Antagoshipping (Yami Bakura x Seto Kaiba)

Flaws of the ship: All right, let's keep this quick: If you forced them to interact, you'd probably find they wouldn't be overly fond of each other. After all, Yami Bakura is already predisposed to disliking Kaiba due to Kaiba being the Priest's incarnation and all that – plus, he really doesn't like people who fight back, and Kaiba's pride makes him do just that.

Kaiba of course dislikes Yami Bakura heartily in return, though he doesn't seem to feel quite the same sort of revulsion for him that the other regularly occurring characters harbor in the manga. This would probably be different if he'd been trapped as a figurine at some stage, but I digress.

The main problem with this ship is that Kaiba doesn't care about anyone other than himself (Mokuba may be an exception), and neither does Yami Bakura – so there's not really going to be any attraction between the two. They've got their own agendas, and neither is about to let emotions get in the way.

Warnings: Ever–so–slightly AU.

Time Period: Kaiba's at the school, but so is Bakura – and it's Bakura's first day! This one–shot is therefore slightly out–of–canon with the manga, since Kaiba should be in a coma at this point in time. (And for those of you who haven't read the original manga run, in particular the Monster World Arc, you should probably know that this one–shot is completely out of whack with the anime bar Season Zero, as Bakura was never actually introduced until the Duelist Kingdom arc, by which point Kaiba had technically been put into a coma twice.)

Names:
Yami no Bakura/Yami Bakura= Bakura
Seto Kaiba = Kaiba

Kaiba sighs, looking at the textbook he's holding. It's not going to be a good day – the seventeen–year–old knows it the instant his teacher calls him over. (1)

"Ach, ma verry top stew–dent! I has job fer you!" There's a glint of generosity in her eye, a hint of excitement in her voice, and it worries the A - grade student no end.

The book closes with an abrupt snap, the brunette's voice combining arrogance with annoyance. "What sort of job?"

Walking over, he absolutely towers over the German lady, exactly the same way that he towers over all the other students in his school. He's tall and skinny, and a total heartthrob to boot. He's got money, fame, a whole company – the world's at Kaiba's feet, and he knows it. The teacher knows it, too – she fidgets and looks away.

"Ah… Yes. Tere ista new stew–dent here."

"And I suppose I am to show him around?" He carries himself stiffly, blue eyes flashing murder.

"Erm..."

"Don't test my patience. Yes or no?"

"Yes."

They meet in the school corridor ten minutes later, Kaiba still clutching his textbook for whatever strange reason – and now the teacher's accompanied by a small, pale–skinned, sickly–looking boy, a boy with long white locks and big brown eyes. He looks a bit like an abused Golden Retriever puppy, albiet one in human form - and in his mind, the brunette makes a weighted judgement. This guy's not going to survive Domino High longer than a week, not unless he has bodyguards, which he likely doesn't.

If he does have bodyguards, Kaiba decides, then he will not survive either, because the CEO will absolutely drive him out of the school.

There's simply not enough room for two rich guys at this school.

The teacher gives the boy a pat on the back. It's meant to be comforting, but nearly knocks him over. "Kaiba, this is the new student. Ryo, meet Kaiba."

The teen waits expectantly, but the kid – Ryo, the brunette supposes – seems too scared to speak. It is clear to Kaiba that he must make the first move - and so, the older teen tilts his head, seeming to admire for a moment the silky white bangs, the innocent eyes, before he greets the new student.

"Hello." He keeps his voice perfectly even, soothing.

"H–Hello." Ryo replies, and the CEO immediately reassures the surprised teacher that everything will be just fine, Ryo's in good hands. He makes a big fuss of the boy, chatting with him, telling him all about the school–

–and as soon as the bewildered lady has left them alone, the young man glares at his new charge. "Rule one of this school: Shut up."

"K–Kaiba?" Big brown eyes seem to stare directly into his soul - perhaps on others this might have caused them to think again lest they make Ryo cry, but Kaiba feels no emotion. He does not care if the wimp cries.

"Rule number two: I'm Seto Kaiba, CEO of KaibaCorp, and I expect you to address me that way."

"So… uh… S–Set–"

The CEO's eyes flash. "Don't you Seto me! I expect to be addressed by my full name!"

The boy's brown eyes instantly narrow – Kaiba notes with interest that in the dim light of the corridor, they seem to be red. "I don't care." His voice is lower, too – it unnerves the older boy a little, even if the words are very interesting. Here is someone who does not care at all, who acts very differently when he thinks he can get away with it. He can feel confidence radiating from Ryo, a real arrogance about him, a challenge to Kaiba's pride.

There is a long silence, while the two continue to stare at each other – blue eyes meeting demonic red. Eventually, Kaiba gives in and speaks first, raising an eyebrow to disguise his blink. "You don't care?"

"That would be correct."

"You are insulting KaibaCorp, then?"

"Yes."

Another pause, while Kaiba fumes at this latest blow to his ego. The young man knows that he's twice this boy's size, that he could wipe this mere child off the face of the planet or crush him beneath his steel–toed boots - but then again, there's something about those red eyes that tells him that a horrible danger lurks within this boy. Once more, it reminds Seto of himself - even those not aware of his power back away from him. However... What if it happens to be all a bluff, this boy has no power to speak of?

Hmmm… Do I risk it?

The boy catches Kaiba's assessing gaze and laughs – a harsh, confident sound that sends shivers right down the CEO's spine. "Just try it. Hit me, if you're so very tough…" As he breaks off into a fit of giggles, the brunette seriously considers attacking the boy with the textbook he's still holding, once again weighing up the options.

On the one hand, he deserves it… But on the other, he seems to be rather sure of himself, and could crush me if I'm not careful…

And of course, repeatedly hitting a brand–new fourteen–year–old student he's supposed to be helping out with a two–kilogram textbook isn't going to look good on his report card; not that that really matters to Kaiba, who could get his report card wiped clean if he so wished. (2) Instead, the seventeen–year–old chooses to glare death at Ryo, who stares back with a look of utter insolence.

"Come on. I'll show you around," Kaiba snaps at last, turning to walk down the corridor... and the pale demon sniggers.

"Oh, so you're not that tough?"

Kaiba's lip curls, and he whirls on the smaller boy. "Watch it."

Ryo laughs, then his voice goes back into the high pitched, stutter Kaiba heard when they first met. "I–I'm so s–scared… Someone, h–help me…"

It sounds so genuine that the CEO has to resist a very strong urge to hit Ryo in the face with the textbook - hard. There's no way that the wimpy act will work on him, and the albino knows it too; he must be doing it specifically to spite the brunette.

But he can't take the bait, since to take the bait is to play into Ryo's hands, and to play into Ryo's hands is surely to lose.

Seto Kaiba takes a deep breath, turns around, and starts walking.

Damn, today's going to be difficult.

"…And this is the school café. In my opinion, the food's awful, but someone of your level might find it all right. If you want to order though, you'd be best to–"

"I don't care."

Harsh laugher echoes behind him, and the CEO does his very best to ignore it; he can throttle Ryo once he's sure there's no threat, he can trample this arrogant little brat into the hard floor of the school hall, he can do whatever he pleases then.

"Here's the Maths block."

"I don't care."

He sniffs. "Actually, you'll find that you come here fairly often, so you'll want to remem–."

"I don't care."

Deciding to change the topic, Kaiba points in a random direction. "Over there is the Arts Department, they're holding an exhibition over there. Now, if you ever want to set fire to it, the matc–"

"I don't care."

After twenty minutes of this, Kaiba decides that he's had enough of trying to stay calm. "Will you stop that?!"

"S–stop?"

That voice sounds genuinely confused, and higher pitched as well – it's the same vulnerable voice Ryo was taunting him with before. With a snarl, he whirls – to find a small, pale–skinned boy who looks just as nervous and bewildered as he was when they were first introduced.

"Uh… Who are you?" He looks around, bottom lip trembling and eyes - brown eyes, they're brown again, what the heck - wide with fear. "W–Where am I?"

Kaiba snorts. "At school, of course."

"Well… I don't seem to r–remember anyth–thing… I mean, I blacked out…"

The brunette's eyes narrow, and he stares at Ryo for a long moment - then he begins to pound his head into the wall repeatedly in sheer frustration. "Gaaaaah!"

Ryo Bakura laughs, his face not quite evil, not quite innocent, but somewhere in between. "My work here is done."

Notes:
1. Yes, Kaiba's seventeen in this one–shot. My reasoning goes like this: Yugi and co are all either fourteen or fifteen at the start of the manga run (depends when the storyline actually picks up – all of them would be either fourteen turning fifteen that year, or would have already turned fifteen). Kaiba's known to be two years ahead of them (as he's stated to be in his last year of school – which puts him Year Twelve, two years in front of Yugi's Year Ten), so he's seventeen.

2. Bakura's fourteen, or at least Kaiba thinks he is – of course yadda yadda spirits are oldies yadda yadda. I made Ryo that age and not fifteen, since his birthday falls in the lower half of the year.