Guess who changed the categories of this story?? I really don't keep my promises.
Okay, so I have to talk about a few things, I'll write them down at the end, because I'm at lost here.
I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!
Amane wiped her sweaty hands to her skirt and stood up hesitantly, her feet wanting to go backwards as she walked to open the door. Her heart was beating faster, and her stomach was whirring. It's nothing new, she reminded herself as her hand grabbed the door knob. He always visited them at their house, this was just like one of those days.
Except now she and Marik were going to be put on trial for doing things in secret, Bakura was going to be treated as a ticking bomb, and Ryou was going to be very confused.
One of those days, Amane, the usual. She wanted to laugh out of frustration.
She reluctantly pulled the door open, and stared at Marik standing, looking shy. No one could blame the young man for wanting to go back and take shelter at his home; Bakura was known to be vicious, and how merciless he could get when confronted. But Marik trusted their years of friendship and his love for Amane, and hoped for the best outcome.
Nevertheless, he was anxious still. "Hey."
Except the message Amane had sent earlier to call him over, they hadn't talked since last night after that call. She looked down shyly. "Hi."
"How was... he? Is he calm?" Marik asked carefully, with a low voice. Bakura's voice over the phone had been unreadable.
"You know his mood swings."
Oh, he knew. "Wonderful."
Marik walked inside, his moves slow. He kicked off his shoes, the anxiety in him welling. The cringing feeling made him want to throw up, he was almost shaking. Bakura's presence was all over the house, putting an intense pressure on his heart.
The memories of the two them came back to him, and the things they had done in secret, the parts of them Amane and Ryou had no idea of. He wondered if others who had to face Bakura had felt this way. If he had known Marik would surely had shown mercy. The sickening tingles were all over his body, and he hated it.
"Are you okay?" Amane's hand was on his arm, giving it a gently squeeze.
Marik blinked, before nodding. "Yes." he choked out.
"Yeah, as if I would buy that." Amane scoffed. She walked past and stopped in front of him, gripping his arms. "He didn't look too mad last night, you can relax. And even if he is, calming a nerd who has slight anger issues shouldn't be that hard." said Amane and smiled softly to encourage him. If Marik walked in there looking like this Bakura would do nothing but to pity him, degrading him in the process.
But as much as Amane was right, she was also clueless to the fact that Bakura was not a nerd with anger issues, but an intelligent delinquent who was able to shatter a person's soul with a simple glare. And knowing this did no help to ease Marik's currently fragile mood.
He managed to smile for Amane's sake. "I'll trust your word Ami." He felt bad for lying to her angelic face, but there wasn't much he could say at that moment. He just knew her brother better than she did, that was all.
"There we go, smile more. If you walk with confidence it'll be easier." She gave him a kiss on the cheek for a boost, and let go. A grin formed on her face, and she started giggling. "I feel like you've come here to ask for my hand."
This time Marik showed a genuine smile, and raised his hand to cup her cheek. "Those days will come too..." If I live long enough to see it, that is.
Feeling slightly better after the little pep-talk Amane had given, Marik sighed out and opened the door to the living room. There, Ryou was sitting uncomfortable, looking down. Bakura had prowled on the couch, his hands playing with his hair, not looking at anything in particular.
Marik coughed to make his presence known. Two sets of brown eyes found his lilac ones, but their owners' reactions were different. Ryou had decided to avert his eyes; whereas Bakura's were wide, gleaming with interest. He moved from his slumped position to sat up straight.
"Marik! Come, have a seat." he welcomed, sounding rather calm. Marik really wished he hadn't done that. Bakura was never truly calm, and this was an obvious clue to... something. Marik didn't know what tonight would bring.
The silence before the storm.
He willed himself to sit on the nearest arm chair, eyeing Ryou who sat right in front of him.
If Bakura wasn't, then he was definitely mad. Or upset, maybe? Seeing him disheartened was unusual, but Ryou was a human, possessing the same emotions as anyone. Amane was his sister too, maybe he was not alright with the idea. There was no reason for him to not to be.
He bit his lip and scratched the back of his neck, feeling uncomfortable. Standing behind him, Amane put her hands on his shoulders for an an attempt to give him comfort.
"Ah, you're backing your boyfriend up. That's adorable." Bakura complimented, already irritated that Marik was hiding behind Amane.
Catching the hint in his voice Marik patted Amane's hand as a signal for her to let go. He sighed as the warmth on his shoulders left and he watched Amane pass by him to sit next to Bakura. God, it really does feel like I'm asking for her hand.
"I could feel your anxiety from the moment you stepped in the house. Seeing that you had no problems before, I'm surprised. Is something the matter?" Bakura asked, his face unreadable. "You can talk to me. We're best friends after all. We share everything, don't we?"
Now he was just playing with him. It was working, making Marik feel lots of things at once. Fear, shame, self-pity...
Marik kept opening and closing his mouth, his mind can't finding a reasonable response.
"Is there something you want to say?" Bakura mused again. He was enjoying watching Marik stammer in front of him. And of course, thinking of his little surprise.
Amane sighed and closed her eyes. This was stressful already. She rubbed the bridge of her nose. Mana is going through this too tonight. I hope at least she's doing better.
️️️️️
"This is crazy, this is crazy, this is crazy!" Mana yelled out and threw her dress on the bed. It was unbelievable, how fast everything was happening. Fast? Yeah, try four years.
She clutched her hair and bit her lip to refrain from screaming. The whole day she was the one who was calming Atem, and now she was on the verge of a heart attack.
Atem was coming. Atem was coming for dinner. Atem was coming for dinner because Mahad had invited him. Because he knew of them.
Mana really needed to scream.
It felt unfair, stress just now kicking in but now she could feel what Atem had went through all day. It now made sense, she too would keep babbling about how the world was coming crushing down on them. Compared to her Atem had composure, at least.
She patted down her hair, and eyed the dresses piled up on her bed.
Right, that was another thing. Now that Mahad knew, this was going to be the first time Atem would visit as her boyfriend. It felt more real now. And Mana wanted to look pretty for this special night. She liked her dresses, but none of them seemed fit.
The one time I wanted to dress up! Mana frowned, and turned to her dresser. She dug out a white, long sleeved top that fit her perfectly, as she didn't like wearing loose outfits; and a simple jean skirt. These would have to do.
While she brushed her hair the doorbell rang, and she jumped. She swung open her room's door, yelling "I'll get it!" as she ran downstairs, not giving a chance to Mahad to even walk out from his own room. The sound of her high heeled boots made a loud clanking sound that hurt her ears but she didn't care.
Despite seconds before, she breathed out and slowly opened the front door, and smiled when 'her lover boy', as she liked to call him, stood there. He looked calmer compared to morning.
"Welcome!" she cheered and opened her arms when he took a step forward to embrace her. "We've been waiting for you." she mumbled to his shoulder.
He pulled back and looked at her, his hand still on her waist. "Where's Mahad?"
"In his room, probably. Come," Mana held his hand, but he stood still.
"Wait." He revealed his other hand that he had hid behind his back, holding a single rose. "Um..." He searched for words, stuttering as if they had just started dating.
A blush, red as the rose Atem was holding, covered Mana's cheeks. "For me?"
Atem's face dropped, "No, for Mahad." he said deviously, his eyes squinted to mock her. "Who do you think it's for?" He shoved the flower to her face.
Mana gave him a long stare, before breathing in, and breathing out slowly. "And here I was, surprised that you pulled such a romantic gesture." she muttered and harshly ripped the rose from his from his grip. "Give me that."
"I'm always romantic." Atem said and walked in, his stress fleeting away. "You're just blind."
Mana rolled her eyes and closed the door, though her gaze softened again as she looked at the rose. It's the thought that matters, doesn't it?
She followed him to the living room, and when he sat down Mana stood behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thank you." she whispered as she kissed his cheek. He hummed and held her hand that still held the rose.
"You kids really can't get along for a second, can you?" Mahad's voice alerted them coming from the stairs as he walked down. He appeared at the doorway, and smiled. "Go easy on my sister now, Atem."
"Mahad, I... uh..." Atem trailed off, standing up. What he said or did right now was very important. He was careful with his moves, and the tone of his voice. He wanted Mahad to see him grown, mature. But he kept stuttering and this annoyed him.
"You're more formal than usual. Relax. I didn't invite you here to scare you off." Mahad gave him a serious but brotherly look. "We're just going to talk. Like we always do."
Atem nodded and sat down with Mana scooting next to him.
"I can assume that you're feeling nervous?" Mahad asked, and chuckled when Atem nodded again. "This is unlike you." He then turned to Mana who was much relaxed now that her boyfriend had arrived. "Mana, could you do me a favor and check the food please?"
The girl stood up grinning, she had a slight idea of why Mahad was sending her out of the room. She walked out, running to the kitchen where the beautiful smells were coming from. When she was out of sight, Mahad steadied his elbows on his knees and smiled to reassure the teenager.
"I'm not angry, if that's what you're worrying about. I... would have preferred it if you have chose to talk to me before though."
Atem shifted in his place. "I know, that's what bothers me the most. This was not how I wanted you to find out. Not after... finding my, uh... Yeah." His hand found his neck and he glided his fingers over the studs of his choker.
"Yes, that's another thing. What was your choker doing there?"
Blood rose to Atem's cheeks and ears, his eyes locked to a design on the carpet as he didn't dare to look up. "Well..." Your baby sister yanked it off in the haste of covering my neck with hickeys, nothing new. "I don't like wearing accessories at places I feel comfortable, as you know. This place is like a second home to me. I just... took it off. Then it went missing."
"I see."
"Yeah."
"Interesting."
"Isn't it?"
Mahad smiled. "Why don't you take it off then?"
"What now?" Atem's eyes bulged, as that would be the last thing he would want to do. Not to mention, the very last thing he could probably ever do.
"It's just us. Aren't you comfortable?" the older pressed.
"I guess... I am..." Maybe he would believe me if I tell him I choke myself in my sleep?
Mahad smiled, while Mana came back and plopped herself on the couch next to Atem, who was shaking. "I'm just messing with you. You're lucky I don't see Mana trying to cover up her body."
If I'm lucky you'll never see her topless, thought Atem as he smiled innocently.
Mana laughed too, though sharing glances with Atem nervously. She instinctively scratched her collarbones, covered with the material of her top.
To end the conversation as quickly as possible, Mana stood up. "Let's eat. Right now."
️
After a good dinner, Mahad had left the lovebirds to themselves to spend some time together before Atem had to leave. So they had decided to sit at the balcony, talking with their drinks in their hands.
"A new chapter in our lives, Temmy. How are you feeling?" Mana asked slurping her pink lemonade.
"Not bad. Just feels weird when I don't have to pick on you, you know?"
"Yeah, for some reason I kept catching myself almost making a nasty comment about you."
Atem sighed and met her gaze. "It's going to be difficult getting used to this. Especially at school."
She smiled at him. "No, that's the easy part, silly. First we'll stop the fights, then start interacting like normal friends. After that it'll be easier to tell them."
"Ah, you really are smart, my dear Mana."
Mana made an interested sound from the back of her throat and snuggled under his arm. "Your dear Mana, hm?"
He chuckled, and pressed his lips to her head.
️️️️️
"This is fun, we should gather like this more often." Bakura mused as he lounged on the couch, his feet propped on the coffee table.
So far they had only sat there, staring at each other's eyes, then averting them awkwardly. Ryou was still standing silent, a scowl slowly appearing on his face, getting more apparent whenever his and Marik's gazes met. Marik, on the other hand was convinced that he was mad. But not just mad, mad at him.
Amane was still shaking next to her brother who was enjoying himself a bit too much for her liking.
"Bakura, I... You know what, this has been going on for a long time, and I'm bored and tired." Marik stood up and met Bakura's eyes which were dull, not expecting anything interesting that would come out from his mouth. "What do you want to hear? An apology?"
Bakura pouted. "No, I've had enough of those yesterday."
"Then what do you want?" Marik asked exasperated.
"Oh, well, I don't want anything." Bakura shrugged, his eyes half lidded and a sly grin on his face. "But I'd say you're gonna have a hell of a hard time convincing Ryou."
"Ryou?" Lilac eyes once again found him looking away.
"See," the white haired teen chuckled and he motioned to his younger brother with his hand. "Ryou here was not fond of the idea of his sister being taken from him."
At the mention of his name Ryou stood up and left the room, Amane staring after him. Ryou being angry was a rare thing, given that he was the calm and rational one out of the three. But him being angry at Amane was new, and she couldn't stand it. After she gave him a slight information about the things that happened with Bakura, and telling him that Marik would visit he had shut himself in his room.
And now, out of his room he was still not talking to anybody, not even making eye contact and Amane wanted to scream at his face for him to say something. She had no idea he would react this way. Once in the past the thought of sharing her secret with him had passed her mind, but Amane now felt glad she hadn't done that.
Who knew he would get this upset?
"I don't understand." Marik turned to face Bakura after watching Ryou leave.
"It's simple Marik, really. I've been given an explanation, at least. And now Ryou needs one." His amused face left its place to a serious one. "Amane has two brothers, after all."
When it clicked in his mind, Marik's eyes widened. "You want me to-"
"If you have his blessing then you'll have mine." he stated, earning a groan from Amane. She knew it was impossible in his state.
"Why?" Marik asked, though getting ready to leave after the younger boy.
Bakura had his head rested on the couch, his eyes closed once more. He cracked open an eye, and grinned. "Because it's harder than it seems, and I'll trust anyone with Amane if my brother sees them fit." He waved as a signal of 'good-bye'.
Marik sighed and got going. But Bakura was right, it was harder than it seemed. Now at his door, he was pounding at the door for him to open.
"Ryou just open the door! How do you expect me to defend myself if you won't talk to me?"
The boy's voice came through the other side of the door. "Defend what?! How you lied to us? How you tricked Amane into-"
"I did not trick her into anything!" Marik yelled, before mentally slapping himself for being too loud. "I wouldn't do something like that to Amane. Ever."
A few seconds later the door swung open, and Ryou stared at him with disgust. With his narrowed eyes and piercing glare, he looked identical to his older. He stood aside to let Marik in, and slammed the door behind him.
"I only let you in because I don't want Amane to overhear us." He leaned on the door, his arms folded and head down. "She still doesn't know."
"As in...?"
"She doesn't know who you are!" snapped Ryou and glared at him. "But I do! Who do you think makes stuff up for Bakura's occasional absence around the house, or dresses his wounds when he comes late night after a fight?"
Marik dropped his gaze, realizing that he had been wrong in his guess. Ryou knew the truth.
"I didn't know you knew."
"Doesn't Odion does the same for you? You should have guessed."
The younger sighed, and sat on his bed, Marik sitting on the opposite on Bakura's. "What you do as Bakura's friend is not my business, but... I have some ideas. Like that one time when Bakura came back drunk out of his mind. Would I be wrong in my guess if I were to say that he was not alone while he was drinking?"
"That was one time!" he defended, "I remember begging on my knees to convince Odion to not tell Ishizu."
"If you did it once you might do it again. I had to go through hoops to convince my mom and Amane that it was food poisoning while he threw up all morning." Ryou glared at him, remembering the days.
"Okay, that did happen, and I understand that you have concerns. It... makes sense that you don't want your sister to be with... someone... like me." His voice died down at the end of his sentence. "But I assure you, I'm completely different when it comes to her."
"You're a two-faced liar then?"
Marik cringed and hesitantly stood up to sit next to him. "Ryou, you've known me for years now. You know how I act towards her, how I handle her. Do you really think I would do anything to hurt Amane?"
"If she knew of the things you have done she wouldn't think twice on leaving you." Ryou added coldly, not making eye contact. "I'm just staying silent for Bakura's sake."
His words stung, and Marik's eyes dropped hopelessly. "How can I prove my love for her to you Ryou?"
"I don't want you to. It's okay when you're our brother's friend but I can't accept you as my sister's boyfriend. Do you know why Bakura is not interfering? Because he's done the same things as you and knows he can't argue with you when it comes to that. But he also knows that I can. And being the responsible one out of Amane's brothers I'm not giving you the permission you want."
Glaring at each other after Ryou's answer Marik sighed out. "So it all comes to me, being a bad influence on her?"
"If you were not this guy with a hidden side then... maybe... I don't know, I don't know... For all I know you could be a member of a gang that sells drugs and abuses women."
"Ryou! Come on. You know me better than that. Alright, if it'll set your mind at ease, then fine. I'm done. This whole... 'dark' side of me is over."
"Yeah, just because you said that, it doesn't make things any better."
Marik stood up, heading for the door. "I mean it Ryou. I'll be honest with everyone in this house from now on. And I'll start with..." He opened the door and shot a glance at Ryou. "...the girl I love."
In actuality, Marik had not planned anything as such, but he was a guy of his word, and he was going to confess to Amane for a second time... this time for a different reason.
In the living room he found Amane and Bakura having their own little discussion, and he quickly interrupted it. "Uh... Amane. Bakura."
Two poufy white heads turned to him and Amane stood up immediately. "That was fast. What happened?"
Marik moved further in the room and got closer to Amane, then held her hands gently. "Ryou... doesn't trust me Amane, and if truth be told, he's right at not believing in me. Or Bakura. I can't really blame him either."
"Why wouldn't they trust you?" Amane asked jokingly, not understanding the serious face Marik was pulling.
"Because they know how messed up I am. I... may have... hidden some things from you. I'm not proud of myself for that. It's just that... uh... you're so pure and gentle I couldn't even believe that you would actually like me. I didn't want to... ruin it."
Reluctantly Amane pulled her hands to herself. "Okay, I'm at lost here. What are you talking about?"
His face cringing and hands sweating, Marik looked away and breathed in before he spilled the truth. "I smoke."
Amane's eyes went wide and she took a step back, horrified at what she was hearing. "You smoke? Marik, you know how I feel about that!"
Since the day she had been taught of the dangers of cigars and other addicting supplies Amane tried to keep the people around her toxic-free for years. And to learn that one of the closest people she had have been smoking was shocking.
"Not just that." Marik was still avoiding eye contact as he looked down. "I drink... sometimes. And I may or may not have my name known around some sketchy... street gangs... maybe."
"What..." Amane shook her head and looked at Bakura, who was looking down at her knowingly.
Told ya.
"...the hell are you talking about? You smoke? You drink? Don't you know where those things will get you?"
"I never said I'm proud of the things I've done, Amane. I don't like it either. It's just-"
"Addiction. It's addiction. You know it's bad for you but you can't do anything about it right?" The girl slowly backed away and fell on the couch when it hit her legs. "I cannot believe you would keep that from me."
It was mostly denying the fact that he had lied to her. Because it was her Marik. He wouldn't do that. They've been honest to each other. Right?
Bakura put his hand on Amane's shoulder, whilst glaring at Marik. "This is why you should listen to your brother's advice."
"Really? Well, look where your advice got me." Marik challenged Bakura, pushing him in front of the bus.
"What? Wait. What did you just say?" Amane pried her brother's hand and turned to him. "What did he just say?"
"He doesn't know what he's talking about." Bakura comforted her, now shooting daggers at Marik.
"Bakura, what did he mean by that?"
The two guys were taken aback, now realizing the problem. Amane was addressing Bakura by his name, meaning they were screwed.
"So I may have joined Marik on his adventures." Bakura broke it down for her slowly. "I never smoked though." he added when Amane furrowed her eyebrows.
"Oh good. You didn't smoke. What a relief!" Amane snapped and she stood up to face Marik. "I can't believe you could- Since when? Just tell me, since when are you someone that I can't even recognize? Because this is not my boyfriend. This is not my childhood friend."
"I... don't know. Over..." He scratched the back of his neck, now squirming in front of her. "...three years... I think."
"Three! Three whole years! And what about drinking?" Amane whipped around and locked eyes with Bakura. "Since when do you drink?"
"Hey, don't address me like I'm some problematic alcoholic. If I drink it's like... once a month. And mind you, I'm a responsible guy. I know when to stop."
His answer angered Amane more, and she snapped again. "If you were responsible, you would know that you shouldn't be drinking at all!" she screamed and grabbed a pillow to dig her nails in it. "You idiots know how I feel about these things and you both well know what it will do to you."
Upon all the noise, Ryou made his way over, and was greeted with a pillow thrown at his face. "What the-"
"Is there anything you want to tell me Ryou?" Amane was breathing in and out very quickly, and Marik was starting to worry for her. "Are you a part of a mob, maybe?"
"No, that's Bakura's thing." Ryou answered pretty calmly, at which Bakura almost chuckled.
"Okay- Calm down Ami. Just sit down for a second." Marik tried to lead her to the couch for her to sit down but she slapped his hand away.
"Don't 'Ami' me! Don't try to sweet talk your way into forgiveness!"
Amane glared at the trio in front of her. Marik, looking very ashamed -thankfully, because Amane couldn't take deviosness-; Bakura looking surprised at the events taking place; and Ryou... Ryou was just there. She couldn't read him anymore.
"I'm going upstairs. I never imagined things would go this way tonight and... I need some thinking to do."
She turned around for the door but trembled when someone got a hold of her arm.
"Amane..." Marik's voice made her look at him, still annoyed.
"I'm not about to make a drastic decision, if that's what you were wondering. And I don't want to say something I will regret afterwards so let me go and take my frustration out of my stuff; not you."
Amane pulled her arm and left the room.
"There." Marik huffed out and turned his face to Ryou. "I did it. I told her."
Ryou scoffed at his dramatic acting. "You call that confessing? What did you even say to her?"
"I agree. You just admitted you smoke. And drink. It's nothing much, really." Bakura grinned before getting serious again. "But of course she would get mad, that's Amane. But it's not like she'll broke up with you over that. Don't make it a big deal. She'll just scream into her pillow for a few minutes and then it'll be all good. Probably."
"That is," Ryou cut him, "If I say it's okay. And it certainly is not. Amane knowing the mess you actually are doesn't change my view of things. You're still a poor example of a boyfriend and the only thing changed is that Amane is now mad at you." He shrugged, and moved sluggisly to sit next to Bakura. "Hope you're happy."
Marik's face dropped, and he... walked out. Unceremoniously, he just left. Nothing he would say would convince Ryou, Bakura was treating everything like it was a big joke, and Amane needed some time alone to clear her head. His time was done there.
This was not how it was supposed to go. In his head, even though he was skeptical, he thought he would have to talk to Bakura and explain to him how he loved Amane and how he would go to any lengths to keep her satisfied; but in reality, Bakura was not even taking it seriously.
Ryou is right. Bakura can't blame me for anything that I do, he's the same. If not, he's worst. He knew I would splutter the truth in front of Amane, and she would get mad him too. And that's what exactly happened. He put Ryou in charge, but nothing has changed.
Lilac eyes rolled and he sighed. Ami is wasting her time with us idiots.
Alright alright alright! This took me so long because I got inspired in the middle of the chapter and wrote two one-shots... And that's the problem with me. I've been obsessed with Vaseshipping for a year now and I just started writing these things down. I have so many ideas in my head I don't even know what to do with them.
So, what I wanted to talk about is... the finale of this fanfiction. When I first started this I didn't have a plan. I was just going with the flow (thus, the random boring fillers). But at this point, I know how I'm going to end it. It's not coming soon, or at least it's not within the next few chapters, probably. Think of it as an arc. The arc where the older brothers find out about the secret relationships is over, and now I'm going to start a second one where I complicate things a little bit, then finish it off for good. I already have drafts for the last chapter, so for the first time I have an action plan.
And my plans for the future are...
- - drumroll please - -
Before I finish this I have a one-shot planned, because I was inspired by this book I recently finished and if that was not Vaseshipping then I don't what it is.
The rest of this fanfiction is planned out but I don't have a posting schedule, sorry. I'll try to update it as fast as I can though.
And once this is done I can do a multi-chapter fic based on one of my one-shots, because I've been doing some thinking on that too.
Okay! Thanks for reading that loooong chapter and looong author's note. Before I leave though, I'll tell you this; this second arc I'm going to write about will be mainly Vaseshipping because I just couldn't focus on it as much as I wanted to. Also, Marik is going through a hell of a hard time here and I've been going easy on Atem since day one (cough spoilers cough).
Love you all, you precious and patient readers!