There's an explicit version of this story on AO3 (archive of our own) where things with Yami Bakura escalate pretty quickly!
"Wait, so why are you guys coming with us today, too?" Akia asked her group of friends
"You know you're happy that we are," Jounouchi responded.
"As if..." She retorted with a smile.
That day too, Jounouchi, Anzu, and Honda were going to the game shop with the twins.
"Jounouchi insisted on having grandpa teach him Duel Monsters," Yugi explained.
"Yeah, I need to learn how to build a proper deck. I mean, even Anzu beat me!" The blond added.
"Well," Akia exposed, "Anzu has the basics down. You don't."
"Hey! I have the basics down! I'm not just some beginner!" Jounouchi defended himself.
"You haven't used a single trap or spell card in all the games I've seen you play..." Akia argued back.
"True," Anzu agreed.
"Stop teasing me!" Jounouchi yelled out.
"We're here guys," Yugi announced. He then opened the door to the game shop, while greeting his grandfather as usual, but, this time, he didn't get a reply.
"Yugi, is grandpa there?" Akia asked and then went in the shop and looked around.
"Maybe he's out?" Yugi suggested.
"That's odd," his twin noted, "he's always saying that he should never leave the shop unsupervised."
"Bathroom break?" Jounouchi proposed.
"Could be," Akia affirmed while shrugging.
Suddenly, the phone started ringing. Everyone looked in the direction from where the sound was coming from. It was the shop phone. Akia thought it was probably some unsatisfied customer who wanted to complain. Maybe it was someone who wanted to pre-order some new game. Either way, she didn't feel like replying to it.
"Go get it Yugi," the girl called out to her brother.
"I knew you'd say that..." Yugi sighed.
After rushing to the phone, he picked it up.
"Hello, Game Shop," Yugi cheerfully greeted.
As the conversation went on, Yugi's face grew more serious, and worried. Akia, who followed him to the phone, saw how his facial expression changed. She started to feel a little restless as well because of her brother's behaviour.
"What do you mean? Kaiba-kun!" The concerned grandson yelled out.
"Kaiba?" Akia inquired.
"He hung up... He has grandpa..." Yugi said with a shaking voice.
"What?" His sister exclaimed in response.
"We have to hurry!" Yugi ushered them.
Everyone followed the teen, without asking any more questions, considering the need to hurry to get to the twins' grandfather.
"The hell is Kaiba thinking? Did he actually kidnap grandpa? Is this all because of that damn card? Man that rich boy needs someone to knock some sense into him... He pisses me off so much..." Akia thought to herself, feeling her rage build.
When they arrived at Kaiba Corps, they rushed in and found Sugoroku lying on the ground, in visible pain.
"Grandpa!" Yugi cried out.
"What happened to you?!" Akia followed suit.
The twins both rushed to his side.
"Yugi... Akia... I'm sorry... I tried to show the boy the heart of the cards, but..." The elderly man got the words out with difficulty, unable to finish his sentence, and groaning in pain.
"Grandpa!" The twins yelled out his name.
A mocking chuckle came from the door behind Sugoroku.
"Well, you took your time getting here," Kaiba mockingly stated.
"Bastard, what did you do to gramps?" Jounouchi reprimanded him.
"All we did was duel. The bet was the other's most precious card," Kaiba replied with sarcastic innocence.
"Cut the crap, rich boy. There must've been something more that brought grandpa to this state," Akia dismissed his sarcasm.
Kaiba looked at Akia with a little resentment in his eyes. It was soon replaced with a cocky smile.
"Well, you're not as dumb as you look," Kaiba mocked her. "Indeed, I think he may have been a bit shocked by my Virtual Simulator."
"You must've pulled some cheap tricks!" Anzu pointed at him accusingly.
"I don't do that. Here, I'll prove it with the card I won," Kaiba replied as he pulled out the Blue Eyes White Dragon card that belonged to Sugoroku. Then, he tore it in half. Everyone gasped in surprise that turned immediately into horror.
"That's my grandpa's most cherished card!" Yugi exclaimed.
"Only three of the same card are allowed in one deck. Since I already have three of them, this one is useless. This way it will never be used against me," Kaiba explained his reasoning.
"M... My Blue Eyes..." Sugoroku wheezed and groaned in pain once more.
"How could you do such a thing?!" Yugi reproached the young CEO
"You bastard..." Akia started shaking with rage. Before anyone could stop her, she got in front of Kaiba. She stared at him with eyes full of resentment. He shot her the same look back, and grinned.
"What do you hope to do? It's not like you'll have the guts to even lay a finger on...!" Before Kaiba could finish his sentence, he felt a sting on his left cheek, and his head was involuntarily jerked to the right. When he fully realized that Akia had just slapped him, he rose his right arm to retaliate. Jounouchi, who saw everything unfold, realized what Kaiba was about to do. Akia closed her eyes, bracing for impact. However it never came. Instead, she felt arms wrap around her and pull her into a tight hug. She opened her eyes to find her face stuck to a manly chest.
Jounouchi had planned to take the hit instead of Akia. He hugged her, shielding her from Seto's menacing hand. Instead of being hit, he felt Kaiba's foot kicking him, which caused him to lose balance. He instinctively put a hand behind Akia's head, shielding it from the fall. Jounouchi managed to stop their fall by landing on his knees.
"HEY! KAIBA! Hitting a girl would've been a new low!" Jounouchi shouted at the young CEO.
The blond boy then got up and helped Akia up.
"Girl?" Kaiba scoffed. "If I ever considered her a girl, then maybe I wouldn't have attempted to hit her."
"Shut it, rich boy!" Akia retaliated, feeling somewhat offended.
A groan from Sugoroku stopped her from arguing more with Seto.
"Yugi, take these cards... Win against him, with these cards..." The twins' grandfather muttered.
"But, I can't just leave you here, grandpa!" Yugi argued.
"Interesting," Kaiba pondered, "you want revenge for your grandfather? I'll take you on."
"Yugi... If there's anyone that can teach that guy a lesson, it's you. We'll take care of grandpa from here," Jounouchi reassured his friend.
"Jounouchi-kun..." the short boy replied with a grateful smile.
"You can fight him Yugi!" Honda cheered.
"Teach him the heart of the cards, like what grandpa told you." Anzu added.
"I would've taken him on myself, but I wouldn't have taught him anything," Akia joked before encouraging her brother, "so it's up to you, bro."
"You were never good at teaching..." Yugi chuckled, appreciating his sister's attempt to lighten the mood.
Yugi turned back to his grandfather and took his deck.
"I understand grandpa," he stated with determination.
"Now put your hands out, everyone." Anzu called out as she took out a black marker and drew a smiley face on their hands, combined together. "Look, this is proof of our friendship!"
"...What's this?" Jounouchi blinked a few times in confusion.
Akia smiled at his aloof expression.
"The marker ink will soon disappear," Anzu pointed out, "but our hearts and friendship will never disappear!"
"That's deep," Akia confirmed.
"You're right, Anzu-chan," Yugi agreed.
Anzu, Honda, Jounouchi, and Akia went out to the ambulance that had arrived for Sugoroku.
"Akia, Jounouchi, you two should go support Yugi. Honda and I will take care of grandpa," Anzu reassured them.
"Got it." Jounouchi nodded.
"Take care of him, Anzu," Akia told her with a grateful smile.
Akia and Jounouchi rushed back to where Yugi and Kaiba were. When they entered the arena, they saw monsters battling.
"What the...!" Jounouchi exclaimed in shock.
"This must be his Virtual Simulator... It's incredible..." Akia expressed her awe.
Yugi was attacking with his dragon. A young boy entered the arena, yelling 'big brother'.
The game went on as Kaiba destroyed many of Yugi's monsters with his powered up clown. During the duel, Akia started noticing how Yugi looked a bit different. He looked sharper, less innocent than her twin brother. Was it even the same person? The air around him was so different.
The duel went on until Kaiba summoned his Blue Eyes White Dragon. Not only one, but two of them were now on Kaiba's side if the field. Yugi held them off with Sealing Swords of Light. He then summoned the Black Magician, which managed to defeat Kaiba's Judge Man. The Life Points were now 1000/900, with Kaiba leading. Somehow, the CEO was able to draw his third Blue Eyes, which he summoned. He then attacked the Black Magician, bringing Yugi's life points down to 400.
"Yugi..." Akia uttered her brother's name under her breath.
This was bad, and Akia felt it. What chances did her brother have of winning? It was almost none! She even saw how Yugi was hesitating to draw his next card. Then, all of a sudden, a look of determination filled his eyes, and he drew the next card with newly found confidence.
"Did you find despair by reaching your hand out?" Kaiba mocked his opponent.
"You're wrong! I just found hope! The card I just drew..." Yugi showed his card to Kaiba with a triumphant smirk, "...is the Sealed One, Exodia!"
"Exodia!" Akia exclaimed in surprise. She had heard of it from her grandfather. He had told her how rare and legendary it was and that no one had ever succeeded in summoning it.
"What?!" Kaiba yelled out in disbelief.
Exodia's form started to materialize as Kaiba stared in horror.
"Impossible! Exodia?! Did you just create a miracle?!" Yugi's opponent reacted in denial.
Yugi attacked with Exodia, defeating all three of his Blue Eyes White Dragons, and bringing Kaiba's Life Points down to zero.
"Yugi won! That was incredible! I never thought I'd live to see Exodia!" Akia cheered in excitement.
"He did it!" Jounouchi did the same.
"No matter how strong the card is, it's useless if you can't connect your heart with that card. When you do connect, miracles happen!" Yugi said with authority that was unlike his usual self.
"I-Impossible...! How could I lose?!" Kaiba uttered these words, unable to accept the situation.
"Kaiba, your heart is being driven by evil!" Yugi rebuked his opponent.
The eye of Anubis appeared on Yugi's forehead. Akia recognized it, and realized that, as she thought, it wasn't Yugi that was standing up there. She felt that it was something like the spirit of the ring, which took over Bakura, but this spirit didn't seem as evil. Yugi, or more like the Spirit of the Puzzle, extended his hand in Kaiba's direction.
"Mind Crush!" The other Yugi's voice echoed in the arena.
Kaiba let out a pained scream and fell to his knees.
"I've just destroyed the evil within your heart," the Puzzle's inhabitant told the defeated Kaiba Seto.
Yugi then came back down from the platform, joining Akia and Jounouchi. Yugi and Akia went to the hospital to bring back their grandfather home and all of their friends headed home as well.
The next day, Akia was pondering the prior events, wide-awake in her bed. She wondered about the Spirit of the Puzzle. She compared it to the Spirit of the Ring. She then wondered if there was a presence in her own Millennium Scale. She concluded that there wasn't, though, since there were no signs of any Spirit in her own item.
"Akia! Wake up! You'll be late for school!" Yugi came barging into her room, fully expecting to wrestle his sister out of bed.
"Yeah, yeah... I'm awake..." Akia mumbled back, to his surprise.
When they arrived at school, they found Jounouchi dueling Anzu.
"Good Morning, Akia-chan!" Bakura greeted his friend.
"Bakura!" Akia replied cheerfully, "man, it feels like it's been forever since I last saw you..."
"What do you mean?" He asked, "we just saw each other yesterday at school."
"Lots of things happened since then..." She sighed in response.
"And I win again!" Anzu stated with a smile.
"What?! Yugi, what am I doing wrong?" Jounouchi whined to his friend.
"Teacher's here, I'll check your deck after," Yugi promised.
"Alright..." The blond replied in resignation.
Akia, as usual, dozed off during the lesson. She felt someone poke her arm. She slowly opened her eyes and found Bakura sitting on the chair in front of her, facing her.
"Is the lesson over...?" She asked while yawning.
"Yup, you slept right through it," Bakura replied with an endearing smile.
Akia got up and stretched a little before plopping back down on her seat. She looked around and noticed how Yugi and Jounouchi were missing.
"Where are Jounouchi and Yugi?" She inquired.
"Oh, they went outside for some fresh air," Bakura answered her.
"Hm... I bet Yugi is giving him some Duel Monsters advice. Hey Bakura, did you make a deck?" Akia asked her friend.
"It's not completed," he admitted, "but I'm in the process of making one."
"When you do finish it, I want to be the first one to test it!" Akia said enthusiastically.
"Of course, Akia-chan," He smiled at her eagerness.
"By the way, Bakura-kun," she asked tentatively, "did the Spirit of the Ring appear again?"
"Actually... He did..." Bakura admitted.
"So I guess my Millennium Scale didn't work on him..." Akia pondered.
"Akia-chan," Bakura asked, "do you have any idea why he would be after you?"
"Not really..." Akia shook her head, "I'm kind of curious about that. Why don't you ask him?"
"The thing is, it seems like he doesn't know why either," he sighed in resignation.
"Well that complicates things..." she responded.
There was a moment of silence where they both ran through the many questions popping up in their minds.
"Oh hey," Akia suggested, "do you want to come over today? You never got to see our game shop. Maybe you'll find some good cards there."
"Sure, I'll come." Bakura agreed, happy to spend more time with her in a safer setting.
"Great! Let's do that then," Akia replied eagerly.
After classes were over, the red-eyed girl felt another poke on her arms. She fell asleep again during her class and Bakura was trying to wake her up. She opened her eyes, and stared at Bakura with a blank gaze.
"Good morning..." She mumbled.
Bakura chuckled at her comment. "Morning? The day is over, Akia-chan."
Akia rubbed her eyes, got up, and stretched. They both started leaving the school.
"Well... let's go get some ice cream," Akia suggested.
"Ice cream?" Bakura asked.
"Yeah," she replied, "it helps chase away my sleepiness."
"It'll be my treat then," he offered.
"You sure?" Akia inquired.
"Yup."
"Then go right ahead!"
"Haha, my pleasure," Bakura chuckled at how adorable she was.
They both went to the local ice cream stand. As soon as Akia got her soft-served matcha ice cream cone, she almost instantly gobbled it down.
"Man, that was good! Thanks again for the treat, Bakura-kun," the girl thanked him.
"No problem, Akia-chan. And you can call me Ryou if you want..." He told her with a small shy voice while rubbing the back of his head.
"Alright, Ryou," Akia immediately replied with a smile.
Bakura blushed a little, but Akia was way too oblivious to notice it. Eventually they arrived at the game shop, only to find that it was closed.
"Did grandpa get kidnapped again...?" Akia said sarcastically, but she had a little fear in her heart that that might actually be the case. She took out her key and opened the door. Then again, if he was kidnapped, he wouldn't have locked the door.
"Kidnapped?" Bakura asked, confused about her statement.
"Long story... Grandpa? You there?" She dismissed her comment and called out.
There was no answer. Akia went to the back door, and Bakura followed. She opened it to find her grandfather talking seriously to a kneeling Jounouchi.
"Grandpa? Jounouchi?" The black-haired girl said as she saw the scene that was unfolding in front of her.
Sugoroku's serious expression softened to a welcoming one.
"Oh, welcome back, Akia! Is that your boyfriend?" Sugoroku innocently asked.
"Is that the only thing you think about... Anyway, why's Jounouchi here?" Akia asked, brushing off her grandfather's comment.
"Ah, Akia! Don't interrupt my training!" Jounouchi retorted.
"As he said, I'm training him." Mr. Mutou affirmed.
"Duel Monsters...?" The granddaughter questioned.
"You guessed it! Now go have fun with your boyfriend elsewhere," Jounouchi shooed her playfully.
"So he is your boyfriend!" Sugoroku exclaimed.
"No, he isn't! Let's go, Ryou," She denied as she dragged Bakura upstairs and apologized, "sorry about that..."
"I-It's fine..." He stuttered in response.
Bakura felt a little disappointed by how strongly Akia denied that they had a relationship. He knew she was only saying the truth, though.
"Yugi! You there?" Akia called out after she stopped in front of her brother's room.
"Ah, Akia. Welcome back." Yugi greeted his sister.
Yugi got up from his desk and opened the door. He was a little surprised to see Bakura there.
"Bakura-kun? You brought him along?" Yugi asked.
"Yup! He never saw how our game shop looked, and I thought he might find something that interested him," Akia explained.
"Yeah? Well, that's too bad, because today grandpa is busy with Jounouchi... But you should definitely come back again when grandpa isn't wrapped up in other stuff," her twin told Bakura.
"Alright, then," the white-haired boy nodded.
"Hey, Ryou. Come with me, I'll show you how my room looks like," she told her friend.
"You know Akia," her twin brother informed her, "your laid back attitude around Bakura-kun is kind of why everyone thinks you guys are together. You act way too casual with him. A normal girl wouldn't bring a guy who isn't her boyfriend into her room."
"Well, I'm not normal, then! Let's go Ryou," Akia replied with a giggle as she took Bakura's hand and dragged him to her room. He blushed at the sudden contact. When they got to Akia's room, Bakura sat down on the floor, seiza style. He noticed the Ancient Egyptian history books that Akia had told him about. Other than that, it was a very nicely decorated room with many idol posters. He noted down in his mind that Akia was a big fan of boy bands.
"Ryou, you don't have to sit in that uncomfortable position. Relax!"
How could he relax when he was alone in the room of the girl he liked, with the girl he liked? He remembered when she was alone with him in his room. At that time, his feelings for her weren't as strong. Now, he just wanted to be around her all the time. He liked her a lot. However, he felt like she didn't share the same feelings.
"Hey, Ryou? Are you listening?" Akia asked him.
"Huh? Yeah!" He replied.
He wasn't listening. He was way too wrapped up in his thoughts. Akia had been rambling for a while, until she realized that he wasn't even aware of what she was saying.
"Akia-chan... I have something to say..." He said to her. Bakura couldn't take it anymore. He wanted to tell her about his feelings.
"Hm? What is it?" Akia asked.
"I... Akia, I..." Just as Bakura was about to confess, Akia's room door opened.
"Ah, Jounouchi! How was your training?" The girl's attention shifted to the newcomer.
"Man, gramps is a pretty strict teacher... Anyway, I came here to tell you that I'll be leaving for now. But, don't worry, you won't have time to miss me, because I'll be coming everyday here until I learn properly!" Jounouchi told her with a playful wink.
"Man... It'll be noisy everyday now. Ryou, you had something to say? Sorry this idiot interrupted you," Akia looked back to her white-haired friend.
"Idiot?" Jounouchi exclaimed, offended by the term she used.
"Oh, it's fine. I'll tell you some other time," Bakura said with a resigned voice.
"You sure...?" She inquired.
"Yeah, I guess I'll be going too. It's getting pretty late," he said as he got up.
"Alright, see you tomorrow at school, Ryou," Akia replied with a smile.
Bakura waved and followed Jounouchi out. He was finally going to confess his feelings, but got interrupted. He doubted he would be able to muster up the courage to try to say it again anytime soon, but he would tell Akia how he felt someday.