Ishizu meant well, Marik knew. Not only was she a well-meaning person in general, she was always extra considerate of Marik, since she had apparently decided to take the whole of the blame for 'the incident.' And, to be fair, that she was able to uproot her entire life in Egypt without any hesitation, and somehow get a job at the museum in the only town where Marik kind of, sort of, maybe had friends, possibly, if he could ever get up the nerve to try contacting them to see if their offers were genuine and not just everyone getting caught up in the emotion off the moment, was nothing short of amazing. It was just that others of her gestures were – Marik gave out a yelp of pain as sharp kitten teeth dug into his big toe – were somewhat less appreciated.
"I think I might be allergic to cats," Marik announced to the room at large. Of course, at the moment the rom at large consisted of Rishid, who was busy working on his computer and very possibly not paying attention, and the tiny bundle of calico fur currently attacking his feet, who clearly didn't care. Frowning, Marik gently shook his foot, trying to dislodge the kitten. He was successful, but only for as long as it took the thing to get back up and jump on his foot again. Marik frowned harder.
"You aren't allergic to cats, Master Marik," Rishid said, and Marik turned his narrow-eyed glare on him. Ever since Marik had given up his plans to seek vengeance on the spirit of a 3,000 years dead Pharaoh and embraced Rishid as his brother, Rishid only ever called him 'Master Marik' when he thought Marik was being deliberately difficult or particularly stupid. Had Marik known that renouncing his evil ways would open him up to the, mostly good-natured, mockery of his siblings, he might have reconsidered giving his Millennium Rod to Yugi.
"I could be," Marik retorted, and, when that failed to garner a response, he punctuated the statement with a particularly fake sounding sneeze. Rishid continued to ignore him, but the kitten, startled by the loud noise, abandoned Marik's foot and ran clear across the room. Once there, she forgot about being frightened entirely and began pouncing on… either dust motes or the hallucinated phantoms of her deranged mind.
That dragged on for two minutes that felt more like twenty, until the little thing spotted her new nemesis: her own tail. "I'm pretty sure this kitten has rabies. She's certainly acting crazy enough."
"Ishizu did not get you a rabid kitten. Besides, Bastet has had all her shots."
"Her name is Girl Cat," Marik corrected. If he absolutely had to keep the little monstrosity, then he certainly wasn't going to be calling it something so pretentious. Besides, an Egyptian with a pet cat named after a goddess? Might as well just build a temple in her honor and be done with it.
Girl Cat finally managed to catch her own tail and bit down hard on it, letting out her own yelp of pain. Having given up that particular pastime, she began to run back and forth across the room, with no apparent direction or purpose. If she really wasn't crazy, an idea that Marik wasn't as yet completely sold on, then she must be feeling confined, with too much energy and not enough space to expend it in... And now Marik was feeling bad for the little foot-attacking she-beast. Frig.
"I'm taking Girl Cat for a walk," Marik announced. Rishid didn't verbally answer, he just looked at Marik. "What? I'm bonding with the furball; isn't that what you and Ishizu want?"
"Most people don't take their cats for walks," Rishid noted calmly, as though he were commenting on the weather, not casting aspersions on Marik's choice of bonding activity.
He scoffed in response. Marik Ishtar was not most people.
Marik Ishtar immediately regretted his decision. The lead up to the walk had actually gone fairly smoothly. Marik found a leash and little harness in the pile of things that Ishizu had gotten for Girl Cat - though in retrospect and in light of some of the other things he had seen in there, including a tiny little red bandana that was still too big for the tiny little Girl Cat, that was probably less of an implicit vote of confidence from Ishizu and more a testament to the fanatical need to over-prepare that his sister had developed – and the kitten had cooperated surprisingly well with getting the equipment on. This, Marik would soon learn, was only to lull him into a false sense of security.
Kittens, it appeared did not like to go on walks. Kittens liked to sniff, pounce, and/or climb on everything they passed. Marik considered turning around and giving up on the whole enterprise, but he quickly discarded the notion, and not just because Rishid was bound to say 'I told you so.' He was Marik friggin' Ishtar; he had started and run a multinational criminal organization as a teenager, for frig's sake. Granted, he had had Rishid's help and the ability to turn most anyone into his mind slave with the power of the Millennium Rod, but still. He was a friggin' genius. If Interpol hadn't beaten him, a kitten sure as frig wasn't. Frig.
More through determination and sheer stubbornness than any sort of skill, Marik managed to drag Girl Cat to the park near the Ishtar's apartment, which Marik decided was far enough to assuage his pride. He extended Girl Cat's leash out to its full length so she could wander around and chase bugs or whatever – hopefully she wouldn't try climbing up the inside of another lady's skirt. Then he laid back down on the grass, the other end of the leash tucked underneath him, and closed his eyes and relaxed.
He was drifting, probably more asleep than awake when a cloud passed in front of the sun. He didn't pay it much mind, other than a vague notion that he missed the heat. And then the cloud spoke. "Hello, Marik."
Marik's eyes popped open. Standing above him, with the sun framing his hair like a friggin' halo was Bakura Ryou. Marik was not emotionally prepared for this. He wasn't really prepared to face any of his friends, mostly because he wasn't sure that after everything that happened that they really were friends. Sure, Bakura looked happy enough to see him, but one thing Marik had learned about Bakura over their very brief acquaintance was that he was just about the nicest person ever. Marik could have been his own darker half, the evil spirit that had possessed Bakura for a large part of his adolescence, or even Zorc Necrophades himself and Bakura would still probably greet him the same way. Marik had spent way more time than strictly necessary contemplating whether this made Bakura amazingly stupid, or just amazing, and he had yet to reach a satisfactory answer.
On top of that, Bakura was something of a special case. You see, Marik and the evil spirit possessing Bakura had had a thing back during Battle City. Well, not a thing exactly, more like a sort of, kind of, probably future thing. And even that was possibly overstating it. Not that Marik was still interested in him in any way, it had taken all of a week away and clear headed to realize that the Spirit of the Millennium Ring was friggin' insane, and he was pretty sure Bakura didn't remember any of Marik's inept flirting, but Marik sure remembered, and it was more than a bit awkward.
And then there was Bakura himself. Bakura was… well, on the ship ride down to the tomb with the Pharaoh's Memory Tablet, Bakura had sought out Marik, who had been avoiding Bakura up until that point on the grounds that there must have been a reason he had been chosen to be the Ring's host. Bakura had looked at Marik and said, "I'm afraid the Spirit of the Ring kept me somewhat deeper asleep than usual, so I can't really speak to any specifics, but I wanted to apologize to you for anything he may have done to you."
"Why? You didn't do anything; you don't owe me, anyone, an apology." Unlike Marik, who had so many apologies to give out he was choking on them.
Bakura smiled. "You're probably right, but there are a lot of people who deserve an apology that won't get one otherwise. I'm sorry," Bakura had said, bowing slightly before turning to leave.
So, yes Bakura was interesting to say the least. Interesting enough that Marik wasn't sure what to say to him, especially when he suddenly showed up out of nowhere like that. Though Marik supposed anything was better than staring up at him stupidly and thinking he looked like an angel.
"Hello Bakura. Fancy meeting you here," Marik said, sitting up. Not exactly poetry, but not completely inane either.
"This is a coincidence. I was actually just on my way to the museum. I was planning on stopping by to say hi to Miss Ishtar while I was there, see how you guys were settling in."
"How did you know Ishizu is working at the museum?" And for that matter, why wasn't Bakura more surprised to see Marik in Japan? Marik certainly hadn't told anyone that they were moving, and he had assumed he had at least another couple of days before Ishizu or Rishid did it on his behalf.
"What do you mean?" Bakura asked, looking charmingly befuddled. (Charmingly befuddled? That might top the angel comparison in terms of embarrassment. Good thing Bakura couldn't read minds.) "I'm the one who told Ishizu that the museum had been looking for a new Egyptologist, ever since the incident with Mr. Kanekura and Professor Yoshimori. Of course, I thought your brother was more likely to be the one who was interested, since Miss Ishizu already had a job with the Egyptian government, but I know Father was happy to have her."
"Your dad is the museum's curator?"
"No, he owns it," Bakura corrected. "He used to be an archeologist, but now he's a businessman of sorts, but in the business of history."
"Ishizu didn't mention," Marik said. Though it did go a long way to explaining how the Millennium Ring came into Bakura's possession. "Wait a minute, does that mean everyone knows we've moved to Japan?"
"Of course. We wanted to surprise you at the airport, but Ishizu said that might be a bit overwhelming." Being ambushed at the airport by a large group of people he was half-convinced hated him? Definitely sounded like the recipe for a panic attack. Not that he got them often, but after what he'd been through he was entitled to have them on occasion. "So we decided it would be better to give you a week or two to settle in."
And here they were, a week to the day later and Bakura was going to see Ishizu to check 'how they were settling in.' Almost like he was excited for an opportunity to see Marik. And that was after he had helped arrange for Marik to move to Domino in the first place, sort of.
Marik felt a warm glow start in his chest and spread throughout is body, finally causing him to erupt in a grin. He had a friend. There was an honest-to-goodness person who was not related to Marik, but still cared about his well-being, and who sought Marik out for no other reason than the pleasure of his company.
Bakura smiled back, apparently happy for no other reason than that Marik, his friend, was happy. "What is it?"
Marik shook his head, not sure how to explain how he was feeling (like he was floating through the air while still planted firmly on solid ground) without sounding crazy or why he was feeling that way (he'd just made his first ever confirmed, genuine friend) without the conversation devolving into 'let's pity the poor deprived Tomb Keeper's child.'
That was when Girl Cat struck.
Much later Marik would contemplate the odds of her choosing to pounce at that exact moment, and how very (un)lucky he was that she hadn't taken advantage of Marik's complete inattention – he'd actually gotten off her leash when he'd sat up – to make a break for it. At the moment, though, he was more concerned with the little hellion that had landed square on the most sensitive portion of his lap. Not that she was large enough for it to actually hurt, but it was the principle of the matter.
Before he could even begin to curse the thrice-damned demon cat from hell, she leapt again – digging her little claws in as she went – onto Bakura's shoes. Thrice-damned demon cat from hell with a foot fetish.
"Hello there," Bakura said, crouching down so he could pet Girl Cat. "Is this your kitten Marik?"
"Unfortunately." This confirmation was apparently all the permission Bakura needed to pick the thing up and to begin cuddling on it in earnest. No accounting for taste, Marik supposed. Girl Cat seemed to enjoy the attention greatly, purring as loud as Mari had ever heard. She even reached her head up to dive Bakura a quick lick on the cheek. So, some accounting for taste then.
"What's her name?"
Marik almost, almost, said her name was Bastet. Pretentious it might be, but it was a far more normal name for a cat than her actual one. Then, sticking his chin out a bit as though daring Bakura to argue, he said, "Girl Cat."
Bakura laughed, though not meanly. Marik still felt he was being laughed at, but the laughter wasn't at his expense, as odd as that sounded. "I like it. It suits you."
"You mean it suits her," Marik corrected.
"Of course it suits her, she is a girl cat after all. No I meant it's very direct, like you," Bakura said with a smile and a tone of voice like he was paying Marik the highest possible compliment.
Marik felt his cheeks heat up. That was probably his cue to say something direct, like, 'I'm really sorry for all the things that I ever did to hurt you,' or, 'Despite all evidence to the contrary, I'm still deathly afraid that all the people I think of as my friends actually hate me and never want to have anything to do with me,' or possibly, 'Date me.'
That last thought had Marik turning away, burying it deep, deep, down in his subconscious. Bakura was his friend and Marik was absolutely not going to mess this up. "So how have you been?" he asked, abruptly changing the subject.
"Really good. Better than I have been for a long time," said Bakura.
"That's what comes from getting rid of a psychotic personality that takes you over and makes you do horrible, evil things," Marik said, and then winced. "Too direct."
"Maybe," Bakura allowed, "but you aren't wrong."
A somber mood fell over them after Marik's unthinking comment. The silence between them then was neither comfortable nor uneasy, merely existing as the two of them fell back into corners of their minds that existed in shadows even on a hot, bright summer day.
"The strangest thing is how lonely it gets sometimes," Bakura said a few minutes later. "I'm glad he's gone, and I certainly don't miss him, because who would?" Marik had, actually, for all of a week, but he could understand the sentiment. "But it seems too quiet being the only one in my head." Bakura looked down at Girl Cat, who was now taking a nap in his lap, still purring loudly. "Maybe I should get a kitten."
"You can have mine."
"What?" Bakura asked, and there was that charmingly befuddled look again. Though, in fairness, he could hardly be more surprised by the words coming out of Marik's mouth than Mark was.
"I'm honestly not much of a cat person," Marik explained, the idea growing clear in his mind as he spoke. "And the two of you get along much better than she and I. So if you really wanted a kitten, you're welcome to Girl Cat."
"I can't take your cat," Bakura protested, and Marik sighed inwardly. People and their societal conventions – Bakura clearly liked the cat, very likely wanted the cat, and Marik was more than happy to give him the cat, but Bakura wouldn't take the cat because that would be rude, or something. Marik's Ghouls may have been a lot of things, immoral dicks being among the first two to come to mind, but at least they had been straight-forward to deal with.
"Then don't think of it as taking her, think of it as watching her for me indefinitely."
Bakura still looked doubtful, but before Marik could think of some further way to convince Bakura, Girl Cat took matters into her own hands. Paws. Whatever. She rolled over and blinked up at Bakura sleepily a few times and then let out a piteous meow. Bakura offered her his hand, which she happily rubbed up against. Bakura ducked his head and smiled softly at Girl Cat, before turning the slightly bashful and gently glowing look on Marik.
That just plain wasn't fair.
"I suppose I could watch her for you," Bakura said. "Of course you would be welcome to come visit her whenever you wanted to."
Marik looked down at the little terror, then looked up at Bakura. "I'm sure I'll be over a lot. Girl Cat might miss me otherwise." Girl Cat flicked one ear back toward Marik, and then flicked it away just a quickly. Oh yes, she was going to miss him horribly.
Bakura grinned. "Great! I really do need to go to the museum now, but maybe I could come by later and pick her up?"
"Sure thing." Marik hesitated for a second, then reminded himself that Bakura had said, or at least heavily implied, that the others considered him a friend. "You know, Ishizu got a lot of things for Girl Cat; maybe Yugi and the others could help us move it, if they aren't doing anything today?"
"That sounds like fun," Bakura enthused. "I'll call them from the museum and ask."
They sketched out some quick plans for later, and then parted ways, Bakura continuing on toward Domino Museum, and Marik debating whether he was up to dragging the contrary thing that he would soon be rid of home yet.
Girl Cat, meanwhile, was cleaning her paw and looking incredibly smug. No, not smug, Marik knew that look. That was the look of someone whose well-crafted plan had just fallen into place. That friggin' devil creature.
"Really? The whole thing?" Marik asked. Girl Cat looked up him, gave one slow blink as if to underscore just how completely insignificant she found him, and then went back to washing herself.
"Fine," Marik conceded after a minute, "a small temple. A shrine really. But I'm still calling you Girl Cat."
AN1: Friggin' FFN eats all my formatting. The actual title is [Insert Cat Pun Here]. The brackets are important, darn it.
AN2: Credit where it's due: Yu-Gi-Oh! comes from the brain of Kazuki Takahashi. Marik and Rishid owe at least a part of their personality here to LittleKuriboh and YGOTAS. Girl Cat's name, coat, and little red bandanna come from 'tiny little boy cat' on the Psych episode '9 Lives.' And finally the kitten climbing up a ladies skirt comes from the ations of my own little kittens Artemis and Tsukiyomi (Marik may not be that pretentious, but I sure as heck am).