Saturday

"Bakura. Bakura. " Shake, shake, "Bakura. " shake shake. I sighed and started counting to ten. One. Two. "Bakura. " Three. Four. Shake, shake. Five! Six! "Ba-"

"What?"

I opened an eye to see Ishtar leaned over me. Usually the only way I could tell he was blushing was because his cheeks darkened. His cheeks were so red now they were glowing right through his complexion, "I need you to get up now. "

"Why?"

His face got impossibly more red, "Because the bathroom's more than three feet away, and as much as you'd probably like to make fun of me for it, I don't think you'd enjoy laying in a wet bed for whatever extra sleep you might get. "

I sighed and flipped the covers off. He led me to the bathroom across the hall and I turned around while he took care of business, then we switched places. We washed our hands at the same time and he wouldn't look at me, his face still a stunning mocha-scarlet. I rolled my eyes, "You had to piss, it's not like you jacked off. It's a natural occurrence, quit blushing. "

He looked scandalized, his jaw dropping open, "How do you just say stuff like that?"

I smirked, "I open my mouth and words come out; it's called talking. Surely you've engaged in the act on occasion. "

He glowered and looked away, "I only talk with Ryou, and things like that never come up in conversation. "

"You don't curse? Ever?"

"Of course I do. But not- It's just... That's different!"

"Bodily functions don't bother me. It's like being embarrassed to breathe: utterly pointless. "

He shut off the faucet as I opened the door and I saw him stick his tongue out at my back through the mirror. I smirked and didn't comment on it as we went back to the room. He lagged a bit, "Do you want to go back to sleep?"

"Not really, I'm up now. "

"Okay, then do you want to get out of here?"

I perched on the bare mattress, "Why and where?"

He started going through drawers and pulling out sketch books, "Well, my siblings ate the last of the food last night, so there's nothing to eat in the house. So if you're hungry, we'll have to go out to eat. And I kind of promised someone I'd go by their place today and drop off some of my work. "

"You have a job?"

"No. " he paused, "Well, not really. It's complicated. " he ended up with a stack of five tablets and looked over at me, "Ready to go?"

I stood up and motioned for him to lead the way, "Whatever. "

The living room and kitchen were empty, but I figured his father was home by the way he had us sneaking towards the door. It was like a weight lifted off him once we were outside, and his shoulders lifted.

I looked at the little red car in the driveway and raised an eyebrow at him, "We're taking that?"

Ishtar shook his head, "No, we're walking. " he faltered, "Unless you have a problem with that? I don't have my own vehicle, the red one's Odion's and he'll need it later, and the black one's my father's. "

I shrugged and wisely kept my mouth shut about taking his father's car, "Walking's fine. "

I dropped back a bit and let him lead the way with our chain, my right hand in my pocket as I got out my phone with my left. It was still shut off from yesterday because I hadn't wanted it going off while I was waiting for Ishtar to come by the closet. I turned it back on and saw my messages start to pile up, with a final tally of thirty-six.

I rolled my eyes and began going through them. Most -all but one- were from Thief.

Enjoying your quality time together? 8:23 p. m.

What the hell? Where are you? 11:54 p. m.

It's midnight, where are you at? 12:00 a. m.

You're not in the closet. 12:02 a. m.

WHY are you not in the closet? 12:04 a. m.

Did someone let you out of the closet? 12:06 a. m.

Did you come out of the closet on your own? 12:07 a. m.

Admittedly, it wouldn't be the 1st time. 12:08 a. m.

I'm rambling, aren't I? 12:09 a. m.

Are you okay? 12:14 a. m.

Bakura, I'm serious. 12:25 a. m.

Answer me, dammit! 12:29 a. m.

You're nowhere else in the school. 12:31 a. m.

I know, I've checked. 12:35 a. m.

If you don't answer me, I'm stealing your car to look for you. 1:08 a. m.

Seriously, are you alright? 1:11 a. m.

I know it's bad when you don't respond to a threat to your car. 1:23 a. m.

Okay, you're not around our neighborhood. 1:56 a. m.

Not at Malice's. He's a little pissed at being woken up. 2:28 a. m.

What hospital are you in? 2:41 a. m.

You don't even have your phone on, do you? 3:30 a. m.

Text me back as soon as you get this, or any, message. 3:32 a. m.

I'm going to be one of those crazy people that leaves 60 texts until you answer. 3:40 a. m.

Okay, maybe not that many. 3:58 a. m.

But I will keep bugging you until you respond! 4:02

If you're okay, I'm going to kill you. 5:15 a. m.

Painfully. 5:16 a. m.

Bakura, it's six in the morning, where the hell are you? 6:01 a. m.

I've been up all night waiting for you. 6:05 a. m.

Okay, I'm sorry for locking you in the closet, and I won't kill you. 6:31 a. m.

Bakura! Answer me! 6:42 a. m.

PLEASE! 6:43 a. m.

Last warning. 6:47 a. m.

Fine! I give up. 6:50 a. m.

How'd it go yesterday? -Malice 7:03 a. m.

I opened Malice's message. Backfired. Thief locked me in a closet with Ishtar. We're stuck 2gether til M. -Bakura 7:35 a. m.

Sucks to be you. -Malice 7:36 a. m.

*Smirk* Sucks worse to be Thief. -Bakura 7:37 a. m.

*Hands up* Staying out of it! -Malice 7:38 a. m.

I took a few minutes to go into my phone's camera function -taking a picture of my handcuffed wrist, middle finger prominently displayed- before finally replying to Thief, drafting my messages to I could quickfire them off.

One: Fuck you. -Bakura 7:45 a. m.

Two: pic -Bakura 7:45 a. m.

Three: I'm fine, I should see you in school monday. -Bakura 7:46 a. m.

Four: I'm going back to ignoring you now. -Bakura 7:46 a. m.

And with that, I shut my phone back off. I looked up to see we were in Domino City proper. Despite it being early in the morning, cars were buzzing past on the pale gray streets, towering skyscrapers reflecting the weak sunlight off one another.

We walked in silence, watching the scenery change as we went. I recognized the Kame game shop owned by the Moto family, and six blocks down, the abandoned Black Clown gaming shop. The owner of the Black Clown was serving like a decade in prison for the attempted murder of the Moto shop's owner's grandson. His guardian and grandfather in prison, Duke Devlin was actually living with the Motos, who he was friends with.

We passed by the intimidating Kaiba Corp. building, not a block away from Waking Dragons Industries, and another two blocks over from Industrial Illusions. I was familiar with the heads of all three of the companies: Gozaburo for Kaiba Corp, Dartz for Waking Dragons, and Pegasus for Industrial Illusions. I dug my hands deeper in my pockets and was glad when we left the area behind.

We went past a glass-sided dance studio and I recognized one of our school mates through the window: Tea Gardner. She looked like she had Wheeler's little sister and that snobbish bitch, Valentine, with her, too. None of them noticed us as we walked by.

After more than an hour of walking, I could tell we were getting close to our destination. Marik was getting antsier and antsier, practically vibrating in place every time we had to stop at a crosswalk. At one point I had to grab his arm to keep him from getting splattered by a car that ignored the stoplight, "Watch it!"

He looked down with a half-panicked expression, "You're touching me again. "

"I'm holding your arm, not snogging you. Get over it. "

"Okay, now please let go. "

I removed my fingers one by one, enunciating every action, and held my hand out away from him, "I don't want to be chained to a dead body until the paramedics get here with the jaws of life. "

"Er, sorry. " he turned away and I could have sworn I saw him hit his forehead with the books he carried.

My patience was waning, "Where exactly are you dragging me to?"

He pointed up ahead, "There. "

In the middle of a Y intersection was a huge storefront with all sorts of crazy designs in the windows. On top of it was a huge spinning icon of neon green, some kind of arcane symbol. And underneath the icon were the words 'The Seal of Orichalcos Ink(c. )' and I raised a brow, "You're taking me to... a tattoo shop?"

Marik turned around with a big smile and started walking backwards, "Uh-huh! I usually come here with Ryou at least twice a month. I have to drop these off, then we can get something to eat. " he held up his books.

I held my breath as he led us through traffic, backwards, only breathing again when we were safely at the foot of the shop, my heart beating entirely too enthusiastically to suit me. I glared down at him, "Don't do that again. "

He looked at me in confusion, "What?"

"That-that... " I waved my hand back to way we'd come.

"Oh!" his cheeks darkened, "Yeah, Ryou doesn't like it when I do that, either. " he opened the door for me to go in first and I glared at him until he shrugged and went in.

An arm dropped around his shoulders and he immediately shrugged out from under it, "Marik! There you are! See, I said he'd come in today. I told you he didn't have the sketches yesterday. " the redhead turned to us and started walking backwards -huh, so that's where he'd learned that from- whispering, "Please tell me you brought the sketches. "

He held up the books, "I've got them, Alister. "

The redhead relaxed, "Good. Who's the Terminator-esque Ryou clone you've got there?"

Ishtar winced and turned to me, "Bakura, this is Alister. And the tall stoic blond in the back, there, is Raphael. Alister, Raphael, this is Bakura Tozokuo. As you can see, we're sort of stuck together for the weekend. "

'Alister' grabbed a chair from behind him right before he was set to walk into it, and flipped it around so he could sit on it backwards, "Well, there are worse fates than being chained to you for a few days. "

I was surprised when Marik smirked and came right back with, "Yeah, like being chained to you for a few days. "

The redhead held a hand to his chest, "You wound me!"

"You'll live... unfortunately. "

"Marik, you rude little thing. One could almost think you don't care about me!"

"If only you were one of the ones that thought that. "

There was a moment of silence before they both started laughing. I watched as the super-humanly tall, tan, blond giant came over, wearing sunglasses, and peered down at us, "It's nice to meet you, Bakura; good to see you again, Marik. "

Ishtar nodded and tried to peer around the giant in excitement, "You, too. Where's Valon?"

Alister shrugged and hid his face behind his arms on the back of the chair, "He's not in yet. "

Marik deflated, "Oh... "

Raphael went back to... whatever he'd originally been doing, "But he should be here-"

"Now. " the redhead finished as the sound of a garage door opening and a motorcycle engine cutting off was heard through the shop.

Marik perked back up instantly and would have tried to drag me through the parlor if I hadn't moved to keep up with him. He took us back into a garage that had a blue convertible and a tricked out motorcycle that had just stopped. The Egyptian's face lit up, "Valon!"

The black helmet came off, unleashing a furious crop of brown spikes on the unsuspecting world, as the stranger beamed right back, "Marik! There ya are. Where ya been, mate?" was that an Australian accent? The blue eyes flicked my way and both eyebrows hid under a pair of goggles, "Oi, Ryou, when did you grow a foot in height and get a badass transplant?"

I smirked as Marik looked back at me, "This is Bakura. Bakura, this is Valon. "

He got off the bike, put his helmet under his arm and held his hand out to me, "Hey, there, mate. "

He was as short as the Egyptian next to me. I held out my hand, "Hello. "

Valon looked at Marik in question again, "He even sounds like Ryou. We both live in Japan, Marik. You ever going to introduce me to anyone Japanese?"

Ishtar rubbed the back of his head, "Er... foreigners need to stick together?"

Valon withdrew his hand and smirked, "Good save, mate. Now I know you didn't come here just to introduce me to your friend here, let's get some work done. "

After a wary glance my way and noticing I didn't correct the misconception, he nodded and turned back towards the shop, "Gladly. I brought plenty to go through. There should be something good. "

We moved to a table with four chairs, Alister already sitting in one. Marik sat down and splayed out his work books, him and Valon both starting in on something I couldn't even translate. Alister shook his head and turned to me, "Ignore them, they'll be lost in it for at least an hour before they come up for air. So. Bakura. "

"What?"

"What do you think of the shop?"

I looked around, it was dimly lit, had warm colors, with some interesting sigils graffiti'd in glowing paints on the walls at odd places and angles. I nodded, "It's cool. " I looked at him and noticed something that had changed since being in the garage, "What's on your forehead?"

He smiled at me, "Finally noticed that, did ya? It's the shop's insignia: the Seal of Orichalcos. This green ink is our shop's specialty, it glows in black light. You don't even notice it, but that's what's making the wall glyphs glow. We all have one: me and Raph and Valon, but Valon and I have to cover ours during school hours. "

"You're students?"

"Yep. And I assume you are, too, since you're still in your uniform. "

"Yeah, not much choice about that. Didn't this place used to be the Mark of the Rose?" I'd heard about that shop, this one I hadn't.

"It did, and we worked here while it was. When the owner put her up for sale, Raph and us went in as three-way partners to buy it out. We struggled for a while, until we stumbled upon Marik. He was drawing something arcane for Ryou and we all liked the design. We bought it from him, then came up with the idea to make it our logo. "

"Marik came up with the seal... thing?"

"Yeah, he told Ryou he thought it looked, I'm quoting here, 'magickier' than a pentacle. "

I smirked an held in a chuckle, "Go on. "

"Most of our drawings were older and associated with the previous shop, so we went back to see if Marik had any more he'd be willing to part with. Should have been careful what we asked for, I guess. "

I recalled the thousands of pages pasted in his room, "He come in with a stack of books?"

"Stacks upon stacks. He'd just been sketching for years with no one to appreciate them, and we snatched them up. Now he's technically employed here as a consultant. But really, he's our flash artist. "

"Flash?"

"Yeah, premade tattoos. " he motioned to all the designs on the walls in frames, "Lots of people come in and pick something they like off the wall of flash for us to tattoo. That happens alot with impulse tattoos. "

My attention was caught by an aggravated huff, "It's a wire, Valon. It can be moved. Who's to say there wasn't a box sitting on it for a day or two?"

"Physics shouldn't be sacrificed for aesthetics, Marik. "

"It's called 'creative licence'. Watch, give me the pen. "

Alister caught my gaze and rolled his eyes, "See what I have to deal with? They're always like this. "

"Does Marik want to be a tattooist?"

He looked surprised, "No, this is just practice for him. He didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"You saw Valon's bike?"

I shrugged, "Not well. "

He got up and went through some drawers, coming back with a picture and handing it to me. I took it, wondering what he wanted to show me. Wisps of white smoke or fog, highlighted with silver, covered the black gas tank, the seal in a glowing-looking non-glowing paint at the front with the name of the shop going down the middle behind the seal. Sitting on the bike, leaned over it with a fine airbrush to work on some detailing, was Marik.

I looked back up, "He did all that?"

"Uh-huh. It's his dream to detail motorcycles. Which is probably why he and Valon are so close. Valon's our mechanical tattoo expert. Machinery, gears," he looked over at the two bent over a sketchpad, "wires, whatever, those are all Valon's area. Marik's learning all about how to handle cycles from him. He'll probably be able to build his own by the time they're through. "

I looked over to see them trading a pen back and forth and talking in hushed voices over what was apparently a composite sketch that had at least one wire in it, "No, he didn't tell me that. "

Alister looked over at them as well, then smirked, "Watch this. Marik, your hair's on fire!" there was no response. He turned back to me, "See? It's like we're not even here. " Valon looked up and smirked before going back to what they were doing.

I shook my head, "So what does the Aussie get out of it?"

"Valon? He gets someone to talk mechanics with, since Raph and I just tune him out when he tries it with us. He also gets free body work, and a thorough lecture, every time he scuffs the paint on his bike, which happens on a surprisingly frequent basis. "

"So... Marik's trying to get a motorcycle?"

"Yeah, he's been saving for I don't even know how long. He starts talking about it, then Valon has to share his opinions, then they start in on what it has to have and not have, and how it's going to look, and at that point, Ryou and I usually get out a deck of cards and start playing; ready for the long haul. "

"And you're all friends?"

He leaned back and glanced away, his face becoming shadowed, "Well, I'm not really sure you could say that. I'd consider Marik my friend, but I don't think he'd say the same. He's very... closed off. Makes me wonder sometimes what he's hiding under that smile of his. Aside from his drawings and his passion for motorcycles, what do I really know about him?

"I don't think he opens up to anyone, besides maybe Ryou. Valon is probably the closest thing to what he'd consider a friend, and I'm not sure if even he actually qualifies. "

The conversation was interrupted by a gurgling sound and everyone looked to the blushing Egyptian who was studiously gazing at the floor. Valon looked the most surprised, "What was that? You're usually able to go for a good couple hours before that timer goes off. "

Marik's blush deepened, "We're short on supplies at home, so we skipped breakfast. "

Yes, I suppose 'out of' qualifies as 'short on', if you want to look at it that way. Valon sighed, "Why didn'tcha jus' say somethin', mate?"

The giant finished, or at least quit, with whatever he was doing and came over. Alister got up and kicked the chair he'd been sitting on, miraculously sending it skidding across the floor to where he'd first plucked it from, "Let's go talk over an early lunch. Or late breakfast as it is. "

Marik nodded and closed the sketch book they'd been working on, "Sounds good. " he led the way outside with the others following us, walking -forward, thankfully- just across the street and opening the glass door to -if the sign overhead was to be trusted- the Cat's Ear Tribe Cafe.

Raphael moved over to a table and raised his hand, "It's on me. "

The brunette behind the counter -who, as the name of the place implied, had a pair of cat ears on her head- turned around, saw Marik, and squealed, throwing her upper body across the counter, "Marik-chan! It's so good to see you!"

The egyptian looked hassled and squished, but not like he was about to have a panic attack, "A-arigato, Maenae-chan. Can you please... let go... now?" Then again...

She released him and rested her elbows on the counter, "Where's my beloved Ryou-chan?"

"Sorry, he's not with me this time. Um, this is Bakura. "

She glanced my way before apparently dismissing me, "Uh-huh. So Ryou-kun's home today?"

"Uh, no. He's out, I just couldn't go with him. Err, may we order now?"

She stood back up and nodded, "Right, sorry. What can I get you, minna-chan?"

Valon and Alister bookended Marik so the girl would notice them, "Two burgers with everything on them, a cheese burger with tomato but no lettuce or onions, extra pickles. Two large sodas, an orange juice, and a caramel frap with no whipcream and extra chocolate sauce. "

Valon shoved his friend aside, "Two orders of chicken salad with orange slices, five orders of fries, and a vanilla frap with extra whip cream and no caramel or chocolate. "

The girl sighed and put her hands on her hips, "You know we don't have burgers here. "

"No, but we know you have connections just up the street, Maenae-chan... And poor Marik here hasn't eaten anything yet today. Just look at him, wasting away!" Alister nudged the egyptian, who glared at him, silently sighed and, cheeks heating, looked up through his bangs pitifully at the girl.

She turned her head away in apparent disgust, "Oh, alright! You win! Now go sit down, you trouble-makers!" when Valon and Alister left, she turned to me, "What about you? Some sort of burger as well, right? You look like a carnivore. "

I shrugged, "Whatever is fine. "

Marik nudged me, "It's fine, order whatever you want. "

I rolled my eyes, "Three cheese burgers with onions and ketchup, but none of the other shit. And a large soda. "

She nodded and wrote it all down, turning to Marik. He smiled, "I'll have-"

"A large salad with radishes and onions and as much fruit as can be fit in it without being called a fruit salad, no dressings or vinaigrettes, a medium soda, a small fry, and a mocha frappachino with an extra shot of espresso, extra whipped cream, and no caramel sauce. " she winked, "Is that about right, Marik-chan?"

"Don't forget the-"

"Marshmallon. How could I?"

"Am I really that predictable?"

"For having the same order nearly every weekend for four months running? Just a little. "

He leaned over the counter a bit, "Have you finally mastered the machine yet?"

She closed her little notepad and turned away, "Special order!" throwing it to another girl that nodded and went out, "Just see for yourself. "

We stood there watching as she went through the motions again and again, setting drink after drink on the counter. When they were all lined up, she went to a glass-doored cabinet and came back with two pink things, one she held out to me. I took it warily, it had eyeballs, "What is it?"

"It's a Marshmallon. One of our best sellers. First-time customers get one for free. " she turned back to my partner, "Well?"

He picked up his drink and held it next to his arm, scrutinizing, before smiling up at her, "Exactly the right color. Finally got the hang of the espresso machine, did you?"

"Turns out it's not actually evil, merely misunderstood. I still don't think I make them quite as good as you did, but I've gotten no complaints lately. "

I looked over at Ishtar in shock, "You worked here?" I looked back and forth between the skirt with a tail all the other -female- servers were wearing.

He stared down at the counter, "Yeah, all summer. Ryou and I both did. "

I was about to comment on that when the other girl came back with the food and took it to the table. Ishtar grabbed all the drinks carefully and moved over the the crowded little table, forcing me to follow. I sat down while Alister and Valon fought over the bags and argued, taking things out and setting them in front of the people who'd ordered them.

Two burgers and an orange juice were set beside Raphael, while Alister had only one, but stole two orders of fries. Valon took one of the sodas I was certain the redhead had ordered, my own food somehow winding up in front of me in the mad shuffle.

The aussie threw an extra french fry at Alister, "Still watching your girly figure? Maybe you should cut back on the fries and try a salad. "

"Screw you, and shut up. If I wanted rabbit food, I'd have ordered it. Potatos are a vegetable. "

"Yeah, I don't think it counts when they're deep-fried and covered in salt. "

I held out the share that had been placed in front of me, "I didn't order any chips if someone else wants them. " They all looked at me until I scowled, "What?"

Valon flushed, "Sorry, mate, so used to getting an extra one for Ryou, and you look so similar, I jus' forgot you weren't him. "

I shrugged and put them back down. No point in wasting free food. I unwrapped and tucked into my first burger. Alister dug in the last bag and brought out the salads, "Which of these is yours?"

"The ones that look like an actual salad instead of a display of the best of the produce section at the supermarket. "

Marik scrunched his nose at his friend, "Mine's the one that looks like you can actually taste the food instead of all the slime used to cover it. If you hate the taste of salad so much, Valon, maybe you should try a burger. "

Taking the high road, Valon stuck out his tongue, "Be quiet and eat your garden. Give me my salad. "