This is a request for Ginnonifu, who asked for Marik and Bakura meeting in a gym and getting competitive. I hope you like it!
I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.
Bakura dropped a dumbbell on the floor, narrowly missing the brown-haired boy's feet.
"Hey, watch it!" Tristan yelled. "You could've taken my toes off!"
"Then maybe your feet shouldn't have been there!" Bakura shot back. Even though he hadn't been working out too long, he took a drink of water.
"Chill out, you two," Joey said, exchanging his kettlebell for Bakura's discarded dumbbell. "Bakura's just bored cuz there's no one for him to compete with."
"Now Joseph, do you really think I'm so shallow that I constantly need to compete with someone to boost my own self-esteem?"
"Yeah," Joey replied casually, lifting the dumbbell over his head.
"Hey, check it out. New meat." Bakura turned his head in the direction Tristan indicated. New meat was right. Some scrawny kid who had probably gotten a "free thirty day" coupon in the mail was on the elliptical, going at a speed that a turtle would call slow. Bakura smirked.
"I doubt that kid's eaten a bite of meat in his life," he said, crossing his arms. Still, he had to admit the kid didn't look too bad. A bit girly, okay a lot girly, with long blonde hair and, was that actually jewelry? But even so, the kid didn't seem to be in too bad shape. He was fit enough to catch Bakura's eye, and that was enough.
Joey rolled his eyes as Bakura started in the direction of the tanned boy.
"Wha'd I tell ya? Always gotta be competing with somebody," he muttered.
"Hello there," Bakura said, stopping next to the stranger's elliptical. The boy slowed and stared.
"...Hi?" he said, raising one eyebrow.
"Name's Bakura," the white-haired man said with a smirk.
"...Marik," came the response.
"Well, Marik, what do you say to having a bit of a friendly competition with me?" Bakura asked, deciding to get straight to the point. He couldn't help it, he loved competing. The rush of adrenaline, the smug knowledge that he was better than someone. Sometimes he would pick an easy target, just for the sake of winning, for earning that high. He knew this little upstart couldn't beat him, but he would agree either way, try his hardest, and never set foot in the gym ever again when Bakura beat him. Just like every other competition Bakura initiated.
"No thanks." Bakura blinked.
"What?"
"No thanks." Marik glanced at Bakura out of the corner of his eye. "I came here because I had a coupon and I was trying to get away from my sister for a while. That's it."
"What better way to kill time than a bit of a competition?"
"You really can't take a hint, can you?" Marik jumped off the elliptical. "I'm not interested in any 'competition' of your's, so just leave me alone and stop flirting with me!"
"Flirting?" That got Bakura's blood boiling. "Just what makes you think I was flirting?"
Marik rolled his eyes and turned back to Bakura.
"You come up to a random guy out of the blue, introduce yourself, and suggest a competition that will not only allow you to show off, but would include the both of us getting hot and sweaty. From my experience, that's flirting."
"You need new experience, then," Bakura muttered, watching Marik walk to the pull-up bar. He watched the tanned boy for a few minutes, an idea hatching in his head. Smirking, he followed Marik to the pull-up bar.
"Say, Marik," he said. The Egyptian glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "What's the most pull-ups you've ever done in one round?"
Marik tipped his head to one side, thinking. He didn't go to gyms that often, but he was decent at pull-ups and other exercises. What was the most he had ever done?
"...Twenty-four, I think." Bakura's smirk widened.
"Twenty-five," was all he said. Lavendar eyes locked onto hazel, a tan smirk matched a pale one.
"It's on, Bakura."
For the next two and a half hours, Bakura got the best workout of his life. And the best part was, he actually needed some effort to beat Marik. Maybe he had misjudged Marik. He certainly wasn't the scrawny weakling he appeared to be.
And it was pissing Bakura off.
He didn't start these competitions to lose, he started them to prove that he was the best, that no one could beat him. And beating him was exactly what Marik was doing. Whether it was by two pounds or two reps, Marik somehow always managed to stay just slightly above Bakura's efforts. Finally, ten minutes before the gym closed, Marik suggested they call it quits.
"This was fun," he said. "But I should probably be heading home before my sister calls the National Guard."
Bakura ignored the suggestion. There was still one thing left they hadn't tried. If he could beat Marik at this, he could still go home a champion.
"Bench press. I bet I can lift more than you," he said. Marik sighed.
"Seriously? You're not giving up? I'm not going near that thing without a spotter. That's an accident just waiting to happen."
"That's easily fixed. Hey!" Bakura shouted to Joey and Tristan, who were miraculously still in the gym. "Get over here and spot us!" He turned back to Marik.
"There, I got us some spotters. Now, come on. Or are you too scared?"
Marik narrowed his eyes and followed Bakura over to the bench presses, where Tristan and Joey were waiting.
"I feel it's only fair to warn you," Marik said. "My sister works in a museum, and I help carry a lot of the heavier stuff whenever an exhibit gets moved."
"And I care why?"
"Because I've got a lot more upper-body and arm strength than you realize!" Marik snapped. Bakura laughed.
"You won't beat me this time, Marik," he said.
A few minutes later, it became quite obvious that Marik would beat him this time. Every time Bakura added more weight, so did Marik. While Bakura was beginning to struggle, Marik was hardly breaking a sweat. Bakura felt something snap. He had to win this. He couldn't let this kid beat him. No way, no how.
"Another ten pounds," Bakura said. Joey shook his head.
"Dude, you can't lift that much and neither can I. You drop it, I can't help ya."
"Just add the extra ten!" Bakura yelled. Joey looked at Tristan and shrugged.
"It's his funeral," he muttered, sliding the on the extra weight and locking them on.
Gritting his teeth, Bakura grabbed the barbell and hoisted it off the rack. His muscles strained as he struggled to control the bar. He lowered it to his chest - and couldn't raise it back up.
"Shit!" Bakura struggled to raise the bar back up, back onto the rack, but it was too heavy. He couldn't lift it. As it was, he could barely keep himself from dropping it and crushing his ribcage, but the pressure was making it hard to get air.
"I tried to tell ya, Bakura," Joey said, trying to pull the barbell off. "I can't budge it!"
Marik quickly put his own barbell back and got up.
"Move it!" he shouted, pushing Joey out off the way. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed Bakura's barbell and slowly hoisted it up onto the rack. Bakura let his arms drop and lay there on the bench, taking deep breaths. After a few moments, he sat up and was immediately smacked on the back of the head. Hard.
"What the hell was that for?" he yelled, rubbing his head.
"You're such an idiot!" Marik yelled. "You could've gotten yourself killed by doing that! You never try to lift more than you know you're able to! I thought at least you of all people would be smart enough to know that! What if none of us had been able to get it off of you? You never lift more than you or your spotter can! I can't believe you'd get so caught up in this dumb challenge of yours that you'd do something so stupid!"
Bakura blinked, half shocked. No one had ever ranted at him like that before, and he wasn't quite sure of how to respond.
"Well, it's not like I'm hurt," he said, standing up. "It was just an accident. I'm fine, so you can shut up!"
"He's got a point, Bakura," Joey said.
"You shut up too, Wheeler." Joey shrugged.
"Whatever." He turned and walked away, followed by Tristan. Marik glared at Bakura.
"What? I'm fine, it was just an accident!"
"Bakura, I was barely able to lift that. If you had added too much more weight, then you would've..."
"But I didn't, and I'm not, so just forget it!" Bakura grabbed his water bottle and headed for the door. "I'm going home."
"Wait." Bakura paused as Marik ran up to him.
"What?" he growled. Marik hesitated.
"I, er, I really had fun to day, up until this last part. So, maybe we could, I dunno, work out again sometime? No competitions or anything, just working out as friends?"
Bakura paused, staring at the boy, then smirked.
"Now who's the one who's flirting?" he teased. Marik's face turned red.
"I didn't mean-"
"Relax, kid, I know what you meant." Bakura smirked. "Maybe if we run into each other again, we'll work out."
Marik smiled slightly. Then, without warning, he kissed Bakura's cheek and smirked.
"See you around, Bakura," he said, walking out of the gym. Bakura watched him go, smirking.
"Just wait, Marik. Next time, I'll win."
I really enjoyed writing this, especially the last scene. I hope you all enjoyed reading it!