"Anybody home?"
Ishizu wore a smile on her face and left the kitchen to greet her brother. "Look who's back..."
The jasmine-colored haired boy forced himself to return the smile. "Hi, Ishizu..." he said, trying to sound cheerful.
By the look on his sister's face, he did a very poor job.
"Is everything alright, Malik? Did something-"
"I'm perfectly fine, sister. I'm just a little bit tired..." he gave his sister a half-smile.
Ishizu shook her head. "Did you have dinner?" she said in a serious tone.
"Yes, yes, I did..." he responded, folding his arms on his chest, leaning on the cold white wall.
"In this case, go straight to bed, mister..." she said and kissed her brother softly on the forehead.
Malik simply shook his head and walked past the raven-haired woman, only to lock himself in his room.
Ishizu stared at the bedroom door for a few moments and then her eyes wandered at the big wall clock, Malik's old enemy. It was only eleven...
If she said she missed those nights were Malik came back at 4 am at best, she would lie.
Of course, she did wonder what had gotten into Malik the past few weeks and he was coming back so early at night. Lately, he was already in bed by midnight...!
Her little brother seemed more relaxed than ever and they hadn't got into a fight for a long time... so, she decided not to comment on his newest behavior pattern. If her brother was safe and happy... it was enough for her.
Besides, earlier attempts to try and talk to him usually ended up in lots of screaming...
Malik locked the door and threw the key on the bedside table. He got rid of his shirt, kicked off his shoes and then threw himself on the bed, burying his face in the pillow.
His plans for tonight included lots of drinking, getting laid with a random guy and coming back home the following morning... not necessarily in that order.
But you can't do that when a pair of large, dark purple eyes are stuck in your head now, can you?!
Lucky for him, Ishizu had chosen not to ask what had changed and Malik was coming home early lately. She also hadn't commented on the fact that he locked his bedroom door every single night for the past month.
But then again, maybe she had decided her brother deserved some privacy...
If she had the slightest suspicion of what was actually happening those nights in Malik's bedroom, she would throw a fit.
A similar to the one he should have thrown, the first time he saw Mariku climbing in through his bedroom window.
While Yugi and Ryou had accepted their yamis as part of their family -or in Ryou's case, as their only family- the thought of Mariku living with the Ishtars was terrifying to all of them. Ishizu was nearly certain that "letting him loose" was completely irresponsible on her behalf, but she wanted him as far away from Malik as possible.
Besides, Mariku seemed perfectly happy living with the Bakuras and surprisingly, so did they.
That night, the spiky-haired male was wounded. He climbed in through the window, obviously struggling to keep his balance and stared at the speechless Malik. He collapsed on the bed, holding his bleeding side.
"I don't have the strength to go all the way to Bakura's house..." he croaked, staring straight in the confused lavender eyes.
"But you had the strenght to climb through a third floor window?!" Malik gasped.
Mariku simply closed his eyes, instead of answering. Lucky for both of them, Ishizu and Rishido were outside, so Malik could patch him up without anybody finding out.
The tall yami fell asleep in his bed that night. Malik curled up next to him, still wondering what the hell was going on. When he opened his eyes the following morning, Mariku wasn't there.
While he was planning to put that short adventure behind him, apparently, his yami didn't.
When he came home the following night, he found Mariku on his bed, fooling around on his laptop.
"WHAT THE-"
"Don't yell..." he whispered. "Do you want Ishizu to find out I'm here?" a smirk appeared on his face.
"Malik...? Is everything okay?" his sister's voice filled his ears.
The tanned boy stared at the smirking male on his bed for a few moments. "Yes, everything is fine. I... saw a spider." he answered.
He locked the door and climbed on the bed. "A very big spider with ridiculous hair..." he muttered angrily.
The details were a bit blurry in his mind. He remembered that at some point that night, Mariku asked Malik to talk about himself. Did he protest? Did he give him a rude answer? He didn't remember.
He did talk about himself, though...
They stayed up all night, talking. An experience he never expected to share with his yami.
Mariku was gone a few hours after sunrise.
It was their silent agreement; Mariku would come back at midnight, every night. Malik would be locked in the room, in order to avoid Ishizu burging in. They would whisper strange things to each other, talk about their day. Sometimes they would watch a movie... or simply lay on the bed, silently, staring at each other.
Malik couldn't believe the fact that he was looking forward to seeing him every night...
He was the one that had initiated that first kiss... He had pulled Mariku closer and dragged him in a soft kiss. For a few moments, Mariku was dancing between confused and excited. In the end, he pushed Malik on the bed, holding him tightly, letting the boy fall deep in their kiss.
A few nights later, nearly every night, Malik had to bite his hands, trying to choke back his need to moan loudly, to yell his lover's name...
Mariku...
In the light of day, he was planning to tell Mariku to stop visiting and stay away from him. As night fell over Domino City, every inch of his body was aching for the yami's touch.
Was it his own need to stare deep in the strange, velvet purple eyes that scared him? Was it the realisation that like everyone else, his little psycho had feelings? Was it perhaps his reason, telling him he should hate him, instead of laughing at his strange, macabre humor and planting small kisses on his body?
He didn't know.
But he was scared.
He could never allow himself to get attached; especially to someone like Mariku. He wasn't getting attached... was he?
That night, for a change... he would follow his old habits. He would stay out all night, he would sleep with a random guy... he would ignore the thought of Mariku waiting for him alone in his bedroom...
He would prove to himself... that he did not care.
He found his "partner in crime" very fast. A very willing ex-boyfriend, who was still having naughty thoughts about Malik. Within an hour, they were already in his apartment, making out.
Every touch though... every second they came closer to actually having sex... felt like needles on his body. His lips on Malik's felt strange... the thought of this man thrusting inside him was disgusting.
"Stop..." he muttered at some point, pushing the man off him.
"What is it, Malik?"
He didn't answer. He jumped off the bed and put his shoes back on.
"Wh-MALIK!"
"I... I can't do this. I'm seeing someone... else..." he said abruptly, while putting his coat on.
The man stared at him in surprise. "If you... cared about that someone so much, Malik... you wouldn't be here with me..."
Malik buttoned up his coat and stared at the man on the bed. "If only that was true..."
He hid his face in his palms.
Stupid Mariku, finding his way in his bedroom... and his heart...
"Back so soon?"
He hadn't heard him coming in. He stared at his yami, who seemed, for some reason... furious.
"Mariku?"
His eyes were narrowed, filled with rage. His fists were tightened. He seemed ready to attack.
"Did you fuck him?" he growled.
"Did I... what?!"
With a quick jump, worthy of a feline, he was on Malik's bed. He grabbed the boy's wrists tightly and held him down.
"That man that took you to his apartment... did you fuck him?!" he hissed, staring straight in lavender eyes.
"That- wait, are you spying on me?!" he whispered, hoping Ishizu wouldn't hear them. That would be an interesting subject to discuss...
"I will hurt him..." Mariku growled, tightening his grip.
Malik knew it wasn't just empty words...
"You're hurting ME..." the smaller male whispered, examining the angry yami's eyes. His heart was beating fast. He had almost forgotten there was a time when he used to be afraid of Mariku...
To his surprise, Mariku loosened his grip. "Answer me..." he demanded. "Did you fuck?!"
"No."
"What do you mean "no"?" he mumbled.
"The opposite of yes."
"Don't play with me... please..." Mariku whispered, tangling his fingers with Malik's. Fury was evolving fast into... despair.
Maybe in reality... Mariku was more scared than he was...
"I didn't." he stated coldly.
"Why not?"
Was that... hope, in his eyes?
"Because you are an idiot and I hate you..."
The utter confusion on Mariku's face was priceless.
Malik sat up on the bed. Mariku was still over him, on his hands and knees, staring in confusion.
"No, I didn't fuck him. I meant to... and then I couldn't. Because apparently, my body can't accept anyone else!"
Mariku tilted his head.
"Because you're stupid and you made me..."
"Yes?" Mariku blinked fast a few times.
"You... oh, forget it..." he fell back on the bed, sinking in his pillow.
Mariku chuckled, his tongue escaping his lips. Malik sighed, shot himself up and licked his lover's tongue. "Enough with that tongue..." he muttered.
"But... miss tongue likes you..." he whispered and threw Malik back on the bed, lying on top of him. Malik giggled and immediately covered his mouth with his hand. The last thing he needed was Ishizu knocking on the door.
Mariku was holding him tightly. "Malik?"
"Yes?"
"Promise me you won't sleep with anyone else." he whispered.
"Why not?" Malik raised an eyebrow, smirking.
"Because the thought... hurts." Mariku responded, his eyes now fixed on his lips.
Malik stroked his chest. "What would you do if I did sleep with somebody else?" he whispered.
He never got an answer... but the look Mariku gave him, was enough.
There was a time when he thought his yami's eyes were completely empty of any sort of emotion.
At least any sort of good emotion.
Oh, how wrong he was...
He captured his yami's lips in his own. Their kiss was interrupted a few moments later, when there was a loud knock on the door.
"Malik?" Ishizu's voice reached their ears.
Mariku burried his face in Malik's chest, trying to hold himself from laughing out loud.
"Yes, sister?" Malik answered, squeezing Mariku on him, trying not to sound suspicious.
"Is everything alright? I heard a loud noise..." the young woman sounded worried.
"The window was jammed again... and I was trying to close it. That... was the noise you heard. And then... I was talking on the phone..." he said fast, trying to cover up any sort of noise his sister could have heard.
She was silent for some time.
"Are you sure that's it?" she responded, sounding suspicious.
"No, that's not it. My boyfriend sneaks in every night while you're asleep, but we're usually quiet. That's why you haven't heard anything so far..."
He could imagine the look on her face. "Right. Your sister is worried and you're fooling around."
"Goodnight, sister..." he said, squeezing Mariku on him more, assisting him on muffling the inevitable laughter.
"Goodnight... and stop giggling..." was the last thing she said, before walking away.
"Shush..." he whispered, trying to silence the laughing yami.
"You... are... crazy..." Mariku gasped.
"Coming from somebody like you...? Flattered..." Malik whispered and kissed his yami, silencing him for good.
And yet, Ishizu never knew a thing...