It was a chilly autumn night, and Hariko sat content upon the sofa, engrossed in a horror movie. She was cocooned in a thick mink blanket next to Marik, one of her two roommates, as they both stared wide-eyed at the screen. Friday night was their designated horror night, but presently there were two participants where there should have been three. Bakura, the third roommate had gone out clubbing with his university friends, none of which the other two had met. Hariko was hurt, to say the least – she and Bakura had always been incredibly close, but now he was drifting away from her. Recently, he had been bringing girls home, and Hariko had awoken to a stranger in the kitchen sipping coffee from her favorite mug. Why did it always have to be her mug?
The truth was, she had loved Bakura ever since they had become roommates, but he had friend zoned her somewhere along the way. Hariko jumped as Marik cried out and threw his arms around her, burying his face into her neck in fright to shield himself from the screen in her thick hair. She tore her eyes from the screen to briefly study his quivering form. Why couldn't she have fallen for him instead? He was beautiful in looks and personality, and pure-hearted, despite the evil phase they had all endured a few years prior.
"Hariko?" she felt Marik's whisper against her neck. "Aren't you scared too?"
She snorted, though in truth her heart was beating at a hundred miles per hour. This movie was the scariest movie she had seen yet! However, her tough pretense was shattered when the front door burst open and Bakura stormed through, pulling a petit girl along behind him. Both Hariko and Marik yelped in fright, the former falling off the couch as Marik attempted to bury himself in the cushions behind her.
Hariko quickly recovered and sat upright just as Bakura initiated a rather steamy make-out session with his new friend. She watched with wide eyes as they fell against the wall. She ripped her watery gaze from them and searched for something else to occupy her eyes. There was Marik's shivering form, planted beneath the cushions on the couch. No, that would not suffice. Then she spotted Bakura's leather jacket strewn across the floor. In it was his phone, wallet and keys to the motorbike. She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and sprang up from the heap of blankets on the floor. She quickly ducked to retrieve Bakura's jacket – thankfully without him noticing – and raced to the door.
"I'm heading to Duke's!" she called over her shoulder, only receiving Marik's cry of "Wait! Don't leave me!" in reply as she slammed the door behind her. She threw the leather jacket over her shoulders and laced up her boots before mounting the large motorcycle. Fishing through Bakura's pockets, she grasped his keys and slid them into the ignition, setting the engine to life with a loud roar. She then kicked the stand back and pushed the bike forward, surging forward into the dark streets towards Duke's house.
In the morning, Hariko awoke to a soft and unfamiliar bed in the middle of a dark room. She peered around the room, examining the ebony walls plastered with posters and the black shaggy carpet that covered the wall. In the corner of the room sat a large stereo system and a desk complete with a widescreen computer. She smiled serenely as recognition came upon her and she turned to see a head of dark hair strewn about the pillow beside her. She looked down to see Duke's arms wrapped loosely around her and his body pressed lightly to her side. She reached over and tussled Duke's thick locks. He stirred and looked up to reveal a pair of startling green eyes. She smiled at him.
"Hey handsome," she taunted. He snorted and shook himself awake. They both sat up, collecting their memories of the previous night. Every time Hariko needed to be comforted, she would flee to Duke's house. He was her best friend of sorts, and his flirtatious ways were always lost on her. He flirted with anything and everything that moved.
"Morning beautiful," he replied, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "You'd better get going; it's already ten. Bakura's going to be furious when you get back," he said and Hariko nodded. It was standard procedure that whenever she went to Duke's house and stayed the night, she'd get a good yelling at from Bakura when she arrived home.
"Mm I know," she hummed, stepping out of the sheets and stripping from Duke's large buttoned shirt. He kept it reserved just for her and her impromptu visits. She pulled on her clothes from the night before, including Bakura's jacket and set towards the door. Duke watched her go, still entangled in the sheets and not bothering to see her off. They'd done this too many times for formalities.
"See you," he called with a lazy wave of his hand. She raised her hand and, with a flick of her wrist, waved goodbye.
Once again, Hariko mounted the bike and pushed it fluently into a roaring speed back towards her home. She dreaded the reception Bakura would give her upon her arrival, and planned to hide behind Marik. He was her shield, as she often was to him, and they could rely on each other all the time.
The trip back home seemed much too short. Soon enough, Hariko was dismounting before the house and slipping quietly up the driveway. She carefully put the key into the lock and turned it gently, trying not to make a sound. The door opened and she slipped in silently, closing it behind her. She was half way to the stairs when a tired and half naked Bakura appeared at the top of them. It was clear that he'd just woken up. Hariko abruptly dove behind the sofa, watching as Bakura and his friend entered the kitchen.
"Yes!" she whispered and removed her shoes. If she were to pass undetected, she'd do it now. Once her shoes were off, she darted for the stares, barely making a sound.
"Hariko!"
She stopped dead in her tracks. Bakura was leaning against the kitchen door, watching her with great amusement. She slowly turned to smile sweetly at him, feigning ignorance.
"Yes Bakura?"
"Come. I must talk with you," he demanded, gesturing for her to follow as he retreated back into the kitchen. Hariko briefly pondered her chances of escaping up the stairs, but it was useless. Bakura had seen her now, and he knew that she'd been to Duke's house. This would have to happen some time. So reluctantly, she followed and perched herself on the kitchen bench as she watched Bakura go about making himself breakfast. She took this time to study the woman that Bakura had brought home, who was sitting patiently at the table reading a magazine. She was beautiful, indeed, with long brown hair and vivid blue eyes. She felt her heart drop: if this was Bakura's standard in women, then she could never compete.
"I told you not to go to Duke's house ever again, Hariko. So why did you disobey me?" Bakura said suddenly, pulling Hariko's attention to him. His tone was calm, but she could detect the underlying agitation in his words. Bakura didn't much like being disobeyed, but he had to learn that Hariko was not his subordinate. She sat up straight and leveled his glare.
"You talk as if I'm your child. I'm not you child, nor do I have to follow your orders! I am a fully grown woman with the right to do as I please."
Bakura growled to his friend to leave, and she abruptly stood, bid him goodbye, thanked him, and left. Hariko watched Bakura as the woman left, and found him staring after her. Hariko glared at him, and his gaze darkened in return.
"Duke is bad news, Hariko. When are you going to get that through your thick skull?"
"He is not! He's been kinder to me than you've ever been, and for your information, I'm not sleeping with him!" she cried. Bakura stalked forward and slammed his hands on the bench either side of Hariko's legs. He glared daggers at her, but she neither flinched nor cowered. She was not afraid of him.
"I implied nothing of the sort. But you haven't answered my question yet: why did you disobey me?"
Hariko pushed herself from the bench and slid forward to stand on her feet. She defiantly pushed Bakura away and started for the stairs, but Bakura had caught her wrist before she could move more than two steps from him.
"Tell me, Hariko!"
Hariko spun round to glower furiously at him. She stalked towards him, poking her finger into his chest.
"Do you think I want to see the make-out sessions you have with your little friends every time you bring one home? Do you honestly think I can't hear you at night? My room is right next to yours for God's sake!"
"So what? Marik doesn't care," Bakura shouted back. You growled and slapped him square across the face. He was stunned for a moment, and so were you. You were both breathing heavily from exasperation, but you were the first to break the awkward silence. You cleared your voice and pulled away from him.
"And you called me thick. If you haven't figured it out by now, then you're truly oblivious. I fucking love you, okay?"
Hariko stormed away, leaving a stunned Bakura in her wake and an anxious Marik peering into the kitchen. He had heard every bit.
It was Marik's turn to yell at Bakura this time; Hariko could hear him from her room. She'd been locked in her room ever since her little screaming match with Bakura that morning.
"How was I supposed to know?" she heard Bakura growl defensively. She sighed and rolled over onto her stomach on the bed. A few more incoherent words were shouted before Marik calmed down.
"I guess the only question we really need to be asking is: do you love her?"
Hariko cursed to God that she could not see Bakura's response. He hadn't spoken – had he nodded or shaken his head then? "Well go up there and tell her. End this bloody suspense and put her out of her misery."
Hariko froze; she heard Bakura's heavy steps echo through the corridor and come to a halt outside her door. She was silent, waiting for him to say something. She could hear the intense thrum of her heartbeat in her ears as she waited.
"Hariko, let me in," Bakura said, his voice a broken murmur. She deliberated his request for a moment, but decided that she would rather not be rejected to the face. She sat up on the bed.
"No. Say whatever it is you have to say out there or don't say it at all," she said stubbornly. She could hear Bakura gritting his teeth and a loud thump sounded against the door.
Bakura stood with his clenched fists pressed to the door and teeth gritted in annoyance. Why did she have to be so stubborn? He'd come to give her closure – news that she'd surely like – but she wouldn't let him in!
"I want to see your face when I say what I have to say," he reasoned. But his rather ill phrased reasoning angered Hariko.
"Are you so masochistic, so evil, that you'd want to see my pain when you reject me? That's just sick, Bakura!"
Bakura hesitated; so she thought he had come to reject her. Well, it was quite the opposite. Bakura had loved her for a long time now – she was his precious girl, one that even he refrained to touch for fear of harming her. The reason that he hated Duke so much was because he was jealous of him. Why did Hariko choose to go to Duke for comfort when she already had him and Marik?
"Hariko, you too might regret it if you force me to say what I have to say out here. Just let me in, even if I stand at the door. You don't have to look at me, but I need to say this to you, not the door."
Defeated, Hariko slowly shuffled to the door and unlocked it, leaving Bakura to open it as she retreated back to her bed. Bakura stepped through and shut the door behind him, watching Hariko as she perched on the end of her bed and waited for him to speak, her back facing him. Bakura took a breath and began.
"The reason I get so upset when you go to Duke is because I'd much rather you came to me. I want to comfort you – I can't stand seeing you upset. I wish you'd let me love you," he said. Hariko straightened and turned her face slightly so that Bakura could see one of her eyes, sparkling with unshed tears.
"You love me?" she ventured, not quite sure whether Bakura's speech had been a confession of love or not. Bakura, to her joy, nodded. In an instant, Hariko had jumped from the bed and raced into Bakura's embrace, burying her face deep into his chest. Bakura's deep chuckle resounded through her own body too. His arms encircled her and she gripped him tighter. She felt his warmth spread over her and reveled in the lover's embrace. It was something she knew Bakura rarely indulged in, and she felt truly special that it was now reserved only for her. Suddenly, she felt Bakura's fingers cradle her chin and pull it upwards so that she looked to him. She faltered as she stared at his eyes, looking down at her with such affection. He regarded her with an affectionate mirth shining in his dark eyes.
"Don't go to Duke's house any more. You have me now," he murmured to her, stroking her thick hair from her face. Hariko pressed her cheek to his palm and stared up at him with the same amusement as he.
"Only if you don't bring home any more strangers," she replied with a gentle smug smile. Bakura chuckled and nodded.
"Deal."
