Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, never have, and never will. I do, however, own Maria Tsuconnichi or Tsucci for short. Rei belongs to my best friend, and I own this plot and the plot to the story that this is a sequel to.

Summary: Sequel to Different Classes. 5,000 years after the events in Different Classes, the whole group is reunited in Domino. Will history repeat itself, or will things be totally different? By the way, this takes place after Battle City.

… time and scene change

"Blah" talking

'Blah' thinking

2222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222

Becoming Equals

Bakura shut the door and turned off the main light, his bedside lamp the only source of light left. Climbing up onto his bed, he carefully maneuvered Maria under the covers and joined her after turning off his lamp. He lay there for a while, unable to sleep even though he was exhausted. Trying to figure out why, Bakura jumped when he felt Maria cuddle up to him in the darkness.

'Oh, that's why. I'm not used to having someone sleep beside me,' Bakura realized. Wrapping his arms around Maria, he soon drifted off to sleep.

…

The next morning, Maria stirred and woke up, wondering where she was. Going to get up, she froze as she just now felt the arms around her waist holding her down. Not stopping to think about the situation or trying to find the identity of the person, she panicked and started trying to get out of the grip.

Bakura was just starting to stir from the movements, so his eyes were still closed. Unfortunately, that meant he didn't see the elbow…"Ow!" Bakura exclaimed, sitting up and clamping a hand to his nose.

Maria stopped her struggling since Bakura had let her go and slowly turned. Seeing Bakura with his eyes squeezed shut, holding his nose, she sat up. "Bakura, what happened?" she asked.

Bakura opened his eyes and glared at Maria. "I wath thleeping, and you went and elbowed me in the nothe!" he growled angrily.

Maria giggled. "You can't say your s' very well, can you?" she laughed but then fell silent when Bakura growled again. "I'm sorry, but I panicked when I felt your arms around me. I didn't mean to hit you in the nose," she apologized.

Bakura nodded and pulled his hand away from his nose. "I can feel blood still running, but do you think it's broken?" he asked, licking the blood off his palm and fingers.

"Here, lay back and let me see," Maria replied and guided Bakura back so he didn't jar his nose any further. Tipping the albino's head back, she gently touched his nose, pulling back when he winced. "It's not broken, but it is bruised pretty nicely," Maria told him, applying pressure to his nose with a tissue to stop the bleeding.

Bakura tried to get up but was pushed back down. "Let me go before I get angry," he said in a low voice, swatting Maria's hand away and sitting up. Wiping the blood of his lip, he stopped when he noticed that no more came out of his nose. "How did you get it to stop that fast?" he wondered.

"When you're one of the oldest kids in an orphanage, you tend to learn these things," Maria replied with a sad smile.

Bakura looked surprised. "You grew up in an orphanage?" he asked softly.

"Yeah, why?"

Bakura shrugged. "It's nothing. History is just tending to repeat itself a little too accurately. In your past life, you grew up on the streets and then your brother found you when you had gone to become a priestess."

"I thought that I was queen."

"You were, but before Yami married you, you were one of his most trusted priests."

Maria nodded, able to remember that now. "Come on, let's go have breakfast," she said, standing. Bakura nodded and followed her out of the room.

"By the way, did you figure out my riddle yet?" Bakura asked as they followed the smell of breakfast down the stairs.

"Passion must have cooled, and all the magic should have died by now. I still have no clue," she replied.

Bakura came up behind Maria and pulled her close to him. "You'll figure it out eventually once we truly get rolling on awakening all of your memories since you are both Tsucci and Queen Maria now," he assured softly, brushing a feather light kiss over Maria's earlobe.

Maria shivered and pulled away. "Bakura, do you like me or something?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well…I…" Bakura stammered nervously, but was saved when Malik walked out of the kitchen.

"There you two are. Come on, Ryou won't serve breakfast until you two are in here," he huffed, turning and heading back in.

"This conversation isn't done," Maria murmured, following Malik.

"Bakura, why is there blood on your face?" Ryou asked as he started to serve breakfast.

"Maria elbowed me in the face accidentally and my nose started bleeding," he grumbled, smacking Malik on the back of his head when he started laughing.

"Oh, okay," Ryou shrugged.

Some time later Maria left Ryou's house. Returning home, she took a shower and changed clothes before heading to her favorite thinking spot in a tree in the park. Settling into the crook in the limb, Maria closed her eyes and tried to remember something of her past life. Not finding a good enough anchor to start from, she cast her mind out and concentrated on her and Rei's and Bakura's conversations. 'That's it! Rei!' she thought excitedly.

Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the sarcastic girl and almost immediately images came up, passing behind her closed eyelids. Memories of Queen Maria, Rei, and Bakura playing, their ages being about seven or eight, Rei being only about four…Watching Rei tend to a scar that trailed down Bakura's face from his forehead to level with his mouth.

Maria opened her eyes again. "Oh my Ra. Merging with my past self is like gaining a search engine of memories," she mumbled. Looking out between the leaves, Maria saw Rei walking through the park.

Rei strolled through the park, trying to get Ishtar out of her mind. The spirit was trying a little too hard to get close to her. Growling, Rei kicked a stone down the path and shoved her hands into her hoodie pockets. 'I bet his look alike…Malik I'm pretty sure his name is…is going to be just like him,' she thought, before hearing a rustle.

Glancing up, Rei smirked at seeing some leaves still trembling on a tree. Going under it, she looked up into the mass of leaves. "Tsucci, I know you're up there," she called. There was some silence and then she heard Maria trying to caw like a crow. "Get down here, you aren't fooling me."

Maria swung out of the tree and landed gracefully after a few seconds. "How did you know I was up there?" she asked.

"Easy. I saw you when I was a distance from the tree. Red shows really good through leaves," Rei replied, chuckling a little when Maria looked down at her red shirt and cursed.

"So, how is living in GHOULS?" Maria asked, changing the subject.

"Ishtar is trying to get a little too close," Rei grumbled.

Maria smiled softly. "Well I can't blame him," she stated, "He's been in love with you since he met you over 5000 years ago."

"That was a long time ago. Tsucci, my heart is a cold stone. There's no more room for love except for what I have for my brother," Rei replied, her tone becoming slightly softer.

"Oh? And what about me?"

Rei snorted. "Maria, if I loved you, I'd be a lesbian. No, what I feel is a certain…kinship towards you," she explained, "You really are a silly girl."

"I am not!" Maria snapped. Seeing Rei nod with a smirk on her face, she huffed and turned away.

"Oh that reminds me…how the heck did you become so tan within a few days?" Rei asked.

Maria turned back around. "Bakura and Malik fused my souls together. Queen Maria wanted to keep her tan," she explained.

Rei nodded. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I must get going. Ishtar's hikari is taking me to get paint and whatnot for my room."

"You mean Malik?"

"Whatever! It is puzzling though. He looks just like Ishtar, but I know Ishtar didn't have kids. You think that gene pool would have died," Rei said, continuing to walk, Maria deciding to join her.

Maria put her hand on Rei's shoulder so she wouldn't run into a tree and closed her eyes. Concentrating on Ishtar, she came up with another of her ancient memories.

Flashback

"Seto, Isis, you are prepared to take up the role as tomb keeper?" Maria heard herself say.

"Yes my queen. It is my duty as the last of the Yihimi line to continue the tomb keeping bloodline," Isis replied with a small bow, Seto, her new husband standing alongside.

"The Yihimi line? Mommy, what's that?" Maria heard a little voice ask. Turning, she spotted a little version of Yugi standing next to the throne she was sitting on.

"Well Yugi, that is my family name. And since my younger brother, the true heir to the bloodline was executed last year, I am the only one left to fulfill the obligation," Isis explained.

"Who was your brother? Please don't tell me that it was Bakura," Seto groaned.

Isis laughed. "No, my brother was Ishtar…You know, the blonde who you loathed so much."

Maria also laughed at her brother's astounded face. "And I know the perfect topper. Seto, he was our cousin as well," she laughed.

Seto groaned again and buried his face in his hands. "This soo isn't happening."

End flashback

Maria opened her eyes and removed her hand from Rei's shoulder. "Well?" Rei questioned.

"Priestess Isis was Ishtar's older sister. She must have been allowed to become a priestess because she wasn't the heir to Ishtar's bloodline. Maybe we should ask Ishtar," Maria replied.

Rei shrugged and looked forward again. "Come with me. You can help us with the painting."

Maria nodded and followed Rei to GHOULS. Rei led Maria into the throne room where Malik and Ishtar were waiting. "I recruited Maria to help," Rei explained.

Ishtar nodded and pushed off the wall from where he was leaning as Malik stood from his throne. "We have one rule. You can make your room and its furnishings any color you want, but you must have a second color somewhere in the room," Malik instructed as they walked.

Rei glanced at Maria and rolled her eyes when Malik wasn't looking. "I want a black room and furnishings," Rei decided.

Ishtar looked over his shoulder at the two. "You need a second color," he pointed out.

"I know that. I'll find something else of a different color," Rei growled, satisfied when Ishtar glared at her but turned around again.

A couple hours later, Rei had everything for her room…and all of it was black. "Rei, I hope you're not trying to fool us. You still need a second color," Malik pointed out.

Maria looked around and spotting a red pillow, placed it into the shopping cart. "There, there's your second color," she replied. Rei just blinked in surprise and then laughed.

Ishtar chuckled and shook his head. "Works for me," he stated, heading towards the cash out.

…

Yami walked down the street towards Ryou's house. He needed to talk with Bakura. Yugi had offered to come with him, but Yami declined, knowing Yugi would just go to prevent him and Bakura from fighting. Stepping up onto the front porch, Yami steeled himself and knocked on the front door.

The door opened partially and Ryou stuck his head out. "Oh, hello Yami. What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I need to speak with Bakura, is he here?"

Ryou blinked in surprise. "Yes, he's up in his room. Come in and wait in the living room. I'll go get him," Ryou answered, letting the former pharaoh in and taking the stairs two at a time. Yami went into the living room and stood, looking out the window.

Yami hadn't been standing there long when he suddenly heard a voice behind him. "What do you want Pharaoh? Ryou said you needed to speak with me," Bakura said.

Yami turned and blinked at Bakura before bursting out laughing.

"What now?" Bakura demanded from where he was leaning against the wall.

"What the hell happened to your nose? It's all bruised," Yami managed to say. Between laughs and gasps for air

Bakura bristled and Yami found a dagger pressed to his throat. "My nose is none of your business. Say what you came to say and leave before I kill you," he hissed.

Yami no longer found the situation funny. "I came to talk to you about Maria."

"What about her?" Bakura asked, lowering his bblade and stepping away.

"Stay away from her."

"You can't tell me what to do. You're not pharaoh anymore," Bakura growled.

"I like her and I am going to ask her out tomorrow. If she accepts, I don't want you coming near her," Yami explained.

Bakura threw back his head and laughed dangerously. "What makes you think I'm going to let you do that?" he demanded, "You had her last lifetime. It's your own fault that you killed yourself at a young age. I gave her up once, and I don't intend on doing that a second time."

"What do you mean, 'gave her up?'" Yami wondered.

"Once she was mad at you, and you had me captured. You set me free with conditions that don't matter anymore, and I convinced her to give you a chance even though it hurt my heart to do it," Bakura snapped.

Yami looked uncomfortable and headed towards the door. "I'm giving you fair warning. Stay out of my way and once she's my girlfriend, stay away from her," he warned.

"No." Yami froze and turned. "What?"

"I'm not just going to step to the side mr high and mighty. If you want her so badly, you have to beat me to the punch," Bakura challenged.

Yami stared at Bakura incredulously. "You're saying that you're willing to compete for her heart," he repeated slowly.

"Ah so he can use his brain for interpretation. Miracles do happen," Bakura mocked.

Yami grew angry. "Fine. I'll play your game. We'll see just who wins. I want higher stakes though."

"Name them then," Bakura replied with a shrug.

"Very well, If I win, you have to give up chasing after Maria. You also have to stop going after me," Yami listed.

Bakura gritted his teeth. "Fine, but if I win, you have to give up chasing after Maria, you can't boast that you never lose because that's a load of shit already, and you can't banish me to the Shadow Realm on a regular basis," Bakura replied, laying his own terms down.

Yami contemplated those conditions and nodded before holding out his hand. "We have a deal then?" he asked.

Bakura grimaced at the thought of taking the pharaoh's hand, but took it anyway. "Deal," he replied. At the same time, both items glowed and a sheet of paper listing the conditions appeared between the two. "I'll have Ryou keep this safe," Bakura said, letting Yami's hand go and picking up the paper, "In the meantime, leave."

As Yami turned and walked off, Bakura's voice made him stop and turn back.

"Pharaoh, one date doesn't mean anything. We have to get Maria to consent to being one of our girlfriends, and the other has to hear it straight from her mouth. That way, we can't fabricate the win," Bakura reasoned.

Yami thought about it and nodded. Turning, after he exited the house, he spotted Bakura watching him from the living room window. "Let the games begin," Yami called with a smirk before walking off down the street.

3333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333

YSF: Now it's finally getting interesting. Who makes the first move? Find out next time. Review! …please?