Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Hostile Takeover ❯ MY kid....? ( Chapter 11 )

Well, the holidays are upon us and me and the wife are down with walking pneumonia. I'll try to get the next chappie out by Friday. I am having a hard time writing. Breathing is a hard habit to quit, you know.

Ryou's mistress: Yes……..just a story…MWAHAHAHAHA!

marik ishtar 77: Aria may get one more poke in.

Lady elfskye: I'll try to check that site out.

Acidflower: Thankies, honey!

Pharaoh Yami's Pirncess: Yeah, I know I'm evil. And aku has a lot planned for Malik.

Shadow of Light: *hands Aria plushies*

IYYASHI: Robbie is adorable! He will always be!

MY Kid…??

Ryou clutched onto Marik's hand as Cullen hesitated. Ryou bit his lip and held his breath waiting for the cause of Aten's academic problems. Marik also held his breath waiting for the news.

"Mr. Ishtar, Ryou, Aten has dyslexia."

Ryou and Marik's eyes went wide.

Ryou's POV

Dyslexia? My son? Why? How? How could this happen? I knew it….this has to be my fault! Marik and I created him! I carried him! This has to be my fault! There's no one else to blame but myself!

What did I do wrong? Did I eat something I shouldn't have? Did I not take care of myself during my pregnancy? I must have done something wrong.

There is no other explanation.

I am a terrible mother.

Marik's POV

Dyslexia? My boy? Could this have been prevented? Did I do something to cause this? I must have done something to cause this! I am Aten's father! I created him! I gave him life! It's my fault! Because I must have done something wrong, Aten will suffer for it the rest of his life.

I am a terrible father.

Normal POV

"Dyslexia?" Marik whispered sounding confused. "How could he have dyslexia?"

"Aten is struggling with language skills that kids his age should have mastered by now. His motor skills are poor, but I have noticed that he is excellent in drawing and painting. His reading is also below the norm for his age group."

"But I read to him every night! Every night before I go to bed we read a story! I see Aten reading."

Cullen took a deep breath. "Ryou, Marik, the most important thing is that you not blame yourselves or each other. Neither one of you could have prevented this and it does not condemn Aten to a life of failure. People with dyslexia can succeed in school. They just need a little extra help. Aten could do very well in school, given the extra attention."

Cullen handed the folder to Ryou. "We know Aten is still a little boy. With some reinforcement, he may find school a little easier and a little less frustrating. He knows he can't talk, read, and write like the other kids. That really upsets him. The trick is to find something Aten can do that will boost his self-esteem. With your permission, I would like Aten to teach the kids some Arabic. He can even teach the other kids to write their names in Egyptian hieroglyphs."

Marik nodded. "I don't think that will be a problem."

Cullen folded his hands and sat at the edge of his desk. "When we reach the letter "G," the school has arranged for the kids to bring in their grandparents. Knowing Aten's….." Marik shot him an angry glance. "…..Previous experience with his grandfather, I told the director I do not plan for my class to participate. Instead, I would like for Aten to teach the other kids hieroglyphics. This way, Aten can get the confidence he needs and he'll be talking about something with which he is familiar."

Ryou turned to Marik. "He's not going to want to come to school that day if other grandfathers are around."

Cullen sighed. "I will try to limit his contact with any of the other grandparents as much as possible that day. Then again, Aten may not react at all to their presence. I'll see how he reacts that day. I will do my best to keep Aten calm and I will call you if there is a problem."

Ryou nodded. "Thank you for your help, Mr. Cullen. We'll try to help Aten at home."

"Today we are doing the letter "D" and beginning the letter "E" today. Maybe you can make some dough tonight and form the English letters. Make a game out of it. Now, tomorrow, we are having Show-and-Tell. The kids have to bring in something that begins with the letter "E." It can be anything they wish."

"Ok. We'll find something he can bring in," Ryou said standing up.

Ryou and Marik shook Cullen's hand and walked down the hall. Marik ran his fingers through his hair. "This is so complicated! My education was nothing like this!"

"You went to school, Marik?"

"No way! My father had a scribe show me how to read hieroglyphs and maps of the world and to write. I had to take over the family lands upon my father's death and I had to learn these things. There was no "Show-and-Tell" for me. At Aten's age I was sitting and reading in the shade for ten hours a day with only a break for dinner. Kids today have it so easy."

*********************

The kids colored pictures of a duck, a dress, and a drum. Eric was absent that day, so, the class was much more calm. Umi finished his coloring and turned to Mallary.

"Umi, what's that?"

"These are the dolphins which swim next to my daddy's boat! I talk to them all the time!"

Mallary held up her picture to Umi. "This is a dolly! It looks like my dolly at home."

Cullen had the children show each other their drawings that began with "D." Umi showed Aria the dolphins.

"SQUEE!!!! Umi, they are so cute!"

Umi blushed and he smiled. "They are really cute! Maybe I could take you on my daddy's boat sometime! I could show you the many creatures of the sea!"

Aria's eyes lit up. "REALLY? SQUEE! I would love to go see the dolphins!"

Umi giggled. "Yeah! My daddy wouldn't mind! We sail the seven seas and the dolphins follow us!"

Aria drew a picture of a black dragon with red claws. It had two spikes coming from its head. Its wings were sharp as knives. The tip of its tail was covered in spikes.

"Wow! I drawed a dragon! My Unkie Seto has a Boo eyes White Dragon! And my Unkie Puppy has a Red Eyes Black Dragon card! I want a dragon card when I growed up! I want a strong dragon in my deck! I wanna duel like Unkie Seto someday!"

Aten tugged on Aria's white dress. "Awia, I daw a doggie."

Aria smiled and brought her brother into a hug. "I drawed a dragon, Aten! Umi drawed a dolpin!"

Umi showed Aten the picture. "It's a dolphin! I was saying that they follow my daddy's boat."

Robbie came up behind Aten. "I drew my daddy in his uniform! See? My daddy has lots of medals!" They looked at the drawing of a stick man with a military uniform.

Cullen stood up and told the kids to form a line. He grabbed two books and a few sheets of blank paper, pencils, and crayons. He took the kids outside to the grass and told them they were going to play "Duck-Duck-Goose." He told the kids to get on the grass and how to play. He took Robbie and Aten aside.

"Robbie, Aten, I have a special activity for you both."

Aten's eyes sparkled and he jumped up and down. "Is just wike yesertay?"

Cullen sat them on the grass. "It's like that. Anyway, Robbie, you can help him with this. Aten, draw what Robbie tells you. Robbie, I need you and Aten to think of things that begin with the letters "E," "F," and "G." Aten will draw what begins with those letters."
Aten squealed happily. "I get to daw? Yeah! I can daw good!"

"Thank you, Aten. I know you are a great artist and Robbie, you can really help me with this. If you boys get stuck, here are a couple books. When you're done, feel free to read them."

Robbie and Aten nodded. "Okay, Mr. Cullen!"

Aten grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil. Robbie scratched his head. "We need to come up with things that begin with "E," Aten."

"E? Wat it wook wike?"

Robbie opened up an alphabet book and flipped the pages to the letter "E."

"Eagle! That begins with "E!" My daddy has an eagle on his uniform!"

Aten bit his lip. "Now wat I do?"

"Draw an eagle."

Aten shielded his eyes from the sun. "Wat an eggel wook wike?"

Robbie took a piece of paper and drew a quick picture of an eagle. "That's what it looks like."

Aten drew a picture of an eagle using Robbie's drawing. Aten added minute details in the feathers and even shaded in the area under the eagle's spread wings.

"What about an egg?"

Aten rolled his eyes. "Dat's doo eassy! What abutt eggpant?! We had eggpant for tinner at Unkie Seto and Unkie Puppy's! We had eggpant and maconi and sheese! I wuff eggpant!" Aten drew a picture of an eggplant.

"What about an elephant?"

"Otay!" Aten drew an elephant and detailed the creases in its trunk.

"Ok! Now we need "F."

Robbie and Aten thought about the letter "F." Aten drew a falcon, a fruit bowl, and a flag. Aten drew a giraffe, a girl, and a grasshopper.

The kids had finished their game and were now playing dodge ball. The kids were divided into two teams. Cullen warned them that they couldn't throw the ball to hard. If any one threw the ball too hard, he or she would have to leave the game.

Aten and Robbie finished their assignment and read the books that Cullen gave them. The laid on the grass and read the books shoulder to shoulder.

"Aten, you read the page."

Aten looked at the words on the page and bit his lip. His hands started to shake. "I no can wead ingish, Wobbie."

"We did the letter "A" already, Aten. Remember the apple?"

Aten looked at the words on the page and they suddenly became cryptic symbols. "I no can wead! I'm tupid!"

Robbie pat Aten's hand. "No you are not! I'll help you. This is the letter "A." Say the "A" in Apple."

"Attle."

"Put your lips together to make the letter "P."

Aten put his lips together. "P."

"Good! Now, put you're the tip of your tongue on the top of your mouth

to make the "L" sound."

Aten put the tip of his tongue on the bottom of his mouth.

"No, Aten. The top is up here. That is the bottom. Up is high! Bottom is low."

Aten put the tip of his tongue on the top of his mouth. "L."

"Great! Now…Apple. "A"."

Aten repeated, "A"

"P."

Aten repeated, "P."

"L."

Aten repeated "L."

"Great! Now! Put it together. 'AP.'"

"AP."
"Apple."

"Apple." Aten's face lit up and he squealed "I DID IT! I TED APPLE!" Aten pounced on Robbie and hugged him. Robbie laughed, trying to turn over. Cullen turned around to see Aten and Robbie involved in play. Robbie turned over and tackled Aten to the ground.

"I told you that you could do it, Aten!"

Soon the two boys were involved in a slight wrestling match, their books forgotten. Aten grabbed Robbie's wrists and pinned him down.

"I winned, Wobbie!"

"Robbie!" Mrs. Morgan called from the gate and waved.

When Cullen's attention away from the game when Rhonda took the dodge ball and slammed the ball into Umi's flat belly. Umi fell back and Aten and Robbie stopped their match. Aria ran over to Umi and helped him off the ground.

"Aten! Umi gots hit in the belly button with the ball!"

Aten shrieked in fear. "Oh no! Umi's bum is dawna fall off!"

Aten and Robbie ran over to Umi and helped Aria dust off Umi.

"Umi, how your bum feel?"

"Umm, Why, Aten?"

"Betaws if tomeone hit you in de bewwy button hard enough, your bum will fall off!"

Umi's eyes went wide and his lip trembled. "What???? I don't want to lose my bum! I need my bum for sitting down!"

"My mommy said I needed mine for balance! Before my daddy left, he kept kissing my one cheek and my mommy said that if he kissed one of my cheeks off, I would fall over from being unbalanced!"

"Oh no! I don't want my bum to fall off! Check it!"

Aten put his hands on Umi. "Oh no! I tink dey dwopped a wittle bit!"

Umi's eyes filled with tears. "Daddy! My butt's sliding down!"

Mako, Ryou, and Bakura approached the crying chibi.

"What's the matter, little minnow?" Mako asked kneeling down.

"My Butt is Falling! Help! S.O.S!"

Aria screeched and put both hands on each of Umi's buttcheeks. "I'll hold your butt long enough so Aten can go get some tape!"

Ryou and Bakura blushed.

//That's it, Ryou. I think I need to have a talk with my daughter about why she shouldn't go around touching boys' butts.//

/Yami, she's only three years old./

//She's only one year old, hikari. Need I remind you?//

/That's my point!! She doesn't think of this as sexual! Let her be a kid for a little while longer./

//So what? So she can come home at the age of fifteen pregnant and not knowing who the father is? NOT MY LITTLE GIRL, RYOU!//

/You're over-reacting, Bakura./

Bakura took Aria's hand. "Sweetie, keep your hands to yourself. It's time to go home."

"But I want to make sure Umi's butt doesn't fall off!"

Bakura rolled his eyes. "His father can watch over his son's butt, Aria. Let's go."

Ryou took Aten's hand and Robbie followed.

"Bye, Wobbie! Tee you torrow!"

Robbie hugged Aten. "Bye, Aten! See you later! Mommy!" Robbie ran to his mother, who brought him into her arms.

Tristan and Otogi stood at the gate with Rhonda.

"That wasn't nice to hit that Tsunami boy in the tummy with the ball," Tristan said seriously, folding his arms across his chest.

"Unkie Togi!" Aten and Aria squealed as they ran to Tristan and Otogi. Aria latched onto Tristan's leg smiling up at him.

"Well, if it isn't bat-girl!" Rhonda sneered.

"Rhonda! That's not nice!" Otogi scolded.

Aten looked up at Otogi and hugged his leg tightly. He rested his chin on Otogi's knee. "Hewwo, Unkie Togi!"

The raven-haired boy pat the chibi on the head. "Hello, Aten!"

"Unkie Togi? Do you tink Umi's bum is dawna fall off fom being hit in da bewwy button?"

Otogi looked at Rhonda and rolled his eyes. "No, Aten. His bum is not going to fall off."

Ryou and Bakura walked up to Tristan and Otogi. "Hello, Tristan! You're looking well."

"I always look good…until I have to pick up Rhonda here."

Rhonda crossed her arms and pouted. "Hmph…..you're just mad because my daddy said I am prettier than Otogi! My daddy called Otogi a pretty boy, but I'm prettier than Otogi! So there!" Rhonda stuck her tongue out at Tristan.

"Ok. That's it." Tristan put her in the car and returned to the group.

"Unkie Togi, did your bum effer fall off when tomeone hit you in de bewwy button?""

Tristan folded his arms across his chest again and snickered. He mumbled, "No, it never fell off, but it was pounded off a few times."

Aten's mouth gaped. "Unkie Togi? Did tomeone pound your bum off?"

Tristan snickered and Bakura shot him a dirty look.

"Taylor…."

Otogi looked at Tristan and turned every shade of red. Aten saw Otogi blush. Aten left Otogi and folded his arms in front of Tristan. "Unkie Tissan, are you pounding Otogi's bum?"

Ryou shook his head and turned red. /I can't believe he just asked that question./

"Umm…Aten, I don't think you want to know that. In fact, I'd sleep better tonight if I didn't think about these two getting it on," Bakura said trying to take Aten up into his arms.

"You no wan to pound him so hard his bum falls off! Tink abutt Togi's bum! If he hass no butt, you no can pound it! And he can't sit….he can't wun…he no can walk…and he can't do the shitkin dance dat we wearned in kool yeserday! Wanna see the shitkin dance?" Aten proceeded to do the chicken dance happily.

Tristan's fists clenched and he bit his lip.

Aten stopped and his eyes were full of worry. "Umm..Unkie Tissan? Ummm…Are you gonna quish me?"

Tristan grabbed Aten and pulled him into a tight hug. "AH! Unkie Tissan is quising me!"

Otogi jumped where he stood and turned around. He felt tiny hands on his butt. Aria stood there looking innocent. "I was jus making sure Unkie Togi's butt is not going to fall off!"

Tristan laughed. "Otogi's butt is not going to fall off, Aria. I checked before we got here."

"Taylor!" Bakura said grabbing Aria. "We're going home before my daughter gets her hands even more dirty than they are!"

Ryou grabbed Aten out of Tristan's arms. "Time to go home, baby boy."

Aten waved to Tristan and Otogi. "Bye, Unkie Tissan and Unkie Togi! Wash you no mate Togi's bum fall off!"

Tristan turned to Otogi. "I'll keep a good eye on it, Aten!"

Ryou and Bakura put the kids in their carseats and drove away. They arrived home and they saw that Malik had left and was nowhere to be seen.

"That's strange," Marik said putting Aten on the ground. "Usually Malik is here making the kids' snacks."

*********************

Malik walked into the Shadow Realm under Aku's control. Purple haze hovered around him and the cold air chilled him to the bone.

At his feet, a pit appeared and a skeleton half-protruded from the pit.

"Malik Ishtar? It has been a long time since you have graced the Shadow Realm with your presence."

"I am in search of someone," Malik said.

The ghoul moaned. "You do not feel like Malik Ishtar! You radiate the same energies as my new master."

Malik scowled. "Your new master?"

"The same mystical energies surrounding him, I also detect from you. You must be a part of him…..that is the only way to explain it."

"Your new master?? Who is he?"

The Earthbound Spirit bowed his head in reverence. "He whose name cannot be spoken...he who is feared by many. He bears the mark of my former master, Bakura."

Malik narrowed his eyes and growled. "Bakura……take me to this person…he will be useful to my plans."

Updates: Friday. HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL OF MY REVIEWERS!!!!!