfully.

"Crystal," a young man, looking to be in either his early teens or early twenties (it was such an interesting mix that I couldn't tell for sure), said with a coy smirk.

I HATE coy… things. But the man was cute, so I forgave him.

"Yagawa-san. You owe. Big time." I said, stepping into the room fully and not caring if I embarrassed the owner or not.

"Oh- ah- Bakura-san… yes, I have it all here… somewhere…" he began rummaging through his desk drawers, and then pulled out a thick envelope triumphantly. "Kore wa! There you are, Bakura. Don't be late tomorrow, or I'll cut your pay again."

I stepped forward and snatched the fat envelope from him, glaring all the while. Then, without another word, I left.

Fine. I won't be late. I'll even make an effort, so how's that, Mr. Jackass? He knows I need the money to survive. Literally.

The pale blond teen/man/whatever watched me leave; I could feel his eyes on my back the entire way. Cute.

Then I started toward the main bar in hopes of finding Mariku and Yami. I actually ran into Yami on the way, although we didn't acknowledge each other. But that's normal, during working hours.

And Mariku was just where I'd expected him to be. At the bar. Getting drunk.

- Malik's POV -

There's no doubt about it, now; Yami, Mariku-chan (what? WHAT? STOP STARING AT ME! IT'S JUST A SUFFIX!) and Bakura are direct descendants. If there was any doubt before, there wasn't now. I sighed. It'd be such a shame to kill Mariku-chan off. You know, he made a really good seme, especially when h- AUGH! No! why do I keep thinking about him? It was just a stupid one-night stand! He doesn't even remember me! Why do I blush every time I think of him, why do I have the almost uncontrollable urge to chant his name out loud? Scream to the world that Mariku-chan exists, but nobody can have him… it's what I want…

… this is giving me a bad feeling. My instincts say to run, run far away… away from Mariku-chan… and never, ever return. I need to stop thinking about him.

`Gods, the sooner he's dead, the better!' is what I want to say, but… for some reason… I can't… I can't…! I can't! Why can't I control my thoughts or what I say anymore?! What's wrong with me?! Am I sick?!

… yes, that must be it. Mariku-chan must have given me an STD! The bastard! If I have to get chemotherapy and end up losing all my gorgeous hair, I swear I'll make his death the longest and most painful in history! Damn him! Damn you, Mariku!

DAMN YOU, MARIKU-CHAN!

DAMN YOU, MARIKU-CHAN!

"DAMN YOU, MARIKU-CHAN!!"

I realized only a bit too late that I'd said it out loud.

VERY out loud. As in, over-the-music loud.

At the bar.

In public.

With Mariku sitting right in front of me.

…Oh… shit…

- Yuugi's POV -

Katsuya won't hold still. Not long enough for me to read his soul thoroughly enough, at least. Not to mention Shizuka and Boring Eyes are two of the world's biggest bitches. I mean, please, excuse my language… but it's true…

Oh, and I've figured out their real names.

Brunette = Kaiba Seto

Body Builder = Honda Hiroto

Big Boobs = Mai

Boring Eyes = Gardner Téa

Messy Hair = Otogi Ryuuji

Interesting, eh? It also turns out that, despite the fact that they're obviously related, Shizuka and Katsuya live in different homes. I recorded Katsuya's address, and then, recognizing the fact that I had lost Brun- er, Seto- no, Kaiba-kun is more polite… anyway, I recognized the fact that I'd have to stalk him tomorrow, and instead went toward `Ecstasy,' the place where Big B- I meant, Mai, worked. Just like our original trio.

Uwaa. I wondered how Bunny-chan and Malik-kun were doing.

I got lost on my way there, and it was way past dark when I finally entered the club on the pretence of finding my parents. A bouncer held my hand as we strutted through the strangely silent and frozen crowd.

Ah… there was Malik. I'd seen that disguise before. I ripped my hand from the bouncer's with surprising strength and leapt at him, calling out, "Daddy!" in the most childish voice I could manage.

He started, along with several other people, and then turned toward me. The crowd lost interest and went back to whatever they were doing, and the noise and movement escalated to what must have been normal for the bar. Except for the bouncer, who kept glancing around as though he were a little worried about somebody seeing an underage kid (if only he knew) at the bar, Malik and I were ignored.

"Daddy, I lwooked awll oh-berr fwor you!" I announced. I almost giggled at my own way of speaking. Geeze, this was a kick.

"Ah, Yuuki-chan, I'm very sorry," he said, picking me up like a child. Then he turned to an older teen with spiked light-blond hair and said, "I'm very sorry, sir. I thought you were somebody else." And then, carrying me, he left the spiky-haired boy behind. It took me a moment to realized that Spiky had been Mariku.

"What happened?" I whispered, but Malik just shook his head. Then he gasped, "Ryou!" and set me down, rushing around the dance floor. I wondered what he was talking about for a minute until I, too, saw my boyfriend laying in a heap in front of a large stage. I'd seen Ryou in that disguise before, as well. Although the dress and new. Last time it had been black, not red.

I knelt by him with Malik. "Oh my God, Ryou, please, wake up," I whispered, trying to keep myself from getting hysterical as I leaned down and kissed him softly, in vain hopes of him waking up.

No such luck, although I decided that he must have been drinking a large amount of wine beforehand.

"Probably no more than five glasses," Malik murmured when I told him this. "Ryou couldn't hold his liquor for the Queen of England." And then, in a louder voice as people began to glance our way more than once, "Come on, son. Let's take mommy home. She's very sick from the rum." And he picked Ryou up bridal style, shifted him to one arm (but how he managed this, I shall never know), took my hand with his free hand, and marched purposefully out, head held high.

We ran back to our apartment.

- Third person POV, the next day -

Tomorrow was Sunday. That meant Malik, Ryou, and Yuugi needed to register for their "educations" that day.

But they didn't do anything at first, as Ryou was ridding his stomach of its contents in the toilet with Yuugi rubbing his back soothingly, and Malik ran a hot bath, mulling over new information.

"So…" Malik said at last, turning off the water just as Yuugi was helping Ryou wash his mouth out and swallow some Advil, "apart from the original three, who are come of age and therefore easily sensed, there may be two more underage direct descendants?"

Yuugi nodded his affirmative as Ryou collapsed on the floor, massaging his temples with a groan. They were all three in the bathroom, with the door closed and the window locked. If there was one good thing about this apartment, it was the pool-sized bathtub. All three boys had gotten home and then slept in a tangled heap in front of the front door, and were now all three awake and sharing information in the bathroom.

Also, taking a bath, which was obvious from the start.

"It might be possible…" Ryou rasped out, grimaced, and then continued, "they may be indirect descendants. Hunters, like us."

"That means, though, that the trio would have had to be taken care of before now… you know?" Malik asked, stripping first himself and then helping Yuugi and Ryou undress the hung-over teen. They had already washed their faces and teeth.

"Perhaps. But it's well known that Kaiba… I only JUST figured out he is *the* Kaiba… Kaiba and his little brother are orphans. If their parents, or one of them, were Hunters, then they didn't learn anything from them. And Katsuya- gah, the Americans have been rubbing off on me- *Jounouchi* and his sister live in different homes. It may be possible that their parents were dead before they could learn anything about anything, right?" Yuugi said this while struggling to take off his own clothes and Malik, supporting Ryou only slightly, moved into the tub.

Ryou sank down to his neck gratefully, and Yuugi splashed in happily a moment later. The two instantly began to cuddle, and Yuugi promptly started washing the dye out of Ryou's hair. Malik smiled slightly; a true, genuine smile, which is EXTREMELY rare for him. `I wish,' he found himself thinking, `that I could be doing that with Mari- FUCK!'

"Then, our agenda for today," Malik said, a bit harsher then he had originally intended to. Yuugi and Ryou glanced at him, startled, or at least Yuugi did while dunking Ryou. The other teen came up with his usual white hair, sputtering, and, fighting a grimace, he also turned to look at Malik.

"Malik-kun, are you okay?" Yuugi asked, and Ryou made a concerned noise as the two moved to sandwich Malik between them. Malik sighed, sinking in the water to his eyes, and then sat up again, mumbling an apology.

"Ne," Ryou said after a moment of uncomfortable silence, "I can't remember a thing about what happened last night. Just a really heavy base and blurry lights. Falling, too, at one point I think I fell off of the stage or something…"

"You passed out," Malik explained, eagerly jumping on the change of subject. He didn't want to- no, COULDN'T keep thinking about Mariku-chan like that, he just couldn't… it would lead to bad consequences, thoughts like that always did… thoughts like those lead to feelings… and those feelings were the only small, brittle things connected to Malik's heart, his soul. First they had been broken with his older brother. And then his parents. And finally his baby sister.

No… Mariku was prey… and Malik was the hunter. He had a job to do, and that job was to kill. If Malik thought, or worse, *felt* something like… like THAT toward his prey, it would only hurt when he carried out his job. Malik had forced himself to be able to do hundreds of things with the heart while not concerning his own in it the least. First it had gotten tangled up with Ryou's, however, and then Yuugi's. But not in the way it seemed to ache for Mariku. He loved Yuugi and Ryou, but not like…

No… he didn't… He would never… not Mariku…

… never Mariku…