Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ The Chaos of First Meetings ❯ Chapter 2

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: If I owned Yugioh, alot of things would be different. And it most likely wouldn't be on 4kids. No, defiantly not. I don't even own three of the Original Characters in this one, as they belong to my dear friend who is allowing me to use them. Three cheers for Seto-chan! (who now has an account here on ff. net. Her penname is Seto-chanluvj-kun.)

T-H-E--C-H-A-O-S--O-F--F-I-R-S-T--M-E-E- T-I-N-G-S--T-H-E--C-H-A-O-S--O-F--

Mariku curses loudly as he stumbles out of the apartment that he shares with his dad. Ignoring the angry yelling behind him about him being ungrateful, he makes his way out of the apartment building and to a place he knows he’ll be safe. All the while he cradles something wrapped in an old towel close to his chest.

Normal people wouldn’t think to venture through the city streets of Domino at night all alone, but Mariku’s never been one you could call normal. He has odd mood swings that border on bipolor most of the time and when you add in that with his looks- his spiky sandy blonde hair, dark skin, and deep purple eyes- he’s anything but normal.

Coming to the door of the café, he bangs on the door loudly, knowing that Nixx, Roman, and Alexandrian live directly above the café and will hear the noise. Sure enough, the three boys creep down the stairs along with Ash, who’s hiding behind Nixx. Roman has a baseball bat and Alexandrian has a golf club.

Ash is the first to recognize who it is at the door. “Mariku!” She gasps, rushing forward to let him in. She notices a bruise forming on her friend’s cheek and turns around to face the three brothers. “Nixx, go get some ice. Alex, can you bring a chair over here? Roman, stay here and help me.”

Nixx runs off to go back upstairs for ice while Alexandrian pulls a chair over for Mariku to sit on, which the blonde sits down on gratefully.

“What’s this?” Ash asks, gesturing to the towel.

Mariku bites his lip as he lifts away part of the towel. “I found her yesterday and took her home. That man found out about her earlier.”

Ash squeals when she sees what Mariku’s carrying. “A kitty! She’s adorable, Mariku! She studies the spots on the cat's fur for a moment. “But… is she a Mau?” She asks as Nixx returns with the ice in a baggy and a washcloth for Mariku.

Mariku nods and puts the washcloth over the baggy of ice before setting it on his cheek. “Yeah…. Tell me, do you guys ever get any apartment notices on your board?” He asks. “I’ve decided to move out.” He winces when the coolness of the ice seeps through the cloth and freezes his cheek.

“It’s about time.” Roman says. “And yes. But there’s just one. There’s someone named ‘Bakura Khalid’ who’s looking for either one or two roommates. And apparently someone who’s lost a cat.”

“I ran into him on my way to visit the Game Shop.” Ash says. “He noticed my uniform and asked if there was a board I could put this on. He seemed pretty upset about it. Come to think of it, he looked a bit like you, Mariku.”

Roman mock-gasps. “I don’t believe it! There’s another person in the world with hair like his!”

Ash gives Roman an exasperated look. “No.” She emphasizes. “He just has the same hair color and was about the same height. And he was cuter than any of you. Except for Nixx.” She teases.

Nixx grins. “Yup! ‘Cause I’m the cutest!”

While Roman, Nixx, and Ash get into a strange argument that’s most likely derived from sleepiness, Mariku turns to Alexandrian. “Where’s the phone.”

“Around the corner. There’s a chair beside it that Ash uses all the time.” Alexandrian says. “Do you want both of the papers?”

Mariku nods. “Yeah. Now I just have to hope I’m not waking anyone up who will kill me for doing so.” He mutters under his breath.

0-0-0-0-0-0

A phone rings in a dark apartment and the occupant of it utters a dark curse as he stumbles out of his warm bed and journeys across his bedroom to get the phone.

“Whoever the hell you are you’d better have a good excuse for waking me up!” He yells into the phone.

“Well forgive me for waking you up with an offer on the apartment roommate notice.” A voice on the other line says crossly.

Bakura curses and switches the phone to his other ear. “I’m listening.”

The person on the other line takes a breath. “Look, I probably can’t pay enough to take care of half the bill. The most I can spend on rent is 7300 (1) yen a month if I still want enough to pay for the rest of the crap I need.”

“That’s only a third.” Bakura says.

“The poster said one or two roommates.” The guy sounds a little cross. “Look, I’ll help find the other roommate and if we can’t find one, then I’ll work two jobs and work weekends to help pay for it.”

Bakura grumbles something under his breath as he scrawls a few things down on the pad of sticky notes setting by the phone. “Fine. When are you moving in?”

There’s silence on the other end for a moment. “Just like that?”

If Bakura could glare at the person on the other end, he would. For now he has to settle on glaring at his phone. “It’s 1 in the morning, what the hell do you expect? How about this; meet me tomorrow morning at the Lexus Café at eight. If you’re late, you can forget about moving in. What’s your name?”

“Mariku Leil.”

Bakura jots this down. “Tomorrow we meet and discuss. Call me before then, and I will kill you.” With that he hangs up and crawls back into his bed, grumbling about idiots calling in the middle of the night.

0-0-0-0-0-0

“Mariku, help me out here! I’m completely swamped!” Ash says over the morning crowd. “Alexandrian and Nixx ditched me and Roman’s not helping at all!” She glares at the black-haired owner, who just smirks in response.

Mariku boredly strokes the top of the head of the cat he found. “Can’t.”

Ash pouts. “Aww, c’mon. Please, Mariku? Pretty pretty please?”

“No.” Mariku says.

“Miss! Do you have that coffee I asked for?” A customer calls.

Ash sighs and grabs her tray, which has several cups of coffee on it. “Right away, ma’am!” She calls, before bustling off to hand out the coffee.

Mariku watches in amusement as Ash gets half of the orders messed up, gives the wrong coffee to the wrong person, and has to apologize to every one of the customers. Then he starts snickering when a group of people wanders into the café and Ash curses her luck.

“DAMN IT ROMAN!” She yells. “Get your brothers on the phone and tell them to get back here now! I’m going to go insane having to do all of this myself!”

Roman smirks. “All you had to do was ask.”

Ash growls. “Evil sadistic bastard.”

0-0-0-0-0-0

Elsewhere, Alexandrian and Nixx are walking down the road with bags of groceries. Nixx is staring off into space murmuring something about ‘the pretty long-haired boy’ every now and then. Alexandrian is beginning to find it more and more annoying as the second goes by.

‘Must remain calm, must remain calm.’ Alexandrian tells himself. ‘Just because Nixx has been rambling about the kid ever since he saw him a few days ago, doesn’t mean you can get all worked up and annoyed over it. He’ll forget about the kid as soon as he sees someone else who’s pretty and then things will go back to normal. Or as normal as things get.’ He sighs. ‘Who am I kidding? Things can only get worse from here. It’s only a matter of time before Nixx sees the kid again and tries to stalk him.’

A gasp from Nixx takes Alexandrian out of his thoughts just in time to see a black hair boy run past carrying a silver briefcase.

“It-it’s him!” Nixx clasps his hands together and stares dreamily after the boy. “I want to say hello…” He starts walking after his crush, only to be held back by Alexandrian.

“Nixx, you are not going to stalk the boy like Roman stalks Ash!” Alexandrian says. “Leave him alone.”

Nixx blinks, only focusing on part of the statement. “Roman stalks Ash?” A grin spreads across his face. “Ha! I knew he liked her! And he kept denying it too!”

Alexandrian rolls his eyes. “It’s obvious to everyone but those two. Now lets get back to the café before something bad happens. Like Roman pissing off Ash so she winds up screaming curses and scaring the customers.”

Nixx nods and then looks in the direction his crush disappeared to. “Fare thee well, beloved of mine! Perhaps we shall meet in another time, another pla--”

“NIXXUS!”

Nixx squeaks and hurries after Alexandrian. “Wait for me!”

0-0-0-0-0-0

Malik wanders the streets, peering into ally’s and under dumpsters. “Here kitty kitty kitty!” He calls. “Bastet, where are you!” ‘Please don’t be dead, please don’t be dead! Isis will kill me if she finds out I accidentally let you out and you died as a result! She’ll kill me if she finds out I let you out! Or worse!’ Malik shudders at the thought of what his sister will do when she discovers her beloved cat missing. ‘I don’t have long to find her. Just a day. One more day before I die. What a wonderful thought.’

He searches for a while longer before decided to head home to check his messages and see if anyone called about the cat. All the while he thinks about ways to try and get out of this mess if he can’t find the cat. He groans when he realizes that there’s no way he’d get out of the mess.

‘I’m gonna die. I’m going to be tortured and then I’m going to die. There’s no way around it. Please let someone have called about the cat. I really don’t want to die. I’m too young!’ He thinks desperately, as he walks into the apartment building he lives in.

He makes his way up the stairs, hoping that if he takes enough time someone will have called about the cat and left a message. All too soon, he reaches the door to his room and slowly unlocks it and walks in. Then he looks over at the answering machine, hoping to see a blinking light.

Malik’s heart leaps in his chest when he sees the light blinking. ‘It’s blinking. Oh great Ra it’s blinking! Please be good news! Please be good news!’ He rushes over to the machine and pushes the button. He pales when Isis’s voice comes out of the device, and pales further when he hears what she has to say.

“Hello little brother, I hope you are well. I know it was suppose to be tomorrow that I was to return, but things have changed a little and I will be arriving home this evening. I hope my precious is alright. You better not have done anything to my cat, Malik Ishtar! If I find out that something has happened to her you will pay!”

Malik gulps.

“I’ll see you this evening, little brother. Take care.”

The answering machine makes a clicking noise and then another message plays.

“Ouch! Darn it Ash, knock it off!”

Malik blinks. ‘What the hell?’

“Is this thing working? Guess it is… sorry about that. Umm, I really hope this is the right number. If it is, I found your cat; The Egyptian Mau. My name’s Mariku Leil and-- OUCH! She bit me!”

Malik sweat drops as the boy curses loudly before continuing.

“Look, just call me at…”

Malik scrambles for a pencil and pad of paper to write down the number and the name of the boy.

“… and ask for Mariku Leil. I’ll meet you wherever you want to give you back the cat. Goodbye.”

The answering machine makes a clicking noise for the second time, but Malik doesn’t even pay attention to see if there are any messages left. Instead he sinks down onto a chair and breaths a sigh of relief. ‘Mariku Leil, whoever you are, you have just saved my life. Possibly.’ He imagines his sister’s reaction to finding out her cat went missing and winces. ‘Okay, definitely.’

0-0-0-0-0-0

“I don’t know what to wear!”

Ryou sighs heavily. “Yugi…”

“What! I need to find something to wear! This is a serious problem, Ryou!” Yugi shouts through the phone. “You’ve got to help me!”

Ryou glances around at the boxes all around in his house. “Yugi, you’re not the only one with a serious problem, you know. I’m getting ready to move into the house with my sister.”

“BUT THIS IS A CRISIS!”

Ryou holds the phone away from his ear until Yugi stops shouting and the ringing in his ear stops. When he thinks it’s safe, he puts the phone back to his ear. “Alright, what’s this crisis you’re going on about?”

“I agreed to hang out with him! And now I don’t know what to wear! I don’t want to look stupid, but I don’t want to overdue it! And did you know I have nothing to wear!”

Ryou rolls his eyes before walking over to the mountainous heap of bubble wrap laying in a corner of the room. “Yugi, you have plenty to wear. Just wear what you usually do.”

Yugi mumbles something.

“I didn’t catch that.” Ryou tells his friend, as he begins wrestling with the mountainous heap of bubble wrap in an attempt to find the end of it.

“I said that all the clothes I normally wear are dirty! Grandpa forgot to remind me to do laundry this week.”

‘Only Yugi.’ Ryou thinks, still fighting with the bubble wrap. “What about that black shirt Joey got you for Christmas? And the black pants?”

“The leather ones with buckles?” Yugi asks.

“No Yugi, the ones with pink polka dots.” Ryou says sarcastically.

There’s a pause on Yugi’s end. “Ryou, I don’t have any pants like that.”

Ryou randomly rips the bubble wrap, tired of trying to find the end of it. “Yugi, that was called sarcasm. Do you not know what sarcasm is?”

“No.”

“Good.” Ryou looks around for something to wrap in the bubble wrap. “So wear the black shirt and pants that Joey gave you.”

“Then I’ll look like him!” Yugi protests. “I don’t want to look just like him! People will think I’m his little brother or something!”

Ryou spots a ceramic cat setting all alone on a shelf and makes his way through the sea of boxes to it. “Fine then. Drop the shirt and find that light blue shirt with the puzzle pieces on it that I gave you for your birthday last year.”

“I haven’t worn that in ages! It’s perfect! If I could just find it…” There’s a thud on Yugi’s end that makes Ryou sigh lightly. “I’m alright!” Yugi tells his friend. “Don’t worry about me. Oww. Ha! I found it! Take that you stupid box!”

Ryou calmly wraps the ceramic cat in bubble wrap while listening to something fall and make a lot of noise on Yugi’s end of the line.

“Ryou, I’ve got to go. A box of my old toys just fell on my head. Oww. I think I’m bleeding. Grandpa! Help!”

There’s a click and then all Ryou hears is the dial tone. Calmly, the white-haired boy turns off the phone and tosses it onto the couch. Looking around the room he thinks, ‘Now what else can I wrap in bubble wrap?’

0-0-0-0-0-0

An hour later Yugi paces nervously in the game shop, waiting for Yami to show up. There’s a bandage on his head from where he started bleeding because of the box of toys that fell on him.

“Yugi, calm down.” His grandpa says. “I’m sure he has an excellent excuse as to why he’s late.”

Yugi continues pacing.

The bells rings above the shop door and Yugi stops his pacing to look and see who it is. He nearly smiles when he sees that it’s Yami instead of another customer again.

Yami smiles at his look alike. “Hello Yugi. Sorry I’m late.”

Yugi just shrugs, refusing to show how nervous he is. “It’s fine. Where are we going?”

“The arcade. I want to see if you’re as good as you claim.” Yami says.

This time Yugi does smile, excited at the prospect of a new challenger. Both Ryou and Joey now refuse to go against him since he always wins, but maybe Yami can pose a challenge. “Sounds like fun!” He says cheerfully, before he turns to face his grandpa. “I’ll be back before dark, grandpa!”

His grandpa smiles. “Have fun, Yugi.”

“I will grandpa!”

Less than a minute later, the two are gone from the shop, leaving Yugi’s grandpa alone. The old man hums a tune under his breath and begins bustling about the shop, restocking some of the shelves.

0-0-0-0-0-0

Back at the café, Alexandrian and Nixx have returned and Mariku and Bakura have formally met. Neither Bakura nor Mariku are very happy. At all.

“So let me get this straight.” Bakura says, narrowing his eyes. “You currently work one job at the pet store further downtown, you got kicked out of the last place you lived, and you have a cat.”

Mariku scowls. “I told you that it’s not my cat! I found it out on the streets and took it in!”

Bakura crosses his arms over his chest. “I refuse to share an apartment room with an animal lover.”

“It’s a cat! I had to take it in! And do you know what kind of cat this is? This is an Egyptian Mau! They’re sacred where I come from! We have a cat goddess where I come from!” Mariku rants. “I could care less about the damn rabid squirrels in the park! Hell, those are fun to shoot at and throw kitchen knives at! And don’t get me started on the damn pigeons!”

Now Bakura raises an eyebrow. “Well, it looks like we do have something in common. How do you feel about the park ducks?”

Mariku slams a fist down onto the table he and Bakura are sitting at. “They should burn in Hell! But in the meantime, I throw rocks at them. It’s fun.”

The conversation continues with the two discussing what they like to do for fun. Slowly, people around them leave early, frightened by the two’s conversation.

And then Mariku laughs. And it’s not his normal half-hearted laughs or his maniacal ‘lets-blow-up-the-park-creatures’ laugh.

Ash, Nixx, Roman, and Alexandrian stop what they’re doing to look at the sandy-blonde Egyptian in shock and awe, having never heard him actually laugh before.

Bakura waits for Mariku to stop laughing before he smirks and holds out a hand. “So when are you moving in?”

Mariku grins and takes Bakura hand, shaking it. “I hope today’s good. Partner.”

Bakura raises an eyebrow. “Partner?”

Mariku nods excitedly. “Yeah! We can be partners in crime! Wanna go throw rocks at the ducks before I smuggle some stuff from my old place?”

“Why not. It sounds like fun.” Bakura says.

Ash groans when the two of them walk out of the café together. “We’re all doomed, aren’t we? I’ve only seen Mariku in a mood like that once, and the results were not at all pretty.”

“You’re talking about the time Mariku fed a bunch of rice to the pigeons and made them blow up, aren’t you?” Nixx asks.

Ash shudders. “A sight I never wish to see again.”

There’s a moment of silence amongst the four of them.

“Back to work!” Roman says loudly. “Nixx, Ash, you have tables to wait on! Get to it!”

“Yes, oh powerful wise one.” Ash says sarcastically, grabbing a couple of menus.

And so the day continues.

T-H-E--C-H-A-O-S--O-F--F-I-R-S-T--M-E-E-T-I-N-G-S --T-H-E--C-H-A-O-S--O-F--

(1) 7300 yen is equal to about... 50 U.S. dollars? That's according to Wikipedia, but I'm not entirely sure how accurate it is. According to it 1 U.S. dollar is equal to 144.45 yen.

0-0-0

Shiro: Just one more chapter left! Yay! Then I'll be concentrating on LAPOW? and Family Bonds for a while. I will be writing more one-shots on the side. I really wanna write one focusing on Joey and Seto and maybe a Bakura/Ryou fic. Oh heck, I might as well write a Yami/Yugi and a Mariku/Malik one-shot.

Bast: More writing? Don't you have enough to write with the 30+ chapter Family Bonds thing? And you have to finish LAPOW and you're working on that original story of yours.

Shiro: I'll find the time.

Bast: Might I add that school restarts Monday.

Shiro: (twitches) You said the word. You said the darn word.

Bast: -.- Don't be an idiot.

Shiro: You're not suppose to say the word! We call it the Shadow Realm! The Shadow Realm!

Bast: Only you and Seto-chan. And you should call it by it's real name before you get Bakura confused. It's school. S-C-H-O-O-L.

Shiro: (currently ignoring Bast)

Bast: (sighs) Just one chapter to go!