HIYA! You guyz are the best reviewers a writer could ask for! Thanks for all your encouragement! This is a chapter dedicated to OBSESSED Uber Rei Model, since she has her birthday on the 21st and requested this update as a present!

Anyway, this chappy isn't as emotional as the previous one…it's funnier, though. Don't worry, this will be a happy ending, so don't worry bout angst and stuff…it'll be all right in the end. In the next chap, emotion will strike again, combined with action and adventure.

So, enjoy and please review!

"Shit!" was heard the sudden baritone, which echoed ominously all around the small room "Shitshitshitshitshit!" Zorgi repeated desperately while hitting his fist against the wall. "I knew there was something wrong with this shit! Damn it!"

Reyna just rolled her eyes in disapproval and turned her attention back to cleaning the Razor Gun in her hand. "Can you be any louder?" she ironically questioned.

That obviously knocked some sense into Zorgi, who finally stopped his display of fury and plunged his tired face in both palms.

Reyna grinned somewhat bitterly as she fixed the caliber of her Gun "Or should I remind you that some ancient ghost may hear you from next door and come hopping in?"

Zorgi ran his hands through his hair, sighed deeply and leaned back on the wall. He looked at the floor briefly and then focused on his friend, who was sitting on the double bed. "Unfortunately" he stated "I haven't forgotten…"

A small pause. Awkward silence.

"I thought you liked Egyptian stuff…" Zorgi caustically commented, making Reyna glare at him in the usual manner "I'm sure you like one of those ancients quite a bit…" Zorgi teased, earning a reddening of Reyna's cheeks, both from anger and from embarrassment.

"You're hallucinating, Zorgi…I don't want anything to do with Bakura…" Reyna muttered, fighting to keep the exasperated tone from her voice.

Zorgi smirked in satisfaction, as he succeeded in making his rather stoic best friend betray herself. "Who said anything about Bakura?" Zorgi innocently asked, and at the grave scowl Reyna sent him, he started whistling nonchalantly.

Eventually, when thoughts and worries caught up with him, rather than his thirst for teasing, he stopped chortling and refocused on thinking.

"So…we have failed…" Zorgi commented suddenly, breaking the silence once again "we haven't gotten the info about the Fuhrer's current exact location or where he'll be in the next months…we haven't gathered absolutely any information about the Fuhrer's base…Instead, we have gotten ourselves more problems by reviving some ancient evil spirits and unleashing some god-forsaken Egyptian terror. At least, until recently, it was god-forsaken….but NOOOOO, little Reyna just HAD to go prying in other people's business didn't she?"

Reyna's eyes narrowed. The holster of her gun clicked as she finished fixing it. "I think we've already established that." she said through gritted teeth.

Zorgi smirked. "Sorry to ruin your chi, Reyna, but I guess it's UTTERLY, COMPLETELY your fault this time, isn't it?"

Reyna was at her feet before Zorgi could even dream of blinking. She had her Razor Gun pointing his temple soon enough, and her eyes had narrowed dangerously by now. "Just shut up and think about what we do next." She growled, nudging the gun slightly and pulling it away soon after.

When Zorgi was finally free of her threat, he turned around and used a hand to rub his numb neck. He smiled bitterly. "Oh, yes…what we can do next…" he started, pretending to be thinking ironically " Oh, but of course, we can't go back to the Fuhrer's base on the surface since they'll already be looking for us by now…then again, we could use our underground 'Hover worm' and go to Headquarters, but Lend will kill us for failing the mission- not including of course, how we are going to explain to him the sudden appearance of Bakura and a walking skeleton…evidently, dear Reyna, since we can't go out, we'll have to stay in…So what we do next is stay here and pray for a miracle that the Fuhrer's men won't find us."

Reyna seemed thoughtful for a few moments, after hearing Zorgi' s aggravated explanation. "I think you're underestimating someone…"

Zorgi rolled his eyes and nodded, as though it was pointless to try and argue with Reyna over anything. "And who might that be, Reyna dear? Is it you, perhaps?"

Reyna scowled and kept silent for a few moments. When she spoke again, the single word that Zorgi didn't need to hear was uttered.

"Bakura."

Zorgi scowled and rubbed his temples.

"What about him, Reyna?" he asked tiredly.

Reyna stood up, showing her body language of defending her arguments. "He's far more powerful than any man…He could be a great asset to us…to the Revolution. He could lead us to victory."

At this, Zorgi seemed furious, as he suddenly grabbed Reyna's arm and slammed her against the wall, bringing his face inches apart from hers.

"Aren't you forgetting something, Reyna?" he spit angrily " He isn't a man…whatever he is, it's not human. And even if it was, he's not on our SIDE, when will you understand that? All he cares about is bringing that freaky broad back to life, and he will do anything to do it! It doesn't matter to him if we live or die- don't you get it? All he cares about in the world is Marik…we'll never get him to fight for us…" and at these last words, Zorgi let go of the girl and took a few steps backwards, turning away from her.

Reyna had her head bowed with her auburn shaggy bangs covering her face completely. When she raised her eyes again, they seemed determined.

"I say we take him to Lend…he'll know what to do." She concluded, making Zorgi bark a laugh in reflex.

"You do realize that, if he wanted to, Bakura could slaughter Lend- and probably every single one of us- just as easily as he killed those guards back there…don't you?" Zorgi questioned heavily.

Reyna frowned deeply again, but nodded in comprehension nonetheless.

"And you still think we should take him to Lend?" Zorgi finished with a question, turning his head suddenly towards Reyna and watching her nod carefully. He grinned.

"Good" he said "all this thinking was making my head hurt…"

'Ah…' Reyna thought 'Typical Zorgi. When things get too serious, trust him to say something totally stupid to lighten the mood. Too bad it never works. I know how distressed he is inside…'

"Whatever, Zorgi…Let's just go tell Bakura, ok?" Reyna urged, earning a quick nod from her friend. Zorgi pushed the door of their bedroom open and walked outside with Reyna close behind. Needless to say they were shocked to find the room occupied already.

On one small armchair there was a gorgeous young man with silky, spiky black hair, which reached his waist. He was intently watching each and every move of what seemed to be a purple robed, masked figure. Reyna shivered at the mere thought of what hid behind that expressionless white mask. Marik was currently holding something unusual, though. A red rose…Why was the zombie playing so tenderly with its petals, making Bakura watch with an obviously love-struck expression?

"Bakura?" Zorgi started conversationally, making Bakura turn and pierce him with a most unnerving glare "Ah…woke up already, I see…" Zorgi needlessly commented, all the while trying to keep as physically away from Bakura as possible. Meanwhile, Reyna was staring at the ground, unconsciously clutching her Razor and trying not to look at the vile, purple-cloaked creature with the shining snake slithering around its right shoulder.

That god-damned snake was glaring right at her, again.

'Why me?' Reyna simply thought, trying to keep calm.

"What a stupid comment, mortal, since you can already see me sitting here." Bakura replied to Zorgi' s previous statement in a bored fashion. " Oh, and by the way…" the ancient continued with a leer satanic enough to make the hair on the back of Zorgi' s neck stand on end "do try to gossip with your friend in lower tones…it might have been my…unusual hearing ability or it might as well have been your aggravating shouts…no matter what, though, I did hear what you had to say about me…"

Both Zorgi and Reyna froze, turning to look at each other in morbid horror.

"…and I would like to assure you it is COMPLETELTY true." Bakura continued, with a leer rapidly growing more and more sadistic "In fact, I couldn't care less whether you and the woman live or die…I guarantee you I am prepared for anything the circumstances may call for, and your pathetic attempt of a rebel organization has no power over me whatsoever…"

"Now wait a minute…" Zorgi started saying in an angry tone, but shut his mouth immediately when he saw both Marik and Bakura stand up in unison and approach in a threatening way.

"I should very much enjoy, however…" Bakura continued his thoughts "A nice, long talk with this notorious 'Lend' of yours…since you useless mutts can't get me what I want…" at this Bakura's eyes slid fleetingly towards Marik's direction "I shall go to someone who CAN find it for me…And if this Lend is also incapable of finding Marik's glyphs for me, then I'm sure the Fuhrer can help…"

Zorgi sighed and Reyna mimicked his actions. Marik just stayed as unmoving and as ignorant as a statue.

"Ok…" Reyna started saying "Fine. Let's say we take you to our headquarters…How do we know you won't betray us to the Fuhrer?"

At this, Bakura smiled and took Marik's thin leather gloved hand in his own to caress unconsciously "You don't. That's why you're gonna have to give me what I want…so I won't go to the Fuhrer and give him the exact location of your hideouts…although I assure you, had I really wanted to destroy you, I would not have bothered with such tedious work…It is Marik's glyphs I need, and then I will be free to wreak havoc on all my enemies unperturbed. Right now, I could still cast you to oblivion had it not been for the fact that I need you to find the glyphs…do not forget though, mortal…" Bakura's eyes took on a bloody quality "I can destroy you whenever I want. Even now, as we speak."

To say Zorgi and Reyna felt tongue-tied would be an understatement. They exchanged weary glances when they thought Bakura wasn't looking, and seemed to be overall completely distressed. After an interesting period of pondering from the two friends' part, an answer finally came out.

"Fine" Zorgi answered a bit catatonically, feeling his heart beat faster at Bakura's eager evil smile "We'll take you to see Lend. Our revolution Headquarters are very deep underground and we have several other underground hideouts like this one, which are all linked to each other with a giant network of mole-like tubes. Small vehicles that can carry only two people at a time- the Hover Worms- are installed in every hideout. That's how we'll go to headquarters…but only two of us can go, which means the other two will have to stay behind…"

Bakura's eyes narrowed dangerously "I know basic arithmetics, boy." She growled, making Zorgi nod and bow slightly in apprehension and also making Reyna snicker at her friend's predicament.

Then Bakura turned to the other ancient suddenly, startling the others suddenly.

"Hikkat yuhta maaret ahla" (I have to follow this idiot) Bakura told his zombie friend, as the snake on the figure's shoulder curled lightly towards Bakura. The robed figure reflexively lurched forward and took solid hold of Bakura's wrist, as if to prevent him from leaving. Bakura smiled reassuringly, looking at the white mask of a face with strange and unknown feeling.

"Phaon dranme khaatti…thu na thlome irekti" (Don't be afraid…I'll come back soon) He reassured, suddenly understanding what it must feel for Marik to be weak, powerless, uncommunicable and, to top it all, stranded in the middle of nowhere, alone "Hraklamatana" (I promise you) he finished, as he slowly left the hand that was now holding his tightly.

At his point, Zorgi wondered what kind of expression would this woman, Marik, have on her real face at a moment like this…He was dead curious to see the woman in her true form. A sudden demand from Bakura shook him out of his trance.

"You, mortal…" Bakura started in his imperious tone, trying to shake off the desperation of Marik's snake's pleading looks " If two of us will be going, Marik can't come, since we wouldn't have a guide if he did. One of you has to stay here and the other has to come with me. Choose now." Bakura simply finished, and turned back to speak some other words of comfort to Marik, who now seemed close to hyperventilating.

Meanwhile, Zorgi and Reyna were sharing panicked looks.

"I'm going with Bakura!" they both exclaimed simultaneously, then glared at each other once they realized what they'd done.

"I'm going, since I can give him a better introduction to Lend!" Zorgi insisted quietly.

"No!" Reyna retaliated "I'm a better guide and an expert on Egyptology to boot!" she whispered.

"That's a shitload of crap and you know it!" Zorgi fought to keep his voice down while observing Reyna's rapidly reddening face.

"Ok, it is!" she admitted unrepentantly "So what? You can't just leave me with that monster! It'll eat me up! Didn't you see what it almost did to me yesterday! I'm telling you, that cannibal hates me…I'm at the top of the black list…"Reyna shivered at the thought.

"Look" Zorgi argued "You're a woman, she's a woman! It's perfect! You girls can have fun together…ya know…do all kinds of fun stuff…talk about guys, play solitaire, gossip…devour poor and helpless little animals…"

Reyna glared.

"Have you decided yet?" Bakura asked suddenly, wreaking the argument up. Both friends turned around to see the handsome man standing tall, with his ever-present zombie consort standing right behind him.

"Uhm…well…we're umm…working on it…" Zorgi confessed while rubbing the back of his neck in a familiar gesture. Bakura rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Very well" he said with finality "since you cannot be adults and make the choice for yourselves, I will have to make it FOR you."

Reyna and Zorgi shared alerted glances. What did that mean?

"The man comes with me, the woman stays with Marik." He stated matter-of-factly, not really expecting any complaints. He was rather aggravated when he got them.

Reyna positively exploded, unleashing a torrent of pleas and whining upon Bakura that Zorgi knew would be a rather bad idea. What Reyna seemed to be unable to grasp was the fact that Bakura was not one of the other males Reyna was so used to controlling…he was different and, therefore, not very susceptible to her whims.

Reyna, however, performed her lethal mistake the moment she chose to lay a finger on the tall, lean man, And though Zorgi had tried to get it through her head time and time again yesterday that she had to restrain from touching Bakura at all costs, for the sake of not provoking Marik's wrath, Reyna simply didn't seem to get it.

Thus, the moment she unconsciously stretched that unbidden hand to hook around Bakura's elbow in an effort to convince him, a hissing shriek was heard. Suddenly, a disgusting feeling of slime penetrated the girl's senses. Bile immediately came up to her throat once she realized what was happening, feeling that disgusting, stone cold, filthy snake slide around her neck. It felt awful! How could Bakura ever let that thing touch him!

She felt the outlandish sensation of burning simultaneously with freezing to death, and almost screamed when a glowing pair of crystal lavender orbs zoomed in front of her face, at the same level with her own eyes. Vaguely, through the overall disgusting, sticky, suffocating feeling of the snake tightening around her neck, Reyna could register the shouts of her best friend- Zorgi- and the overall worried red eyes of Bakura which were turned towards Marik.

She heard the hissing sound become distinctively louder in her ear, and knew that the snake's face had come right above her throat.

"Fuudra nka, Mariku!" (Don't bother Mariku!) Bakura shouted, when he saw the twin long fangs of the snake unsheathe themselves from the creature's strange mouth. Strangely enough, Marik was holding the girl's hand and keeping her in place, while his sly snake was sent to do all the work for him. "Lhaat ar a, Mariku, yahtaad maayat sohe!" (We might use her later, Mariku, she's not worth killing!) Bakura reminded in alert, while he watched Marik's strange behavior about this particular girl.

And then, all of a sudden, just as the attack had started, just as easily it was over. The serpent quickly slithered back to its master's waist, glaring pointedly at the girl from its safe haven. As for Zorgi, who had been trying to help Reyna come back to her senses all this time, he glared at Bakura accusingly.

"What was that all about?" he demanded from Bakura, who rather bluntly ignored the question and continued to stare at Marik in a confused manner. What was wrong? Why did Marik attack the girl all of a sudden?

"Shihla mar umha mna, Mariku…Kurue rmahare ishlat" (We need her to find your glyphs, Marik…keep her unharmed.) Bakura filled in, just in case. Marik didn't seem very fond of this particular girl for some reason…Not that Bakura liked her of course…he just never really thought about killing her without sufficient reason.

The snake turned its slightly troubled eyes toward Bakura, signifying Marik had heard the reprimand and didn't really appreciate it.

Bakura blinked once, then twice. He couldn't figure out exactly what the woman had done that had bothered Marik so much…Sure, she could be irritating, but not THAT much…

"Thlare umma" (She's stupid) Bakura added as and afterthought, trying to get some kind of response from Marik, so as to find his problem. He sighed when he figured nothing out.

"Yahtaa smaar suhai…" (She means nothing…) he concluded, and nodded at his own thoughts. He saw the snake look at him with its haunting vision and stared back at it thoughtfully.

"Well, it's time we get going. Lend won't be there forever." Zorgi said in a disgruntled tone for being ignored for so long. "See you, Reyna…be careful." He advised in a rather mature tone, and walked away slowly. Bakura started to follow, but didn't leave before he gave a last goodbye to his obvious love and a strange, warning glance at Reyna.

Entrusting her the safety of his love was probably a very big deal about him…

When the door closed, however, and Reyna found herself alone with an unspeaking, snake-carrying, freaky Egyptian zombie which exceptionally hated her guts…She turned around slowly, ominously, only to come face to face with that creepy expressionless mask.

A rattling sound was heard, and Reyna watched disgustedly as the thing removed its right glove to reveal its long fingered, slimy hand. The girl felt goose-bumps climb on her skin, as she saw the zombie sluggishly stroke its shining pet-snake with its exposed hand.

Reyna took a few cautious steps backwards, only to find herself falling to a sitting position against the nearest armchair. Seeing her sit down, Marik mimicked her actions by sitting on another armchair in an excruciatingly slow manner.

As the zombie sat, however, it took hold of the lower part of its robe and allowed it to break free and reveal half of its skeletal body. Reyna almost choked, as she watched the skeleton sit across form her, half exposed, with its legs crossed in an obviously relaxed position. It took a moment for the girl to realize Marik was enjoying making her squeamish. Then again, maybe that's why he sent his snake to slither on purpose between the slim bones of his ribs, curling morbidly around each bony curve.

"I hate you." Reyna stated idly, knowing full well that the creature would not understand a thing out of what she was saying. And although Marik said nothing, he continued to watch her in that very same, placated way, his fingers toying with his robe and his snake rolling around his exposed bones…Reyna had a feeling the thing was sneering at her.

"That's the port, and these are the Walls." Zorgi explained while pointing at a frail looking, stone-made complex which remotely looked like a fort.

"You call these walls? They look more like candlesticks to me…" Bakura remarked starkly, making Zorgi roll his eyes at his snobbish character.

The two had just gotten off the Hover Worm, which had brought them all the way from the secret hideout to the central headquarters. Now Zorgi was leading Bakura across some strange streets and around some poor-looking people who all seemed similar to Zorgi and Reyna in appearance.

"Anyway, this is the Main Gate, once we go through here, we're in the main part of the city." Zorgi said once he spotted the huge gate in the middle of the fortress. The two men soon walked through it, only to be greeted by a huge crowd of all kinds of people. Every passerby appeared to be carrying firearms, and they were all dressed in that strange, innovative way. Although the city was dark due to the lack of the sun, great billboards and shining huge screens that Bakura had never seem before shone at the sides of tall constructions. Needless to say, the town had the general form of one huge, technologically developed catacomb, with its huge main entrance, its other main halls, and other numerous cryptic corridors. That was exactly what the town was- a very big, complex tomb.

Totally gothic.

Bakura liked it.

As the two men passed through the crowd, people backed away to let them through, in order to get a chance to stare at such a rare, unusual stranger. Bakura's unnaturally long hair and demonic red eyes, along with his surreal pale skin and beautiful figure- which was now wearing up-to-date black trousers covered by a black tunic which reached the knees- was enough to attract enough attention.

What was such a strange man doing in their rebel city? Most importantly…what was ZORGI doing with such a strange man in their rebel city?

The two companions tore through the crowd like a ship slits through waves, yet Bakura didn't seem to care. Zorgi tried to restrain his nervousness as he saw Lend' s quarters come into view. He decided to allow the topic to cover happier subjects and avoid his boss- and the wrath his boss would bestow upon him once he found out about the failed mission.

"So…uh…say, what was that all about back there? Is Marik really that jealous of Reyna touching you? Why did the snake attack?" Zorgi nonchalantly asked, trying to make light talk.

Bakura grinned and the memory of his loved one "Jealous? Oh, com'on don't be stupid, Marik would never be…." Suddenly, Bakura stopped dead in his tracks "…jealous," He turned to Zorgi with a look of enlightenment "Of COURSE! That's IT! HA! Hahahaha! How did I miss it….?" Bakura started laughing in a very relieved way, as though a great weight had lifted off his shoulders. Then, in a lower, more serious tone, he said to himself "He's, he's probably been jealous all this time…because the girl tries to touch me…he…he really…"

Zorgi, however, had not heard the last part of Bakura's thoughts, and was still ranting about jealousy. He had failed to inform Bakura they were drawing closer and closer to Lend' s quarters.

"I'm telling you man, women are jealous of everything and everyone- and I mean EVERYONE! It's only natural for a woman like Marik to b-"

"Woman?" Bakura suddenly interrupted Zorgi' s lecture with a perfectly arched eyebrow. "What woman?" he asked again, confusing Zorgi a bit and making him cock an eyebrow also.

"Why, Marik, of course. Who did you think?" Zorgi asked Bakura, as though he was talking to some retarded little kid. Luckily for him, Bakura seemed to be in a good mood and didn't mind being looked down upon. In fact, he actually laughed at Zorgi' words, for unknown reasons.

No wait. He didn't just laugh. He guffawed. And Zorgi was very much aggravated by this.

"Oh…Ahaha….oh, so you think...you actually thought Marik…ahahahaha…well, I suppose it WOULD be the logical assumption….Ahaha! It's hilarious just thinking about it!"

By this point, Zorgi had his arms crossed over his chest and his foot was tapping on the floor angrily. "What is?" he asked finally, trying to understand what Bakura found so funny about Marik being a woman. Bakura wiped the tears from his eyes and turned to finally answer Zorgi' s question.

"You idiot! Marik is-"

"ZORGI!" was heard the unmistakable yell of a face way too familiar for comfort.

"S-Sir!" Zorgi stuttered in a panicky tone and stood in attention, making Bakura smirk and raise an eyebrow. Only then did he spot what he assumed was Lend, Zorgi' s boss. A sturdy-looking fellow. A little too sturdy, if the countless waves of fat were any indication… Now where did this guy manage to find all this food to eat so as to actually get fat, in a society that Bakura could clearly se was starving? Bakura felt a vein pump furiously in his brow. He'd always hated the ungrateful types…

Well, if someone truly wants something, he can get it no matter what, right? In this case, food…but that was off the topic.

"We've been expecting news from you for two days now! Where have you been? Where's Reyna? And who on earth is this raven-looking fella?" Lend asked angrily as he fleetingly eyed Bakura up and down, and then reverted to Zorgi.

Needless to say Bakura was mot very happy about being ignored. "You insignificant human speck, I am Bakura!" he regally said, not really caring about good impressions, since he didn't need them to be respected "And I can win this war for you if you do something for me!"

Lend raised an eyebrow and shook his head dismissively, biting harder into his cigar "Hey Zorgi!" he started in his gruff voice "Weird accent this guy has- where'd you pick' him up, some ghetto or summat'?"

Zorgi really felt like bashing his head on the wall right about now.

"You puny mortal, do you not understand?" Bakura positively roared, outraged at being treated as an insignificant scum "Do not insult the King of Thieves, the Ruler of the Sahara, the Plague of Memphis- I am all those things: the greatest thief in Egypt!"

Lend raised an eyebrow yet again and made a motion as if to bite his cigar again. Unfortunately for him, his teeth hit one another, since the cigar was no longer there.

"What the…" he started saying, only to see his cigar resting in Bakura's hand, which was now outstretched towards him.

"Interesting…" Lend said, now seemingly more interested on meeting Bakura than expelling Zorgi "Come 'ere, lad. We can talk in private…"

Bakura grinned satanically and motioned for Zorgi to follow him in the crypt indicated. When they were inside and Zorgi was forced to narrate the entire story of how and where and why he met Bakura, it is needless to say that Lend did not believe a thing. That is, he didn't believe a thing until Bakura decided to prove to him just what kind of a creature he was, by retransforming himself into an ancient walking skeleton and then reverting back again.

The experience was very bad for both Zorgi- who was reliving it- and for Lend- who didn't want to believe he was living it.

Therefore, after this impressive display of power, it did not come as a big surprise when Lend begged Bakura to join his noble cause in saving the world from the evil Fuhrer's claws. Only then did the name 'Marik' come into the story, and Bakura tried to say as little about it as possible, to Zorgi' s surprise. Why was Bakura so evasive on the subject of Marik…? Bakura simply explained that he needed to find some specific ancient glyphs and only after he had found and used them, he would help the revolutionary movement against the Fuhrer.

Lend saw no reason to decline, and soon, Zorgi was faced with a new assignment: to find the lost glyphs. After their long conversation. Lend finally decided that he was a very busy leader of the revolution and had other things to attend to. Thus, Bakura was left to roam the city while waiting for Zorgi to finish his research about the glyphs in the huge city library. And what better chance could a ranger ask to roam the city than this?

However, other thoughts plagued Bakura's mind and soul as he walked around the crowded streets. His feelings of incomprehensible excitement were soaring, flying to the heavens. For some reason, the fact that Marik had been jealous made him feel really good. It made him feel so good, in fact, that he was looking forward to the next chance he would get to observe such possessive tenses from Marik's part. He couldn't wait until the next time Reyna touched him by accident, or did something Marik didn't like, just so Bakura could watch Marik get absurdly protective and possessive all of a sudden. Maybe it was the fact that Marik felt useless and disabled right now that made Marik so jealous of the girl's attempts in physical intimacy.

And such a silent proclamation of love from Marik's part was always important to Bakura.

Oh yes, as strange as it may have seemed to others, in their relationship, it was mainly Bakura who was more open and relentless to his confessions. It was partly because of the fact that Bakura was inhibited and reserved about everything else in his life, so the uncontrolled ardor had fallen upon his feelings of love about Marik. At first, having lost every single person he had ever cared about, Bakura had believed that he would never be able to feel love again. That theory was proven totally wrong when he met Marik… Maybe the fact that Bakura was never afraid to show his feelings in front of Marik had to do with the fact that Marik always made him lose control, make him lose himself, his heart, his mind. Under normal circumstances, when Marik looked at him, he couldn't think straight. Sometimes his feet got all wobbly and his hands started trembling- itching to touch.

Soon he'd lose control over his actions, and his right mind would be lost in sensation…soon, when those eyes looked at him…oh, and Marik had been jealous! Maybe a little too jealous, judging from the bruises around Reyna's neck. Funny, though, Bakura didn't feel particularly guilty about that either.

Suddenly, as he was walking, something caught Bakura's eye. He paused and looked at his left, where a girl was standing, selling what looked like beady necklaces and other ornaments. Bakura, being his notorious self, had a well-known obsession with shiny, possibly expensive objects, and although all the objects on that stand were shiny and expensive, he found he was keen on one in particular.

It was a very long chain of amethyst beads- too long to be a necklace. He noted that the gem-chain ended in a particular design, the use of which Bakura could not comprehend, exactly.

"Excuse me," he asked the seller in order not to raise suspicions with impoliteness "But could you tell me exactly what this is?" he finished and almost grimaced at the girl's practiced fake smile.

"Why of course, sir" she answered lightly "This is a chain to tie around your waist- the earring in the end attaches to your navel. Interested?" she eagerly asked, but was a tad disappointed by Bakura's shaking of the head. She turned around briefly to attend to another customer, and Bakura's red eyes darkened.

"Interesting…" he thought, as a strange, familiar itch developed on his fingertips. When the shopkeeper turned around later, she couldn't find her beautiful purple chain, for some reason.

Meanwhile, Bakura strolled contentedly to the library, all the time running vivid images of the gem he had just elected adorning his favorite body's navel- the navel of which he had memorized every inch…

Pushing open the tall, firm doors of the library, he walked all the way to where Zorgi was sitting. He was so absentminded daydreaming about his own fantasies, that he didn't notice Zorgi talking to him.

Who cared, anyway? Only one thing was important now.

Jealousy was not a feeling as flattering to Marik as it was to Bakura at the moment. Marik was possibly unhappy and suffering, and that's the last thing Bakura wanted. The black haired thief stroked the new present he had chosen for his loved one gingerly. It would look perfect on him- just like everything else did…

If Marik really was jealous, then Bakura had to show him he had no reason to be.