Sitting alone at lunch was pretty much the only time I had to myself before blending right into the crowd of hyperactive teenagers. At lunch was the only time I wouldn't be distracted by friends or family, the time where I could just sit down, eat a decent meal, and think. Thinking was what I've tried to do often, but with a such a busy life and a whole lot of requirements that were expected from me really tired me out and rarely ever let me enjoy time on my own.

It had gotten even harder when he showed up.

That boy I've been seeing a lot of lately sat idly at the other end of the school cafeteria. In secret, I observed him, watched his every movement; how he ate his lunch, what he even ate for lunch. He sat with a straight posture, shoulders back, chin high, elbows at his sides. His cutlery neatly arranged to his right. He used a fork mostly, and attempted at chopsticks more than once a week. He was so absolutely strange. Every moment observing him felt like I was learning something new, like I was watching a documentary on how a lion adapts to a surrounding of overgrown zebras.

The funny thing was that not once has he caught me staring. Not once have our eyes met. Not once did he gesture toward me, realize my presence. He was quite possibly the most well known student here. He got good grades and everyone just loved him to pieces.

He stood out like a soar thumb amongst the sea of pale faces and identical uniforms with his darkly tanned skin and amethyst eyes popping against the contrast. His straw-coloured hair and flashy gold jewellery was also something that made him look like he didn't belong here. He was like the black sheep, yet I came to understand how it was his difference that made him so popular.

It bothered the hell out of me how regal he'd made himself seem. Marik Ishtar was bloody annoying.

The bell snapped me out of my trance and I watched as Marik got up so swiftly, a little too gracefully for my liking, and lifted his lunch tray piled high with empty containers to the trash. He ate quite a lot for such a slender boy. Once his garbage was dumped off, he grabbed his lunch box and headed out the room, laughing and playfully bumping his friends shoulders. I snorted and looked back at my sandwich, suddenly losing my appetite.

It was time I left too, though I was in no rush to get to study hall. I re-wrapped my unfinished sandwich and placed it back in my lunch box, carrying it out with me into the hallway. We went separate ways, as our lockers were miles apart from each other. We had no classes together, which I was thankful for, but as rumours spread and nonestop talk about this new eye candy went around, I knew almost everything about him. He was a transfer student from Egypt about two years ago, which meant he had to of just learned Japanese, which I thought was ridiculous if someone could learn a language that fast. He probably wasn't even that good at it. He had a big ego and felt the need to act superior often, which was no concern to anyone apparently.

I could remember once he and a few of his other classmates had to go around and spread the news about an animal shelter campaign, and when they entered my Literature class, all the girls fawned over him like Marik was a God from another dimension. Some girls even gushed that the whole room "felt warmer and brighter" and "how beautiful his dark skin looked against the whiteboard". Though not once did he look up from his paper, they even swooned over how brilliant his purple eyes were. Not once did he make contact with anyone. He was like a true fucking prince, it seemed.

It was a journey heading to my locker, lugging around a large backpack of books and shoving through the larger bodies of students. Finally making it to my locker and opening it, I took my books from my bag and shuffled them half-heartedly into the metal box, grabbing out my playing cards and math books before closing it once again.

I turned to see a shorter boy, a girl, and two huge smiles of their faces. I grinned back.

"You ready, Bakura?" The shorter boy, Yugi, asked, his tall and spiky hair bouncing with him in excitement, "Téa has been practising all week for this day. Isn't that right?"

Téa, the girl, rolled her eyes and took out her cards, drawing her eyebrows together in a fearsome expression.

"Don't think I'll go easy on you, tea-bag." I winked and led the group down the hallway toward the benches outside.

"I don't care, I'll still kick your ass!" She laughed, "And stop calling me that! You know how much that irritates me."

"Oh, I know, but that's the only reason why I still do it," I chuckled and sat down on one of the benches, Téa and Yugi taking the other side, "You ready?"

"Let's duel!" Téa said with a curt nod.

After the much anticipated duel -and me beating Téa by a long shot- we headed back to our last class of the day. Since I already had that class's books, I headed straight to it, stopping abruptly as a rough hand was placed on my shoulder.

"Bakura," The female voice growled. I turned around quickly to see Miss Yamata, my math teacher glaring down at me, "I expect you know the basics of this weeks lessons, seeing as how your attendance in this class has been lacking," She stated, pushing the stiff, bronze bangs out of her face before handing me a package, "I expect this completed by tomorrow as punishment. Please take your seat."

I stared at the package in disbelief. This wasn't punishment... this was cruelty! How did this teacher expect me to do this entire package -size 12 font, 15 pages, front to back- is less than a day!? But I guess I deserved it, remembering the past few days I've skipped that class to go hang out with Yugi and the others by the park. I already knew everything about my mathematics class and anything we would have learned now would probably just be a recap of the weeks studies before the big test, but I knew I wasn't prepared for it.

I swore under my breath and took my seat hastily, shoving the package into my backpack and slumping forward over my desk.

"And I'll be making sure your brother doesn't help you out with any of that. I've had him in my class before and I know how he writes." The teacher eyed me again, now behind thick rimmed glasses.

Right. Ryou. My genius twin brother who was so supreme in his studies that he attained a scholarship and moved out to work with modelling clay and houseful of architectural jerks. What a joke. I could very well get past this thing alone, even without Ryou's help, but... I knew in my heart I couldn't.

I dropped my forehead to the desk and took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly and listening to the student's dress shoes clack against the linoleum floors as they entered, chatting amongst each other and taking their seats. I closed my eyes and then reopened them, shifting over and grabbing out the package from my backpack once again. I might as well get started since I had nothing better to do.

I leaned down to rummage through my backpack for a pencil. I pressed my lips together in frustration when I couldn't find one. Attempting to sit back up, I bumped my head harshly against the desk.

"Shit," I huffed and leaned back in my chair, running my hand over my thick hair, trying to feel for a bump. My stress levels have officially reached a new high. I had no time for this bullshit.

As I leaned down to search for any kind of writing utensil once again though, a shift in the air made me pause. A large, slender, and darkly tanned hand reached down. Flashes of gold blinded me and rich, thick hair along with the scent of spices pushed against my face, filled my nostrils with warmth. A nervous shudder ran through me and I sat back a little to observe this new sight. Marik Ishtar handing me a pencil.

I've never been so close to him before, and quite frankly it wasn't my intention to ever be this close to him. He leaned back up, expression vacant, as he placed the pencil on the desk for me. He grinned, flashing a neat contrast of pearly white against naturally pink lips. I rolled my eyes and turned back to my papers, picking up the pencil and beginning to print my name.

"You're welcome," He said sternly, a little hint of annoyance on his tone.

It was the first time I heard him speak, except for the time he came to my class to present that animal shelter project, of course. But his voice dripped with venomous pique and it made my blood boil. Why was this boy so full of himself?

"Yeah, thanks," I gave a curt nod. I watched at the corner of my eye as his frown turned into a small smile before returning to take his attention back to the lesson.

I looked down at my sheets and tried to ignore him. I couldn't do this now, not with this Egyptian so close to me, breathing the same air as me... Wait a second, since when did he attend this class?

I looked back and watched him open his notebook to a fresh page and begin to print kanji in perseverance. I observed. Even his spelling mistakes were made with utmost confidence. I bit back a groan of impetuous annoyance and decided to try to pay attention to the board as the teacher began jotting down math quotes. I looked over again and finally sighed in defeat.

"You spelled that wrong. It's a 'Y', not an 'I'." I pointed at one of the words and then peered up at his expression. I expected anger or at least a glare of deliberation. But instead one of his blond eyebrows slowly raised as he studied his work.

"Huh," He said, erasing the mistake and correcting it, "Thanks." He smiled at me again and then continued to copy the quotes on the board.

I gawked at him for a while more and gave up with a shake of the head. My god, what was I dealing with? I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest, watching the teacher as she continued to write.

"You know, you should probably write this stuff down, it's all on the test Monday," His smooth voice hummed low, almost into a whisper.

I turned my head to look at him as he continued to copy the notes. I looked down at his paper and chuckled.

"No thanks. I tend to be good when it comes to math. I happen to have a brother who's a genius."

"Yeah, but it's you who has to do the test tomorrow, not your brother." He snorted, "By the way, do you just not like to show up to class often, or what? I've been partnerless for three days now and Miss Yamata basically told me how much of a prick you are when it comes to paying attention."

I raised my eyebrows at him, finally seeing his ego shine through a bit. He looked over at me after a little while of silence and chuckled.

"Sorry, I shouldn't judge based on other people's opinions-" My eyebrows raised a bit in amusement and a grin was beginning to spread across my face, "-but I saw your marks and they aren't all that great." He said, playing with his dangling, gold earring, looking down at my desk. I frowned.

I followed his eyes to my papers. I took the package off my desk and placed it in my bag, looking over at him as he looked back at me. He chuckled again and turned his attention back to his notes. He annoyed me.

"How do you know my grades anyway?" I looked at him finally, making sure the venom was clear in my words, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Miss Yamata showed me. She wanted to tell me what I was dealing with for the rest of year." He laughed, "Apparently you're a real big trouble maker."

I was about to snap back at the insult when Miss Yamata's voice cut me off.

"Bakura, could you please give us the answer to question three on the board?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at me with amusement.

I sighed and stood up from my seat, reading the question and clearing my throat.

"Thirty two," I responded.

"Good job. You may be seated." She nodded and wrote the answer on the board.

I glared back at the Egyptian that sat beside me and watched a smile slowly spread across his face. I made an irritated face and turned back to the board. That was the end of our conversation.

Often enough I could feel his eyes on me, and often enough I wanted to punch the smirk off his face. I peered over at him and saw that he was, in fact, looking at me. It was a look of satisfaction and I couldn't help but tighten my fists. This was going to be a long year.

AN: Thanks to those you have decided to read this! Reviews are lovely and encouraged as usual! And don't be afraid to ask questions/leave critique.