by WSJ

WSJ: This is the prequel to a Malik/Tea story I'm planning on writing called In the Public Eye. *sweatdrops* I probably won't start on it for awhile, 'cuz I have to finish Visions of the Heart before my readers kill me. Eep! *ducks flaming arrow* Anyway, I heard this song and it was perfect, so I desided to get it out there as a teaser for ItPE. Reviews please!

*grins suddenly* Wasn't Saturday's episode awesome!?! I kept squealing things like "Joey and Mai! Joey and Mai! Look, they're hugging!" and "The symbolizism! It's too much!" My sister actually screamed when Joey's LP went down to zero and he "died". ^_^ And I nearly fainted when the Luster Soldier showed up. It would have been better if it was the Black Magician of Chaos, but I'll take what I can get... *ducks another arrow and runs as a horde of angry VotH fans chase her down* Chapter eight's done, I promissseee...*trails off as she gets farther away*

Ryou: *blinks* Strange... WSJ doesn't own YGO any more then I do. Wait... I own myself, so wouldn't that mean I do own YGO?

Bakura: Don't try to figure it out Ryou, it'll only confuse your puny mind further.

Ryou: ^_^ O-tay!

Bakura: *smiles a little and tosses his hikari a lollypop, watching as he devours it* Let's see, what'd WSJ forget before she was chased off... Oh yeah, this is AU, so no Items or yamis. Duel Monsters, as a game, still exists, but there were no tournements, or at least Yugi and crew didn't go to 'em. Malik's still slightly sadistic, but not much, and he's always gone to Domino High with the others. Other slight changes (who hangs out with who, mainly, and some personality changes, the biggest being Ryou) will become apparent as you read.

()()()()()

He was a punk, she did ballet.

Malik Ishtar whistled tunelessly to himself as he kicked down the stand to his dirt-bike and pulled off his helmet, shaking out his mass of long blond hair. He set the helmet on the bike seat, made sure his skateboard was strapped in place behind the seat for some serious grinding after school, and then sauntered inside Domino High.

"'Ey, Malik!"

Malik turned around, tucking his hands into the pockets of his baggy jeans. Behind him stood a boy about his age, who was slightly taller. His mop of blond hair, both darker and shorter then Malik's, was pulled back in a black do-rag that matched his tight black jeans. He also wore a white t-shirt that said 'Bite me!' across the front in black. A tattoo of an eagle, wings wide and beak gaping in a silent screech, could be seen peeking out from under his left sleeve a bit.

"Hey Jo', what's up?"

Joey Wheeler, Malik's best friend, shrugged helplessly as the two headed for their lockers, which were right next to each other. "Eh, not much. Sub in algebra. And guess what, Tea Gardener flunked her last history test! That's the third one this month!"

Malik choked and began to blush at the mention of their classmate's name. "Wh-what? Er, what was that Joey?"

Joey gave him a strange look, then shrugged. "Tea flunked her last history test. So?"

"Erm... Nothin'."

Joey finally got a good look at his friend's face and grinned. "Whoot! Malik Ishtar likes Tea Gar-" He was cut off when a hand was slapped over his mouth.

"Shut up Joey!" Malik said through tightly-clenched teeth, a bright blush spreading across his nose. This only served to make Joey snicker, and eventually, when Malik didn't take his hand away, Joey bit it lightly, causing said Egyptian to jump.

"Jeez!" Joey said. "I've never seen ya' like this man! You're, like, head-over-heels for this girl, aren't ya'?"

"Head-over-heels for who?"

Both teens jumped, and then turned to see it was only Tristan Taylor, the third member of their four-some. He had on baggy blue jeans that were faded almost white, a gold chain-belt around his waist and a matching gold ring in his right ear. A dark blue muscle-shirt ill-hid his well-muscled chest and did absolutely nothing to disguise the jagged pink scar that ran across one shoulder. At the time when he'd got it a rumor had started to circulate that he got stabbed in a gang brawl. People were quick to stick labels on the three of them and their other friend like that. Tristan had actually gotten it in a skating accident. Three flights of concrete stairs and a gravel pit. Ouch.

The two blonds sighed in releif. "Jeez Tris', you scared us..." Malik sighed.

Joey snickered again. "Yeah, Malik was scared it might'a been T-" He was cut off again, this time by a punch on the arm.

"Shut it Joseph," Malik said tightly. "Here come her and her groupies..."

Tristan and Joey turned to see Tea coming down the hall, surrounded on all sides by the 'popular' teens. "Heh..." Joey muttered. "Typical. Yugi Moto, Mai Valentine, Seto Kaiba..."

"Hey," Tristan said, nudging Malik in the side. "Why don't you go ask her out?"

He wanted her,

Malik's jaw almost fell off his face. "Tristan!" he hissed. "I'll kill you!"

"Come on!" Joey agreed, stepping up next to the brunette. "Ya' need a bit a' love in your life. Why not?"

Malik clenched a fist. "Why I 'otta..."

Thankfully he was saved when the last member of their 'punker' group, Ryou Bakura, arrived. "Hey guys, what'd I miss? Sorry I'm a little late, but I had to see my dad off on another dig, then change clothes."

Tristan and Joey sighed. "Ryou, ya' got the worst timin' I've eva' seen..."

Ryou's dad didn't approve of the company he kept, namely Malik, Tristan and Joey, so whenever he was home Ryou had to act like a priss, something he hated beyond all belief. At the moment he was dressed in shredded blue jeans and a black leather shirt, several silver chains around his neck and a silver stud in his left ear. A tattoo of a dragon was spread across one shoulder and his hair had been pulled back into a braid.

(WSJ: *runs in and squeals at the kawaii-ness* I know, Ryou's acting a lot more like his yami then his normal self, but I really can't help it! He's such a cutie in leather! Eek! *runs away from VotH readers again*)

"Not much," Tristan said, answering Ryou's question. "Jo' and I were just daring Malik here to ask Tea Gardener out."

Ryou smirked and crossed his arms, staring pointedly at Malik. "Well? Go to it!" (Bakura: 0_o; Are you sure this is you, Ryou, and not me?!?)

Malik gulped, knowing that with both Ryou and Joey there to push him on, he didn't stand a chance. Thankfully, he was saved as the bell rang.

"K'so..." Ryou muttered, snapping his fingers in disappointment. He then loosened up and grinned at Malik to show he was only kidding. Malik nodded, managing a slight smile, and the four of them headed for their classes.

She'd never tell, but secretly she wanted him as well.

Later that day Tea sighed as she watched Malik and his three best friends turn and walk to their various classes. It was no fair that she had such a reputation to keep... It wasn't her fault she was voted Most-Likely-to-Succeed and had fallen in love with Most-Likely-to-Die-Before-Age-Twenty. Ok fine, so Malik hadn't officially been voted Most-Likely-to-Die, but it was a long-standing joke in her group of friends. Everyone knew, or rather, 'knew', that Ishtar, Taylor, Wheeler and Bakura were involved with gangs. Probably drugs too, from what everyone said.

Take today, for example. Malik was wearing a pair of baggy black jeans, a camoflague-pattern shirt that was practically see-through and just as tight, and a red-white-and-blue bandana. (Think Bandit Keith's bandana) He had a dimond chip in one ear, and a silver ring in the other. He had what looked like gold braclets all up and down his arms, which made them look almost like solid armbands, and more around his neck. (His normal arm-jeweralry)

Tea sighed again and turned to her locker, pulling out the books she needed for fourth period biology, the only class she had with Malik, and also the only one she had with Yugi Moto. It was no secret that Yugi liked her, but it was also no secret that she didn't like him back. Not that it mattered to the little shrimp...

Beside her someone cleared their throat and Tea jumped, mentally cursing herself for letting someone sneak up on her. She turned and nearly swallowed her tounge, for she suddenly found herself eye-to-eye with Malik Ishtar himself.

"Er, h-hi Ishtar. I mean Malik! Um..."

He offered her a small smile and Tea noted with surprise the slight blush on his cheeks. "Hi Tea. The guys kinda' put me up to this. I mean, I wanted to do it, but I was too chicken, and then Joey and Ryou dared me and-" he paused and took a deep breath. "Wouldyougooutwithmetea?"

Tea blinked as she mentally unraveled that statment. When she did, her heart lept into her throat and she almost said yes. Then, over Malik's shoulder, she saw Tristan, Joey and Ryou looking down the hall and nervously edging away. Tea blinked and glanced in that direction, only to see Seto Kaiba and Yugi Moto heading their way.

Tea closed her eyes breifly, almost fighting tears. 'Blasted reputation! I'm sorry Malik...' "No way Ishtar!" she said, feigning shock. "Why would I go out with you when I've got... I've got..." she was suddenly at a loss. "Um, Yugi!"

Malik looked absolutly crushed and Tea felt a breif pang in her heart. 'I am so sorry Malik...' Over his shoulder his three friends looked ready to kill and Tea could have sworn she saw fire coming out of Joey's nose in little bursts of flame. All three of them looked royally ticked and very, very angry for their friend, and Tea was only too happy to run off to class with an extatic Yugi, who had heard her comment and taken it to mean she liked him.

Malik didn't show up for biology.

But all of her friends stuck up their nose,

They had a problem with his baggy clothes.

Malik growled in frustration and anger as he flipped his skateboard into another spin on the half-pipe. All four friends had desided to skip school after Tea's rejection, Tristan and Ryou claiming it was because they needed to be there for Malik as 'moral support' and Joey flat-out admitting he had an English test he hadn't studdied for. They'd headed for their usual haunt, the local skate park, after stopping by Tristan's house so he could get his blades.

"It's not that bad." Ryou said, coming even with Malik for a moment on his own skate board.

"Not that bad?" Tristan asked, pulling off a flip on his rollar blades. "Not that bad? His crush just totally blew him off. Poor Malik-kun..."

Malik and Ryou gave the brunette weird looks, and he laughed falsely. "Er, you know, joke? Ha ha, hee hee?"

Joey, who was on another half-pipe nearby, one built specially for BMX bikes, gave all three of them strange looks. "I think you're all nuts. You should'a let me pop 'er one Malik! Or at least whack that kid Yugi!"

Malik looked at him like he'd just suddenly desided to start playing Duel Monsters. "With Seto Kaiba that close? Sorry Jo', but I don't need my best friend beaten to a bloody pulp for me."

Ryou looked disappointed. "Aw..."

"And what is it with you Ryou?" Malik added. "You're not normally this sadistic."

"^_^ Yes I am!" Ryou said, grinning. The other three sweatdropped slightly and Joey slid his bike to a hault at the bottom of the half-pipe.

"Well I'm hungry. How'sa 'bout we go over to my house for lunch. Serenity's at school and dad's gotta be gone to work by now."

Everyone nodded except Malik, who had sunk back into silence.

He was a skater boy.

She said 'See you later, boy.'

He wasn't good enough for her.

"Ew..." Tristan moaned as they skated/rode toward Joey's house. "Helmet hair..."

Ryou and Joey tried desperatly not to laugh as he pulled off his helmet, revealing his normal spike of hair flattened to mush. And on top of that, skating had made him sweaty, pastering the tendrils of hair to his forehead. "Do you know how much hair gel it takes to do my hair in the morning?"

Joey laughed. "Um, somewhere around the national import average?" Tristan growled and tried to lunge at Joey, not an easy thing on blades. Joey stuck out his tounge and peddled a bit harder, easily outdistancing the enraged brunette, who gave chase.

Ryou laughed and glanced back at Malik, who was boarding only half-heartedly, his head down, not even trying to grind on park benches or leap over trash cans as Ryou was.

"Hey," Ryou said, dropping back to roll along beside him, a note of concern in his voice. "Come on Mal', it'll be all right man. You'll see. Someday Tea'll be sorry she ever said no to you. You'll be famous. All four of us will! And Yugi'll be a nobody."

Malik looked up and offered him a weak smile as they stepped off their boards and onto Joey's pourch. "Thanks man. You're right, I'll bet."

Assorted crashes and bangs were coming from inside, and the two looked at each other and laughed before heading inside to make sure Joey wasn't killing Tristan. They watched as Tristan came running through, yelling his head off, trying to fend off Joey's attacks, who was trying to hit him with a...

Malik blinked. "Joey, you play?"

Joey lowered the guitar from over his head, blinking at it like he'd suddenly forgotten what it was for. "Well, I'm learnin'."

Malik grinned, a real smile, his first since that morning. He looked at Ryou, who got the idea and also smiled, giving him a thumbs up. "Great," Malik said. "We'll learn together."

She had a pretty face but her head was up in space.

She needed to come back down to Earth.

Ryou's prediction didn't quite come true. Yugi Moto, as an actor, and Tea Gardener, as a dancer both became obscenly famous.

Tea's career took a nose-dive, however, when it was announced she was pregnent with Seto Kaiba's baby, a reality no one had ever expected. Soon after she gave birth to the little girl she named Moonbay (WSJ: *giggle-giggle-wink*) she and Yugi became engaged, and she and Seto remained close friends. Seto was an active part in his daughter's life, buying her any- and everything she needed or didn't need. Much to Yugi and Seto's chagrin, however, it wasn't either of them that little Moonbay took a liking to as a father, but her Uncle Mokuba instead.

Yugi, Tea and Moonbay had all moved in with Seto and Mokuba in their mansion, and were all happy together. On this night Tea was home alone with two-year-old Moonbay while Yugi was on the set for his newest movie, one centering around the game Duel Monsters that was so popular with the kids now-a-days, and Seto was at the office. Mokuba was on a date with his girlfriend (Mai Valentine! Of all people!).

"So Moonbay, ready for bed?" Tea asked, trying to stifle a yawn of her own. Her daughter looked up at her from the floor where she was playing with a Dark Magician plushie almost as big as she was and shook her head. Tea sighed and picked up the remote control, flipping through the channels at random. She finally settled on MTV and sat back to watch.

5 years from now she sits at home.

Feeding the baby, she's all alone.

Twenty minutes later Moonbay was curled up next to her mother on the couch, her head pillowed on her purple-clad plushie. Tea herself was on the very brink of sleep and was only half-watching the video that came on.

It started out dark, and then a single chord on an electric guitar rang out. The lights flipped on, illuminating the guitarist. Tea's eyes widened until they nearly popped out of her head. The guitarist had long white hair that he let fly loose (it was perfect for head-banging) and tight, black leather clothes. A spiked dog-collar was round his neck and he winked seductivly as the camera zoomed in on him. Tea was in shock. No way that was Ryou Bakura!

The second spotlight came on, lighting up the drummer this time. Again, Tea choked. The pointy hair could have been anyone, but there was no mistaking the scar on his shoulder. Tristan sat at the drums in tight leather pants and no shirt at all. As the camera zoomed in on him he flexed his muscles and winked as Ryou had before him.

Spotlight number three flipped on, and Tea had already guessed (correctly) who it would show up on. Joey Wheeler smiled at the camera and tossed his head, causing his blond bangs to fly and the fangirls to scream. Tea guessed that he was the lead singer, seeing as he held no instrument except a cordless microphone. He was dressed in jeans that frayed off at the knee and was barefoot on the hardwood stage. He had on a frilly black shirt that identified him clearly as either a Latin-pop-star-wannabe or a crossdresser. The three diamond studs in each ear made Tea opt for the latter.

Even though she'd already half-guessed who the last member of the quartet was, Tea was still surprised when the last spotlight shown down on Malik Ishtar. His long hair was in a loose pony-tail at the back of his neck. He had on tight jeans that were tucked into black leather boots and a black muscle-shirt. He still wore an abundance of gold jeweralry, and in addition to two peircings in his left ear and three in his right, he had a gold ring in his left eyebrow as well.

Tea sat through the song in absolute silence, her jaw at floor level. "The Sk8ter Boi's..." she muttered. "Figures..."

She turns on the TV, guess who she sees!

Skater boy rockin' up MTV.

That was how Yugi found her an hour later when he came home, staring frozen at the TV, which she'd long since turned off. "Tea? You all right? Tea?" he waved his hand back and forth in front of her face, effectively snapping her out of her trance.

She turned woodenly to stare at him and was about to speak when the door opened again, admiting Mokuba, who had a dreamy look on his face, and Seto, who had a slightly annoyed one.

"What's wrong?" Seto asked immediatly.

"Have you ever heard of the Sk8ter Boi's?" Tea asked.

"Yeah," Yugi said. "One of my co-stars, this kid named Yami, (WSJ: *grin* Kid... heh heh...) said I should go an' see them. So I bought tickets for all four of us plus Mai to go to their concert next week. I already asked another of my co-stars, Irvine, if he'd watch Moonbay."

(WSJ: *begins to giggle again* 20 points to anyone who figures out why that's so funny!)

"And you know nothing about them? The band I mean."

"Er, no, why?" Yugi asked.

Tea shook her head, clearing away the last of the cobwebs. She stood and stretched, picking up Moonbay and her over-sized plushie to take them to bed. She smiled secretivly while Mokuba, Seto and Yugi looked on in curiosity. Let them find out for themselves.

"Oh, no reason."

She calls all her friends, they already know

And they've all got tickets to see his show.

Tea sighed, exhasperated with herself, as she looked at her reflection in the full-length mirror for the umpteenth time. Why should she care what she looked like? All she was doing was going to see the band that was made up of the four freaks of Domino High. No matter that one of them was her long-time crush whom she secretly still loved...

She looked down at the sparkly diamond ring on her finger. The engagment ring that Yugi had gotten her. (WSJ: ~_~; Dangitall... I had to go back and un-capitalise ring... I've written waaaaay too many Ryou-centered stories...)

"Tea, ready to go?"

Tea jumped and turned to see Seto in the doorway, his head cocked a bit to one side as he looked at her quizzically. "Are you all right?"

Tea blinked and brushed off her mini-skirt and halter-top. "Yeah, sure. Let's go."

They arrived at the packed arena over twenty minutes later to find it already literally overflowing with people. It seemed every girl in Domino City, no, scratch that, every girl in Japan, had come to the concert, and they were all screaming out the names of one or the other of the guys. Tea caught several "Tristan!"s and a lot of "Joey!!!"s and way too many "MALIK!!!!!"s to count.

The five of them stopped for a moment to watch in intrest as two huge, burly bouncers, one with spiked blue hair and a scar down one cheek, and the other with a leather jacket, blond hair and sunglasses, headed for the exit, carrying a hyperventilating fangirl between them. (WSJ: Yeah, I know I'm commenting a lot, but I've got a lot to say. Guess who the bouncers are! Clue: After Joey they are my two favorite Duelists who participated in the Duelist Kingdom)

The girl had long blond hair done up in a French braid and blue-grey eyes. She was wearing, well, not much more then a leather tube top, a short pair of shorts and tall black boots. Her outfit seemed made to reveal as much as possible without actually showing anything. And strangest of all, around her neck she wore a gold artifact that looked like a ring with several sharp points around the edges. (WSJ: But no pyramid inside, it's the Millenium Pendant, where my yami likes to take up residence. ^_~ Guess who!)

"Nooooo!!!!!!" she was yelling hysterically, trying to thrash back and forth and break out of the bouncers' grip. "Ryou-sama! I must see Ryou-sama!!!! RRRRYYYYYYYYYOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AISHITERUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The two bouncers were giving each other weary looks that clearly said 'We don't get paid enough to do this'.

By now Yugi, Mai and Seto were giving each other puzzled looks as to why the names that the people were screaming sounded vaugly familiar. They shrugged it off and continued to the front-row seats that Yugi's and Seto's high statis had earned them. The sat down and Tea found herself beginning to get nervous.

She tags along, stands in the crowd,

About five minutes later the lights dimmed, and in the dark night everything was pitch black. The band came out on stage, but there was a muffled crash and a muttered curse (apparently whoever it was forgot they were wearing a microphone) which caused the audience to laugh. One of the other band members (Tea thought it might have been Ryou) quickly appologised for "my friend's rudeness" and then the lights came back up.

Tristan sat behind the drums, at least with a shirt on this time. The other three were dressed pretty much the same, except that Joey's frilly shirt was white this time, instead of black.

From beside her Tea heard gasps and a muffled yelp from Yugi as the three ex-Domino High students placed who it was they were looking at. (Mokuba wouldn't have known them)

Tea, however, only had eyes for Malik, the skater boy she still loved.

Looks up at the man that she turned down.

Malik breathed deeply as he absently strummed the opening bars to their first number on his bass, taking in the adrenilin from the crowd and adding it to his own. "Hello Domino City!" Joey yelled from beside him, electing a roar from the crowd.

"It's great to be back home!" Tristan added his two cents, stretching his arms over his head at his place behind the drums. This, of course, flexed his chest muscles, causing the fangirls to reach critical level.

"Oh yeah, feel the love." Ryou said sarcasticly, tuning his guitar. "I don't hear any hysterical fangirls screaming my name."

"I LOVE YOU RYOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Came a voice from the very back of the crowd, and Malik grinned. He could just make out the girl that had been stalking Ryou for the past few months, the one with the long blond braid, being held down by Mako and Keith near the back exit. (WSJ: Were ya' right 'bout the bouncers?) Ryou winced at the voice and cowered in mock-fear behind Malik. "Save me!"

They must have used this opening bit a million times, especially since that girl had started stalking their lead guitarist, but it never got old. Malik loved doing this in between songs, bantering and trading insults with his three best friends. Sometimes they'd even do it impromptu, like he was going to force them to do right now. He thought that being back home in good ol' Domino after touring America deserved something special.

"Well, that's 'cause albino freaks don't usually have fangirls Ryou." Malik said, ducking behind Joey when Ryou tried to take a swing at him.

"Am not!" Ryou protested, frowning a bit. "At least I don't have to bleach my hair to get it blond Egypt-boy."

Malik hissed, pretending to be mad. "All right freak, I can handle you insulting Joey and Tristan, but no one makes fun of my hair! It's natural, I swear it is!"

"Right, about as natural as having a rod rammed up your butt." Tristan snickered. (WSJ: *squeals* More obscure references!)

"What was that?!?"

Ryou was about to join in the "war" again when Joey caught his eye. Using an elaborate code of handsignals the four of them had worked out, the blond told Ryou to look at the front row. Ryou did and his heart nearly stopped. 'Seto Kaiba, Mai Valentine, Yugi Moto... Oh God, Tea Gardener! We can't let Malik see her!'

Too late.

He was a skater boy.

She said 'See you later, boy!'

He wasn't good enough for her.

Tea felt electricity jolt through her as Malik's eyes met hers. He jerked a little and looked like he'd swallowed his teeth. Joey nudged him in the side and he snapped his head around as Ryou quickly started in on their first song, something they'd picked up in America, called "Kryptonite", originally done by 3 Doors Down.

Tea swallowed and forced her breathing to slow down and her heart to return to a normal pulse-rate. Ok, so she'd seen Malik blush when he saw her. That didn't mean anything, right? She was engaged, she wasn't allowed to fall in love, right? Right?

She watched in starry-eyed wonder as an instrumental came up and Ryou and Malik stepped up to the front of the stage. They jammed, and then broke out into dueling-guitarists, each trying to out-do the other. The fangirls went crazy, and the braided one managed to break away from the bouncers and run forward. If it weren't for the guards at either side of the stage (Weevil and Rex) she would have jumped right on stage and glomped poor Ryou Bakura.

It was hard to say who won the duel, because it was cut short by the need to get on with the rest of the song. A lot of the fangirls looked royaly ticked at this, and the braided one, who was again being carried off by Mako and Bandit Keith, started crying and blew her nose on Keith's bandana.

Now he's a superstar, slammin' on his guitar.

Does your pretty face see what he's worth?

Sorry girl, but you missed out.

Several songs later, during a break in the concert, Tea had almost worked up the courage to go talk to Malik. The VIP passes Seto had managed to get allowed them backstage and let them talk to the band. In fact, Yugi was already up on stage, chatting casually with Joey and Ryou.

Malik was off to one side, polishing his guitar. Tea pushed herself out of her seat, on the brink of climbing the stairs and going to stand in front of him, when a lady stepped out of the backstage area and sat down next to him on the speaker he was occupying.

She leaned over to whisper something in his ear, and he laughed, giving her a peck on the cheek.

Tea felt her heart break all over again. What chance did she have? Even if her legs hadn't just now turned to jelly, that woman was gorgeous. She had long, thick black hair and more gold jeweralry then even Malik himself did.

"No fair," she whispered, a tear making its way down her cheek. "I love you..."

Well, tough luck, that boy's mine now.

We are more than just good friends.

This is how the story ends.

Malik laughed and leaned over to give the woman at his side a peck on the cheek. "Thank you Isis."

His sister grinned at him. "What for?"

Malik waved a hand at the two of them sitting side-by-side and then out at the milling crowd. "Everything! For pretending to be my girlfriend to trick all the stupid fangirls."

Isis smiled. "Well little brother, you are very welcome." She looked past his shoulder and jerked, slightly startled. Her eyes softened and she put a hand on her brother's knee. "Malik, she's crying."

Malik's eyes widened in denial and he turned to see Tea disappear into the crowd, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. Unshed, but only barely. "Oh crap! Tell Joey to cover for me!"

Too bad that you couldn't see,

See the man that boy could be.

There is more than meets the eye,

I see the soul that is inside.

Malik jumped off the stage and started to go after Tea, but he was slightly hampered by the fact that every person in that whole stupid crowd wanted to talk to him. Or wanted his autograph. Or wanted a kiss. Or worse yet, a peice of clothing or a lock of hair.

"Tea!" he yelled but it was too late. "TEA!!!!!!!!"

He's just a boy, and I'm just a girl.

Can I make it any more obvious?

We are in love, haven't you heard

How we rock each others' worlds?

Tea sniffed as she made her way out to where they'd parked the car, hugging herself against the cold, determined to wait for Yugi and the others there. How could she be so stupid as to think that after five years he'd still love her? How could she possibly imagine that he'd still be single with all the hordes of screaming fangirls?

As she neared the car she was startled to see someone standing next to it. She came closer and began to freak out, because the person began walking toward her.

She relaxed slightly when she saw it was the woman Malik had been sitting with on the stage, but only somewhat. It suddenly registered to her that the woman was smiling in a sympathetic way, and her eyes were kind. She leaned down slightly to whisper something in Tea's ear.

"All will be well. He loves you. All will be well."

And then she was gone, melted back into the shadows she'd emmerged from.

I'm with the skater boy.

I said 'See you later, boy,

I'll backstage after the show.

I'll be at the studio, singin' the song you wrote,

About the girl you used to know.'

"All will be well..." Tea muttered to herself as back inside the stadium the music started up again. She smiled, and pulled herself up until she was on pointe, then executed perfectly several of the more difficult ballet moves.

"All will be well..."

()()()()()

WSJ: ^_^ So cute! And the reason Isis knew which car what theirs was because the licence plates say 'KaibaCp' on them.

Ryou: *sweatdrop* 'All will be well'? The heck?

WSJ: *grins* Spindle's End. My favorite book in the world. Reviews please! And make sure to read In the Public Eye when I post it! Ja!

God bless Minna-san!