*sighs* I'm sorry, everyone. Truth be told, I just… got to a certain part in this chapter and then didn't know how to continue, and lost almost all of my motivation to write after… something… *shakes head* Never mind. And then I was busy with schoolwork, and learning how to drive (*shivers and hyperventilates), and the play (It was Footloose this year – I had gotten a lead with a solo!-! And I did very well, if I do say so myself~), and I just didn't even have time to write…

I know that doesn't excuse me for how long you guys had to wait, but… Just please accept my apology. And I sincerely hope you all enjoy this chapter ^^

Also: HAPPY EASTER~

Chapter 36: It's Only a Date… (This chapter is dedicated to RegalAngel. I'm sorry you always have to wait so long!)

Marik stared at Pegasus with just a hint of fear, what with how deranged he looked at the moment. Though the hunter was mostly feeling regret at having told him about his and Bakura's double date tomorrow. Of course that bit of information would upset the highly strung man; how could he have been so careless? It was obvious he had invested himself into his and Bakura's love lives – he really should have been more careful.

"Um…" Marik finally said after a long moment of silence, stalling to think of what he could say to calm him down. "Yeah, I told these girls –"

"Why," Pegasus interrupted, clearly dumbfounded, "in the world would you go on a date with some girls you just met yesterday when you just admitted that you love Bakura?! How can you justify this!?"

"Pegasus, listen –"

"You're playing with some poor girls' hearts!-!"

"It's not like that –"

"Oh, if only you knew how awful it felt to be played with like that!"

"We're not –"

"And to think I've been trying to help you and you go and do something like this?"

"You don't –"

"Not to mention that it's absurd to go on a date with anyone other than the person of your affections –!"

"Listen to me for a second!" Marik was finally able to shut Pegasus up long enough to get a complete sentence in. "Look, it's a simple trade off," he started to explain. Pegasus narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, obviously distrusting. "These girls say they know where the last of the Millennium Items are, so we settled on a deal: if I go on a date with her to get her ex-boyfriend jealous, she'll give them to me."

Pegasus creased his eyebrows together. "I thought you said there were two girls?"

"Well, she had a friend, so I asked if we could make it a double date." He shrugged and smiled weakly, "I figured it'd be more, ah, fun? If Bakura was there with me – stop smiling like that."

Pegasus held a hand up to cover his mouth, since getting rid of the goofy grin on his face would have been near impossible. "Sorry, but you do realize –?"

"Yes. Shut. Up."

Pegasus let out a laugh before getting a little more serious. "I'm a little surprised to hear this, but I suppose I can understand the situation…"

"Thank you," Marik said before starting forward.

"Although, if it were me I would never have let Cyndia go on a date with someone other than me for all the money in the world," Pegasus commented as he followed Marik back to the cottage. Marik rolled his eyes at his words, but then he continued, "I mean, what if she started to have feelings for that stranger? I can't even imagine the horror I would feel."

Thoughts of Bakura liking Suzette or Fantine entered Marik's mind without his consent, immediately filling him with… something he's never felt before. What was this feeling called? Was it… couldn't be…? No, impossible, it's not…!

Jealousy.

"I highly doubt she would have developed feelings that quickly," Marik told him with a deadpanned expression.

"Well, the heart is a tricky thing, Marik," Pegasus said, "and age has a lot to do with it; younger folk tend to fall in love so quickly! "Love at first sight" and all that."

"… But, I mean," Marik started to argue, "she already loves you, so she'd be loyal."

"I don't doubt that," Pegasus agreed, nodding, "although, if this stranger is very crafty, well… I'd be a little worried, let's just leave it at that."

"Why be worried?!" Marik asked, clearing his throat after hearing the slight panic that had come through. "I mean…"

Pegasus gave him a little smirk. "We're not talking about me and Cyndia anymore, are we?"

"… If I say "Yes," can we stop talking about this?"

Pegasus chuckled a bit. "I don't want to alarm you, Marik, I just want to warn you that it is a possibility – after all, you two aren't exactly, how you say, "established" yet."

"… Well, I guess, but…" Marik tried to come up with something to prove that this wouldn't happen, but the longer he thought the more only one thing came to mind. "… We're Blood Packs?"

Pegasus chuckled a bit when Marik started to blush. "I admit, that is a special bond… Hm, actually, forget what I just said! You shouldn't be worried at all!" Pegasus patted Marik on the shoulder as he added, "To be honest, I never really doubted Bakura's loyalty."

"… Then why the hell did you say all of that?" Marik asked as his eye started to twitch.

"Just to make you realize that you should hurry up or you might lose him forever."

"Gee, how comforting."

Pegasus laughed. "It is the truth, Marik dear."

"Yeah, yeah," Marik replied, sighing. Even though Pegasus backtracked and told him not to worry, he just couldn't help it now… He had never even thought of that! In his mind, they'd just go out and spend some time with these girls and then it would be over and he'd have the rest of the Millennium Items. Now that he thought about it more, he realized that they'd be doing datey, romantic-type stuff, and if you put someone in that situation it could generate feelings… False ones at best, but still feelings.

Maybe he could just tell Bakura not to come anymore? No, that wouldn't do; he'd want to know why, and the answer would… well, involve him telling the vampire a, uh, certain thing… Not to mention that an evening alone with Suzette did not sound particularly fun either.

Marik almost felt like hitting himself at this point. Was this really what he'd been reduced to? A jealous, scheming, stupid mess? He should just trust Bakura! Did he have any reason not to? No! He was just being ridiculous; nothing was going to happen! Neither of those girls were Bakura's type, anyhow!

… Right?

Bakura had absolutely no idea what Pegasus was talking about; Yami and Kaiba were fine cooks. Better than Marik, that was for sure. They had followed all of his instructions perfectly, and so far nothing had been burnt. Albeit, Kaiba got a little testy more than once, and they argued every two seconds, but Bakura could deal with that. Whether or not he dealt with it "well" is another story, of course.

All in all, their breakfast was turning out splendidly. Although, Yami did have a few questions.

"So, we just leave them like that?" he asked, staring at the eggs frying on top of the stove.

"Yep. That's how fried eggs are made."

"… But won't the underside get burned?"

"Not unless you keep them there for a long time."

"Why don't we just flip them over?"

"Because then the yolk will get everywhere."

"But –"

"For god's sake, Yami," Kaiba complained, glaring at him, "just stop asking about the damn eggs!"

"I'm sorry for being curious, Kaiba!"

"You two are like children!" Bakura yelled, holding a hand up to his forehead.

"Don't lump me in with him," Kaiba said. The taller boy was in charge of pancakes, leaving Bakura with some mini-sausages.

Bakura was about to say something when his sensitive ears picked up the distinctive sounds of Pegasus and Marik returning from their little nature walk. "They're coming back – can you two please shut up for five minutes?"

"How do you know they're coming back?" Kaiba asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because…" he glanced at Yami, who was shaking his head slightly. Bakura took that to mean that Kaiba had no idea one of Pegasus' guests was a blood-sucking creature of the night. "I have very good hearing," he finally said.

Kaiba didn't seem to believe him, but Pegasus and Marik came in just then, so he kept quiet. "Isn't nature lovely?" Pegasus asked as soon as he opened the door. He sniffed the air before smiling. "Wonderful! I say, this is the best-looking breakfast these two have ever been a part of!"

"You're welcome," Bakura said smugly.

"It's not even ready yet?!" Marik exclaimed in dismay, frowning.

"Hey, you try working with these two."

"Hey!" they both exclaimed resentfully.

"Do you see what I mean?

Marik laughed a little. "Well, I might as well set the table, then. How long until the food's done?"

"Shouldn't be long now, hold your horses."

"Yeah, tell that to my stomach," Marik mumbled under his breath, knowing full-well that Bakura could still hear him. He gave his grumpy vampire friend a grin before going to the cabinets and grabbing all of the essential dishes for the breakfast they made.

"Okay, Yami," Bakura spoke up, looking at the eggs, "they look ready, pick them up carefully with the spatula and put them on the plates."

"Aye aye, Captain," Yami said with a little salute. Marik snickered a bit upon those words, remembering when he called him "Captain 'Kura" when they had gotten on that boat to Pegasus' island. And, while his mind was on that track, it just happened to bring up the part where he had kissed Bakura after he thought he had died… now why in the world would his mind bring that up? Simply to make him blush? No, couldn't be.

"Don't burn the pancake!" Bakura yelled at Kaiba, causing Yami to chuckle as he placed the eggs on the plates.

"I'm not! I just like them a little browner, that's all."

"Take them off now unless you want them "blackened." Which, by the way, is just a fancy way to say "burnt.""

"Don't patronize me," Kaiba said before flipping his last pancake on top of the mini-stack he had next to him. "I do know how to cook, you know. That's why I didn't want the inept Yami slowing me down."

"Who's calling who inept?" Yami asked heatedly.

"Enough!" Bakura yelled, placing his palms over both of his eyes and groaning. "Someone take care of the sausages – I can't deal with this anymore." He left the kitchen, closely followed by Pegasus. Marik almost walked out after him, but his stomach chose that precise moment to growl quite loudly, so he stayed to sit down and eat, finally!

Meanwhile, Bakura sat down on the little sofa Pegasus had, groaning again once he felt Pegasus sit down next to him. "What do you want now?" he asked irritably.

Pegasus chuckled slightly. "I'm just curious where you're going on your date this afternoon."

"I don't really know," Bakura admitted. "I think Marik said something about ice skating – wait, how did you find out about that?"

"Marik mentioned it on our walk."

"Hm," Bakura said untrustingly, "now, why in the world would Marik mention that of all things on your little walk? What did you tell him?" he accused more than asked, giving the man a cynical look.

Pegasus rolled his eyes. "I didn't tell him how you feel, if that's what you're asking."

"I'm not really sure I can believe you."

"Why are you so angry right now?!"

"Gee, maybe it's because someone threatened to tell Marik himself if I didn't do so!" Bakura yelled before going letting his head fall back on the couch and going limp. "Ugh, forget it. Do whatever you want…"

Pegasus frowned. "No, something else is wrong. What happened?"

Bakura ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Marik… told me some, things, this morning…" he started, looking to the side away from Pegasus. "Some very bad things, and… I just can't stop thinking about them. "

"Oh…" Pegasus muttered looking down at the floor. He wasn't really expecting to hear that.

"He…" Bakura spoke up again, but soon stopped. Figuring that he had already started to speak, however, he took a deep breath and continued anyways, "He's been through so much… and yet he's still acts so happy all the time." He brings his legs up and wraps his arms around them, burying his mouth into his knees. "I wish he'd trust me enough to not act so happy… to tell me these things more often…"

Pegasus looked at the poor boy sadly. "I'm sure he'll trust you enough eventually, Bakura," he tried to assure, "maybe he's just going through a difficult time right now –"

"So why won't he let me help?" Bakura snaps, glaring at him. "If it's really something bad, I don't want to be in the dark about it!"

Pegasus sighed. "Think of it this way, Bakura – have you told Marik everything about yourself?"

Bakura opened his mouth to speak, but soon closed it. "… I guess not everything," he admitted, "but probably everything important. I can't shake the feeling that he's hiding something from me, something major… But I can't think of what it could be."

"Well, why don't you try asking him?"

"Oh, right. Like that'll work."

"You'll never know if you don't try."

Bakura sighed again before Marik walked in. "Breakfast was delicious as always," he said, smiling mischievously, "but it wasn't really worth the wait."

"What?!" Bakura exclaimed, "You're telling me you would have rather had plain, boring, old cereal?"

"Hey, at least it's there for me right when I need it." Marik chuckled as he sat down next to him.

"I better go make sure those boys don't break any of my dishes," Pegasus commented with a sigh as he stood up and stretched. "I swear, you can't leave them alone for –" Crash! "Gosh dang it – PUNISHMENT GAME!" Pegasus yelled before running into the kitchen. Marik and Bakura laughed when they heard Yami and Kaiba groan and say, "Again?"

"Why can't we all just get along?" Marik asked offhandedly before putting his hands behind his head and closing his eyes.

"Because people are stupid?" Bakura replies, crossing his arms and laying back. They just sit there like that for a while, but Bakura couldn't take the silence any longer so he asked, "What time is this date?"

"Three."

"Oh." More silence. "… I've never been on one – what do you even do?"

Marik chuckled a bit and opened one eye to look at him. "It's pretty much just hanging out, only with someone you're interested in, I guess. I don't know – I've never been on one either."

Bakura laughed. "Well, aren't we a pair."

"I guess you could say that." Marik laughed too before adding without thinking, "We've probably already been on plenty of "dates," if you think about it."

"…" Bakura smirked when Marik stopped laughing and blushed. "I'm sorry, repeat that?" he asked coyly.

Marik rolled his eyes and punched Bakura's shoulder lightly. "You heard me, you idiot."

"Ah, yes, yes…" Bakura started, holding a hand up to his chin. "So, if the definition of a date is what you said, and we've gone on "plenty" –"

"Hey, I feel like walking – wanna go out?" Marik interrupted. Partly because he just didn't want Bakura to put two and two together, but also partly because he wanted to hang out with him and actually have some fun before meeting with Suzette; ick.

Bakura just looked at him strangely, however, finding the question sort of odd at the moment. "Huh?"

"Do you," Marik articulated. "Want to. Go out. With me? Right now? Before three?"

"… Is this a trick question?"

Marik almost laughed. "Just answer it."

"Well… yes, of course."

Marik smiled and grabbed Bakura's hand. "Great, so let's go!" he told him before dragging him through the cottage doors and towards the city. "Let's do some window-shopping. Sound fun?" he asked, turning to smile at his friend.

Bakura was a little more than confused at how fast things had changed, but he returned the smile nonetheless. "Sure. Anything's fun when you're around," he complimented with a grin.

Marik blushed slightly and turned his head forward again, a pleased smile on his face. "Heh, thanks. You too," he returned with a squeeze of Bakura's unnaturally warm hands.

Bakura smiled and, feeling a little more risky, sped up a bit to kiss him on the cheek and whisper in his ear, "You're welcome."

Marik shivered slightly and took a deep breath before scolding, "Stop it!"

"Mm…" Bakura hummed. "I don't feel like it…" he mumbled before blowing down Marik's neck.

He curled up from laughter once he realized Marik flipped him onto the ground again.

"Whoops, sorry," Marik muttered, glaring down at him with colored cheeks. "Force of habit."

Bakura was still laughing as he stood up and dusted himself off. "Why can't you ever throw me down on something more comfortable?" he asked, mainly as a joke. "Like a bed, or a couch, or something?"

He was quite shocked when Marik blushed even harder and covered his face with his hands. "Do you even listen to yourself?!"

"What?" Bakura asked honestly. "What did I say?!"

"Ugh, never mind," Marik said, rolling his eyes and continuing to walk.

"Tell me!" Bakura whined, pouting slightly. Marik just shook his head, so Bakura stopped walking and crossed his arms. "I'm not moving until you tell me what I said!"

"So you don't listen to yourself," Marik said under his breath before sighing and turning to look at his friend. "It's too hard to explain – can we please just drop it?"

"No."

"Why not?!"

"Because I feel like you don't tell me things enough!"

"…" Marik was speechless. He was surprised that Bakura was picking up on that, he had thought he was doing a pretty good job of hiding his psychotic demon and his feelings, especially since he wasn't entirely aware of the latter until that morning. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair dejectedly. "I know…" he said sadly. "I know, and I'm sorry, I just…" He had no idea how to continue that sentence, so he looked down at the ground. "They're my stupid problems, I don't want to bother you…"

He looked up into a pair of concerned, brown eyes when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Marik," Bakura started, shaking his head slightly. "What will it take to get through your head that I… want to help you?" Marik wondered briefly why a pink hue crossed his pale face before the vampire continued. "Even if you think it's stupid, or that only you should deal with them, I still want to hear it… okay? I… care about you, Marik. Haven't we already established that?"

Marik smiled softly, a warm feeling spreading through him. No matter how many times he may have witnessed it already, it still made him incredibly happy when Bakura showed him just how much he cared. "Yes, I know… I'm sorry."

Bakura smiled and hugged him, chuckling a bit. "It's all right, I guess… just don't keep everything to yourself all the time."

Marik hugged him back and took a deep breath. "I'll… I'll try."

"You've already told me a lot, I guess," Bakura mused out loud. "This morning, with all of that… ritual stuff."

Marik let out a forced laugh before hugging him tighter. "Right…"

Bakura coughed slightly before letting go of Marik and taking a small step back from him. "So," he began, biting his lip. "Where are we headed?"

"I don't know," Marik shrugged. "Anyplace in particular you want to go?"

"I don't know where anything is," Bakura told him with a frown. "I don't even know what's in this city…"

Marik laughed and turned around to start walking again. "Then, just follow me, little lost kitty!"

"Oh, you'd just love that, wouldn't you?" Bakura asked with the roll of his eyes. He caught up with Marik and shook his collared wrist in front of the boy's eyes. "That's why I have this, after all."

"Come on, you know you love it," Marik joked, laughing.

Bakura frowned a bit before an idea hatched in his mind. "I suppose…" he admitted, "but not as much as this," he added before grabbing Marik, facing his body towards him and kissing him.

The kiss was so unexpected that Marik had absolutely no time to mentally or physically prepare himself. He found himself melting – melting – into Bakura, his eyes slowly closing shut as his brain shut down and his stomach mass-produced butterflies by the millions. He didn't even process when they separated right away – he kind of just fell back into him, reveling in the warmth when Bakura put his arms around him to catch him. He only regained a little bit of consciousness when he heard Bakura chuckle. "Are you okay?" he asked, hugging just a little bit tighter.

"Hmm… Fine…" Marik mumbled into his shirt. "I kind of miss your trenchcoat, though – more layers to lay a head on."

Bakura laughed. "This is probably a bad time to tell you that I burned that thing in the Plaza fireplace."

"I thought your bag seemed lighter!" Marik replied jokingly. He looked into his friend's eyes before pointing at him and adding, "This is just like when you kept throwing away those maps I gave you!"

"Oh, come on – that coat was ridiculous and totally unnecessary at this point," Bakura told him with an eye roll.

"But it helped with your image," Marik kidded, laughing and patting him on the back. "Normal clothes don't exactly scream "Big, scary vampire.""

Bakura rolled his eyes with a smile before pushing him forward. "Well, anyways – we were going somewhere, yes?"

"Well gee," Marik started, holding a finger to his chin. "I can't seem to remember where we were going – something interrupted my thought process."

Bakura stared at him for a minute before asking quietly, "Something… pleasant?"

Marik grinned to himself before walking forward, tossing casually over his shoulder: "Something tremendously pleasant."

Bakura really should have seen this coming. And he did, but it still annoyed him.

He really should have expected the fact that Marik would completely avoid talking about their kiss and instead ask him all sorts of stupid, meaningless, unrelated questions. Like: "Hey, what's your favorite color, again?" "Say, what's your favorite type of food?" "Oh! That reminds me – do you want to learn how to ice-skate backwards?" or, the weirdest one, "How many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop?"

Bakura wasn't even sure he knew what a tootsie pop was. And he wasn't sure if he wanted to know, either.

Nonetheless, somehow Marik managed to avoid his question all the way up until three o'clock, where they found themselves standing outside of the coffee shop Marik had went to yesterday.

"This is a nice place," Bakura commented, finally accepting that he was not going to get an answer out of Marik any time soon. Or ever, if the other had anything to say about it.

"Yeah, I thought so too," Marik replied, smiling slightly. He walked inside, knowing Bakura would follow, and started looking for Suzette and Fantine. Of course they were back by the same table they had sat in yesterday. "This way, 'Kura," Marik said, pointing to them.

"Yes, dear," Bakura mumbled to himself as he looked at the two girls. He had to admit, they were pretty, although they wore too much makeup for his taste.

"Már-reek!" Fantine greeted as soon as she saw him. "It is so good to see you again! Is this your friend?" she asked, looking at Bakura. "He is very cute as well!"

Bakura smiled at the girl as he said, "Merci – my name is Bakura." He enjoyed the compliment, and her enthusiasm. It reminded him of Marik, almost; they had the same excitement about them, although she was definitely more boisterous. There were certainly some similarities, though.

Unfortunately, Marik felt a little pang when he saw Bakura smile at Fantine, not knowing all the reasons why he was smiling like that.

Suzette looked Bakura up and down with slatted eyes. "Not my type," she said dryly."You can have him, Fantine."

"Well, you're a real picnic, aren't you?" Bakura commented with a frown. He already didn't like this one; he was kind of glad that he wouldn't have to talk with her much. He felt kind of bad that Marik had to suffer with her though, since he was sure that's all he'd be feeling with her.

"The name is Suzette," she informed him before turning to Marik. "There is a slight change in plans; I have found out that my ex is not able to go ice-skating until four thirty, so we shall dine until then. Come."

She started walking ahead, and Marik just rolled his eyes. It seemed like she was being even more aggravating today than yesterday, and he didn't know that was possible.

"Sorry you're stuck with her," Bakura told him, patting him on the back. "Though, to be fair, this whole date thing was your idea anyway."

"Gee, thanks," Marik replied with an eye roll.

"I understand Japanese, you know," Suzette said, much to the shock of the two boys. "But what I don't understand is why you are not walking."

"Oh no," Fantine groaned, "Do not tell me that you all speak that foreign, Asian tongue! It is bad enough hearing Suzette speak it!"

"Do you not like Japanese?" Bakura asked curiously.

"It's not that I don't like it," Fantine started, " it's just… I can't understand a thing you are saying, and it's bad enough not knowing what possibly hurtful things Suzette is saying under her breath."

"It's not my fault that you make it so easy sometimes," Suzette mumbled.

"See! Just now – I bet she said something mean about me, didn't she?"

Marik and Bakura chuckled a little before nodding. "A little, yeah," Marik admitted.

Fantine sighed. "Ah, well," she said before latching on to Bakura's arm and laying her head on his shoulder, smiling. "At least I have a hot date today, non?"

Bakura just laughed when she said that, making no move to make her let go. After all, he was supposed to be on a date, right? Might as well try and act the part. Besides, she was kind of fun, and it's not like her hold felt unbearable. "Huh, never been called "hot" before," he finally told her with a grin.

"Really?! I'm shocked!"

As Bakura and Fantine started talking, Marik couldn't help but notice how Bakura didn't seem to mind that Fantine was hanging onto him for dear life at all. And that he seemed to actually enjoy it…! He turned his head away angrily, feeling rage and that stupid jealously boil up inside him. Damn it, he didn't want to feel like this!-!

Bakura stared at his menu, trying to decide what to get. He wasn't "hungry," but reading the descriptions for all of this food was giving him an appetite anyways. It all sounded so good; especially the meat dishes. He could already imagine them melting in his mouth… "I almost want to get one of everything…" he said absentmindedly.

"Well, I'll share my food with you, if you want," Fantine offered with a friendly smile.

"Really? Thanks!" Bakura said, smiling back. He had to admit, this date was more fun than he thought it'd be, what with such a nice girl as his partner.

If only the same could be said for Marik.

They hadn't even been on the date for more than ten minutes and already he felt like bolting. The only thing keeping him there was the fact that these girls had promised him the Millennium Items after this… Otherwise, between Suzette's horrible attitude and Bakura seeming very happy with Fantine, he wouldn't have had a second thought about grabbing Bakura and running all the way back to Pegasus' cottage.

"What are you getting, Suzette?" Marik asked her in an attempt to at least be civil towards his "date."

"The same thing I always get," Suzette said, putting her menu down. "The veal – it's the best in town."

"Oh, sounds interesting."

"What are you going to get?"

"I don't know, I'm not that hungry –"

Bakura interrupted him with a chuckle. "Really? You couldn't shut up about how hungry you were this morning."

Marik smiled and stuck his tongue out at him. "That's because you didn't make enough food for dinner last night."

"I made plenty – it's not my fault you have the stomach of a whale."

"And it's not my fault that you don't know what a serving size is."

"… What is a serving size?"

Bakura jumped a little when both Marik and Fantine started laughing at him. He couldn't help but smile a little at the sight; even their laugh sounded the same.

"How are you so skinny if you do not even know what a serving size is?" Fantine asked, still laughing. "I wish I was blessed with such ignorance!"

Smirking, Marik replied, "Simple – he's on a fluid-only diet. This is actually breaking his code."

"Shut up!" Bakura replied, laughing. He could not believe Marik was making reference to his vampirism in front of people… granted it was disguised very cleverly, but still; you think he'd be more careful, what with the incident with Keith back in New York.

"Fluid only?!" Fantine exclaimed. "How can you survive!"

"That does sound almost impossible," Suzette added suspiciously.

"Uh, it's not as hard as you'd think," Bakura told them, trying to contain a grin. "There's… special fluids that contain the same types of nutrients as solid foods."

Marik snickered silently as Fantine nodded. "I think I've heard of such a thing… I can't remember what it's called, though."

Suzette just raised an eyebrow at him, but shrugged it off. "It's believable."

Giggling, Fantine jokingly said, "Maybe you could ask the waiter to blend up your food into a smoothie! That way you wouldn't be breaking your diet, technically."

Bakura laughed, clutching his stomach as he replied. "I – I like the way you think!"

Rolling his eyes, Marik thought to himself, What a stupid idea, even though he had been about to suggest the same thing…

Their conversation went on like that for a few more minutes, with Bakura laughing at things Fantine or Marik said, and Marik getting slightly annoyed when his friend took more of an interest in the girl than him. Suzette just cut in with comments when she felt like it, sometimes adding new information or mocking what the other said. She never said anything funny or continued the jokes, though, much to everyone's dismay.

Soon, the waiter came to take their orders. Much to Fantine's amusement, Bakura actually did ask the waiter what their restaurant's stance was on blending their meals together. When the waiter looked incredibly offended by such a brass question, however, Bakura just laughed and said he was kidding, though he was half lying when he said so.

When their meals finally arrived, Fantine immediately started cutting her seasoned sausage and vegetables in half. "You still want half, right? Even if it may be too solid for your tastes," she joked.

"Most definitely," Bakura replied, smiling.

Chuckling, Fantine stabbed a small chunk of her sausage with her fork and held it up to him. "Say "ah"!"

Bakura did as he was told, laughing once she had placed the sausage in his mouth. It reminded him of the time he and Marik had fed each other in the ice cream shop… Hm, perhaps they had gone on a few dates before?

He was completely unaware that at that moment Marik was trying desperately to contain his anger, his eye twitching from the effort. He knew it sounded incredibly stupid and immature, but… only he should be allowed to feed Bakura!-! He had known him longer! He was his best friend! He was –

… Too envious for his own good…

Why was he letting this get to him so much? He knew Bakura was a good actor, he was probably just acting like this to make her more compliant to give them the Millennium Items… there was no way he could actually enjoy her company, right? Although, he had to admit, she was very pretty and incredibly funny… but still, not Bakura's "type," right? Right, so he shouldn't worry! . . .

And yet, there was still that nagging doubt in the back of his mind that couldn't help but think that Bakura really did like Fantine "that way" and that he'd ditch him and the Millennium Items to go spend time with her instead… Which was completely ridiculous! Bakura wanted to find them just as much as he did! … At least, he thought so – he had never really asked the vampire, had he? He had always just assumed…

Marik mentally shook his head as he dug into his vegetable stew. He could at least consolidate himself with the fact that Bakura wasn't feeding her his food as well…

"How is the stew?" Suzette asked, looking at Marik's meal. "I've always wanted to try it, but never actually ordered it."

Fantine rolled her eyes. "Suzette here doesn't like to try anything new," she explained quietly to the two boys, despite the glare her friend was giving her. "Why else do you think she's crawling back to her old boyfriend?"

"I am not crawling!-!" Suzette yelled at her, turning red with embarrassment and anger. "I'm carefully plotting –"

"You're playing the desperate girlfriend, is what you are."

Fuming, Suzette stood up from the table and stormed away, tossing, "Bathroom," forcefully over her shoulder.

Fantine just rolled her eyes before smiling apologetically at Bakura and Marik. "I'm sorry she's being so obstinate; she can be fun if you get to know her better… But unfortunately, she'd blinded by this stupid boy."

"Bummer," Bakura said unsympathetically before pointing at Marik's dish. "Say, can I try that?"

"Knock yourself out," Marik replied, pushing it towards him. It wasn't until after he saw Bakura slurping up his stew that he realized he could have taken the initiative and fed him as well… He immediately yelled at himself for that thought, though, turning away a bit. He needed to focus… the only reason they were here was to get the Millennium Items. That was it! He shouldn't be feeling petty jealousy simply because Bakura was doing what he was supposed to do in this situation! Actually, he should probably be acting like Bakura towards Suzette, if they really did want this other guy to get jealous of him.

… So why did the very thought of doing that make him feel even angrier?

"Fantine, you've got to try this!" Bakura said, smiling and moving the soup over to her. "It's really good!"

"Oh, won't you feed it to me, dear?" Fantine asked, smiling and opening her mouth.

Bakura laughed before doing just that, sending Marik into even more of a frenzy as his eye started to twitch. "Isn't it good?" the clueless vampire asked.

"Very!" Fantine agreed, nodding and laughing. "We should give him his food back now, though!"

"Yes, yes, you're right," Bakura agreed, sliding it back to him and smiling. "Thanks, Marik."

"… Don't mention it…"

The rest of their lunch didn't go much better for Marik, unfortunately. Bakura and Fantine completely forgot about the other two as they were locked into their own conversations. And since it didn't seem like Suzette had even the slightest interest in making conversation with Marik, the poor boy was practically forced to listen to every last detail of their happy conversations whilst yelling at himself for not just joining in… they wouldn't have minded, right? Though they did seem pretty happy with just the two of them…

What Marik didn't know, however, was that halfway through the dinner, Bakura had gotten it in his head to just treat Fantine like he would treat his best friend. She really did remind him of the tanned man, and he could feel himself really opening up to her… As he did this, of course, he couldn't help but contrast that to how he would've acted, say, just a year ago when meeting new people: with suspicion and just a hint of malice. He knew who to thank for this, of course… But he wasn't sure if he'd ever get the chance to actually voice his thanks, or simply tell him that. Currently, he was too busy seeing so much of his familiar, friendly partner in her that when he closed his eyes, he almost felt like he was talking to him instead of some girl who he had just met. And he wasn't lying – he could see Marik in her eyes and smile, hear him in her laugh and sarcasm and jokes, and the aura she radiated off of him definitely shared basic properties with the Egyptian's. Perhaps she was a little bit more boisterous, talkative, and flirtatious than the other, but that was perfectly fine.

He wasn't sure if this was how she usually acted, or if he was just projecting his own wants to see the boy onto her… he sincerely hoped it was the first one, though, since he did not want his life to be filled with even more love-sick hullabaloo.

"Should we leave now?" Fantine asked suddenly after having given a long rant about how much of a pain food allergies were. Apparently, she was allergic to peanuts, and it was very annoying because there are so many things that have peanuts in them! And she could still remember what peanuts tasted like – this was before they found out she could die from it, of course – and sometimes she just had this craving for peanut butter, but she knew she couldn't eat it because she'd get all bloated and it'd be hard to breathe and everything. Not to mention that all of her other friends seemed to have some kind of infatuation with peanut butter, so she was constantly around it. Luckily she wasn't one of those people who couldn't even be in the same room as the food, but it was still very annoying! And…

Yeah, it was a very long rant.

"They're probably annoyed at us for not leaving yet," she continued to say, chuckling a bit. "After all, they gave us the bill around ten minutes ago."

"You're probably right," Bakura agreed, shrugging and standing up. "What time is it, anyways?"

"Around four," Suzette informed them, also standing up. "Would you like to go ice-skating now?"

"Wow, you're actually asking them what they'd like to do!" Fantine exclaimed, her eyes wide in mock surprise. "Was your meal spiked?"

Glaring and twitching slightly at her friend, Suzette muttered something under her breath before turning and setting to walk out of the restaurant. Marik rolled her eyes at her, standing up as well. He was really hating this "dating" thing.

"Well, I guess we're paying?" Bakura asked jovially before getting out his wallet and looking at the receipt again. He knew that usually people said something like, "This was really cheap/expensive for this many people," but he didn't really know what was "expensive" or not so he just cleared his throat and headed off to pay for it.

Marik felt a little uneasy at the sight, remembering how he had been trying to stop Bakura from spending his money, and now he was paying for their meal… Maybe he should try and get a job while they were in France, though it had to be under the table since he wasn't an "official" citizen. And it wasn't like he could use the French-citizen-alibi he did have, since his father might be monitoring that. He supposed he could make another one, but that required a lot of materials and time…

"Are you having fun?" Fantine interrupted his thoughts, smiling and gesturing to the exit. "We should go catch up with them; Suzette is probably halfway to the rink by now."

"Ah, right," Marik replied, falling in step behind her and sighing again.

"You're not having any fun, are you?" she asked, smiling understandingly at him. "I really am sorry. I could talk to her, if you want – tell her to treat you like she did her old boyfriend. Although, I'll admit, her behavior then wasn't much better -"

"No, it's fine," Marik interrupted, shaking his head at her and frowning a little. Honestly, Suzette wasn't bothering him as much as she was… "I've faced worse."

"Really?" she asked, surprised. "Well, all right. If you say so."

"Glad to see you're having fun with Bakura," Marik said then, with just a hint of sarcasm that she didn't seem to catch.

"Oui!" she exclaimed, smiling at him. "He is most fun to talk to, and very funny! I already feel like I can tell him anything!"

"… Yeah…" Marik said, a pit appearing in his chest as he thought about how much he hadn't told Bakura yet… And he had known him for much longer than this girl had.

Fantine sighed dreamily before giggling and adding, with a flirty look towards Bakura, "I wonder if he is a good kisser~"

. . . Marik swore something inside him snapped when he heard that. He started shaking as a familiar rage filled him and an eye started to twitch, a want to yell at himself for feeling such a way in the first place starting to take root. He held a hand up to his temple when it started pounding to the beating of his enraged heartbeat. He immediately felt himself instinctively trying to ignore his anger, but as he did so he imagined that thing inside him laughing and getting stronger… So, he decided to tell himself, "I'm angry," over and over again, almost like a chant, before trying to calm himself down "naturally" by counting to ten and instead trying to ignore the image of Bakura and Fantine together. After all, he had to try "expressing" himself sometime, right? Besides, it… it sort of worked. He still felt incredibly angry, but he supposed that was okay as long as he didn't outwardly show it.

Although that was incredibly hard when he opened his eyes to the wonderful, far-away sight of Fantine kissing Bakura on the cheek as he put his wallet away. This probably wouldn't have been so upsetting if it wasn't for the fact that Bakura just laughed (was that a light blush, Marik saw?) and linked their arms together, walking out the door and seeming to forget all about him.

He followed after them stiffly, feeling like a blood vessel was about to break, and desperately needing a way to get rid of his anger. Maybe he could break something when he got outside… like a window. Or a car. Or an arm. Yes, an arm…

The poor man was completely unaware of the fact that Bakura had only enjoyed the girl's affections because he had imagined Marik coming up and doing the very same thing to him.

It wasn't long before they arrived at the ice-rink, promptly at 4:10pm, much to Suzette's satisfaction. Fantine was also a little pleased about this, since that meant they could skate around without Suzette's dictatorship controlling them. Bakura shared in Fantine's excitement, although he was a little hesitant to actually try skating on something as flimsy as ice. And, as to be expected, Marik just wished this day could be over already, as he was not having a lick of fun like he had thought he might.

"Is ice skating easy?" Bakura asked as he wrestled with his skate-laces to get them tight enough. Currently they were all seated in a room outside of the actual ice rinks, of which there were two. Rows of lockers were set up, obviously as a place to put your skates and whatever else you may not want to get damaged in case you should fall whilst skating. They didn't come with locks, but you could bring one or rent one if you so chose. They had decided not to bother buying one; after all, who would steal shoes if you already had to pay to get in here?

"This is your first time?" Fantine asked, finishing her own laces and grinning at him. "I will enjoy watching you fall a lot, then~!"

"Funny," Bakura said, smiling and looking over at Marik. "That's exactly what Marik said yesterday. Is ice-skating really that hard?"

"Oui! Very hard for beginners," Fantine told him, chuckling. "But do not fret! I shall teach you."

"Sounds great, thanks," Bakura replied gratefully, unaware that such a simple response caused Marik's negative emotions to go up another notch.

"Come on," Suzette interrupted them impatiently, standing before them with her laces tied tight and her hands clapping twice for their attention. "Let's get going, we don't have all day."

"Nope," Fantine agreed, standing up and grinning. "But we do have twenty minutes, non?"

"One more crack like that and I'll burn your magazines," Suzette threatened, turning on her heels and walking down the hallway to the ice rink where open-skating was going on.

"She always threatens to do that," Fantine explained to their dates quietly before grabbing Bakura's hand and helping him up. "Come on, time for you to test the frozen water!"

"Sounds invigorating," Bakura said, laughing as he was pulled along. Walking on thin, metal razors was definitely different – almost like a balancing act. It felt too weird to step heel-to-toe like normal, so instead he had to place his entire foot up and down to get anywhere comfortably.

Meanwhile, Marik followed after them grumpily, trying very hard not to glare at their linked hands. He wasn't going to be able to take much more of this… Sighing, he silently prayed that he would be too distracted with ice-skating to worry about Bakura, but somehow he already knew that wasn't going to happen. The most he could hope for was that Suzette would keep him busy with her ridiculous scheme. He had to admit, it was a little funny to see what lengths she was going to just for her old boyfriend… What happened if it didn't work, and she just ended up humiliating herself? She would still give him the Millennium Items, right? After all, he kept up his part of the deal, despite wanting to leave many times. She'll definitely honor hers… Although, depending on what he's seen so far, that might not be the case if things turn sour… Begrudgingly, he admitted that if push came to shove he'd probably have to ask Fantine to give them to him, since she, regrettably, was starting to seem like a much more reasonable person. And date. No wonder Bakura seemed to like her…

Shaking his head, he tried to get rid of those thoughts. They were already going to enter his mind enough with how the two were acting, he didn't need to think of more! And what did it matter if Bakura liked her, anyways? It's not like Bakura was strictly his… they were just friends.

… That's what Pegasus was trying to get at, wasn't it? That since they're not actually "together" it shouldn't be a surprise if Bakura suddenly gets a girlfriend or something… And that was why he should tell him of his feelings, so that at least he'd know about them, and maybe think about them, and possibly even… feel the same?

Shaking his head again, he realized that he was now standing in front of the ice rink, right behind Bakura, who was practically being dragged onto the ice by Fantine.

"Come on!" she called, tugging at his arm and pouting a bit. "You'll never learn if you don't try!"

"Maybe I don't want to try, then!" he snapped, gripping onto the edge of the rink opening for dear life. To his credit, he had stepped on to the ice, but after feeling how slippery it was and almost falling flat on his face after the first ten seconds, and feeling something cold and unforgiving crushing his heart as he did so, and his senses waning in and out of weakness, he was starting to have second thoughts about this… He might even be developing a fear of ice, or, more specifically, ice-skating. Is this how Marik felt whenever he was high up? "I can just stay on the side – there are seats right over there!"

"Don't be so boring!" she chastised, still struggling to bring him out on the rink. She had no idea that her efforts were in vain against his enhanced strength, which Bakura was very grateful for at the moment.

"I'm not boring!"

"Yes, you are!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Geez," Marik mumbled to himself, "this sounds familiar…"

"People are starting to stare at you, big baby Bakúra!" Fantine taunted, letting go and huffily putting her hands on her hips.

"I am not a baby!" Bakura yelled, glaring at her. "I just know the difference between "fun" and "foolish"!"

"For goodness' sakes, Bakura!" Marik said as he walked up to him, rolling his eyes. "Come on! Ice-skating is really fun once you get the hang of it, and I'll even help you."

Staring at him, Bakura said very seriously, "You have a fear of heights, I have a fear of ice-skating!"

"Guys," Fantine interrupted, frowning, "could you please speak French? I want to know what you're saying!"

"Then get over it!" Marik continued, ignoring Fantine completely and focusing solely on Bakura.

"You get over your fear of heights, then!-!"

Marik thought for a second before sighing. "All right, I'll make you a deal… if you ice skate, I'll go up the Eiffel Tower with you."

Bakura was obviously startled, his eyes widening into saucers. "… Seriously?"

"Seriously."

Bakura stared at him for second, debating whether or not he was telling the truth. When he realized that he was, he then pondered if it was worth it. He did say he would help him, and he did want to take Marik up to the top…

"All right, fine," Bakura said, trying to stand up straight and only slipping once in the process. "But you can't laugh when I fall…"

"Deal," Marik agreed with a laugh, prying one of Bakura's shaky hands off the side and shaking it in agreement.

"So, is Bakúra going to ice-skate?" Fantine asked, smiling at their interaction.

"Regrettably, yes," Bakura said, sighing.

"Great!" Fantine exclaimed before gabbing Bakura's other hand and pulling him on to the ice, helping steady him when he started to stumble. "It'll be a blast, I promise! And I'll help you the whole way!"

"… Ah, thanks…" Bakura said, giving her a smile before glancing back at Marik. He kind of wanted Marik teaching him if it meant he'd have to hold his hand the entire time… Ah well, he was on a date with her, so he shouldn't complain. Besides, once this was over he could spend all the time in the world with Marik.

He didn't notice the sour look said boy gave them, looking at their tightly clenched hands while his own clamped together painfully. Watching them shouldn't anger him so much… After all, she was just teaching him something; it's not like it meant anything. Nope. Nothing at all…

"Már-reek!" Suzette called impatiently, doing a fast stop and spraying him and the entranceway in ice. "Come on – I need to see how good of a skater you are."

"Yeah yeah," Marik muttered, stepping on the ice and skating away, grinding his teeth when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Fantine with her arm around Bakura's waist to better support him as he slowly staggered his way across the ice, staring at the ground untrustingly.

"See if you can keep up," Suzette said coldly as she passed him, her arms behind her back as she skated on one foot for a while, weaving in and out of the less experienced skaters on the ice.

"I should be telling you that," Marik had to refrain from yelling as he picked up his speed and passed her easily, turning around and skating backwards as he stuck his tongue out at her childishly.

"You can skate backwards?" Suzette said, surprised. "Good, very good. What else can you do?"

"Not to brag," Marik said carelessly, smiling a bit as he inspected his hands and continued skating backwards. "But you might as well just call me a professional skater."

"Vey good," Suzette complimented, smirking a bit. "But can you pirouette?"

"Easily," Marik replied, narrowly missing a little kid. "But I would need a bigger space."

"Very well. Let us have a contest, shall we?" she asked, her smirk widening. "Me and my ex would always have these contests."

"No wonder you broke up," Marik said to himself, rolling his eyes.

"I know Japanese, remember!"

"Yeah, I remembered," Marik told her with a grin as he skated away, setting up for a pirouette before executing one perfectly.

"Lucky landing," Suzette said, rolling her eyes at him.

"We'll see," Marik taunted before performing a 360° spin and grinning at her.

She narrowed her eyes at him before lifting her leg and performing a kicking spin in the air, giving Marik a smug smile once she landed it on one foot, continually skating backwards.

That seemed to be the invitation for them to launch into a competition – each trying to outdo the last move the other did while avoiding everyone else who was skating. They started gaining an audience, occasionally getting a round of applause or some "Oohs" and "Aahs." A few kids even tried copying their moves, but quickly gave up when they fell countless times, though Marik enjoyed watching them try; it made him happy to know he was entertaining them. It was also a great distraction from they-who-shall-not-be-mentioned right now, who, unsurprisingly, were watching the two competitors.

"It figures she roped him into one of her petty contests," Fantine said, rolling her eyes as she lead the ever-fumbling Bakura around the rink, herself skating backwards. He wasn't getting the hang of it yet, which was painfully obvious as he kept slipping and almost falling every few seconds. The only thing keeping him upright was Fantine's grasp on his hands. He never thought it'd be this hard to ice-skate!-! He expected it to be a little difficult, but not this giant wall of seeming impossibility!

"Does she always compete like that?" he managed to ask between stumbles, his eyes never leaving his feet.

"Yes…" Fantine replied, sighing in her memories."It is frustrating sometimes. Is Már-reek competitive?"

"Hm… Not really," Bakura said, hesitating slightly as his brain switched between thinking back about Marik and trying to continue ice-skating. "He's very argumentative, though."

"Seriously?" she said, eyes widening. "He does not seem the type to me!"

Bakura gave a slight chuckle, looking up from the ice for the first time to say, "Well, it's mainly for things that don't matter. We get in to such stupid arguments sometimes; just this morning we were fighting over food and other nonsense."

"… Really…" Fantine said monotonously, staring at him oddly. Was it just her, or did Bakura seem a lot happier when he talked about his friend? He seemed to focus better, too, as was proven by the fact that he had actually glided during his last sentence, and how immediately afterwards he went back to tripping. His smiled had dropped back to a focused frown, too… perhaps she was just imagining things?

"Yeah," Bakura said, distracted again. "Does Suzette argue a lot, too?"

"Like you wouldn't believe," Fantine said, rolling her eyes before giving him a cheerful smile. "But let's not talk about her! I'm more interested in you, Bakúra – what do you do for a living?"

"I write," he answered back with a small smile.

"Oooh, a novelist! So intelligent~"

Bakura laughed a bit, glancing up at her. "I'm not so sure that immediately qualifies me as intelligent, but thank you anyways." He looked back down at the floor before asking, "And yourself? What do you do?"

"Oh, a little bit of this, a little bit of that…" Fantine said vaguely with a chuckle. "I don't like the idea of only doing one thing for the rest of my life, so I change jobs regularly, and sign up for odd jobs. Currently, however, I am a professional waitress. It pays more than it sounds."

"Well, certainly sounds fun, at least," Bakura told her with a smile.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence then, seeing as how Bakura was mostly concentrating on ice-skating. More specifically, not falling while ice skating. The problem was, Fantine didn't like silence, so after awhile she asked, "And Marik? What does he do?"

"Oh, he's an illustrator." He laughed a bit to himself before looking back up at her. "He just became one, actually, for my books."

"… Ah, I see," Fantine said with a small nod. It couldn't be just her this time – he definitely was happier when talking about his friend. There was no way she could imagine the way his eyes brightened, or the way his tone turned fonder. Do not tell her that he was…?

"What does Suzette do?" Bakura asked, trying to use what little conversational skills he had. "She must be the boss of something, right? With her wonderful personality," he scoffed with a laugh.

Fantine laughed with him before shaking her head. "You'd be right! She's the head of a fashion company, but she doesn't like me to talk about it in case people "overhear and swarm her.""

Bakura laughed loudly at that, almost tripping in the process. "Once she opens her mouth, I don't think that'd be a problem!"

Fantine giggled a little, nodding. "Oui, I think so as well."

"Why are you friends with her?" Bakura couldn't help but ask. They didn't seem very compatible to him, and she seemed to complain about her a lot, too… Why did they hang out together?

"It's complicated…" Fantine tried to explain, sighing. "We grew up together, and we are good friends, even if we may not act like it…" She avoided Bakura's gaze, giving him the impression that there was more to the story than she was telling him… But why would you need to hide the reason you were friends?

The silence returned to them then, made awkward by the last sentence spoken. It was starting to drive both of them crazy, actually, and they were both about to just say the first thing that popped into their head when a little kid skated just too close to them, causing Bakura to stumble in surprise. He could feel that unfamiliar sense of fear grip his heart as he realized he was going to fall flat onto the unforgiving floor of ice, but then suddenly warm arms wrapped themselves around him and he wound up pressed up against Fantine vertically instead. His heart was still beating fast from the sudden jolt as he looked up at her, smiling sheepishly. "Thanks…" he mumbled, exhaling in relief.

"No problem," she said with a smile, helping him stand back up again. She had enjoyed getting close to him anyways~

Unfortunately, Marik had seen the whole thing, and he was not pleased in the slightest. He even stumbled the landing on a simple Butterfly Jump he was so mad… And it didn't help when Suzette taunted him with a simple smirk as she performed his "failed" move perfectly. He ground his teeth in anger, wishing yet again that he could just grab Bakura and leave, but he still had a mission… He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, along with most of his (petty) anger. Yes, as long as he had his mission in mind, he could handle this – he could handle anything. It was only temporary, anyways. After this day, he would never have to see either of these girls again.

… But what if Bakura wanted to see Fantine again…?

He shook his head, deciding not to think about that as he prepared himself for just an Axel jump. He didn't really feel like doing anything fancy anymore; what was the point if Suzette would just keep doing better ones?

Soon enough, the clock struck 4:30pm, and Fantine lead Bakura back over to where Suzette and Marik were skating. Their little competition had just recently cooled down, though now they were arguing over who had won the unplanned contest.

"I performed more moves than you," Suzette was saying, "So I was obviously the winner."

"Yes, but some of those weren't as graceful as mine, wouldn't you agree?" Marik argued, sticking his tongue out at her childishly.

As the argument continued, Bakura couldn't help but feel just a little… melancholy, upon hearing them. He had always assumed useless, meaningless quarrels were his and Marik's thing… He knew he was just being silly, though – Marik could have arguments with anyone he wanted to; it's not like it meant anything.

… Right?

Bakura shook his head. He was being completely ridiculous now… Seriously, like Marik could ever fall for someone like Suzette. She was mean, rude, and not pleasant to be around at all.

Although, to be fair, wasn't that how he had started out…?

… Great, now he felt even more depressed.

"Hey!" Fantine interrupted the two skaters, rolling her eyes. "Suzette," she addressed, still holding Bakura's hand to make sure he didn't fall, much to Marik's chagrin. "Is your date here yet or not? Because if he is, I don't think you should be fighting with your date, if you're trying to prove to him that you can be fun."

"Right," Suzette agreed with a nod before looking around. Soon, her gaze locked on one particular person and she scowled, pointing straight ahead, up at the tables where you could relax and eat a snack if you were tired of skating. "There he is…" she said with disdain evident in her tone.

Marik and Bakura both turned to look and see who this alleged boyfriend was. Bakura was simply curious, whereas Marik just wanted to see him as proof that this horrible experience would be over soon. They had a hard time finding him, though, so Marik asked, "What does he look like?"

"Short, brown hair," Suzette explained, "incredibly tall, always wearing his stupid jacket that might as well be a cape."

Marik and Bakura shared a look, both thinking that whom she was describing sounded horribly familiar… This time, when they looked in the general direction she had specified, they had no trouble at all picking him out.

"Kaiba?!"

Heehe~ Yep, Kaiba XD Please tell me someone saw that coming. No? Okay then *grins*

I'm sorry if the writing seems a little… forced, at the end. Like I said, I've lost a lot of motivation… *sighs*

Nonetheless, I hope to gain it back soon and keep writing this story, as I know how many people seem to like it (and how many people kept asking me when the next update was going to be… *insert immense self-guilt here*)).

Please review! I hope that it will help me get my motivation back…

And before I forget: HAPPY EASTER! :D

~~~{REVIEW REPLIES}~~~

Labyrinth Runner: Yeah, I know the last one took a long time… this one took even longer OTL *sighs* I apologize yet again… But anyways, I hope this one was worth the wait as well ^^"
*chuckles* Well, I'm not entirely sure how close Melvin will come to killing Bakura. I hope to make it pretty close in the future, since as you said, DRAMA, but you never know~ *grins*
And ah yes! The camera of doom… All of the plans I had around that were kinda thrown out the window as I took this path instead ^^" Sorry… Maybe it'll appear again, though! :D
XDD And you're right – Marik would never do drugs, yeesh! Perish the though XP Sugar is much more up his alley XD
Thanks for understanding my business ^^" And I hope you had a delightful Christmas, and New Year, and Valentine's Day! =)
Thank you for all of your reviews =)

Neko: XDD What! Pegasus does not have epilepsy! He's just… very emotional, okay? XD Haha thanks for the review, it made me laugh XD

Guest: Really? Awesome! I'm glad I was able to make you cry (as awful as that sounds XD). It just means my writing is good is all, so… yeah – thank you ^^ Hope you enjoyed this chapter! =)

iLOVEyourstories: Haha, I like making people smile, too~ It's a nice feeling, non? ^^ *giggles* And no, I'm not twenty… but I'm extremely happy to hear you say that about my writing style :3 And come on! I'm sure you can write well – it just takes practice, after all. I used to be awful at writing XP But by all means, keep stalking XD
Yes! I love Pegasus in this, too~ XDD Heehee, I've always liked him =) Obviously, since this is how I portray him! And I'm ever so glad you like the way I write him (and all the others *blushes*) and that he has officially made it into your favorites XD And thank you for being patient with me ^^
And, oh, you are? … Well, I wish you luck with you and your girlfriend… As for me and mine, we, uh… had to break up. Parental involvement… *sighs* I don't wanna talk about it… that's kind of what made me lose motivation for a lot of things :/ I… had to tell her I hate her so that she would move on *cringes* I just hope she's doing well without me, now, as I can't contact her anymore… *shakes head* But, anyways, I'm moving on with life ^^ As I hope she is, too…
Thank you very much for your reviews! They always make me smile ^^ But no, I still do not think that I am an "effing legend" XDD Haha.
Lots of love, Annzy~ :3 *hugs you*

NoleeBakura: Really? Aw, thank you! ^^ I'm glad to hear you like it so much! And are not in denial like some people (Marik and Bakura: Hey!).
I'm so sorry you had to wait quite awhile for the next chapter since you reviewed this, especially since you stayed up so late to read it! I really am glad you liked it so much, though =) It makes me really happy to hear :D
Thank you for telling your friends about it! I hope they enjoy as well ^^ And I do hope that you enjoyed this chapter, as well (and again, I'm sorry for the wait…).