By Sekana Katayama

Summary: Yami Bakura winds up comforting a distressed blonde girl in the halls of his high school. Then he finds out… that it's Malik. SHOUNENAI-YAOI

Reviewers

(-hands reviewers donuts-) Yay for donuts!

Ehhh…. I'm lazy. So I'm not going to answer all of the reviews, just the general questions people had. Okay? Heh heh… please don't kill me for not answering reviews… (-sweat drop-) Thanks for reviewing, anyhow! ... And I'm sorry about the lines. The darn line things weren't working... gah.

To everyone who wants to know why Malik's crossdressing: Oh my gosh! Malik finally told me why he's crossdressing! Yes! And you'll find out this chapter…

To everyone who wants me to finish this story before they die: I'm a lazy authoress, yes I am…. Mwehehehe…

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh. I don't own Rapunzel. I don't own the script for Rapunzel that was translated from the original, which I used to write a similar script.

Bakura returned from shopping to find that Malik was still in the shower. Still worrying, he put all the groceries in their proper places, and sat down heavily on the couch with a sigh. Fifteen minutes later, the sound of running water stopped.

This should have made him relieved, but he only fretted more, wondering why Malik didn't just hurry up and get out already. I mean, there were razors in there, and they were sharp, and… well… Malik wasn't in a good mood, and…

He walked over to the bathroom door and knocked cautiously. Malik said something that sounded like 'What?' Bakura twisted the knob, and opened the door to find Malik standing, perfectly unharmed, brushing his hair.

With a towel around his waist.

"Uh… just… hurry up and get dressed, okay?" Bakura said, turning around and folding his arms to appear 'tough.' After all, he didn't want Malik to know that he had been acting like a mother hen. Or a mother cat. Okay, mother cat sounded better. At least cats had claws. And fangs- er, teeth.

Malik stopped brushing his hair, said nothing, and walked past Bakura to get his clothes. Bakura dutifully did not stare at the retreating figure of Malik before returning to the kitchen.

He wanted to fix them some dinner, but for some reason he just didn't feel like eating anything, and he had the idea that Malik didn't either. So he sat down on the couch once again and nervously waited for his friend to reappear.

Malik walked back into the living-room, clad in a black shirt and cargo pants, to see Bakura looking almost jittery. He sat down next to him without speaking again, still too embarrassed to say anything.

"Are you all right?" Bakura asked him softly. He looked genuinely worried.

"Ye… no." Malik nearly lied, but caught himself. He ran his fingers through his hair nervously.

"It was the kissing, wasn't it?" Bakura asked determinedly.

"Of course it was!" Malik snapped, and then turned away. A simple sentence, and he had gone from somber to angry again.

"You know, kissing is a perfectly normal thing." The white-haired thief started to say. "I still don't understand why you're so scared."

From what Bakura could see, Malik was trembling.

"I know you don't understand. No one does." The Egyptian whispered, a mortified tone coming into his voice. "You don't know what I've gone through."

"You can tell me." Bakura encouraged. "Tell me everything. I'll listen."

Malik took a deep, shaky breath. "The day I had the symbols carved into my back, the day I became something, that day… my father, conducting the ceremonies, hurt me."

Bakura didn't ask him to go on, knowing that Malik would continue when he was ready.

"There was so much pain… he said it was to make me stronger, make me a man. It was all so I could be a tomb keeper, just like him. After that, after feeling those hands on my skin, and being… being v-violated like that-"

Malik broke off, shaking. Bakura knew without being able to see that he was crying. And he couldn't stand to see Malik cry.

"Your father did that to you? It wasn't just the carving ritual?" He narrowed his eyes, suddenly wishing to go back and time and change everything, save Malik from those things that never should have happened.

"Yes." Malik managed to say in between sobs. "And the worst part was… being so weak. I couldn't stop him. But now, I'm still weak. If that were to happen to me now, I… I wouldn't be able to get away."

Bakura thought over those words, saw all the pain that had been inflicted on Malik, and understood at last. All those times he had tried to start something without Malik's consent, what he himself thought of as teasing had been reminiscent of the worst day of Malik's life.

"I'm sorry, Malik. I didn't know, all this time. I'm sorry." He kept repeating those words, taking Malik gently into his arms and just holding him. He let his friend cry on his shoulder, rubbing his back and offering comforting words. After a few minutes, the crying subsided somewhat, and Malik started speaking again.

"I never told you why I was cross-dressing, did I?" The sentence, coming from anyone else, in a different situation, might have been funny. But there was no mirth in Malik's eyes as he said it.

Bakura shook his head numbly. He let go of Malik when it was plain that the contact wasn't wanted any longer.

"I used to think that if I had been born a girl, none of that would have happened. And it would have been true. They needed a boy to become the tomb keeper. If I had been a girl, no one would have done all that to me. I could have lived a different life. Maybe Marik never would have taken over me for that time. Things would have changed."

Malik seemed a lot calmer now, after getting most of the tears out. "When I was about to enter high school, after that… fiasco… with Yugi's group, and after Marik became his own person, I thought about it again. I disguised myself as a girl, faked some information, and entered the school as Brittany."

"It was all so I could become normal. I wouldn't be Malik anymore, I wouldn't have the past, the secrets, the darkness that I didn't want to face. I would just be another girl, a person, with a normal life. That's why I did it… because I wanted to be someone else for a while."

Bakura said nothing, but hugged Malik again. Malik didn't protest, taking comfort in the embrace for once.

"Now, I've gotten used to being someone else. I don't want to stop pretending. And I don't want to be found out, not by anyone. Because, if that happened, it would be one more thing in my past, another black mark on my record telling people that I couldn't take the pressure like everyone else."

Malik paused, and gave a sigh. "I don't want to stop pretending…"

Bakura just patted him on the back, and let go of him again, regarding those worried violet eyes. Violet eyes that had seen more pain than even he had.

"I'll help you kept it up as long as you need to." He reassured. "Better you than me, after all."

An expression of shock fixed itself on Malik's face immediately, promising to turn into hurt.

"I mean, can you see me trying to pass as a high school girl?" Bakura said, making his previous statement clear.

Malik chuckled, understanding what could have been a horrible sentence.

"Well, you're going to have to. I mean, you are Rapunzel."

"Don't remind me…" Bakura groaned, but smiled afterwards. As long as Malik was happy.

A few silent moments passed, and Bakura found that he had an idea. An idea that would probably cheer Malik up. Of course, he was banking on how girly the Egyptian was, so there was a possibility it wouldn't work…

"Hey, Malik." He turned to look at him.

"Yeah?"

"Wanna watch a movie?" Bakura smirked.

"What kind of movie?" Malik asked him curiously. "Do we even have a DVD player?"

"Yep. I got it when I went to get the groceries." Bakura said proudly.

Malik laughed. He suddenly noticed that there was a DVD player sitting next to the television. "So you did. Did you get a movie?"

"Yeah." Bakura confirmed happily. "Oh, do you want some ice cream? I picked some up earlier."

"Sure." Malik grinned.

A few minutes later, Bakura had started the movie up (not telling Malik which one it was) and settled down with his own bowl of ice cream. Malik, of course, was just eating out of the original carton.

They were actually sitting very close to each other, nearly touching. Malik, apparently, had finally decided to trust Bakura. Which was good, because… well… it was good. And there was the play to think about, though Bakura wasn't sure why that mattered.

The movie began, taking Bakura out of his thoughts. He had dutifully stolen 'Victor Victoria' from the nearby movie rental place. It was a movie about the life of a woman who wanted to be an actress, and ended up pretending to be a man who worked as a woman impersonator. A woman being a man being a woman. Yes, it was rather complicated. Throw in a potential love interest, and the whole thing is chaos.

Obviously, Bakura had chosen the movie because (while it related to Malik's current plight) it was a comedy. In fact, it was a very good comedy, even though it was a bit out of date. Far better to watch this than something like 'Legally Blonde'.

Malik, still eating his ice cream, seemed very absorbed in the movie. So absorbed, in fact, that he actually put the ice cream carton on the ground in order to fully enjoy the movie.

They were both fully enjoying the movie until three-quarters of the way through, when Malik, obviously exhausted, fell asleep.

His head fell onto Bakura's shoulder, and Bakura took it upon himself to turn off the movie and figure out what to do with Malik.

After a few minutes of debating mentally, he moved them both into a more comfortable position on the couch, with Malik sleeping on his side beside him. He put an arm around the Egyptian, and quickly fell asleep.

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