Hey, everyone. I'm back with another chapter. Finally. Some of you had been anxiously waiting for this one because of a certain character. So, here it is.

As always I want to thank everyone who has taken an interest in this story. I won't keep you waiting. Enjoy.

Chapter 10

The amethyst eyed boy allowed himself to take a relaxing breath and straighten his body before looking up from his cup and into the other boy's dark iris eyes. "I don't believe you're here on Atem's behalf, so I guess the real question is if I agreed to meet you hoping you'd either bring Atem along or that you would talk to me about Atem." He let his hands rest on his lap. "It doesn't bother me, Marik. I came here because I'd like to get to know you better. You asked me to meet you and I saw no reason why I should refuse."

He had expected the question and he was glad it was asked now rather than later. It would put both of them at ease.

"He shouldn't have pushed you away last night." Marik's voice was emotionless, just stating facts. He didn't feel the need to defend his friend when he was clearly in the wrong.

"Ah, you saw that." The younger boy chuckled a bit, trying to hide his embarrassment. "Atem did what he thought was right for him." He reached for his cup again, taking a sip. The hot liquid warmed him inside. "So, since we are revealing our cards, why did you want to see me? I don't believe it was to offer me dancing lessons, even though I may take you up to that offer. "

So straightforward and yet so teasing. Marik grinned. "At your service. But you're right. I didn't come here to talk about Atem or to be your dancing instructor. I came to ask you if you are in the market for a new friend." His voice was light and teasing but his proposition was serious and he waited for an answer, nervously.

He didn't care what his friends said. He would try to see what Yuugi knew about his grandfather's research if he was given a chance, but his primal goal was the boy's friendship. Out of the three, Marik was the one most comfortable with his magic and he wasn't that scared of what fate had prepared for him. He lived his life enjoying each moment and worrying about prophecies and previous lives seemed like a waste of time to him. All he cared about at that moment was what Yuugi would answer.

He didn't have to wait long. "I'm always in the market for a new friend. In fact, I am collecting them like some kids collect Pokémon cards."

Marik's eyes widened. "Are you?"

Yuugi broke into a fit of laughter. Marik could be so gullible. "Of course not. It was a joke!"

Grinning wider this time, the older boy offered Yuugi his hand across the table. When the other boy shook it, it made the deal official. "Sold. Congratulations, sir. You're now the friend of Marik Namu."

Yuugi laughed harder. It was the right choice to give Marik a chance. The older boy was clearly funny and smart. Yuugi liked him a lot and he couldn't wait to get to know him more.

"So, what exactly are you doing at the bar?" The younger boy asked with interest, taking another bite of his cheesecake.

"Anything that needs to be done. I mostly do the books, but I help around with other things too. Some nights I work as a bartender or a waiter. Lately I have even been experimenting with music. Last night's playlist was my idea." Marik rubbed the back of his neck, knowing his work wasn't that exciting, but still pleased Yuugi had asked him. "I have some more classes to take to get my degree as an accountant but I have experience."

"That's great." The amethyst eyed boy looked quite interested in what the boy had to say. "I know how hard it's to do the books since I always end up helping grandpa with them. People often think it's easy but being an accountant is quite complicated. It's like being a lawyer of maths." Marik gave him a look of disbelief and Yuugi rushed to talk about something else, thinking what he said was stupid. "I liked the music last night. It made me feel more comfortable when I walked into the bar. I've never expected to hear gaming music in a bar." He chuckled at the other boy's questioning expression. "I love video games, especially roleplaying games. When I walked into the bar, the song playing was a remix of Sanctuary from Kingdom Hearts."

Marik couldn't help but admire the boy's logic and enthusiasm. Those amethyst gems sparkled with life as he talked about his favorite games with the older boy commenting on them from times to times. Marik also enjoyed video games but he didn't own a console; he could never afford one. He usually played games in internet cafes during his days off, though. It was his idea to use remixes of famous games and people seemed to accept it with fervor. Yuugi suggested some of his favorite soundtracks such as Sonic 3's Ice Cap Zone soundtrack and the iris eyed boy found himself mentally checking the songs, creating a new playlist in his mind.

The hours passed without them noticing it. Their cups and plates were empty and night was fast approaching but neither of the two boys seemed to notice, until a tall brunette approached them. She seemed to be in her late twenties, with her beautiful green eyes resembling the leaves of a healthy tree.

"Hey, Makoto." Yuugi greeted her with a wide smile. "Marik, this is Makoto, the owner of the café and the one who made that marvelous cheesecake. Makoto, this is Marik, my new friend."

Marik nodded at the young woman and she nodded at him too. "Hey. Finally, I'm done with the kitchen so I decided to say hi. Leila told me you were here," she chuckled, remembering the way the girl had gushed about the young boy, "but we had so much work I couldn't come out."

"Oh, we haven't been here that long. Don't worry." Yuugi politely said. "How is Ami?" He enquired about Makoto's wife.

Makoto ruffled the boy's hair earning her a pout. "Ami is fine, but I think you're losing your sense of time. You've been here a good two hours, dear boy."

The young boy widened his eyes, finally realizing how late it was. He looked at his phone and found out it was already seven o'clock. "I'm sorry, Mako. I didn't notice it got so late." A thought came to him and he exclaimed, "I'm supposed to cook dinner tonight!"

Makoto ruffled his hair again and smiled. "When you have good company time seems to fly." A soft smile graced her lips thinking of how she would always lose sense of time when she was with her wife. "I'll send Leila over. Come say bye before you leave." Without another word, she turned and returned to her kitchen.

Yuugi took out of his wallet some bills, settling the bill, apologizing about having to leave so abruptly. Marik tried to protest but Yuugi reminded him that he had paid for his drink the previous night. Marik still didn't like it. He wasn't used to having people buying him things but he knew he couldn't argue with Yuugi over that. He stood up as Yuugi wore his jacket and got ready to leave.

"I think I'll stay a bit more. My other roommate, Bakura, was working overtime today. He must be out by now so I'll tell him to come over. He could probably use something sweet." Marik seemed reluctant to leave the warmth of the café for the cold streets. Bakura had the car so he could pick him up. "Are you sure you can't stay a little longer? Maybe we can drop you home?"

Yuugi politely declined. He'd take the bus and stop at the grocery shop to get some ingredients for a soup. "I had a lovely time. Let's meet again."

The older boy grinned, agreeing. As Yuugi rushed to say bye to Makoto and then left the café, Marik sat down again and smiled. It was a lovely time indeed. He couldn't remember when was the last time he had such a relaxing evening, acting like a boy his age. Usually it was all about survival or work or school. He liked this carefree feeling Yuugi created when they talked. He chuckled and was about to order another cup of coffee when he noticed a pair of gloves left on top of the table. Yuugi had forgotten his gloves. Quickly, he rushed out of his seat and the café in search of the young boy. Surely he couldn't have gone far. Remembering the bus stop wasn't far from there, he ran towards that direction.

Yuugi checked his phone trying to figure out the fastest route to the bus stop. He had chatted a bit longer than he had expected with Makoto, trying to persuade her that he and Marik were just friends, so he was cutting it short for the next bus's arrival. He decided to take a shortcut through one of the alleys behind the mall; usually they were safe enough even that late because of the mall's security cameras. Nevertheless, he sped up wanting to be back to the busy streets as soon as possible. Indeed, he was almost at the other end of the alley when someone grabbed him.

His abductor had used one of the cameras' blind spots and had grabbed the boy so swiftly pulling him close to one of the walls that Yuugi had no time to react. A strong arm was around his waist keeping him still while a rough hand kept him from screaming. Whoever was behind him was taller and stronger than him, but the tricolor haired boy wouldn't go down without a fight. As his foot came in contact with his captor's knee, his teeth sunk into his hand.

A series of curses followed his attempt to escape and, momentarily, he was free. A moment was all he needed, anyway. As he tried to steady himself, he scratched his hands in the jagged uneven wall and his jacket was ripped caught in some old rusty protruded irons on a trash can, but he didn't stop; he started running, pushing anything that was in his way.

"Shit! Wait! Yuugi, wait!" His captor called out his name and despite himself, Yuugi slowed down. "Wait!" That moment of hesitation was all his captor needed to reach him. "Damn, this hurt!" He showed him his bleeding hand.

Yuugi's eyes widened as he took in the white haired boy standing in front of him with an accusatory look. The previous night he had joked about the existence of a boy resembling Ryou but now he was facing a taller, more intimidating and tanner Ryou version. His eyes briefly took in the scar beneath the other's right eye and a shudder rocked his body.

"Let me guess…" Yuugi's voice didn't reveal the panic he felt building inside him. "You must be Bakura."

The white haired boy stopped walking towards him, astonished. "How do you know?"

The tricolor haired boy chewed his lower lip. He didn't want to reveal Malik's and Ryou's existence until he had a better understanding of the situation. "A lucky guess." He finally said. "After meeting Atem and Marik, I can see you being the third roommate."

Bakura wasn't sure that was the whole truth but he didn't push for more. "I need to talk to you. It would be better if you came with me on your own accord."

Yuugi took a step backwards. "And if I didn't?" His muscles tensed as he was about to make a run for the end of the alley. He could clearly hear the cars. Safety wasn't that far away.

Bakura revealed a pair of perfectly white teeth as he smiled. "You can't outrun me. You caught me by surprise before but that won't happen again." Pleased, he saw that the boy understood he had no chance against him as his muscles relaxed and he leaned on a trash can as if he needed help to stand. "Now you better…"

Before he could finish his sentence, Yuugi let out a scream and pushed the trash can towards Bakura with all his strength. He knew the ruckus he created would get someone's attention, and he was right. As he made his way towards the end of the alley, someone appeared. Yuugi felt relief building up until he noticed this someone was no other than Marik. He abruptly stopped, not sure what to do. Some minutes ago, he would have trusted Marik and run to him for help, but now he wasn't sure anymore.

"Yuugi?" Marik's voice was hesitant as he took in the panicked look in the boy's eyes. "Are you okay? I've been looking for you." His eyes focused on the disarray look of the boy; his clothes dirty and ripped, his hands scratched. "What happened?" the older boy rushed to his side, completely taken aback when Yuugi took a step back, scared.

Then he finally looked behind the boy's back and noticed the white haired boy. Instantly, he understood what had happened and his eyes flared with anger. "What the hell, Bakura?! What did you do to him?"

"I simply wanted to have a chat with him."

Yuugi turned so fast that his head rang. "Have a chat with me?! You grabbed me from behind like a kidnapper!" He looked at the boy, wondering if he was insane.

Bakura narrowed his eyes on the short boy. "You bit me!"

"That's because you grabbed me!" Yuugi narrowed his eyes as well. "You totally deserved it!"

A part of him felt bad for biting the other boy but he was right. He deserved it. In what kind of crazy universe was it okay to grab a person in order to have a chat with them? Which brought him back to the main problem. What did they want with him? It hurt him to admit it but all three boys must have approached him in order to get something out of him. He looked at Marik, defeated. Was the boy lying to him all evening?

"What do you want from me?" His question was only a whisper in the darkness.

He knew the boys weren't after money. He probably had them all wrong but he knew they weren't thieves. And most probably they didn't want to abduct him. But what could they want from him? Surely not his friendship. He wanted to laugh at his foolishness. How many times would he be pulled in only to be thrown out? Atem had been hot and cold since the very first moment. Marik seemed steadier; Yuugi had really believed the boy wanted them to be friends. As for Bakura… Yuugi didn't even know him, but clearly the other boy did.

"What do you know about your grandfather's studies and his excavation trips?" Bakura directly asked him, wanting to know if they were losing their time or not.

Yuugi looked at him, surprised. What did his grandfather have to do with all this? "I know some things. He's always been interested in Egypt and its pharaohs." He vaguely answered. Were they after his grandfather's research?

"How much do you know?" Bakura was more forceful. "Do you know why he was in Egypt this time? And don't play games with us."

Marik tried to intervene. No matter how much they wanted to know if Yuugi knew anything or not, they had no right to push the boy this way. "Bakura, stop. You haven't given him a reason to trust you. Probably he thinks we're trying to steal his grandfather's research or something."

Yuugi didn't know if Marik's words were part of a well-rehearsed script, but he could almost swear his concern for him was genuine. "Look...I don't know what you want from me but let's get it over with." He felt so tired all of the sudden. He tried not to think of the previous time something similar had happened to him. "Let me call my brother to let him know I will be out late and then we can go somewhere to talk." Whatever they wanted, it had to do with him and his grandfather. So, it was better if he knew what he had to deal with.

Bakura was about to protest, probably thinking the boy would call for help, but Marik raised his hand stopping him. He didn't like Yuugi's defeated look, but he hoped since the boy was willing to follow them, he would get a chance to explain things to him. "Go ahead."

Yuugi quickly called Joey, telling him he had met a friend while out and he would be home late. He apologized since it was his turn to cook dinner and refused Joey's offer to come and get him when he was done, telling him he would probably take a taxi. Then he hung up before Joey could ask more questions.

Bakura took a step closer to the boy. "Let's go."

It occurred to Yuugi, as they were walking out of the alley that they hadn't agreed on where they would go. "Where are we going?"

"I promise we won't hurt you." Marik assured him as they stopped outside Bakura's car. "I know it's a lot to ask, but, please, trust me." His voice was pleading.

"Why were you looking for me?" Yuugi had to ask before he made a decision that probably would change his whole life.

Marik chuckled a bit. "You forgot your gloves. It's quite cold tonight. I didn't want you to freeze." He took out of his pocket a pair of black thick gloves.

Yuugi found himself smiling as he accepted the pair of gloves. Taking a deep breath, he nodded his head. "I'll come with you."

Finally, Bakura appeared in front of Yuugi. Or should I say behind him? And what an appearance that was! I am not sure what made him think abducting Yuugi would be the best way to get what he wanted. XD Good thing Marik was around. Now…I wonder how Atem will react to this whole thing.