…Eheheh… I have no excuse for how late this chapter is… ^^" Except that I got a new babysitting job that takes up most of my time… so I apologize for such a long wait TT_TT Words alone cannot describe how sorry I am…
*Note* This chapter uses real life places and names. Though I looked up these places and names, I have never been there so I can not describe them accurately nor can I say what exactly would happen. Take all descriptions of real-life things lightly, for even if I look it up, I still have never been there, and the internet is limited compared to real-life experience.
In other words, don't flame me, just tell me what's wrong if you know it to be wrong so I may fix it. Thanks! =)
Although, I do have a New York advisor… she's anime-on-replay and she's so funny and random and I love it XD Thanks for the info on the Plaza girl! Also thanks to Lady Sunami for pointing out some things that didn't add up or make sense. You guys rock!
Chapter 28: New York, New York This chapter is dedicated to Ily711 =) Hope you enjoy it!
"Finally!" Marik exclaimed, "We're off of that death sentence with wings!" He jumped the last step off the plane and onto the airport, "Ah, there's nothing like the feeling of solid ground."
Bakura followed after him calmly, his eyes rolling. "Oh please, you looked fine the entire time," he smirked, "Well, maybe not the entire time…"
"HEY! You'd do the same thing if you were me!"
Bakura chuckled, "Whatever." Bakura looked around the place, trying to find something. "So… how do we get our luggage back?" he asked.
Marik looked at him. "Have you ever ridden a plane before?"
"No, but I've seen it in movies…"
"Sometimes I forget that you're not from this century… You look so adapted."
"I am, for things around the house. I pretty much grew up with Ryou… though I zoned out when he went to this horrid place called "School." I don't think I've ever heard of more useless information than when I went there."
"I never went to school…" Marik said, thinking about what kind of experiences he's missed because of his messed up lifestyle.
"You're lucky," Bakura responded, not realizing exactly what Marik was referring to.
It was silent between them for a while, before Marik said, "Why did you decide to…" he paused to find the right words, "Why did you, take over Ryou's body anyway?"
"His body had started to reject the change," even though he didn't specify what 'change' Ryou had rejected, Marik knew he meant the vampiric change, "and I didn't really want him to die because he is my host, so I took over."
So that's why Ryou's body had rejected the change earlier! Marik thought. "You didn't take over before that?" he asked after a while.
Bakura hesitated just a little too long for Marik's liking before saying, "Only for a little while at times…"
Marik narrowed his eyes suspiciously before asking, "Did you ever plan on taking over permanently?"
Bakura put his hands in his pocket, walking away to get out of hearing range. He lead them over to the men's restroom, where no one was currently. Thank goodness. Bakura turned to him. "Honestly… the thought of taking over permanently never crossed my mind. I had thought about taking over when Ryou was younger, about ten or so, but… it kind of felt, you know, weird to take over a child's body -"
"That does seem a little pedophilic…" Marik commented.
" - so I thought I'd wait a little before taking control," Bakura finished as if he hadn't been interrupted.
"What did you do through all of that time?" Marik asked, just plain curious now, "Sleep?"
"Sometimes, mostly I watched, seeing what this new age was like. When I first awoke I couldn't understand a word of what was being said, it all sounded like gibberish to me. Luckily I caught on eventually, but those first few months were hard. After I learned the language better, I started observing what all these strange devices were. I was most impressed by the TV I remember… I thought they trapped people inside boxes and made them entertain you -"
"Are you serious?" Marik asked, trying to contain a grin.
Bakura glared at him. "You try living in ancient Egypt and then in the 21st century and see how well you fare Mr. I've-been-all-over-the-world-hunting-vampires."
"Sorry, please continue," Marik said laughing a little.
Bakura rolled his eyes before continuing, "Eventually, I became used to all these strange devices, this foreign language, this foreign culture… but I've never been out of Japan before, so I might ask you a lot of questions… like where the hell anything is in this city."
Marik laughed. "You don't even know where anything is back home! Why would I think you knew your way around here?"
Bakura glared. "Look, if all the cities were pyramids or small towns I could find my way through them easily, but they're all giant buildings that look exactly the same and street names and there's barely any landmarks to go by! I'm surprised anyone can find their way around."
"You just have to know how the streets are set up -"
"Why can't they at least make the buildings look different?" Bakura interrupted Marik's explanation.
"Just to confuse people," Marik joked.
"Bastards," Bakura growled, thinking Marik was being serious.
Marik laughed at his friend's anger and naiveté. "So," Marik asked after he was done laughing, "if Ryou hadn't been bitten, then you wouldn't even be… Um… Here right now?"
"You mean in this world? Probably not. Honestly, it was very fun just to watch Ryou's life, like a TV through first-person view. But, then he got bitten…" Bakura paused as he remembered the night. "His body was rejecting the change, and I knew that if he died, then I wouldn't get to view a life anymore, so I took over. Plus, like I said before, he is my host," he smiled at the memory, "I called him "master" when I first talked to him, because technically, he was…"
Bakura stopped after that, so Marik asked, "What do you mean he's your master?"
Bakura looked at the ground. "I found that whatever problem Ryou had, I usually ended up fixing it, involuntarily or not. Ryou was a shy child, he wanted to be brave, and the Ring gave him the power, little by little, to be more outgoing… eventually I realized that the power of the Ring was powered by me, by my soul, and I also learned that I could do anything for him… if I wanted to, and usually I did," he turned to Marik, "I mean, he's my host… and he is a good kid, albeit a little weird.
"Usually I helped him when he didn't want me to, though he didn't realize it was my doing," Bakura stared at the bathroom wall, "he had a few bullies at his school, and he was too much of a coward to stand up for himself or tell anyone, so I… intervened…" his eyes changed somehow with this memory, so that they now looked more red then brown, "After school, I came out, and I went to go teach those bullies a lesson they would never forget," his smiled grew more twisted, "they were scared immediately when they saw my psychotic eyes, my satanic smirk… they thought Ryou had been possessed by a demon or something, which in a way, he had been," his twisted smile grew even more, scaring even Marik somewhat, who was used to vampires getting a little too… blood thirsty and psychotic. It just scared him seeing his friend get so worked up over a memory, he knew Bakura had been a little off, but he hadn't really thought much of it. "I fought them," Bakura continued his tale, "I managed to take the pocket knife they wielded… I love knives, they're just so… personal," he let out a maniacal chuckle, that made Marik shudder just a little, his danger sense was starting to go off. "I crept closer to them," Bakura picked up his tale again, "scaring them half-dead right then and there without even hurting them. They begged for their lives, but would I let them off that easy? Of course not. I cut them, not to deep, just enough to scare the hell out of them. I told them to never bother 'me' again, and they hastily agreed, so I handed them their knife back and went inside the Ring again," he leaned back against the sink, "I thought Ryou would be happy that his tormentors had been taught a lesson, but he wasn't… he was worried and sad for the boys, and he immediately went to fetch the school nurse. I hadn't understood," Bakura said, dumbfounded, "I thought he would be grateful, but it was as if he hadn't appreciated my gift at all…
"This continued on for a while," Bakura admitted, "he would face an enemy and I would take care of it for him. But he was never happy with what I had done, he was more confused than anything…" At this point his psychotic look had diminished, and he was back to normal which greatly relieved Marik, who slowly let out a breath he hadn't even known he had been holding. "He didn't understand why the people that had basically hated and bullied him yesterday were down-right afraid of him today. He was worried, and confused, and he didn't like that people were afraid of him. This reputation caused him even more trouble in school though. People shunned him, certain that he was an unlucky person, that anyone who went near him would be traumatized or hurt."
Bakura crossed his arms. "He also had a lot of trouble making friends… Probably because of the 'unlucky' reputation he had received…" he said, thinking more to himself again, but managing to not get so crazy-looking, "and at that time I knew that the Ring could transfer souls and whatnot, so I thought…" he stopped here, looking into space. Then he spoke again, his eyes signifying he forgot where he was, "I thought if I took over long enough, I could put people's souls in little dolls, those role-playing ones that he liked so much. That way Ryou could have all the friends he ever wanted right in his room… or anywhere he wanted really… They could never shun him or leave him after all…" he snapped back to reality. "But I never did that, I'm not really sure why I didn't, but I guess I just decided it wouldn't be the best decision in the world."
"Good decision…" Marik commented, trying to digest this new information. He had heard a lot of new information lately… "So… are you telling me you were trying to be… helpful? In a weird way?"
Bakura smiled. "I suppose… I was kind of messed up then. A mad spirit, in the angry sense and the insane sense, and back then I felt like I knew exactly what I was doing. I felt like whatever I was doing for Ryou, I was doing for myself as well. I mean, I didn't want the body I possessed to be some weakling who can't stand up for himself or get what he wants, I wanted my host to be strong, to take control… so I tried to give him that, at least through reputation, and I tried to give him confidence. Which is what he wanted more of - always.
"Back then, my plan had been simple," he dropped his hands at his sides and looked at Marik, "spend the rest of my existence in the Ring, live through countless people, help them in any way I could - conventional or not - and maybe take over once in a while and kill a few… Oh, I also liked killing things, a lot."
"… We all have our hobbies…" Marik said awkwardly, but then he noticed that Bakura had said 'liked,' past tense, "so, you don't like killing things anymore?"
"It has lost it's appeal, and… I don't know, back then I was kind of…" he looked into space again, "Insane. Psychotic. Bordering demonic… I think I've become much more grounded now…" he smirked and held his hands out at his sides as if he was giving up, "but I haven't lost my thirst for blood oddly enough."
Marik laughed. "That'd be kind of impossible at this point don't you think?"
"Just a little maybe," Bakura put his index finger on his chin and examined Marik, contemplating something, or him. "Do you have any idea how much you've interfered with my plans?" How much you've changed me? How much you've made me rethink my whole life, my plans, my… everything?
Marik shrugged. "I think I just made your plans less boring. I mean, staying inside a Ring for the rest of your life? It's not really the ideal way to live."
"For an insane person, it seemed just peachy."
"You're still insane."
Bakura smiled. "Yes, but… differently."
"Yeah, that's not weird."
"Shut up. We should go get our luggage now."
"Yeah, probably." The two boys walked out of the restroom and into the busy airport traffic. Bakura looked around trying to find their luggage by sight, but he couldn't see anything through the swarms of people. "Where did they put our luggage?" he asked Marik.
"In baggage claim."
"Where's that?"
"Over there," Marik pointed to a sign that said, "Baggage Claim" in English letters. "Oh right, we're in America… should we speak English then?"
"Nah, let's confuse the locals."
Marik laughed and then they walked toward the baggage claim area. After they found their luggage, they headed out of the airport. The tall buildings and many cars didn't phase Bakura much, and neither did the English signs (though he still found it weird how he could read them). He actually found that once you've seen one city, you've seen them all… He had never believed that statement before, because his logic was, "You're in a different place, so it must be different!" That's how it had been with the towns in Ancient Egypt, but the cities weren't really different here, just the subtle hints that signified you were in a different place. Like the language and dialect, for one thing, and the different colors and different car styles, but otherwise… it was all the same boring city-look.
"All right," Bakura said, looking at a map Marik had insisted he keep on him at all times, "the first thing we should do is find a place to sleep."
Marik shook his head. "Nope, the first thing we need to do is visit an old friend of mine."
"Friend?" Bakura was confused - he had thought that he was Marik's only friend…
Marik smiled mischievously. "You'll see, it's this way."
"It?" Now the ex-Thief King was even more confused.
"Just follow me!" And so Bakura did. He followed the weird Egyptian through the concrete jungle, all the while looking at his map and trying to figure out where the hell he was on the stupid piece of paper. Eventually he gave up and disposed of the map when Marik wasn't looking. They wound their way through the identical buildings (which Bakura pointed out to Marik with annoyance) and eventually they stopped at an average, two-story house with a long driveway that twisted around the house till it was out of sight from the front yard. Marik stopped in front of it. "You have to stay out here," he told Bakura.
"Why?"
"This is one of my family's houses. It has vampire booby traps all over it."
"Oh… wait, your house in Japan didn't have any traps," Bakura reminded him.
"That's 'cause Isis turned them off. I knew she would, we always turn them off when we're inside the house, it's instinctual now actually."
"Okay… wait, you said your friend was here, so doesn't that mean that the traps are off because someone is in there…?" Bakura asked, trying to figure out who the heck Marik's 'friend' was.
"Just wait here! Okay?"
"Whatever," Bakura said, folding his arms.
Marik rolled his eyes. "Don't pout," he said before walking up the driveway. Bakura watched him disappear around the corner, and immediately felt the need to get him back in his sight. He almost took a step forward before he face-palmed himself. Oh for crying out loud! he scolded himself, he's going into his house, it's not like he's going into some bad guy's lair or anything. He'll be fine. But even though he told himself it was fine, just the fact that he was out of his sight worried him… Damn it, he thought, when did I get so attached?
It's more protective than anything, his mind answered him.
Shut up
His mind probably would have retorted, if the sound of a loud engine didn't sound from behind the driveway. It shocked Bakura to some degree, and now he wondered more than ever what the hell Marik was doing. He needn't wonder for long though, because Marik came around the driveway on a red motorcycle, a wicked grin on his face. He made a screeching stop right in front of Bakura and said, "I've missed this thing so much!"
Bakura blinked twice. "You have a motorcycle?" he asked, impressed.
Marik nodded. "Yup, easier for weaving through traffic to dodge vampires," he smirked, "at least, that's what I told my dad so that he would buy it for me."
Bakura smiled. "That's… hot…" he admitted, using an expression he had heard in a book.
Marik swelled with pride, and a little pink came to his cheeks. "You wanted to find a place to sleep?"
"Why can't we just stay here?" Bakura asked, pointing at his house.
"My dad has a device that tells him when and if a house's security is down. Isis and Rishid are probably already using one of the houses, which is making dad suspicious already. And they're probably still 'looking for me' to get him off track, but I'd rather not risk it. Just in case dad found them already."
"You're kind of a safety nut huh?" Bakura asked.
Marik chuckled. "Kind of. Anyways, hop on!" Bakura stared at him, and then the motorcycle. If he was on the motorcycle, then the only thing that would keep him on is putting his arms around Marik… "Come on!" Marik urged, "It's just like a sled, only in a more comfortable sitting position."
"How are we going to fit the luggage on?" Bakura asked, gesturing to the two small duffel bags they had brought as well as his laptop case. He mainly did it because they needed to transport it somehow, but also to postpone getting on the bike.
"We can strap it around the back."
"Is that safe?" Bakura asked, not knowing the first thing about these mechanical beasts.
Marik chuckled, "You're pretty much brain-dead on technology that's not a household appliance, aren't you?" Bakura was about to retort, but Marik interrupted with, "Yeah, it should work, they just can't touch the wheels or the mufflers. Help me strap 'em on."
They then put the luggage on the back of Marik's bike. Bakura just held the things while Marik used some sort of special motorcycle straps or something to hold the luggage in place. When they were done, 'Kura still had his laptop case to worry about, and Marik told him he'd have to carry it on his back.
As soon as the luggage was on, Marik literally jumped back onto his 'baby,' and told Bakura to sit down too. The vampire stared at the bike for a few minutes before he walked forward and snaked on the motorcycle behind him, slipping his arms around his waist in the next second, all the while telling himself that he shouldn't be enjoying this so much. But was it his fault that Marik felt so warm? He put his chin on Marik's shoulder and asked, "Shouldn't we be wearing helmets?" just to try and distract himself from where he was right now, but it wasn't helping since to put his head on his shoulder he had to press his chest against his back. Damn it damn it damn it! Bakura thought.
Marik smirked. "Where's the fun in that?" then he took off, faster than Bakura would have thought possible for someone who was afraid of planes. He tore down the street, weaving in and out of traffic just like he had been trained to do. The danger of the ride both invigorated and frightened Bakura a bit - he wasn't used to such high speeds (without him running with his vampire speed), considering he lived in a time without cars, and he hadn't ever even ridden in a car before. He found himself comparing the ride to a horse, but a horse still didn't go this fast, plus, Marik turned way too quickly and he was sure that at any second they were going to crash into something or just fall on the ground. At least on a horse there's more support, or more feeling of support anyway. And, to add to that, the high wind pressure was threatening to blow his hood and his sleeves back and reveal his skin to the sunlight. He had to tuck his head down and hold onto both of his sleeves while holding on to Marik so that he wouldn't fall off or be revealed. Not to mention that his laptop case flew limply behind him in the wind and he was sure that at any moment the flimsy strap would break in half and he could say good-bye to his expensive laptop. But at the same time, he also enjoyed the feel of the wind, even if it threatened to aid in his burning and the destruction of his precious laptop, and he also enjoyed the way everything blurred by his peripheral vision, that was what reminded him of riding a horse more than anything. And the position he was in greatly improved his impression of motorcycles as well.
So all in all, he had very mixed feelings about the contraptions.
And while Bakura was trying to decide whether or not he liked motorcycles, Marik was having the time of his life. He enjoyed the high speeds, the idea of weaving in and out of anything and everything, the sharp turns, the absolute danger that they might crash into something at anytime, and he too enjoyed the wind in his hair and how everything whooshed by him in a blur. He, plainly, just loved the absolute danger of it all. He wore a giant grin on his face, loving every minute of the ride, and if he wasn't intoxicated by the dangerous ride, he probably would have blushed when Bakura put his arms around him. Though, he would have also, most likely, enjoyed the ride just a little bit more.
They tore down the pavement, only stopping for the red lights, if they came to them. Marik usually sped up when the light turned yellow so that he would make it. Eventually, Marik managed to get to his destination without the police tailing him. They disembarked at a sign that said, "Central Park" with a map of the park it indicated. The park was huge! Bakura didn't even know there were parks that big in the world. Marik killed the engine and turned his head to look at Bakura. He hopped off the bike and looked around. He still couldn't believe the size of this thing… he could even see a giant fountain! And there were many ponds and a lot of trees, and open space for relaxing. Why did Marik stop here?
Marik hopped off the bike and put the kick stand up. He held his hand out to Bakura. "Can I see the map?"
"… I kind of threw it out…" Bakura answered with a small smile.
Marik glared and sighed. "Well, then we'll have to get a new one."
"I am not getting on that thing again," Bakura said forcefully.
"Why not?"
"You go way too fast, I'm surprised someone who's afraid of planes goes at such high speeds!"
"First off, I'm afraid of planes because I don't know who's driving them and because of that little pyramid incident I told you about? I'd probably be fine if I was driving. And second, you could probably go faster on foot!" Marik exclaimed, defending his driving skills.
"It's not just that though," Bakura continued. He leaned in so that no one would hear this next part, "The winds might blow back my hood." He rolled his eyes when he saw that Marik didn't get it, "You know, and the sun might hit me…?"
Marik's eyes lit up, signifying he got it now, and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh…" he said, "I forgot about that…"
"Obviously."
Marik sighed. "Even if I drive slower, the wind's still going to be bad."
"At least it will be better than your psycho driving."
"Hey! We didn't crash did we? So shut up about my driving skills already."
"Whatever. Is there a hotel nearby?"
"I don't know! That's why we needed the map!"
Bakura groaned. In a fit of frustration he took out his Millennium Ring, "I wish this thing could just point us to a hotel or something!" As soon as the words left his mouth, the Ring started glowing and one of the pointy ends pointed to the right. Both boys stared at it. "… Did you know it could do that?" Bakura asked Marik.
Marik shook his head. "If I did, do you think I'd want a map?"
"Good point, well let's follow the magical glowing Item."
Marik laughed and hopped back on his motorcycle. After he started it, he looked at Bakura, "You hopping on?"
"I'll just run," he announced over the motor.
"But then I won't know where to go," Marik pointed out.
Bakura was silent, then he swore. In reality, he just didn't want to get on the motorcycle again because he enjoyed it way too much when he had to hang onto Marik… But there wasn't much of a choice was there? He hopped on the bike, wrapped his arms around his favorite Egyptian once more, and held the Ring in front of them both. "Follow that pointer!" he announced, this time noticing a blush start to creep its way up his face.
Marik smirked. "Aye-aye Captain 'Kura!" Bakura growled in his ear, making Marik laugh.
They drove on, this time actually following the driving laws, and soon they came to a hotel called, "The Plaza." It is very tall, white building with lots of windows and five flags sticking out over the door. Bakura caught a glimpse of the inside - it was super fancy! Marble floors, fancy rugs/carpets, tasteful wallpaper and color-scheme, huge check-in desk, stained-glass windows (even on the ceiling), and all the furniture looked very expensive, attractive, and refined. We're staying here? Bakura thought, Dang.
Marik drove them around the building until they came to the parking area and parked. Bakura hopped off the bike and stared up at the building. Seriously, they were staying here?
"Like the Plaza?" Marik asked with a smile as he got off the bike, "I've never been here myself, but they say it's a good hotel."
"It's huge," Bakura said, "why does someone need such a large place to stay?"
Marik shrugged. "People like the ambiance. We better go book a room, I don't know how full this place can get." They walked inside the building then, and Bakura couldn't help but notice all the odd stares he was receiving for his attire. He wished he could yell at them all and tell them to stop looking at him like he's a nutcase, but then he would seem like a nutcase, so he had to just seethe silently.
When they walked in, Bakura marveled about how fancy this place looked yet again. Why did one place need to look so fancy anyways? There was a lot of art around that Bakura didn't recognize, and he wasn't exactly sure if they were supposed to be of anything either. The concierges' desks were all made of marble, or a stone close to it, and were all very shiny. They walked up to the shiny, marble desks and Marik said, "I'd like to book a room for two," only he said it in Japanese, so the poor, American, concierge, who wore a tuxedo with a golden nametag that read: "WILMINGTON," looked at him confusedly and said, "I'm sorry, I do not speak whatever language you are speaking," in English.
Marik swore. "I forgot we're not in Japan anymore…" he then switched to English, "I'm sorry, I would like to book a room for me and my friend."
Mr. Wilmington looked at him, then Bakura, and then started searching on his computer for a room. "Were you looking for a specific type of room?"
"What do you mean?" Marik asked.
"Standard, Suite, Deluxe, Superior; is there a specific type you would like?"
"Um… Standard…" Marik said, wondering what the difference was. Wilmington started clicking on his computer, and after a while said, "We do have a room available, room number 1313 (1)."
"How much?"
"Seven hundred per night."
"We'll take it."
Wilmington looked at us just a little oddly, as if he was uncomfortable, "I must warn you that the room comes with only one King-sized bed."
"That's fine," Marik said, thinking of how Bakura was a vampire and wouldn't need to sleep anyway.
Wilmington's brow creased, but he said, "All right then sir. May I see some ID?" Marik was about to hand him his driver's license when he realized that if his dad really wanted to find him, he could track him checking into this hotel. He turned to Bakura, "Can you give him some ID?" he asked in Japanese.
"Why me?"
"Because my dad can track the hotel's records…"
"Wow, paranoid much?"
"I'd rather be paranoid and hidden than trusting and found," Marik argued. Bakura gave an exasperated sigh and took out his wallet. He handed the man Ryou's driver's license, since he didn't have one of his own. Unfortunately, the license was in Japanese, and poor Wilmington looked at it bewildered before handing it back. "I cannot read this sir," he said apologetically.
"Right, sorry," Bakura said, cursing under his breath for all the different languages in this world. He took the license back and instead handed him Ryou's passport since he remembered there being some English inside. Wilmington took the passport and his eyes grew wide. He must have read a few of Ryou's books and was a fan, but he didn't say anything about it because the hotel made it very clear not to freak out when celebrities or other famous people checked in. "All right," Wilmington said as he handed Bakura 'his' passport back, "and how will you be paying for the room today sir?"
"Credit card," Bakura said as he handed the man his credit card.
"And how long will you be staying?"
"Two weeks," the two young adults answered at the same time.
"Of course, that comes to a grand total of $9,800 dollars. Is that all right?"
"Yes," Bakura answered.
"Very good then," Wilmington said as he typed the credit card's number into his computer and then swiped it. He handed him the card back and then reached for something else behind his fancy marble desk. "Here is your key card. Check-in is at 3:00 PM and check-out is at 12:00 PM." he said handing them the colorful, plastic card with their room number on it.
"Thanks," Marik said as he took the card.
"One of our bellhops will carry your bags," he said just as a bellhop wearing a navy blue uniform with gold trim and pattern showed up with a golden cart loaded with luggage. His golden nameplate read "JOHNSON." "I hope you'll have a wonderful stay at The Plaza."
"I'm sure we will…" Bakura said as Johnson loaded their bags onto the cart. It was 11:00 AM now, what were they going to do for four hours? Why did they have to check in specifically at three anyway? And why couldn't they take the luggage up themselves? New York is weird…
After Marik and Bakura had eaten at one of The Plaza's many restaurants, they decided to just walk around town and relax a bit before looking for a Millennium Item. They didn't ride the motorcycle (though Bakura had to do some pretty good convincing for Marik to agree) though, and were currently just walking leisurely through Central Park. Bakura was still amazed that a park this big was in a city. You usually associate many tall buildings, concrete, and little plants with cities, so he still wasn't over it.
They were currently walking through the Naturalists' Walk part of the park because Bakura had gotten tired of seeing and hearing all the cars in the road, but going there was in vain because he could still hear the cars. "Don't these people have jobs…?" he wondered aloud.
"They're probably driving to them now, or they're on their lunch break," Marik said.
"Why is this place so busy anyways?"
"Well, it is called the City that Never Sleeps," Marik smirked, "you should fit right in."
Bakura rolled his eyes. "Whatever." As soon as he said that word, he heard an even more annoying high-pitched sound that made his head hurt increasingly. It was like someone was digging a sharp implement farther and farther into his head with every millisecond that it continued. He shut his eyes tight and covered his ears to try and drown out the sound. "What is that?" he asked, clearly annoyed and angry.
Marik looked at him confused. "What do you mean?"
"That noise! It's piercing my eardrums!"
Marik scrunched his eyebrows together. "I don't hear anything…" suddenly his eyes lit up and he looked nervous. He looked all around him for something, but apparently he didn't find what he was looking for. "Bakura, where is the sound coming from?" he asked very seriously.
"I don't know!" he screamed, certain that the sound was getting louder. He tried to pay attention through the piercing pain to locate it, but it was very difficult to think right now - it was as if the noise was trying to cut off his brain functions. It also felt like it was coming in all directions. He turned his head to see if that would help, and he barely heard a noise-level change. "Somewhere on my left…" no sooner than he had said 'left' than Marik grabbed his hand and started running in the other direction. Bakura just ran blindly, the sound making it impossible for him to do anything else. But, since now his hand was in Marik's, one of his eardrums was released to the full blast of the noise and he ground his teeth to keep from yelling - what was that awful noise? Why was it plaguing him so?
Eventually, they got far away enough where it was quieter, and then it stopped altogether. Bakura took a deep breath and started rubbing his ear with the hand that wasn't being constricted by Marik's. "What was that?" he asked again.
"Is it gone?" Marik asked in a rush.
"Yeah." Marik stopped running and dropped his hand. He was panting just a little, making Bakura wonder how fast they had been running. "I'm fairly certain," Marik said after a little bit, "that the sound you heard was a vampire whistle."
Bakura looked at him disbelievingly. "Right," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "a vampire whistle. Next you'll tell me that Yugi did find a cure."
Marik glared at him. "I'm being serious! You didn't think we were the only vampire hunters in the world did you?"
Bakura hesitated. To be honest, he hadn't thought of that. Hell, he had forgotten that Marik was a vampire hunter! "So… there's another vampire hunter here you think?"
Marik nodded. "Yes, and I think I know who it is too…"
"Who -" but Bakura wasn't able to finish his question because the sound returned, this time sounding louder than before. He covered his ears again and let out a groan, but as soon as he did the noise stopped. Bakura took another deep breath, but before he could let it out Marik grabbed him again and took him behind a large bush. He put his finger over his mouth to say "Be quiet!" and pointed to the bush, signifying that someone was behind it. Bakura's eye was starting to twitch, and he was fairly certain that his ears were starting to bleed, but he looked through the bush anyway to see what had Marik so wary. The only person he saw through the foliage was a tall, blonde, muscular man wearing a red T-shirt with a gold-studded leather jacket with an American Flag bandana around his head and sunglasses. He was looking around as if he lost something.
"Do you see the man with the bandana?" Marik asked very quietly.
"Yes, what about him?" Bakura asked in the same quiet voice.
"That's Bandit Keith - he's a monster hunter."
"He's the one blowing that whistle?" Bakura asked angrily.
"Yes - he has a whistle for every monster you can think of."
"Why is he called -" Bakura couldn't finish his question yet again because the noise returned. Now he knew for certain that he was blowing the whistle because it sounded even louder and more piercing than ever. His eyes shut instinctually and he covered his ears again and ground his teeth to keep from making a sound. He opened one eye to look through the bushes and see the man blowing a small, skinny, black whistle that looked almost like a dog whistle. As soon as the whistle left his mouth, the noise stopped and Bakura had to stop himself from taking a deep breath and letting him know he was there.
Bandit Keith looked around him angrily - obviously, he was looking for a vampire and was frustrated that he wasn't finding him. It looked like he was about to blow the whistle again when Marik mouthed, "Be quiet!" to Bakura and stood up. "Hey Keith!" he said in English like they were old buddies.
Keith turned to him in surprise, but he smiled - a little mischievously I might add - and said, "Marik! Long time no see! I thought you and your family were in China?"
"Well, I decided to come see New York again!"
"Ah, so you agree that this is the best city on Earth?"
Marik laughed. "Yeah, totally. I see you're hunting a vampire…?"
Keith nodded. "Yup, someone tipped me off that one was coming here, and you know how I hate monsters dirtying this great city." Bakura's eyes widened. Someone tipped him off? But who? Bakura was sure Marik was wondering the same thing, which he was, but he just couldn't show it. "Of course," Keith continued, "that must be why you're here too right? Vampire hunting?"
"I've decided to take a little break from that actually…" Bakura smirked. More like stop completely, he thought.
"Well! I'm glad you chose America to take your vacation in! Now if you'll excuse me, I have a vampire to find." He made a move to blow the whistle again, but Marik interrupted with, "You just love your whistles don't you?"
Keith smiled. "They do make my job a lot easier you know, you want to blow it?"
"No thanks, I like hunting the old fashioned way."
"But the old fashioned way's so hard! Come on, I know you want to blow it just once," he held out the whistle to Marik, but he pushed it away. "Really," he said, "I don't want it."
Keith chuckled. "Still have a soft-spot for those blood-sucking creatures eh? Your dad wouldn't have hesitated to blow the whistle."
"My dad," Marik said, suddenly very angry, "isn't here."
"You're by yourself?" Keith sounded surprised.
Marik shrugged. "It's not like it's the first time."
"I guess. Hey, have you seen anything suspicious around here? Anything, vampire-like?"
Marik pretended to think. "I saw someone with a brown trench coat and a scarf by the carriages on 59th street not too long ago."
"Thanks! Huh, I thought I heard someone groan here, so I thought a vampire was reacting to my whistle… Probably just my head or something…" he said, but then asked, "Why didn't you go after him yourself?"
"I'm on vacation," Marik reminded him.
Keith laughed. "All right, well see you later!" he said as he headed towards 59th. Marik watched him leave, and when he was out of sight he motioned for Bakura to come out of the bushes. "That was a close call," Marik said, back to his preferred Japanese.
"Why is he called Bandit Keith?" Bakura asked.
"There are some people who are crazy enough to pay anyone if they find and kill a monster. Bandit Keith takes advantage of this and spends his days hunting werewolves, vampires, mummies, any monster you can think of and gives the head to them. He's made so much money off of this that in the monster-hunting world, he's known as a bandit."
"There's a monster-hunting world?" Bakura asked, "Fantastic… Where'd he get the whistles from?"
"He made them himself."
"Well they certainly work," Bakura complained as he rubbed his ears again.
"Listen," Marik said, getting very serious, "Don't ever let him see you - he will not hesitate to kill you on the spot, and if he doesn't then you should be more afraid because that means he's going to experiment on you to make new weapons for hunting with."
"Relax - like he'll ever see me?"
Marik scrunched his eyebrows together in worry. "Just be careful… please?" I can't lose you… Marik thought. Bakura looked at him, remembering Marik's first friend and sighed. "All right, I'll be careful…"
Marik smiled and hugged him, making Bakura blush and then curse himself. "Thanks 'Kura! Now, where do you want to go? We should probably get as far away from 59th street as possible…"
"Let's just walk around some more," Bakura said as he slowly moved Marik off of him and tried controlling his stupid emotions.
"Sounds like a plan."
After a few hours, it was three-o-clock and the two main characters headed back to their hotel room. Bakura was shocked as soon as he saw the thing - he hadn't been expecting anything so fancy… I mean, if this is what a Standard room looked like, what about the Superior? Or the Deluxe?
And now dear reader, I warn you, for to accurately describe the elegance and fanciness this room brings I must describe it in great detail, so if you don't really care what the room looks like or you don't have enough time to read it just skim the next few parts until you get to the dialogue.
As soon as you opened the door, there was a little hallway leading to the actual bedroom, and right next to the door on the left-hand side was possibly the single most fanciest bathroom Bakura had ever seen.
The two-door entryway leading to the bathroom itself was impressive, it was clouded, ridged glass so that you couldn't really see through it, but you could still see colors. Though all the colors blended together so that it would be really hard to tell who was in there if you didn't know, or if there was anyone in there at all.
The bathroom was white-tiled with smatterings of gray and off-white colors as well. There were also gold-colored tiles that formed the likeness of a giant stem with leaves throughout the whole floor and on some of the walls as well. There also was a huge mirror with a fancy brass trim. There were also two brass wall lamps on both sides, with a fancy golden-trimmed lampshade. The mirror also had a twisting, golden stem in the corner.
Below the mirror was a pearl-white porcelain counter with two sinks! The faucets were a shiny brass with white handles and bases. Inside the sinks themselves was a band of metal painted golden all around it with fancy patterns and the insignia of a backwards P and a forwards P right next to each other, surrounded by a circle with leaves coming out of it - no doubt the Plaza logo.
In between the two sinks was a tiled toothbrush holder and possibly a tiled ash tray next to it. There was a tiled dish in front of that with a boxed bar of soap with pictures of flowers on it.
On the far left of both sinks was a small, round, golden-trimmed mirror, supported by a golden base. In front of that was another tiled dish containing two, clean, fluffy, white towels.
On the far right of both sinks was a tiled dish containing a tissue box covered with a tiled cover along with little packets of… something (Bakura never opened them), a little towel, and even a 'nail care' set. Under the sinks there was a white trash can and a little white scale.
There was a bathtub across from the sink, hidden inside the wall so that it was like a peninsula. The sides were tiled, but the top, bottom, and inside were white porcelain. The golden stem trailed up the side of the tub and came back up on the wall overlooking the tub, giving it a very elegant look. There was also a metal rack on the wall that held three towels hanging over the side-wall of the tub. At the head of the bath, there were the same kind of handles that the sinks had, along with a fancy water head. There was also a brazen cord with a shower head, in case the need came for it. A small rack went from side to side of the tub, carrying small conditioner and shampoo bottles, a little towel, and another boxed soap bar. There was also another familiar, gold-colored rack that held two bath robes with the Plaza logo on the chest and more golden stems across them on the side of the wall before the tub.
There were two small glass doors that were right across from the main doors, one led to the actual toilet and the other led to the shower. There was nothing really special about the toilet-room, other than the fact that there was a window in it that gave you a view of other buildings.
The door leading to the shower also had a small, metal rail with a towel hanging on it. The shower itself had tiled walls and floor, with another golden stem trailing up the wall. There were the same shower head and handles as on the other pieces in the bathroom, as well as another, smaller shower-head connected with a cord like in the bathtub. There was a small tray in the corner carrying two small bottles of shampoo, another bottle with conditioner, a small, rolled-up towel, and what appeared to be a tan lufa wrapped in plastic.
Bakura was surprised by the effort put into the bathroom. Was it all really necessary? Though he had to admit that it did look nice. They walked through the mini-hallway, and Bakura could already see from his view point that there were a lot of closet doors on the right wall, four to be exact. All white with gold handles.
However, the first thing that caught Bakura's eye when he walked into the actual bedroom was the bed itself. It was a King-sized bed, just like Wilmington had said there would be, and all the sheets were white with three thin lines of golden trim along the borders, and there was a folded, brown, cotton blanket on the end. The four pillows looked very soft, like the puffy clouds that you wish you could rest in, and they had the same golden trim going around the borders like it was framing a blank canvas where your head would rest. The bed's headboard was very fancy, with the edges being the familiar gold-color with a mature, symmetrical pattern, and the inside being a tanned cloth going past the bed. The bed ruffle was light brown with thick, vertical, dark brown lines encasing a smaller red-brown line with thinner, slightly-darker-brown lines in between.
On both sides of the bed were little, polished-wood side tables, with three drawers and a small lamp on top. On the left hand side table there was the black phone signature of all hotels, and on the right hand side table there was a small, white clock radio.
Close by there was a small, rectangular polished-wood 'writer's table' adorned with regal yellow decorations. It had a small, brass lamp on the top that supported three, white, candle-shaped lights disappearing into the lampshade, along with another black phone. It also had a comfortable looking chair, with pretty, yellow thread running through the white cushion.
Next to the table was a window, that had a lovely view of some buildings by the way, with dark-gold curtains and a tan shade that you could pull down.
Next to the window there was a tan-gold, comfy chair, with a matching soft-looking pillow, and a matching footrest. The chair and its accessories were all threaded with golden thread. There were also tassels all around the bottom of the chair and footrest, and there was a small, brass table that stood next to it, with a mosaic picture of a red-haired, young, lady in a red, Renaissance-style dress hung right above it.
The last pieces were a Plasma Screen TV with golden three-candle wall lamps on either side. There were glass holders around the base of the candles, and glass bobbles were hanging from all three. Bakura thought it looked like they would fall at any minute… but it never happened. Below was a breathtaking ebony wood chest with a granite top that just looked lovely with all the other pieces in the room. On top of it were two brown, leather-covered books between two magnificent book-ends. The both had the Plaza Logo on the side, but one said "Guest Services" on it and the other had "Dining" in gold lettering. There was also a little menu next to it that said "Private Bar" on the front. There were also two remotes, though why there were two remotes Bakura didn't know, and he was certain he never would. On the right were two magazines that neither boys cared for, and there was also a thermostat on the wall off the side of and below the TV.
"Dang," Bakura said, "how long are we staying here again?" he asked.
"Not long enough…" Marik answered as he walked in the room and put the window shade down.
"Where'd they put our luggage?" Bakura asked, looking around.
"It was back there - by the bathroom." They walked over there to grab their luggage and started to put it in one of the many closets when Bakura's phone rang. He frantically searched for it in his many-pocketed cloak before finding and answering it. "Hello?" he said.
"Hey!" a familiar voice said, "It's Yugi! Are you near anywhere near a TV right now?" he asked.
"Uh, yeah," Bakura answered, "why?"
"Turn it to channel one hundred!" Yugi said excitedly.
"Okay…" Bakura said before walking towards the TV and picking up one of the remotes. Luckily, he grabbed the right one, because when he pressed the "On" button it actually turned on. He ignored the "Main attractions" channel that every hotel had and went straight to channel one hundred. It looked to be on commercial break right now, just finishing up an ad for some juice. "Why am I on this channel? It's just some ad for juice…"
"Juice?" Yugi said, confused, "Oh wait! You're in America right now aren't you?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Dang it! You're not going to be able to see it… Can this phone receive videos?"
"Yes, but what are you trying to show me?"
"Hold on a second okay! I'm going to hang up to send you it."
"Send me what?" Bakura asked, but Yugi had already hung up. Sure enough, he received a video a little later. "Marik," he said, making the other boy stop unpacking and look over at him, "Yugi just sent us some video for something…"
"Well, let's see what it is," he said as he walked over to him.
"Okay," Bakura clicked the "Play" button, and they were immediately met with a guy in a swimsuit saying, "Do you burn easy? Are even the best sunblocks not strong enough for you? Are you tired of burning? Then you need," the guy held up a bottle of lotion, "Vampire Sunblock!" Bakura's eyes widened, he looked at Marik who had the same surprised expression on his face. "Sunblock so strong that vampires use it!" the guy continued, "Vampire Sunblock is 100% guaranteed not to let any of the sun's rays shine through! It will allow burn-easy skin the relief it needs!" words appeared at the bottom of the screen saying, "Note: when using Vampire Sunblock you will not get tan."
Soon, Anzu was on the screen wearing a swimsuit at the beach, with the sun beating down on her. "I have skin that burns very easily and doesn't tan," she said. No kidding… Bakura thought, "and Vampire Sunblock allows me to go out and have fun in the sun without fear of burning! I love it!" it was obvious she was really happy with the product, and Bakura knew exactly why.
"Order now!" the video finished, having a picture of the product along with the phone number on the screen. Bakura and Marik stared at the phone with their jaws slack. They looked at each other, and Bakura was about to say something when Yugi called again. "So!" he said happily, "What do you think?"
"What do I think?" Bakura asked, a smile working it's way across his face, "Give me ten bottles right now!"
Yugi laughed. "If you give me your address I could get you some in 24 hours!"
"Seriously?" Bakura asked, surprised, "You'd do that?"
"Sure!" Yugi said, "Anything for a friend!"
Bakura smiled and told him where they were staying. Then Marik took the phone from him. "Hey Yugi," he said, "what time is it over there?"
"4:00 AM!" Yugi exclaimed, "I set my alarm so I could watch the commercial air!"
Marik laughed, "I suppose you want to get back to sleeping then?" he asked.
"Nah!" Yugi said, "I'm good. Hey, where are you guys anyway? Having fun? Find anything yet?"
"We're in New York," Marik answered, "we're having a lot of fun," he smiled at Bakura who rolled his eyes, "and no, we didn't find anything yet, but we'll keep looking."
"Oh, well I hope you find something soon!"
"How are things with you and Anzu?" Marik asked.
"They're doing great!" Yugi exclaimed happily, "Anzu's hoping to use that commercial as a chance to show her skills! And now that she can go in the sun, she has nothing to fear!"
"That's great!" Marik said, smiling, "And how's Yami doing?"
"Oh," Yugi said, his enthusiasm dropping some, "he's doing what he wanted and touring around the world with Jounouchi," Yugi sighed, "I wish he would stay home… It's so different not having him in my head anymore."
Marik didn't know how to respond to that. "Oh, well… Sorry I guess. I think you should go to sleep now though."
"Yeah probably," Yugi agreed, "all right, talk to you later! Call me when you get the sunblock so that I know it actually arrived."
"Sure thing," Marik said, then he hung up. He looked over at Bakura, who was looking at the window in the room. "To think," Marik said to him, "you'll be able to leave that blind open."
"I'll be able to feel the sun again…" Bakura said. He couldn't believe it… he'd finally be able to feel the sun again, after all this time… It blew his mind. He couldn't picture it, he couldn't picture himself walking outside in the daytime and not being immediately burnt to a crisp… All because of some lotion…?
But he saw Anzu, she was on the beach, perfectly fine. No burning at all. Now he could do that too… Now he could feel the warm sun on his skin instead of being covered up in clothes. Now he could go swimming - during the day! Now people would stop staring at him weirdly and wondering why he was wearing such odd clothes!
Now he could do more things with Marik. He wouldn't have the restriction of having to be covered up anymore.
He turned to Marik and smiled. "Now I don't have to wear that freaking cloak anymore!"
Marik mock-pouted. "Aw, and I just bought it." They started laughing, and in his good mood Bakura picked up Marik and twirled him around before setting him back on the ground and hugging him. Marik blinked at his friend, but hugged him back, happy that he was happy. Bakura stopped hugging him and put his hands on Marik's shoulders. "I say this calls for a celebration!" he announced.
Marik smiled. "Shouldn't we wait until we get the sunblock first?"
"Good point… we should finish unpacking."
"Yeah," Marik agreed.
They went back to unpacking, both in great moods. Even though they both had seen the commercial, they couldn't believe that there actually was vampire-proof sunblock. It was incredible! Who knew Yugi would actually do it huh? Bakura kept staring at the window, he couldn't wait to throw open that blind and bask in the streaming sunlight, even though the vampire in him immediately rejected the idea.
A few hours later, Bakura had set up his laptop on the writing desk and Marik was getting ready for bed, getting a good night's sleep so that tomorrow they could go searching for an Item. If one was here, they still weren't certain about that. But that's why you look, right?
Anyway, Bakura was typing fast when Marik came out in his dark-blue pajamas. He was actually really tired, the sleep he had gotten on the plane hadn't been enough. He stretched and yawned before climbing into bed. "Night 'Kura," he said sleepily as his head hit the pillow. He barely noticed when Bakura had stopped his inhumanly-fast typing before he nodded off.
Of course, if he had been awake he would have noticed that Bakura appeared as if he was a statue. He was frozen at the desk, his hands poised over the keyboard but not moving, his head locked into place staring at the screen, even his eyes had gone still, which almost never happened.
He turned his head slowly, his heart rate increasing ever so slightly as he did so. Once he saw Marik sleeping, his heart beat more, and then it hit him that this would continue for two weeks. Two weeks of Marik sleeping while he just… watched. Two weeks of looking at that bed and thinking of hopping in it himself and sleeping next to him… two weeks of this torture! Two weeks!
He slammed his head on the desk silently, wanting to show frustration but also not wanting to wake Marik up. He couldn't type anymore either as the constant noise would be sure to wake him up too, what the hell was he supposed to do while Marik slept?
He turned his head back to the bed, standing up and walking over to it in the next second. He kneeled down at the side of the bed and rested his arms on it, looking at Marik… so peaceful, so beautiful… He rested his head down on his arms and continued to stare at him, listening to his relaxed breathing, jumping slightly when it hitched. He wondered what Marik dreamed about… could he possibly dream about him? And if he did dream about him, were those good dreams or nightmares?
He continued to stare at Marik, watching his mouth move slightly as he breathed… His mouth was slightly open, even though he breathed through his nose and Bakura couldn't help but feel like kissing those lips…
He closed his eyes and stood up again, running both of his hands through his hair. He would go insane if he stayed here any longer… he should go out, do something until sunrise…
Just then, that guy with the vampire whistle popped into his head. Bandit Keith. Would it be possible that he would find him? Marik had seemed really worried about the guy… and Bakura had promised Marik he'd be careful… Would it be 'careful' of him to go out at night? When vampires were most likely to show up? It wasn't… not really… But he couldn't stay here either!
Bakura stared at the door. This hotel was pretty big, he could probably find something to do in it… there were probably a ton of sitting rooms he could stay in with his laptop and write… yes, that's what he'd do. He was about to grab his laptop and head out when Marik shifted, his brows creasing. " 'Kura…" he said as if something bad was happening. He said it again, this time more frantic. Bakura leaned down and started petting Marik's hair, trying to calm him down. "It's all right," he said in as soothing a voice as he could muster, "It's fine… I'm right here." What the hell should he say? He doesn't even know why Marik's saying his name…
Of course that does mean that he dreams about him, and that thought made Bakura want to smile, especially when Marik started calming down. "Don't leave me…" Marik mumbled so quietly that Bakura almost didn't hear it. Almost. He sighed, even though Marik was only dreaming, when someone tells you not to leave like that… it's pretty hard not to listen.
At this time, Bakura was still petting Marik's hair, but somewhere along the way it had turned from petting his hair to running his pale fingers through his sandy-blonde hair. It was so soft… just like his lips. Bakura closed his eyes to stop thinking about that. He opened them, and his eye widen when he saw that Marik was smiling. It was a slight smile, but there was no doubt about it. The sight made Bakura smile too, and then these words that came out of his mouth, "I love you Marik."
His heart nearly beat right out of his chest when Marik's eyes opened slightly, but they closed in the next instant. Oh good, he hadn't heard him… But Bakura could have sworn that Marik's smile was just a little… happier.
After a while, when Bakura was done running his fingers through Marik's soft hair, he stood up and walked back towards his desk, deciding he would just try and type as quietly as he could so as not to wake the sleeping boy.
(1): For the LIFE of me I could not find how their room's were numbered, but luckily, anime-on-replay told me that the rooms are high numbers! Hence room 1313. However, don't think that if you go to The Plaza that room 1313 is a Standard room because it most likely is not… Also don't trust me on the price of the room… TT_TT Gah, I wish I could just go there… I also don't know what their key cards look like.
I hate this ending -_- but I always suck at ending the chapters don't I? Gr… I feel as if everything written after I describe their rooms is written horribly… Actually, I feel like this story hasn't been too good lately TT_TT I'm sorry… Hopefully it will get better in the next few chapters.
On a happier note, the hundredth reviewer is: netjer ankh! Congratulations! =) Haha. This person has requested me to write a story based on the song "E.T" by Katy Perry (I can't help but think of Perry the Platypus every time I hear her name…) in which Bakura is an alien! I'm not telling you guys anymore than that ;) I'm sorry it's not up yet by the way… ^^" I've been busier than I would have liked this summer… TT_TT
~~~{REVIEW REPLIES!}~~~
Bec: I am very proud with all my work! =) I'm happy I've improved so much *sheds tears of joy* and I'm glad you like this story so much, I didn't think it would make anyone's day better XD When I first started this, I had expected, maybe like, ten people to like it… XD Lol, and I never expected such nice reviews! =)
RIGHT? I love Bakura's hints too… XD Of course I write them so… Like I've said many times, Marik's going to be in denial for a while (heh, that rhymed XD) and he'll be oblivious for a while too. Yup! Bakura's become a better person since Marik showed up in his life, and of course his infatuation is a genuine one! He just wants to see Marik happy, especially since he's found out some troubling things about his past.
LOL! If I was in the seat behind Marik… I would write down every word! Lmbo, it certainly would weird people out though huh? XD Yeah, I wanted to have Rex and Weevil in here (I like their English names too because it is easier). I want to try and put as many characters as I can in this thing… hence Bandit Keith. Of course, if they're going to America they're bound to meet him don't you think?
Yeah, poor Ryou ='( His life was stolen and now he can't live without dying… so he has to stay tucked inside a ring. Glad you feel honored though =) it was a good idea… And I change my mind on a daily basis without 'forcing things' as you say, plus when you asked that question it was a fair amount of time before the last chapter so I was able to plan ahead.
That is a good point… Marik is only human ^^" I have no idea how long it takes for someone to get their blood back either… But because Marik and Bakura are Bloodpacks there are a few special exceptions, but I'll get into those later (I hope -_- ) But thanks for bringing that up! It'll be on my mind~.
Haha, thanks! I did have a great day (even though it was so long ago… TT_TT again I apologize…) And I'm not 15, but you're close! =) I'm actually 14 XD And you're a girl, okay, now I know that. FINALLY. Geez… -_-" And don't worry, my real name is Anna, so my screen-name isn't that creative either XD But I just like the name so much… I bet I'm not updating more frequently than you would have expected now am I? TT_TT Though I am very busy with other things… but you're right, I don't like to write things when I'm rushed (but I don't think this is that great XD) CHEERIO! (love that word XD)
P.S. Recently, I decided to create a facebook page for my fanfiction profile, a page you can "Like" but not "Friend." I made it so that I could give out secrets and spoilers to my stories, and talk to my FF buddies easier =). I didn't make it because I thought people would "Like" it, I made it for the previous stated reasons. Sorry if I sound conceited, that was not my intention. The page is called "Annzy" with a cute picture of Ryou :3 Search for it in the "Pages" section. I already have a video where I talk about my future plans for this story up there, so check it out if you want. Be warned, I have a very boring voice…