Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Paradise City ❯ Awkward Introductions ( Chapter 7 )

Disclaimer: If you think that I own Yu-Gi-Oh and plan on suing me then you need help. In other words I don't own it. Nor will I ever. I also doubt that you own it either…so why bother to sue me?

Paradise City by: Angela (orangeaura868)

Chapter 7: Awkward Introductions

All A/N will be kept till the end

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Ryou was worried. No, not worried, he was just pacing merrily with thoughts of ponies and rainbows while toying with his fingers; of course he was worried. He had every right to be. With every moment just pacing around he was going over exactly what he had seen the last night. Didn't Jou hint that this would happen? Albeit he never said anything, but now looking back on it Jou must have known something of this sort would happen when he asked Ryou about his sexual preference. He only wondered why everything had happened that way.

He sat down from the pacing and breathed in deeply. This wasn't the end of the issue yet. He had just moved in to some strange orphanage. (The thought occurred that he was now an orphan came as well.) Ryou was beyond more than a little worried. He was trying to calm himself and on the outside he looked simply deep in thought. On the inside, however, his thoughts ranged from deep to shallow in order of importance pertaining to the problem. It was quite troublesome really.

A nice long shower and strawberry shampoo was far from the solution as well. It felt awkward indeed; waking up in the morning having to come to terms with something he had barely remembered from the night before. To Ryou it felt more like a dream and yet his logical side was being highly intolerable and refused to dismiss it as `just a dream.' Besides which, he knew that his real dream had him as a child and had somehow incorporated Malik in as well. His mind somehow must have felt it funny to toy with him this way; that one moment was one of the very few that they ever discussed the possibility of an orphanage coming into their lives. It was an ironic coincidence that some tricky subconscious would not let by. Ryou lay back on the bed closing his eyes to think. Just last night things seemed to at least been settling well. He unpacked the majority of his belongings and angsted over his past all while looking out into his new home.

All in the course of one day everything had changed. Ryou frowned thinking how many other things had changed that way. Just yesterday he had woken with a start and hurried to greet Natalie. The day before that he was suddenly informed of his father's death and surprised at his own apathy. Years ago, all in one day, his mother and his sister had died. In another day his father had suddenly come across the answer to a puzzling mystery and had become famous and rich. Then later he had moved to the large mansion leaving behind a neighborhood in which he knew no one. On another day Malik had moved in equally distressed about his torn family. Years later Malik had moved away upon the death of his beloved Grandfather. All in one day, yet in many days.

He got up telling himself that he was just being stubborn. Nothing had changed but surrounding and surroundings had never mattered to him before. Surroundings were never a constant for him and he never bothered about it. This was then more out of the ordinary that he suddenly felt so new here. Quite reasonably of course, he was in a whole other country with absolutely no one. He was alone in the mansion frequently and he never really knew his father. Still the thought of being all alone for real now was upsetting. Now he was in this `city' and just last night had seen something he knew most certainly that he was not supposed to see. Ryou told himself to treat this situation as the opposite would. To them would this matter? Last night, did it matter to them? If it didn't bother them what had occurred then perhaps he could relax a bit about it. If the two men from last night could over look what had happened then it would be foolish for him to not drop the issue. Equally on the other side was another argument; if they were equally disturbed then there would be a problem.

Ryou was pacing again unknowingly and this time his thoughts were even more scattered. He wondered what he should say, what he should do, and most of all who were they? He wanted to know more about this place that he had been thrown into. It all seemed so surreal that suddenly he was here. He couldn't exactly say that he missed the old mansion with the large empty rooms; he did miss the absence of familiarity though. People used to be in the old house…people like Malik. He couldn't say that it was all the deaths that got to him when he had gotten over them years ago. Now it was just a matter of getting used to the fact that he had no other family. None at all and it was somewhat hard to come to terms with it even as persistent as it was. Back to this though, Ryou continued pacing and thinking, pausing and thinking, and pacing and thinking some more. He never had to worry about things like this a few years ago. It frustrated him how his thoughts never seemed to stay on one subject as he realized his thoughts began to drift to Malik again.

What was it about this place that brought out all you loved in the past and forced you to think of those good times? What magic caused him to be drifting off in pleasant dreams? What did it do to him that made him unable to think? Ryou wondered all of these, now stopping in his pacing and giving himself even more to digest. He slowly realized that he was hungry and the depression, angst, frustration, and hopeful happiness left him for the moment. He resorted to leaving the room finally despite not really wanting to.

Deciding to do something was still far off from actually having it accomplished. Ryou realized that finding the resolve needed to just open the door was lacking. He imagined himself doing just that, opening the door, but later thoughts wandered to what lied behind it in wait. He thought of just doing it, and replayed him opening the door to try and make it seem more inviting. He was still nervous. This was ridiculous! He knew absolutely no one here for real and yet he fretted aimlessly about what he would seem like to them. In all honesty it should be they who are sorry. They barged in disrupting his sleep! Ryou was annoyed by a whole lot of things and with his current predicament it was not unreasonably so. He relaxed a bit from annoyed to just tired with his eyelids drooping slightly. He wanted to just get this over with, didn't he?

Ryou sighed and opened the door dramatically letting in more sunlight from outside. He walked as confidently as he could possibly be able to along the hall before going down the stairs. The house was actually very lovely. The walls were painted sand colored tan with Egyptian pictures decorating the walls at separate ends of the hall. White doors lined the hall, one from which he had just left. Another door was open just a crack and walking past Ryou had seen a rich room decorated with vibrant reds. The color scheme was light and airy with large open windows to the front and very back. The clear blue sky leaked into the house from all the windows, and seemed to surround the place with a cheerful atmosphere. Down the stairs and at the front of the house was a huge window with the panes of glass separated in the design of a rising sun. Ryou noticed the faint traces of rainbow colors painted in some panes that shone brightly with the proud sun. It wasn't done yet though and some places were transparent still. He could see the tops of the buildings from the top of the stairs and watched them seem to disappear as he walked down. The floors at the bottom were a light shade of marble almost tan with the faintly noticeable white streaks running through the tiles, as the tiles themselves stretched along the foyer floor. Ryou stepped lightly onto it at first wanting to frown at how it made his sullen mood gone with the lightest touch, instead he walked with a dainty grace his annoyance and lack of sleep completely forgotten. Something about the sun and the way it shone into the large open space made him want to twirl in it, glide over the tiles with ease, and dance in each block of color cast from the window.

Something about this place made you not want to care…it was Paradise. Ryou hummed some unnamable tune making it all up as he went along in some trance as he walked somewhat drowsily into the house. To his left was a lavish dining room with dark cherry furniture placed neatly around the room. It looked rather old but most things were designed that way. The setting seemed dark compared to the spacious front from just a moment earlier. Right in front of him was the kitchen also light and comforting. There were windows in the back and more houses could be seen from there. The window was open and the shutters as well with the Egyptian Arabic style carrying through. The windows had peaked tops that tapered dramatically from the wide, flat bottom half. It resembled a quaint little home away from home for a Sultan of some sort.

Ryou leaned casually against the dark granite countertop and imagining this as his home. Strangely the idea didn't seem too unpleasant. He looked out the window conveniently right above a sink on the other side of the countertop. It was a beautiful day actually and not a cloud in the sky. The weather was warm but not unbearably so and all it made him want to do was spin around until he fell down from dizziness and exhaustion.

Who cares what had happened last night? So what if he was all alone now with no one left and was only here for that one reason? He wanted to say that family meant nothing to him here but that would be going to far. It still didn't matter much and why he had come down was overlooked. Ryou was sinking fast onto the countertop, and frankly he doubted that he even remembered all that happened. He was shaken up a bit, but this was just settling in, right? Ryou sat on a stool located under the counter and tried to fit in with the tranquil scene. He sure felt peaceful…

"Hey, you. Don't fall asleep on the table!"

The loud intrusive voice was not appreciated. Ryou held back the grimace and turned tentatively to see who had said that. He saw a man there, Egyptian most likely, with a careless pose and brunt attitude could be read easily. Ryou's eyes widened in surprise. This was…just great.

In the sunlight the mysterious teen didn't look so terrifying and Ryou didn't feel the sense of fear from the last night. He wasn't in a very comfortable situation either and just stared at him. He wanted to say something, anything, but his ability to keep silent was greater than his will to speak out. Marik stood lazily leaning against the tawny walls watching Ryou through slanted eyes. His strong arms were crossed over his obsidian black shirt and laid there in a relaxed way as his eyes remained trained on Ryou. The moment was silent and inside Ryou was flipping over endlessly trying to figure why he had wanted to step out of the safe bedroom. In a moment he was back where he was last night and the same sense of uneasiness came over him that he quickly recognized. Not to mention…he looked so much like Malik.

While Ryou may have been sweating and squirming on the inside regretting having ever deciding to come explore he looked blank to Marik. Marik raised an eyebrow still watching him with Ryou's brown eyes staring right back. He smirked and chuckled a bit moving from his laid-back position to walk over to Ryou deciding something else to say to the helpless boy.

"I don't believe we've been introduced." Announced Ryou suddenly jumping up slightly to say it. He felt like he couldn't have Marik feel superior to him. He just wished he could have said something else. Something smart and more of a comeback to his just walking in and interrupting is peaceful session. Marik was so smug when he came in, and although Ryou held no authority in this so called Orphanage he couldn't stand someone so arrogant. He'd never met many people before but he realized he's also never seen anyone so bombastic; it irked him.

Marik had just been about to say something and his mouth had just begun to open, initiate the `friendship' if he could. The white-haired boy was a shock to him completely. He was a near twin of Bakura and just then he could feel some trace of an attitude. Marik turned to face Ryou again still staring him down. He smirked.

"No, we haven't. I'm Marik Ishtah," He stuck a hand out to shake Ryou's…just as Yami walked with cat-like stealth into the kitchen to be right behind Marik. He draped himself over Marik yet rested his crimson eyes on Ryou. "And this, is Yami." He finished gesturing to the teen besides him who was also wearing a not particularly comforting grin. The two of them looked positively dangerous in the way they just seemed to be entangled with darkness polluting the calm.

Ryou stared back at the two now shifting in his seat. Now he remembered how awkward it was last night seeing these too. He kept back the frown bursting to appear and hopped off of the stool. Now he felt like the enemy to them as well as feeling quite troubled by their open display. They didn't seem to care and the utter arrogance Ryou couldn't stand.

"Ryou Bakura." He finally answered shaking Marik's hand and three pairs of eyes looked right into the other... brown, violet, and red. To Ryou it seemed as if an eternity had passed…how awkward.

A/N: Wee…another chapter to this fic. Sorry for lateness in updating, blame school for everything. Give me some feedback.

One of my biggest questions is which chapter do you think is the worst and which is the best?

That way I might be able to fit some editing and revising in. I also wanted to say that this chapter was particularly hard t write and frankly I'm not too happy with the turnout. Still I can't imagine writing it any differently. Feedback?

I hope you all liked this chapter, I'm starting immediately on the next. Seven is actually a very unlucky number for me since by the seventh chapter I'm nearly always stuck. How awesome it is that eight is my favorite number…so maybe it could help. Or not…plot bunnies have taken up residence and a fickle muse is not appreciated. Next time will probably have some characters wondering about why they resemble each other; always need to get that over with.

Thanks to all my reviewers for the sixth chapter!

Moonsun098: Ok! I will…and thank you! (I love Ryou fics too!)

Dark Magician Girl/ Hikaru: Of course. I'll have to remember to update on there as well. Thanks for reviewing!

Chelley Angel: Question answered? I hope you enjoyed and thank you for reviewing.

Keisan: Yeah, I agree completely. Poor Ryou! Befriending him will be rather difficult now…

Terri: Well…the introduction was semi-bland. Hope you liked it!

ElleFate2x1-2: Yep…Thank you for reviewing too! (Hope it meets up to expectations!)

Thanks for getting me up and running! Please review!