Disclaimer: I don't own YuGiOh.
Pairing: Bakura/Mana
AN: This was supposed to be a companion piece to Chocolate Black, but I didn't like it and abandoned it. Now I don't even know what it is - some kind of strange prequel? Please don't ask...just review!
The path she took to work led her by their old apartment every night; she hurried by, but always glanced up at the window, wondered if he ever saw her - did he ever run down those flights of stairs, all the way out to the street, hoping to catch her and apologize, only to find her gone already? But he wouldn't do that. He would rather cut off his own tongue than apologize, admit that he was wrong.
That pride was what had attracted her to him in the first place, the cocky "I rule the world" aura he gave off. In private, when it was just the two of them, he was more bearable.
'Stop thinking about him,' she told herself sternly, tugging on the end of one of her braids - something she did when she was impatient or irritated. She remembered Bakura teasing her for it, when they had first met.
"It's not going anywhere, you know," he said, his dark eyes glittering in amusement. Reaching for her hand, his smile dazzled her just long enough that she wasn't able to stop him from first kissing her hand, then securing it tightly in his own - presumably to stop her from playing with her hair.
She stared down at their entwined hands, her cheeks flushing, then quickly looked away. When was the last time someone had held her hand? She frowned a little as she thought - the last time she could remember was when her parents walked her to the car after she graduated from college.
'Wow. Talk about your inactive love life.'
She winced, then laughed at the expression on Bakura's face; he looked like he was going to explode, but from nerves or excitement she couldn't tell. Looked like she wasn't the only one whose social life was slower than average.
Mana sighed and shook her head. Remembering stuff like that did her no good now. Not after...that. She glanced quickly at the oncoming traffic and, with a devil-may-care grin, dove headfirst into it, running and dodging until she was safely on the opposite sidewalk. She flipped her braids over one shoulder, giving the honking driver nearest to her a sassy smile and flipping him the bird.
If she wanted to risk her life running across a major thoroughfare, who were they to tell her no?
She flew through the door of KaibaCorp's downtown offices, startling a few people waiting in line and perched on the uncomfortable-chic plastic chairs. Ignoring their indignant murmurs, she hurried into the back room, where she changed into her stiff blue-and-white work uniform and pinned her hair up in a painful, sophisticated bun before heading to her six hours of service.
For good pay, of course, otherwise she'd have quit in a heartbeat.