Epilogue

(100 Years Later...)

There was a shriek of laughter and Anzu leaned her hip against the edge of the table facing the windows, frowning outside. There was a girl riding behind Atemu on the hover cycle. It was a prototype that their club had introduced and Atemu, being the club president, was given the opportunity to ride first. Anzu had not followed, forced to finish the chores in the clubroom, some of which Jounouchi had pawned off on her so that he could ride it. He had promised to pay her back, though Anzu did not see that happening any time soon.

I don't know why he entertains them, Anzu thought with increased irritation, scrubbing the touch screen of what she was cleaning a tad too vigorously. She turned away from the window, sighing and tossing the pad into a bucket of other such hologram-initializers. She slumped in her seat, leaning her elbow against the desk. The pad that she had thrown had turned on, a holographic screen lighting up. She ignored it, staring across the club room dismally.

For the better part of high school and now, college, she had been crushing on Atemu up until she had walked in on him and Mahado after club activities. She had been startled to find the two entangled in each other, half undressed, and the next day, Atemu had begged her not to say anything since Mahado was doing an apprenticeship at his family's estate on the weekends and had not wanted him to lose his job. With all the brightness in the world, she had agreed to keep his secret, but found herself still getting bizarrely bothered of the attention he lavished on other girls in spite of knowing he had a boyfriend.

This is ridiculous, she thought in disgust, getting to her feet and throwing an angry kick at the bucket that made the pads go flying across the floor, the holograms flickering on. One of the screens shattered and she felt a brief moment's regret. As she stared at the broken touch pad, she came up with a detailed story of Jounouchi breaking it out of spite for him leaving her with cleaning all of these. It had been his turn to clean the clubroom, after all.

She had known all of her friends since junior high and had only developed a crush on Atemu during the middle of high school. When they all transferred to the same college, she had envisioned romantic dates and a whirlwind college romance since she had not had the courage to ask him out during high school. However, the time had never felt right and by her second year, she had convinced herself that he wanted to play the field with how many girls he talked to in their dormitories. After all, she had reasoned, she was already twenty years old and had not had much experience with boys since meeting Atemu. As a result, by the time she had seen Mahado and Atemu together, she had already gotten herself deep into a separate mess that was taking up far more of her attention.

As if on cue, the door to the clubroom opened and she glanced to the doorway to see Bakura standing in the doorway, his hands in pockets. She was still standing, hands on hips, moments ago staring at the broken screen. He took in the broken hologram-initializer and a lazy smile lifted his lips.

"What are you doing here?" she asked before he was given a chance to say anything.

"Looking for Katsuya," he replied, crossing the room and peering out the window. "He owes me money for losing that game yesterday. You're exerting a lot of energy for someone that's not even interest in your gender."

She scowled at him and turned her own attention down to the courtyard. Atemu was no longer on the hover cycle, but was taking to a tall, dark-haired youth that was accompanied by a pretty, bright-haired girl. Kaiba and Kisara, from what Anzu could see from her vantage point. Kaiba was the president of the student government and Kisara was the secretary, though she had initially been rather unpopular. Anzu suspected Kaiba had rigged the votes in her favor, but could not blame him. Kisara was incredibly intelligent and the students on campus had only grudgingly accepted Kisara thanks to him vouching for her abilities. Anzu guessed that Kisara being a foreigner and her exceptionally good looks had been what had turned her off to the female student body. The fact that she had been dating Kaiba since high school likely had not helped her popularity, though Anzu found it difficult to believe anyone would want to date the man. Outside of Kisara, his attitude towards others was that of a lord to his servant.

Anzu returned her gaze from the trio to look at Bakura and felt the familiar, tight sensation in her stomach. Bakura was one of the sports captains and had been notorious in their high school for bullying other teams. While she had not heard of him doing it in college, him and Atemu had often gone head-to-head in regards to this, even though Atemu was not even involved in sports. It was not until Anzu had become involved with Bakura that Atemu had reluctantly began to keep his own counsel to himself. Ironically, Bakura had also stopped resorting to bullying in order to intimidate other teams shortly thereafter.

And here was the mess that Anzu seemed unable to extract herself from, almost a year later.

When she had initially gotten into college, she had hatched a plan to not only get Atemu's attention, but also make him jealous as she had been throughout high school. Of her friends, she had been the only one who had not dated anyone, mostly because she had been trying to think of the best way to get Atemu's attention so he would ask her out. As she had at least a civil relationship with Bakura and knew how much he grated on Atemu's nerves, she had thought him the best option. At the beginning of their second year, to her surprise, Bakura had agreed to play as her fake boyfriend.

"Anything to piss Atemu off," had been his response at the time.

Two months into the affair, though, Anzu found herself less interested in making Atemu jealous and looking forward more and more to the private moments she had with Bakura. While her friends had been outraged at her choice of boyfriend material, Atemu had accepted it with equanimity, something she had not counted on. The following protectiveness he portrayed she had misinterpreted and for a while, she had thought her plan was working. This was, of course, before she had learned he was far from interested in females.

And this was before she had become rather addicted to Bakura's kisses.

She understood the need for intimacy in public, but when he began to corner her in the clubroom or other areas for some very intense, steamy sessions, she quite forgot that they were just playing a part. And after discovering Atemu had a boyfriend, she was not sure the best way to extract herself out of the situation and Bakura had not mentioned it, either. To all the world, they were dating. Considering they had been together alone many times on what could be considered dates, it was beginning to feel very much like they were dating.

Presently, Anzu muttered, "I'm not exerting any energy over him."

Bakura snorted in disbelief. "Yes, I can see that," was his sarcastic retort.

She shot him an annoyed glance and lifted herself to sit on the table, crossing her ankles as she braced her palms against the surface. She had played out multiple conversations in her head about hers and Bakura's situation, but still had not found the best words. She tried to imagine a day without seeing Bakura and his sarcastic little jokes and found it more dismal than staying with a man that might not be interested in her.

Besides, she thought, feeling a flush enter her cheeks, we've already slept together...Not that it means anything, really – I mean, it's college – but still. Why would he stick around if that's all he wants?

Anzu knew for certain that Bakura had not been seeing any other girls. If she had watched Atemu closely, it was nothing compared to how well she watched Bakura. While he certainly resorted to insults when irritated with her, it could be considered kind compared to how he talked to other girls. She had even witnessed him make a girl burst into tears at a party when she unsuccessfully tried to lure him into a back room. This had been in the early stages of Anzu and his so-called fake relationship and when asking him, he had rolled his eyes, saying, "It doesn't exactly look convincing when I'm sleeping with other girls, does it?"

Even then, she had been somewhat skeptical. Fake relationship or not, Bakura seemed to have a loyal streak in him.

"It's just annoying," she said at last. "Why pretend to be straight? Nobody cares. That's such an archaic view of relationships. Even if he wants to protect Mahado's apprenticeship, it's not like he can't be honest about his orientation."

"It will put his friendship with Mahado and the others into question," Bakura replied in a maddening tone. "It's not like nobody knows. Kaiba knew long before you stumbled on it."

Anzu eyed him shrewdly. "How do you know that?"

Bakura smirked. "Because I overheard them in high school. Kaiba blackmailed him so that Kisara could get an internship at Atemu's family's company. He didn't want her turned away since she's a foreigner."

Dumbstruck, she stared at him. "But then...you knew? When I came to you with this – "

"Obviously," he cut in, "but watch who you're talking to, woman. It's not like you would have believed me."

Anzu sputtered wordlessly for a moment, the cogs in her mind whirling. As the pieces started to fall together, she burned a bright pink and glared at him angrily. "Then why the hell did you agree to this? You knew it wasn't going to do anything!"

He laughed and pulled away from the window, stepping towards her. "I knew," he agreed, leaning into her, planting his hands on either side of her. "And I don't need a reason. It was fun and I got you out of it, didn't I?"

"You did not – I'm not – don't treat me like some prize, Bakura!" She was shouting now, something that seemed to happen rather often between them.

He shrugged, entirely unbothered by her raised tones. "I don't see you denying it." There was a devilish glint in his eyes, a smirk playing at the edges of his mouth.

Feeling her cheeks burn hotter, she wished very much that she could hit him or kick him in the stomach right then. She was far too honest, however, and knew that lying about her increased attraction and affection for him would get her nowhere. If anyone was good at discerning a lie, it was Bakura and especially with her. After nearly a year of spending a good deal of time together, he knew her as well – if not better – than her friends.

Instead, she opted for gritting her teeth and glowering at him. The smirk widened and he pulled her face down to his, murmuring against her lips, "That's what I thought." When he kissed her, the desire to turn away out of spite warred with the instant inclination, which was to throw her anger to the wind. The second feeling won and she raised her hands to tangle in the thick mane of hair, temporarily forgetting that they were in the clubroom and the door was wide open.

Drawing away moments later, breathless and a little disheveled from his wandering hands, she wriggled away from him and slid off the table. She smoothed her hair and the wrinkles in her clothes down self-consciously. Feeling his gaze on her, Anzu glanced at him and the warmth that had been building in her chest for months bloomed upon meeting his eyes. He appeared thoughtful, as if undergoing an inner debate.

"I really hate you sometimes," she mumbled, though without any conviction. This seemed to amuse him and he barked out a laugh.

"Be careful what you say," he told her in a mocking tone, "otherwise I'm going to start thinking you're just using me for sex."

Outraged, she whipped around, mouth open in a denial. Upon seeing the mirth in his eyes, she narrowed her eyes on him warningly. "You're an ass! You know that's not even true!"

"Oh?" Once again, he had closed the space between them, his fingers idly stroking along her jawline and into her hair. He twisted a piece of hair around his fingertip, watching the strands circle around it. "Then tell me, little Anzu, what's keeping you with me? You don't exactly need me anymore, do you?" There was an edge to his smile, something that made her heart beat a little quicker.

Her breath caught in her throat briefly and then, refusing to be cowed by him, she withdrew from his touch and levelled a hard stare upon him. "I should ask you the same thing. What's keeping you hanging around? Or are you that desperate for a girlfriend?"

If she expected him to be offended, she was entirely wrong. If anything, he seemed to enjoy her rejoinder.

"I don't need a reason," he said mildly, stepping back and leaning against the table, resting his elbows upon the top to lounge against it. His eyes were very dark, speculative, and watchful.

At last feeling exasperated, she released an aggravated sigh. "What does that even mean, Bakura?"

"Stupid girl, think about it."

"You think it'll piss my friends off if I end up dating you through college?" she ventured, though a tiny frown tugged at her lips upon this thought. They were already at the end of their second year and the thought of spending her entire college years on a relationship that went nowhere seemed incredibly depressing. Moreover, the idea that her strange association with Bakura would go nowhere seemed a cause for further melancholy, a startling thought that she had not otherwise encountered. She was not sure when, in her mind, she had decided she wanted more from him. She knew that she harbored very warm feelings for him, something she had been fighting against for the past several months. She just was not sure if he did, as well.

Bakura raised one eyebrow at her, his smile widening. "I think they'll get used to me after college."

This time, she said nothing but stared at him. It was as if she were trying to compute a mathematics problem – her plus Bakura plus extended time equaled what?

Crossing her arms over her chest, she frowned openly at him, turning her gaze back to the window. Kaiba and Kisara had left and now Jounouchi was making outrageous turns on the hover cycle much to the delight of his fellow students. Her chest hurt and in an attempt to halt the joyful hope that had exploded within her, she had crossed her arms and had looked away from Bakura, but the idea had not left her mind. It did not take much insight to see what Bakura was implying. She knew his personality well enough to know that he would never outright say that he had feelings for her. It was hard enough getting him to say he liked her cooking.

She heard him straight and move behind her, shivering a little when his arm went around her shoulders, pulling her against his chest. He pressed his face into her hair and then quietly said in her ear, "Stop watching the club president. It's starting to piss me off."

"I'm not," she automatically said, "and I don't feel that way about Atemu anymore." She drew in a breath and felt how shaky it was with the sudden fear that was seizing her heart. She knew better than to assume anything anymore – she had learned that the hard way with Atemu – but she could not waste more time on another man, let alone take Bakura's words at face value. She was afraid that she was looking too deep into them or seeing implications that were not there.

"And why not?" Bakura's rough, low voice was in her ear, as if prompting her.

"Because...well, I don't know!" She exerted a frustrated sigh, turning around to face him with a puckered brow. "I just – it's you now. I feel – more – for you." This seemed so inadequate a response even Anzu wanted to smack herself in the face.

The horror of how idiotic her confession sounded must have shown on her face because Bakura snickered. "How flattering," he teased, "to have someone feel 'more' for me."

"Oh, shut up!" Anzu snapped, blushing in embarrassment. "You know what I mean! I don't need to spell it out for you."

"Oh, but you do," he told her, still smiling his very slight, devil smile. "What is it? A rebound liking? A fun fling 'more'?"

"I love you, alright?" she exploded, once again spurred into raising her voice at him. "I don't know how, or why, or when it happened, but that's what it is and you can laugh at me if you want! But that's what it is!"

There was a silence following this where Bakura looked extremely satisfied with himself and Anzu, flushed and angry with his poking and prodding, was not immediately aware of how loud she had been. After several seconds passed, her skin began to pale and her stomach dropped in concern that she had just confessed to Bakura when she had never even told Atemu how she liked him and she had been crushing on him for far longer. Then again, she reminded herself, what had occurred with Bakura this past year went beyond a mere crush.

"Then," he spoke up at last, "if that's the case, stop paying so much damn attention to Atemu."

She passed a hand over her face, pushing her thick fringe back briefly before letting the hair flop back onto her forehead. She was trembling a little, wishing very much she was not having this conversation right now. She felt like crying into her pillow. "What do you want, Bakura?" she asked at last. "Is this just to get back at Atemu or what?"

"Don't be stupid," Bakura told her, now sounding a little irritated himself. "I think you know better than that."

"If that's true, why won't you say it?"

"I don't need to." He was now outright scowling at her. "My actions should speak for me. I'm here, I plan to be here, and don't have any intentions of leaving."

She blinked, turning away from the window she had been resolutely staring through to look at him again. He seemed as angry as she had been a moment ago. Clearly questioning his intentions towards her had insulted him. Bakura was not going to say the words, that was obvious, but he was also making it so there could be no question as to where his affections lied. It was not a romantic confession and she felt rather foolish for expecting one. Bakura was as far from romantic as one could be when it came to boyfriends. He ran from either passionate and seductive to sarcastic and teasing. Even in the moments he had gone out of his way for her, it was not like other boys who might make a gesture of it as though they had done a favor. Now that she thought of it, he had never made it feel as though it were an inconvenience for him to do anything, even though she knew a time or two it had conflicted with his own sports activities to help her with something.

At last, she sighed through her nose and smiled at him. "Okay, fine," she said and reached out for his hand, moving closer to him. "But you know, when you say things like that, I'm expecting this to be a lifetime thing."

"Who said it wasn't?" was his arrogant retort.

She laughed at that and when she circled her arms around his waist, the uncertainty regarding him evaporated. And, although she could not explain it, for some reason this did not feel like the first time she had felt this for him. Something deep within her core was warmer than it had ever been, as if she had been waiting for him for a very long time.

End

A/N: And so ends another vexshipping story! The last chapter and the epilogue was such a struggle for me because I had to rewrite it a couple times before it fit the vibe of the story, and as close to the character's canon as I could get it. Some people might be wondering why Anzu didn't re-bond with Ryou as opposed to Kaiba and, while that was initially an idea I had, I just felt like it made more sense for Anzu to re-bond with Kaiba since they both lost their partners in the past and Ryou was not a full reincarnation. I also usually don't mess with Atemu's sexuality, but after reading through the manga, I saw more of an argument for it because he is really preoccupied with both Yuugi and Mahado. After the original manga (Season Zero), Atemu and Anzu don't seem to really have a connection in Duelist onward, though she continues to pine after both him and Yuugi. So, as a result, I slipped it in as one of the endless possibilities, but not an end result, after all, since this is a vexshipping story. I just thought the idea of fate and how easily choices can affect a path in a person's lifetime would be an interesting concept to introduce since the manga/anime skimmed over that.

In any event, thanks to everyone who have been leaving reviews, reading, and PMing me while I wrote this :) I know it was supposed to just be a three-part story, but I'm a real sucker for this couple and am glad you all were up for a longer story. And now, I'll say goodbye, but be sure to leave one last review letting me know how you liked the ending and don't forget to let me know if you're interested in a BONUS chapter for Bakura/Anzu past life!