A/N: So I wonder how many people expected that plot twist? No one really said much about it.

IMPORTANT: Any time where Ryou was acting out of character (as in not being ridic cute and sweet omg) is when it was actually Bakura, as I'm sure some of you figured. Such as the "Ryou" scene after Malik's dream.

There's still a little more to reveal though so don't go anywhere please. :P

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.

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Monday morning came bearing gifts of dread.

Assuming Ryou showed up to school, it was going to be a very awkward encounter. No longer could Malik see the white-haired kid as himself, instead as the man he'd spent so much time around. The friend he'd known for so long and spent so many nights with.

Lynx—who'd run away Saturday night, without saying anything once Malik had his realization.

He decided to leave the house early so he could skip breakfast (a forming habit) and got to school before anyone else. Pushing back the urge to just pass by the school and go rob a bunch of people, Malik parked his bike and removed his helmet. He stood and brushed off his clothes.

Due to the changing weather, he was wearing a tight-fitting, stone gray long sleeve shirt and black skinny jeans that folded nicely to cover a large portion of his purple hi-top converse. Just because he was feeling bad didn't mean he needed to look bad. Plus, seeing Ryou today felt oddly like his first impression. Like the first time he was meeting the real Ryou.

As Malik looked up from his clothes, satisfied with the neatness, he met eyes with the aforementioned Brit, who was pulling into the parking lot. He drove up to Malik at a curiously fast pace and cracked his window.

"Get in."

Malik silently obeyed, climbing in Ryou's small, well-kept car.

As his friend was finding a shaded place to park, Malik stared at his own lap, unable to stop his smile. He'd expected to feel nervous, but his true emotion surprised him.

"So how's the nose?" He asked, amusement evident in his tone.

"Fuck you."

Malik could hear the smirk in his voice.

"It feels like two giants tried to have sex with me through my nostrils."

The Egyptian teen laughed, looking over at his friend. Maybe this whole no costume thing wasn't too horrible, and he had to admit that being able to see the emotion on his fellow villain's face was really nice. And even with the bruised and slightly swollen nose, Ryou was still cute.

"Ryou, why didn't you ever tell me about this?" He'd used Malik's name that night, which meant he knew the whole time, or at least part of it.

He had long since parked the car under a tree at the edge of the lot. "Ryou? Fafi, are you really that stupid?"

"Well, what am I…?"

"When I'm not in costume, I go by Bakura."

Malik let that information sink in. "Okay. Bakura, why didn't you ever tell me about this?"

"Ryou did. Kind of. Bloody hell, he basically handed you everything you needed to figure this out," Bakura said, unbuckled and turned fully toward Malik, his right leg folded and pulled to his chest in the seat. "He told you about the blackouts, which should have been a major clue. Remember when he woke up from that last one he told you about with the wallet? Guess who stole that?"

"So," Malik spoke the word slowly, staring at the steering wheel. "Ryou has a split personality disorder and I unknowingly became friends with both personalities. You go around with some freakin' paradox bullshit and create Lynx so you can be like a person within a person within a person and be my partner in crime and you and I had sex in a back alley. That's what I'm getting out of this."

"Atta boy, right on the nose," Bakura said, winking. He grinned with Ryou's face and now that Malik knew that it wasn't him, he looked like a completely different person.

Continuing on with his looks, Malik remembered that very smile, the night in the back alley when they'd ended up having sex. Bakura was the one he'd slept with, not Ryou, and he was kind of relieved by that realization. He'd been having those feelings for his partner in crime, and maybe it wasn't such a bad thing now that he knew the other (Lynx or Bakura?) was at least sexually attracted to him. (I mean who wasn't? Malik took great pride in his looks, and he wasn't afraid to brag or show off.)

Another part of him was a little creeped out, however.

"Why did you have sex with me?" Malik asked, and those nerves he'd expected? Yeah. They felt like butterflies, like that tickling feeling you get when your crush smiles at you.

Bakura shrugged. "Because I can."

Malik rolled his eyes, thinking of the millions of times he'd done it before when 'Lynx' couldn't see. "Seriously, why? Aside from the fact that I'm irresistible, of course."

Bakura gave a small half-smirk and glanced down at Malik's frame, letting his eyes linger for a moment as he said, "Don't get too cocky. There are more reasons. For one, Ryou wanted it. And he needed it, but I knew he wasn't going to make a move."

Bakura paused, his half-smirk expanding into a full-on grin. Malik had grown pretty uncomfortable under the eyes (the color was off—they were almost red, like wilting roses in a lonely vase) of his partner. He felt his face heat up, and the blush spread all over. The blood swam as his heart rate increased, but he felt his nerves being burnt up by the heat scattering through his body. Bakura was definitely into him.

"So I did."

What was it about this guy that was getting him so turned on, though? Malik tried to keep himself from showing how worked up Bakura had gotten him from a simple look and a seductive tone, but he knew his body language had betrayed him.

"You said there were 'more' reasons, suggesting my initial reason was also right. You think I'm hot." Malik turned the arsenal on Bakura, even though he wasn't fully sure he'd be able to get the other as nervous as he'd let himself get. He was pretty sure he was developing a major crush on Bakura, especially now that the deep, sexy voice and wild personality had a strong, muscled body and a very handsome face to accompany it.

Bakura chuckled (flashing sharp teeth that he'd never noticed on Ryou before), shifting in his seat. He leaned on to the center console, and Malik felt his heart flutter. Was Bakura planning on kissing him?

He decided he'd make it available if the other decided to, squaring his shoulders to Bakura and inching as close as he could without it being awkward.

"You're not bad, not at all, but it's a shame what you're doing to that exotic body of yours," he said, his accent creeping up on the words and softening the minor insult about his weight.

"I'm making myself better, shut up," Malik protested, forgetting about kissing the fool and sitting up straight, arms now crossed indignantly. If he saw himself from an outsider's perspective, he may have realized how childish he looked, his pose paired with his rebuttal.

Bakura shook his head, and Malik examined his face for any indication of emotion. He found nothing, because Bakura had looked down, probably to hide whatever he really was feeling.

"You always bring it up, Bakura. It's almost like you care," Malik said, letting his tone slip a bit of a tease, though they both knew he was at least half-serious.

Bakura raised a hand and moved it like he was swatting away an incessant fly. "Whatever, Malik. You and Ryou have school soon. Don't you have shit to do, like last second homework or something?"

Malik sighed. He'd noticed a few more cars pulling into the parking lot as they were talking, but he was hoping time would slow until he had all his questions answered. "Why don't we skip first period?"

Bakura fake-gasped and plastered on an overly-scared expression. "That's what Ryou would say. I say skip the whole damn day."

Malik glanced at the students walking up to the front entrance of the school, then back at Bakura. "You asking me out, kid?"

"Are you going to say yes?" Bakura's voice was deep. His eyes went low again, and Malik felt himself squirm.

"Yeah, I think I will."

.

"So, Ryou doesn't know about you."

Bakura shook his head, taking a bite of bacon. The two were in a bustling breakfast joint, because the white-haired teen had insisted that that should be their first stop. "Ryou never eats fucking breakfast."

Malik had a glass of apple juice and one scrambled egg getting cold on the plate in front of him, and Bakura had ordered a heaping plate of pancakes with a side of bacon and two fried eggs.

"He knows he has a problem, and he has his suspicions, but he doesn't know I exist," Bakura replied between bites, but never talking with his mouth full—something Malik appreciated greatly. "I, however, know everything he does, when he does it, and can take over at any time. My life is basically an RPG, half movie, half game play."

Malik chuckled, though the joke was a bit morbid. Poor Ryou had no idea. He felt sorry for the sweet kid, but only halfway, because a messed up side of him was having a good time with Bakura. 'Lynx' had given him so many great days and nights as well. It was a little sad to think Ryou was suffering for it, but Malik didn't think he'd ever give those times up.

Malik rested his chin in his cupped hand, leaning on the table. "How did you know I was the person behind the mask?"

Bakura nodded at Malik's untouched breakfast. "Take a bite and I'll answer that."

"Are you serious?"

Bakura shrugged. "Is your question serious?"

Malik sighed and got a small piece of egg on his clean fork. He cringed at the sound of metal scraping on the glass saucer.

"A bigger bite," Bakura prompted.

Hesitantly, with a bit of fear nestling in his tummy, he stuck the fork through three pieces of egg and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly to show his distaste before swallowing.

"Open."

Malik eyed Bakura, who had opened his mouth to show the Egyptian what he wanted. His tongue stuck out to a point, and the corners of his mouth were raised in amusement.

Malik look around to make sure no one was looking before he mimicked the action, shaking his head slightly to make it look even weirder. The two shared a laugh, and Malik felt all his problems start to fly away, one by one, disappearing into the clouds like forgotten balloons.

"The day I stole your shoes, because not many guys wear purple Converse, plus things you said to Ryou and times when you ran into him. The general build of your body, too. That spandex doesn't hide much," Bakura said, smirking. Malik snorted at his suggestive tone.

"That's the point," He said, winking charmingly. "I guess that all makes sense. But you had it easier, because not every-fuckin'-one has two personalities. Otherwise your accent would have been killer for your cover up."

"Yeah, well—" Bakura was interrupted by the waitress dropping off the check, leaving it face down in between the couple.

They exchanged glances, the conversation forgotten, before Bakura took the slip of paper and reached into his pocket. He handed the stout server a credit card with the check folded around it, and she took it to the register for him.

Malik smiled, feeling a little guilty about not eating his entire meal. So guilty that he picked up the juice and downed half of it. Once he swallowed, he met eyes with Bakura and said, "That was really sweet."

Bakura raised an eyebrow and let out a low chuckle. "That was Ryou's card."

.

A/N:

Fun fact: Converse are my favorite shoes and everyone should wear them (I have a purple pair just like Malik!). I love Converse so much my boyfriend decided the best ever present for me was to design some on the Converse Site especially for me and I'm gonna marry him. (For reasons other than the shoes but yeah, lol.)

But on a note that's actually related, isn't Bakura the sweetest asshole ever? Also more on their date next chapter. The word count was getting too high and I like to keep it uniform/am a little OCD about certain things, pfffft.

And no I didn't forget about the heroes. I'll explain next chapter, I'm so sorry.