Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ My Life: Malik's Story ❯ Drowning in Sorrow ( Prologue )

Wingzero: ;_; I can't believe I wrote this.

DS: I know since you wanted to write a Yu Yu Hakusho fic.

Wingzero: ;_; I know, but this one kept bugging me so I wrote it.

DS: --U

Good morning or was it afternoon? I can't tell. My name is Malik Ishtar and ever since I received the millennium rod, my life had been a nightmare. Okay, let's start from the beginning, shall we? Shadi, the guardian of the millennium items, handed me the rod. I didn't have a clue what it would do until my dark side started taking control over me. He wanted to take the power of the pharaoh. In order to accomplish that he must have the millennium puzzle as well as the three Egyptian god cards. Now, we or should I say he had two of these god cards in the beginning. Then he lost one of them to Yugi and Yami. Yes, I knew the difference between them. Yami had narrow crimson eyes while Yugi had wide violet eyes. The dark spirit was about a head taller than his hikari and had more blonde streaks in his hair. I was surprised the others didn't notice it at the time. Anyways, Yami had banished my yami to the shadow realm. I gave him both the millennium rod and the Egyptian god card. Little did I know what will happen.

"Malik, wake up," an annoying voice called out as I felt someone shaking me. "You're going to be late for school."

My eyes fluttered open. School? Since when did I register for school? "What are you talking about sis?"

"I enrolled you in Domino High School," Isis stated calmly, though I can tell she wanted to wring my neck for being lazy. Ever since the Rare Hunters had been disbanded, I had been living under her roof. Hey, I had no money and no place to go.

"Why would you do something like that?" I yawned, trying to get my point across.

"You need an education," Isis said grabbing me by the ear. Ow! "Malik Namu Ishtar, you have five minutes to change into your school uniform. Don't you give me that look young man. I placed your clothes in your closet."

I sighed as my older sister slammed the door behind her. It must be that time of the month. I hated those times. Any other time, I could deal with her, but not during this time. Might as well get up, seeing as my sister would be extremely pissed off if I don't. Why did they have to use uniforms? I opened up my closet and pulled out the uniform. God, these looked horrible on me. I wondered why Yugi wore them all the time.

Quickly, I slipped out of my night clothes and replaced them with the uniform. Isis made sure she didn't buy clothes that were too tight or too loose. I despised her for that. It was obvious she had no fashion sense whatsoever. I debated on whether I should wear my gold jewelry on the first day of class, but decided against it. Who knew what I would meet there? Well, maybe I'll wear my usual chocker and earrings.

Once I was finished dressing, I wandered downstairs. Isis had cooked breakfast and currently was at the table eating. She looked up in my direction and smiled. "I have arranged it so you're in the same classes as Yugi and his friends. They'll be able to show you around, and please try not to cause any trouble on your first day."

"Of course not," I replied sarcastically. Should I eat the food or not? Maybe she poisoned it while I wasn't around. Nah, she wouldn't do it. After all, I was the only family she had left. Besides, she wanted me to attend school. I sat down and started to eat the oatmeal. Man, this was completely nasty. When she saw me scrunch up my face, she laughed.

"Brother, that is why I have these out," she gestured towards the brown sugar as well as freshly cut strawberries and a can of whip cream. No wonder why she was able to stomach this stuff.

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, you know I'm tired." I placed a lot of the sugar on and some strawberries. My sister had been pestering me to eat healthy. I grudgingly obliged at first; then I discovered it helped me increase my strength.

"What were you doing up anyways?" Isis asked me as we ate our breakfast.

"I was trying to sleep," I sighed, remembering the restless night I had. "It took me more than half an hour to fall asleep."

"I'll have to adjust the temperature then," Isis stated, calm as ever.

I wished it was that simple. I had this nagging feeling, but I can't describe it. It left me anxious, nervous, and scared. What was I going to do? For the rest of the meal, we chatted about small things. Isis, like me, had given her millennium item to Yami. Ryou kept his as he was destined to possess it, though he gave over the millennium eye. Shadi still had both the millennium ankh and scales. He required those two for his job. I never knew he had one.

Later on, I hopped onto my motorcycle and rode it to school. At least my sister allowed me to keep it as it was my only means of transportation and she knew that prying my hands off of it would be hard. Besides, it meant I could run small errands for her while she was at work, which she often was.

Sometimes I just don't understand her, but then I will never understand women. As I rounded the corner, I noticed that Wheeler kid. He and Tristan were chatting about this and that. I couldn't hear what they were saying over the noise of my bike, but I can tell it wasn't interesting. A small boy ran up to them and greeted them in his cheerful way. Behind him, a white haired boy tried to catch up with his smaller companion.

Now that I thought about it, I wished I had friends. Ever since, I allowed my darker half to control my life no one would dare become my friend. Of course, I'd rather jump off a cliff than become Tea Gardner's friend. She had to be the most annoying person on the planet, but from what I heard she does have her moments.

I leave them in my dust as I wasn't ready to face them, not after what I had put them through. We haven't seen each other since I handed back the millennium item along with the god card. Part of me wanted to stay away from them and part of me wanted to make things right. Confusing, wasn't it? I knew one of these days I will have to face them but not now, especially on my first day of class.

Pulling up into the parking lot, I parked my bike where the motorcycle parking was. It was a good thing I had it, because hardly anyone rode them to school. I should rephrase that. I was the only one riding a motorcycle to school. The others had cars, trucks, and vans. Some people were close enough to the school, that they didn't require transportation. They walked there. Such as was the case of Yugi and friends.

The place seemed awfully crowded for my liking. That was not to be the case short after. When I had removed my helmet, everyone backed away as if I was carrying some contagious disease. I knew they were whispering about me, even though I couldn't hear them. Along the way, I picked up lip reading. At first I didn't know why I wanted to, but now I was extremely glad I did. So they were afraid of me. I can't believe they were still scared a month after the Battle City Tournament. It was plain pitiful.

Slinging my backpack over my shoulder, I sauntered over towards the principal's office. Isis told me to go there and meet up with him. He wanted to talk to me, concerning my enrollment at this high school. If possible, I wanted to get out of school, but I doubt he would allow me to do so. That was when I noticed Joey and Tristan standing in front of little Yugi and Ryou. They thought I was still after the millennium puzzle. I could care less what happened to the millennium item or the god cards.

"What's the matter with you two?" Yugi scolded the both of them. He placed his hands on his hips. "I have forgiven him and he has returned the millennium rod with the Dragon of Ra."

"Sorry, Yug," Joey apologized to his best friend. "I just don't want you to get hurt. That's all. I don't trust that guy as far as I can throw him."

"That goes the same for me," Tristan backed up the blonde. "Who knows what he's up to?"

"You're right, I'm up to something," I smirked, which caused them to grow angry. "I'm going to convince the principal that I don't need to attend school."

"Sure you are," Joey said sarcastically. "If you try anything, you'll be dealing with the law."

"Not to mention me," Yami said, changing places with his hikari. "I don't know what you're up to Marik, but you won't get away with it."

"The name is Malik not Marik," I said before sticking my tongue out at them. "Get it right." I spun on my heels and walked towards the office. From the window, I saw Joey getting extremely pissed off, that Tristan had to hold him back. Yami seemed to be infuriated, but his hikari won't allow him to kill anyone.

I had met with the school principal. He wasn't too thrilled to be meeting me. In fact, he was cowering behind his desk, trembling. I wasn't that scary, was I? Oh well, it was my darker half that did it and the millennium ankh can prove it. If Shadi were to look inside my soul, he would see a lonely boy, who only wanted to be loved. Nevertheless, I had managed to coax him into giving me my schedule and locker. Isis made me bring enough cash to school so that I could buy a lock; like anyone would want to steal from me. They were scared out of their minds just walking next to me.

Mr. Fujita introduced me to the class as a transfer student. He quickly took his seat so I could tell them about myself. What was there to tell about my life? I was born and my life sucked. How was that? Nah, it was short and dry.

"I'm Malik Ishtar and I come from Egypt," I announced to the class. Well, that was a good start. "I have one older sister, named Isis and love to ride my motorcycle." I took a seat behind Ryou, who seemed scared to even chat. His yami took over and started growling at me, daring me to touch his hikari.

I never knew that Bakura could be protective of his hikari. The last time I saw them the former tomb robber was treating Ryou as a slave. Something must have changed between the two of them as well as the former pharaoh and his hikari. Yami had taken over Yugi's body, once again. Suddenly, I felt a piece of paper hit me on the chest. I opened it up to find Egyptian writing. Yami warned me not to try anything funny with either hikaris or their friends. I will experience severe physical pain as well as being banished to the shadow realm. Oh joy. Can't they see I don't have my millennium rod? I gave it back to Yami, but I guessed it wasn't good enough for them. Maybe I wasn't good enough, period. I crumple the note and stuffed it into my backpack. I'll throw it away later. Besides not many people understand Egyptian.

The rest of the class was a bore. Yami and Bakura were still out, though their hikaris must be taking notes from inside their soul rooms. If one of them had a question, I guessed they would tell their yami it and the yami would ask for them. I wished people stopped treating me like I was an insane psycho. That was my darker half, for crying out loud. Mr. Fujita didn't bother calling out my name when he was asking questions. Maybe he was scared of me like all the other people, not that I cared.

Joey and Tristan were passing notes between themselves. Weren't they supposed to be listening to the teacher? No wonder why they had bad grades in their classes. They weren't even paying attention to the lecture so they must not be doing their homework. When they had noticed me watching them from the corner of my eye, they paled a few shades before finding the lecture very interesting. I swore I could have heard one of them cursing.

As soon as the lunch bell rang, everyone bolted for the door. Yami and Bakura stayed behind until the crowd had left the room. Joey, Tristan, and Tea stayed close to the other yamis as they were completely frightened of me. I had noticed Tea latched onto Yami's arm. He wasn't exactly thrilled to have her hanging off his appendage. He pulled away from her and started walking outside the room. Bakura followed shortly with the other three running behind them.

Now, I was alone with the teacher. Mr. Fujita paled several shades in a few seconds. He muttered something about a staff meeting and dashed out of the room as if his pants were on fire. I never knew teachers could run that fast. Perhaps, if they have a motivation, they will. I carefully arranged my notes into my notebook and packed away my books. Standing up, I sighed to myself. This was going to be a long day.

The gang was sitting underneath the tree. Yami and Bakura had their own solid forms. They were sitting next to their hikaris with Tea drooling over the former pharaoh. Yugi wasn't exactly pleased with the idea about it. I believed he had a crush on her, but now he saw she had a crush on his other half. Personally, I thought of her as a bimbo and a slut, but unfortunately, I couldn't get rid of her without raising suspicions.

I sat over in a different place, away from anyone. Well, it wasn't like anyone would walk up to me and invite me to eat with them. A figure blocked my view of the school. When I looked up, I noticed it was the pharaoh's hikari. Oops, I spoke too soon. What did he want?

"Hi," Yugi spoke softly.

"Hi," I replied back, not knowing what else to say. I dared not make any sudden movements, because the others most likely will interpret it as an attack. "What can I do for you?" Hey, I at least tried to be nice.

"I was wondering if you would like to eat with us," Yugi asked nervously. He was rocking back and forth on his heels. His arms were behind his back and he wasn't looking directly into my eyes. This was bad. Then he gave me a warm smile.

"I don't think your friends would like it," I pointed out his angry friends. They appeared on the verge of strangling me if I did anything to him.

"Don't be silly," Yugi said, before grabbing my arm and hauling me over there. For a little guy, he was strong. I managed to grab my lunch before being pulled away. He made me sit next to him while Yami was on his other side.

During lunch, they talked about duel monsters and the upcoming tournament. Yami kept looking back at me to make sure I didn't try anything funny. Joey wondered if Yugi would use the god cards or any of them. Yugi said he wouldn't because he wanted to duel fairly. Not to mention, more people will find out he possessed all three god cards. Tea kept pestering Yami as he was making sure his hikari was safe.

"Oh Yami, come on, it's going to be fun!" she chirped, more like screeched if you asked me. "The carnival is this weekend and I don't want to miss it."

"I'm sorry Tea, but I have promised I'm going to help Yugi with his assignment," Yami stated firmly. He wasn't going to back down.

"It's okay Yami, I can ask Malik for help," Yugi suggested. He obviously didn't want to burden his darker half.

"Absolutely not!" Yami screamed in anger.

"No need to yell," Joey said, rubbing his ear. Yugi had it the worst with Tea, but fortunately for the little guy, he sensed it ahead of time and covered his ears.

"Malik isn't a bad guy, really," Tea pouted. She crossed her arms over her chest. Was that even real? She was trying to be all sweet and nice. Gods, she made me want to puke!

"Oh how thoughtful of you," I snorted sarcastically. "We all know how much of a slut you are." The others appeared to be angry while Tea was shocked I even know this. "While the others weren't looking, you tried to get the football captain, the chess president, the soccer goalie, the tennis player……………….. Well, I'm going to need more time to list everyone you tried to get to sleep with you. So far you haven't gotten any and none of them interested you enough for you win their affection, except for Yami." By now Tea was twitching.

"That was rude!" Yugi said on her behalf, surprising all of us.

"I can't help it if it's the truth," I shrugged. "While I was trapped within my soul room, I heard her confess everything so there."

The others glanced over at Tea, who was backing away from them. "It isn't true! They're all lies. I swear it!"

"Tea, quit poisoning us with your lies and leave!" The former pharaoh boomed. "Before I decide to send you on a permanent vacation to the shadow realm."

The annoying dancer huffed and spun on her heels, leaving us. She was about to make it into the building but suddenly a soccer hit her on the face, more specifically her nose. Tears welled up in her eyes as she started shrieking, I meant crying. Sheesh, she can wake up the dead with that voice of hers. Soon she was running towards the nurse's office.

"Even if you're right, I still don't trust you," Joey pointed that out.

"As if I care whether you trust me or not," I shrugged off the comment. "The only people in my life I care about are my family. As you already know, both my father and mother are dead, leaving me with only my older sister and believes me." I stood up with my lunch half eaten; like I had the appetite to finish it, but I didn't want to waste it so I brought it back with me. The others stared where I had retreated to.

I had just walked past the bathroom, when I felt a familiar presence standing behind me. It didn't take a genius to figure out as we both held the millennium rod at one time or another. I turned around to face ice cold blue eyes. What did he want with me?

"If you dare lay a finger on my brother, I will every financial resource under my control to make you pay," the former priest growled in a low voice. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," I snorted back. "I know what it's like to have only one surviving family member so I'm not going to pull anything on your little brother. If I do, it's usually a harmless prank."

"Don't even go there," Kaiba seemed on the verge of attacking me.

"One time I dyed my sister's tongue blue," I said thoughtfully, remembering when we were both children. "Needless to say, she wasn't happy about the results."

"I can tell, but if you ever try to harm Mokuba, know you have been warned," Kaiba huffed before storming in the other direction. He was really cranky today. I wondered why. Perhaps it was because I attended the same school he was currently.

"As if your idle threats scare me," I huffed. "You don't even have your Egyptian god card so why should I be scared?"

"You're forgetting I'm the master of three Blue Eyes White Dragons," Kaiba pointed that out. Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Dang. "Nothing to say?"

"Even the mightiest of foes, can be taken down," I said calmly. "You remembered when Yugi faced the seemingly unstoppable Exodia? To refresh your memory, he forced his opponent to use the head of the duel monster. Since his deck was filled with Exodia parts, he couldn't squeeze many monsters in it. With chain destruction, Yugi was able to wipe out every Exodia head in his hand and deck leaving only one defenseless head."

"I remembered that," Kaiba now snorted.

Without wasting any time, I walked back into the school I had enough of these people. So what if my sister wanted me to make friends. She already knew people feared me, because of what my other half had done in my body. Yami banished him to the shadow realm; yet, Bakura stayed. He changed from wanting to take every single millennium item to being well………… I don't know how to put it. He wanted to spend more time with his hikari and he even protected Ryou in his own twisted ways.

Our first period after lunch was history. This was such a bore, because we were studying Ancient Egypt. The textbooks have pretty much all their facts wrong. Duel monsters were as much part of everyday life as eating, sleeping, or taking a bath. Yet, there wasn't any mention of them. Another thing missing was the seven millennium items, which Yami now holds four of them. I believed he was mentioned in the text somewhere as the pharaoh who stopped an evil, but that was about it. They didn't mention him sacrificing his life to do so.

From the glazed looks in both Yugi and Ryou's eyes I knew they were chatting with their yamis. Instantly I can easily guess it involved our text and our class discussion. The two spirits must be seething with anger. Yami sure was. After all, he made the greatest sacrifice a person could make to seal the shadow realm and he wasn't remembered for it. Don't forget that duel monsters weren't even talked about. Yugi raised his hand, surprising the teacher.

"What is it, Yugi?" Ms. Kino asked. She was the youngest teacher out of our school. It was a conspiracy I tell yah. Anyways, she graduated from college and now was earning her teaching credential; whatever that was.

"Wasn't there anything on the seven millennium items?" Yugi asked.

"There is a legend saying seven items of power were created to combat an evil and dark force," Mr. Kino answered. She flipped to another page of the book. "They are just legends."

Just legends, my foot. From the way Yugi was shaking his head, Yami was shouting inside his soul room. The change in his physical appearance informed me Yami had taken control of the body. The two of them debated back and forth about the facts. She argued she knew the correct information, because she attained a degree in history at a college while he was only a high school student. Little did she know, Yami wasn't any ordinary high school student.

Our next class was our elective. I opted to go with creative writing. It was a way to express my feelings and besides, Isis didn't know I loved to draw. We have been spending less and less time as the years went by. I wanted to blame it all on Marik, but something told me it was also my fault. I should have stopped him when I had the chance.

The last class of the day was PE. We separated into two different groups: boys and girls. Today, we were going to be doing gymnastics. The others students groaned at the idea. Yugi wasn't exactly thrilled with it, but he went along. Ryou seemed nervous, because he didn't want to make himself look like a fool out in front of everyone. According to my calculations, Bakura will be stepping in as soon as Ryou was up and leaving control to his hikari when it was over. I was right as soft brown eyes turned into cold ones. Bakura did the cartwheel with no problem. Yugi didn't want any help from his yami and he managed to do okay. Joey and Tristan completely mess up, ending face first on the mat. Kaiba did well, but not as well as Bakura. I went last and did good cartwheels, in my opinion. We continued to practice them.

Later that afternoon, I had driven my motorcycle to the local library. This was an odd place for me to visit so don't bother asking. When I had started school, they dumped an enormous load of papers and essays for me to do. Plus I didn't want to buy the book for the literature class I was forced to take. Besides, it sounded like a boring book. I wandered through the shelves not knowing where the heck I was going. Hey, it was a three floor library and one of the largest in Japan. It was my first time here. Well, I can't say first, because I don't remember much of my childhood, but you get the point.

As I was walking along one of the aisles, I spotted an unusual sight. My sister was talking with other experts on history. I never thought she held discussions at the library. Perhaps, it was due to the large repository of knowledge residing within the walls. Hey, I just used three long words in one sentence. Go me!

"I can't believe you let him live with you," one of her colleagues gasped. She had short blonde hair, blue eyes, and an annoying voice that rivaled Tea's. "You could be hurt or even killed in your sleep."

"I know he had been acting strange ever since he received the millennium rod, but he gave it to the person who deserves to hold it," my sister sighed. "Still, I don't know what to think of him now. I thought there was something different about him when he held the rod."

"You can never trust teenagers these days," a middle aged man scoffed. "They're a bunch of hooligans if you asked me. Some of them need to be locked up in prison."

"Malik isn't like that," Isis protested, but her voice wavered. "I don't know what to think anymore." She placed her head in her hands. I could see small sparkles of salty liquid drop from her hands. "I have been locking my bedroom doors at night and activating a talisman. It has kept him out so far, but who knows when he will be able to break through it."

I felt a stab to my heart. My sister didn't trust me, her own brother. Now I felt trickles of tears running down my face. I turned and fled the building before anyone noticed. Maybe there was a way I could set things right. I had to. No, I wanted to. I hopped into my motorcycle and drove off without borrowing any books. I had to get away from there and fast. Pretty soon I found myself at a cliff overlooking the ocean.

The calmness of the ocean was the complete opposite of what I felt in my soul and heart. Inside, I had a storm raging. My broken spirit can't withstand the pressure of it. There was only one choice I had. I glanced down to the deep water below the cliff. This was the way, the only way. Then why couldn't I gather up the courage to do it? Perhaps, I was scared, scared of what might happen to myself and my sister when I went through with it. Not that it mattered any more. Isis didn't trust me enough to stop using that talisman and locking the door at nights.

I stepped closer and closer to the edge. That was when I heard a few voices down at the beach. It was Yugi and company. They were having a time with their friends. Good thing, Tea was nowhere in sight. I wished I was the one to strangle her, but I can pester her in the afterlife. Goodbye world. I bid thee farewell.

I jumped.

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

Normal POV

Yugi and Yami were racing on the beach to see who was the fastest between the both of them. Ryou and Bakura built a sandcastle, much to the displeasure of the yami. However, his hikari turned into an advantage when he changed it to the palace in Egypt. Ryou wanted to know what it looked like so Bakura was more than happy to help build it as well as tell stories about his raids on the palace. Good thing, Yami was currently busy with Yugi or he would have done something drastic to the former tomb robber. Tristan and Duke dueled with Duke's dungeon dice monsters. Duke taught Tristan the basics of the game and now they were practicing on the portable system that Kaiba Corps had built. Serenity and Mai lay out in the sun to get a nice tan. They were currently talking about boys and who they liked.

It was then Yugi noticed something different and abruptly halted. There was someone moving on the cliff. Yami nearly crashed into his hikari.

//Aibou, what is wrong?// He sensed his light's distress.

/There's someone on the cliff. I'm going to find out who it is./ With that, Yugi was determined to see who was there. It was a dangerous place during the winter, but the season hadn't started. He ran up there as fast as his small legs can carry him. Yami wasn't too far behind him.

"What's the rush?" Bakura asked as he ran beside Yami. He had jumped up from his position and took off without harming their sand project.

"There's someone on the cliffs," Yami answered back. He heard Tristan, Joey, and Duke catch up with the rest of them. Ryou, Mai, and Serenity stayed behind.

"Who do you think it is?" Joey asked the former pharaoh.

"Whoever it is, they must be really foolish to go up there alone," Duke said, nodding his head. "It's very dangerous to be up there."

"You think?" Bakura snorted.

The group had finally caught up to Yugi when he stopped at the beginning of the cliff. Malik was standing a little too close to the edge when all of a sudden he jumped. Yugi ran to save the Egyptian, but he was too late. Malik plummeted towards the sea to be engulfed by the water.

"MALIK!!!!!!" Yugi cried out as he cried his heart out. The blonde Egyptian just committed suicide in front of his eyes.

The others remained in silence as the former pharaoh walked over to where Yugi was and embraced him. He allowed his hikari to cry on his shoulder and gazed to where Malik had been standing. What have they done?

(Kura? What happened?) Silence greeted Ryou.

"What fell off the cliff?" Mai asked. She was filing her nails as usual.

((WHO fell off the cliff? It was Malik.))

Ryou paled several shades and started crying. He dropped down to his knees. The two girls noticed it. They hurried to his side to find out what was wrong with him.

"Ryou, what's wrong?" Serenity asked; concern in her voice.

"Malik jumped," Ryou managed to say between sobs.

They now knew Malik had committed suicide. Serenity had tears flowing down her cheeks while Mai glared at where Malik had landed. The blonde thought it was a foolish act and it caused two of her friends to cry. Where were Joey and Bakura when they needed him? She had to be strong for those two until their older brother and darker half arrived.

Malik: I can't believe I committed suicide. -U Thanks a lot.

Wingzero: No problem.

Ishtar: How come you switched my name to Marik?

Wingzero: Cause I wanted to and from now on I will call you Marik!!!!

Marik: --U Do I have a choice?

Wingzero: I can call you Pretty Pink Princess Peach Pie.

Joey: Dude, that's a lot of words starting with P.

Marik: I think I'll stick with Marik.

Malik: Good choice Pretty Pink Princess Peach Pie.

Marik: XO Aibou!!!!

Malik: *runs away*