It's super late but I wanted to update today so... xD Thanks to J. L. Lunar, Tiikerikissa, Kuracakes and the anonyme reviewer Accountless for leaving me sweet comments~ Thank you guys!^^

I'm trying to keep them as IC as guys can be in a Shounen Ai fanfic, which I think is difficult, but I'm trying my best~ As always, if you find something to criticize, please do so. Oh, and I wanted to tell you that this story will get a cover soon (the one for 'Prince of Thieves' is finished but not up yet), I will notify you as soon as it's there! And now enjoy the new (hopefully better than the last) chapter!

Chapter 3

You Are The First

Malik was humming to himself while helping Isis with preparing dinner. Both stopped instantly when they heard the front door being slammed shut. The younger of the two immediately went to check who had come home, although he could have guessed and been right. Of course, just as expected it was his older brother Mariku and he did not look very pleased. He had to be still angry from Bakura's little prank from earlier. He was always surprised by how easy to irriatet his brother was. Malik decided to play innocent, knowing that if he acted suspiciously, everything would be revealed. "Geez, Mariku, what's the matter?" he asked his brother who had almost passed him by but stopped at the question. He shot a glare in his younger brother's direction but went to his room and slammed the next door shut. Malik let out a sigh as if he did not exactly know what was wrong. In truth he had to try hard not to grin at the other's reaction.

"Hmm? Why is he in a bad mood now?" Isis asked confused.

The youngest Ishtar merely shrugged and went back into the kitchen. "Maybe it has something to do with his boyfr-"

"Malik...", his sister interrupted, not bothering to even look at her brother and went back to cutting carrots. Malik let out another sigh. Everything had been so tense ever since the day before. Neither of his siblings would look anything but unhappy and no one has smiled ever since. His only hope was that his and Bakura's plan would succeed and they would break up eventually. He did not know what would happen if it stayed like this. Isis and Rishid could not exactly make Mariku break up, right? He would never obey, never. And he had no say in this anyway. Malik had always been the one to be treated like a little child although he was sixteen already. The knife he was holding cut the carrot roughly, splitting it in two. He had always hated being treated this way. Why could they not see that he could take care of himself? Sure, they were worried and he did not blame them either. After what happened back in Egypt... He shook his head. He did not want to think about that again. It has been eight years after all. The point was, he did no longer require help like he did back then.

He shook himself out of his thoughts and only then did he realize that he had cut himself. He eyed the fresh wound on his index finger that was spilling blood already. Fascinated by the red liquid he held his hand up to get a better look at it. It reminded him of... something. Yet again something he did not wish to be reminded of. But he could not help but stare at the beautiful color.

"Ra, Malik you're bleeding!" Isis exclaimed, interrupting his silent admiration.

"Oh", he merely replied and put the finger in his mouth, cleaning it off of all blood which quickly returned, fueled by the other liquid. "Hadn't noticed."

Isis gave him a worried look but continued preparing dinner. "Malik?" she asked after a short period of silence.

"Hm?"

"What do you think about this...?"

Once more, he was able to figure out what she was referring to but pretended to be oblivious to it all. "About what?"

"About... Mariku and..." When she did not finish her sentence, Malik knew that he was supposed to realize what she meant without pressing any further. He had had his time to come up with an answer but it was harder than one would think. Malik was not even sure what to think about it. He only knew that it would not be good for Mariku to have a boyfriend since their family was really religious and conservative, except for Mariku, of course. Malik himself had always believed it was not right to love someone of the same gender, at least not in that way. But after what Mariku had said... it made him think hard about this. It could not be entirely wrong either. This was really confusing.

"I...", he began when he noticed that his sister was becoming more and more impatient. He did not think it was wrong, not anymore, but it would make things a lot more complicated if he took his brother's side in this situation. "I think you're right", he finally replied. Isis seemed to let out a breath of relief. Probably because she had feared her youngest brother would become a 'rebel', too. She thanked him by smiling happily and went back to what she had been doing. Malik could have sighed, too. What was wrong with him? He could have never told his sister that he thought Mariku was right. So why did he even hesitate? Maybe his brother was rubbing off on him. Not a good sign...

School was dragging on today, or so it felt to the Egyptian. He had been thinking about his family and their 'crisis' more than before. He had even spaced out several times in class and the teacher had to tell him too pay attention too many times. Malik was usually an attentive student. Unlike many others he cared about his grades which were in most subjects very good. But today he did not feel the usual urge to listen to the teacher and what was going on. He did not even notice it when a fight had started right behind him. Only when one of the boys had accidentally hit his chair did he awaken from his daydreams. He had not been so oblivious to things since... always. It was not only the family problem that was nagging at his mind. He had also initiated an inner battle with himself. It was 'Morals vs. Heart'. His morals, the ones he had been fed by his oldest siblings against the feeling in his heart. His morals told him that a boy dating another boy was wrong no matter how you looked at it. Boys were meant to date girls, it was only natural, just like it was unnatural for boys to love each other. That was when his heart joined in with furious pounds and thumps. His heart assured him that, if the boys truly and unconditionally loved one another, it was just as natural as a boy being in love with a girl. Malik had always liked to believe whatever his heart would say but in the end he never chose its opinion. What had always won were his morals because they prevented trouble. But now he was not sure anymore. He did not want to think it felt right if a boy loved another boy but he could say with certainty that it was not as wrong as Ishizu believed it to be. The teen let out a heavy sigh. He already feel a headache coming his way.

"Malik-san?" came a voice suddenly. The tan boy turned around in his chair to where the owner of the voice. There stood a girl of his age with purple hair tied back in a ponytail, wearing the pink girls' uniform. It was Miho, one of his classmates.

"What is it?" he asked, leaning back in his seat to signale that he was listening. He was rather thankful for the distraction, it would grant his over-worked head a small break.

"I just wanted to ask if you... uhmm... did you do the homework Mrs. Kujaku gave us last week?" she asked giggling at herself in embarrassment. "I kind of forgot to do it."

"Ah, yes, wait a second", he replied and dove his hands into his bag on the floor to get the documents in question. Suddenly, the whole class went quiet and went from happy chit chatting to silent mumbling and muttering. Malik was so preoccupied with roaming through his bag that he had not noticed at all. Miho averted her eyes from her Egyptian classmate to look why everyone was acting so strange. Her gaze wandered to were everyone else was looking. In the door stood someone. Someone she knew, someone everyone in school knew. She gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth in surprise. The student with snow white hair and deep brown eyes stepped into the classroom. All students had recognized him by now as non other than Bakura Touzoku, one of the most famous and most popular guys of Domino High.

Miho blinked a few times and wondered what he would be doing in their classroom, this was a lower grade after all. But she did not complain. She, like most other female students as well, admired the mature Touzoku twin with a passion. Bakura looked around the room with a bored expression. He was most likely looking for someone, but who?

Finally someone asked what everyone was wondering. "Hey, Bakura, what're you doin' here?" the blond teen, Jounouichi, asked from a chair near the door.

"I'm looking for Ishtar. Thought he might be here." The moment he had finished his sentence Malik came up from under the desk with his homework in his hands.

"Here they are", he said and looked up at the purple haired girl who had not been paying him attention until then. Bakura smirked when he spotted the tan teen he had been looking for. He approached him but Malik did not notice because he had his back turned on the other one. "Uhm... Miho-san?" he asked uncertainly with his eyes narrowed when the girl had looked away ffrom him again to look somewhere behind him. What was her problem? She had wanted his homework, right?

Said girl glanced to him and then raised a finger to point at something, or someone, behind him. He turned around and was face to face with mahogany eyes, boring into his lavender ones. He almost jumped in surprise upon realizing who the person was. "Bakura?"

"No, Santa Claus", he replied sarcastically. "Of course, it's me, kiddo." Oh great, he was calling him 'kiddo' in front of everyone. Way to keep a fairly good reputation. He scowled at the older boy towering him.

"Just what do you want here?"

"Right me if I'm wrong but wasn't it you who had wanted to see me?"

"I don't remember saying something like that", Malik spat. The whole class was watching them, curious as to what two so different boys were up to. Seeing them speak to one another was highly unusual to everyone. Bakura was known as a trouble maker, thief and rebel, whereas Malik was a rather quiet student who only attracted attention because of his good and utterly exotic looks. Some knew that Malik's older brother was friends with the popular thief but those were also aware of the fact that Bakura and Malik had probably never talked to each other before.

"Whatever. I wanted you to meet me after school. You know where", Bakura said with a wink. Malik felt his face heat up in embarrassment but nodded in agreement nonetheless. Agreeing would make the other leave sooner, he told himself. Bakura smiled, satisfied, and left the room. It did not take long until people, mainly girls, were questioning the poor Egyptian about his relationship with the older teen. He hesitated the first time and mused for a brief moment whether he should call Bakura his friend or his partner but he quickly replied to each and every one who asked that they were only hanging out. And not even that was really true. Malik had foun yet another thing he needed to ponder - his relationship with Bakura.

As arranged, both teens met up after school at the same spot as the first time. Malik looked up expectantly, he did not like the fact that he was smaller and therefore had to look up but he shoved that thought aside despite himself. "Well?"

"First off, tell me how Mariku reacted to yesterday's incident", Bakura demanded with a grin. The younger boy responded with a similar expression.

"He was quite pissed when he came home and stayed like that for the rest of the day. He seemed okay again this morning, though", he explained and gave a shrug. "What about your brother?"

"He was depressed when he came back but that's good. That means we're one step closer to freedom." Oh, so he calls it freedom, Malik thought with an amused smirk. "But he told me that he'd be going out with some friends today. Guess they're trying to have another date or so."

"Who knows", he replied with another shrug of his tanned shoulders.

"So, here's the plan...", the white haired teen began and pulled a cell phone out of his pocket. "We'll get home and wait until both have left again. I'll pick you up, so you just text me as soon as Mariku is on his way to get Ryou." Malik merely nodded and pulled his cell phone out, too. They exchanged numbers and made their ways home. It was not long until Malik received a message from Bakura. He had been sitting on the couch doing practically nothing when his phone went off. He flipped it open and read over the message.

'Hey, kid-'

Malik's eye immeditaley twitched at the hated nickname but kept reading.

'-Ryou told me he was gonna watch one of those shitty new movies. Guess he's not lying. Thought you might need time to think of a plan. I know your genius brain can't keep up with mine-'

His eye twitched once more. Oh, how he'd think of something.

'-so c ya later. Don't forget to text me when your good-for-nothing brother leaves the house.'

He had to surpress the urge to laugh at the last line and instead flipped his cell phone closed again, saying "Yeah, yeah. Whatever..." to himself. Sure enough Mariku left the house about an hour later without telling a soul where he was headed. His sister sighed and sat down on the couch beside her youngest brother who was currently texting someone. Her unease was replaced by curiosity and she smiled at her brother. "Who are you writing to?"

Malik quickly sent the message his partner was waiting for and turned to look at his sister. "Just a... a classmate." His sister's crystal blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. His answer was not especially convincing. He had thought about saying 'a friend' but his sister knew just as well as he did that he did not refer to anyone as a friend. He looked away from her sensing Isis' suspicion. The older Ishtar, however, smiled once more.

"A classmate. I see..." To Malik's surprise she did not press any further and got off the couch to leave the room.

"Uhm... Isis?" She stopped and turned to meet her brother's eyes.

"Yes?"

"I'll be out, too... so don't wait with dinner for me." The black haired woman merely gave him a knowing smile.

"Alright." With that she went off to her own room. Malik was confused. Why had she been smiling at him like that? And since when was it alright for him to just go and not tell her where he was going, with who and why? He should be glad that she was giving him some privacy but it was strange. The phone in his hand vibrating, signaling another text message tore him out of his train of thought.

'Go and get dressed in something that doesn't attract attention, kid. You have about 10 mins.'

'Something that doesn't attract attention?' Malik repeated in his head and looked down at his school uniform. He should probably change then.

Bakura was waiting in front of the Ishtars' house in his black car. He was growing more and more impatient by the minute and looked at the clock in his vehicle for the umpteenth time, noting that Malik was 'bloody' late. He had been waiting for five minutes already and normally he would not even wait two minutes, except it was for his brother. He was thinking about leaving and doing things on his own account. He did not really need a partner after all, it would only be more convenient. Two heads are better than one, even Bakura admitted that.

Finally the front door opened and revealed the blond he had been waiting for. Bakura immediately noticed the change. He had never seen Malik in casual clothes before. He wore a black shirt and khaki pants with a navy jacket. He reminded him a lot of Mariku now since he usually wore similar clothes and colors. And they looked even more alike with all the jewelery they seemed incapable of abandoning. So much for 'don't attract attention', Bakura thought with a smirk. Briefly, he felt disappointed that the younger boy was covering his body from head to toe again. Beside his face, the only skin that was revealed were his neck and hands. Although the golden choker covered up most of his slender neck, too. The unfamiliar feeling of disappointment disappeared as soon as Malik got into the car, without hesitating this time.

"Was it so hard to find something 'normal' or why are you late?" Bakura enquired rudely. Malik simply gave him a look that told him to shut up and so they drove off. They were driving in silence to the movie theatre since neither of them had anything to talk about, or wanted to talk about. After a while Malik dared to steal a glance at the person in the driver's seat. He wore a blue shirt, a pair of jeans and a black trench coat despite the fairly warm fall weather. Malik had to admit that it suited him well. He had worn similar clothes when they first met, also a lot of blue. 'He must really like blue.'

"Like what you see, Ishtar?" Bakura mocked. The tan boy immediately averted his eyes.

"Huh? No! I just noticed that all you seem to wear is blue, that's all", he responded, a light shade of pink on his otherwise bronze cheeks. 'That's the second time he caught me staring. Dammit! He must think I'm like... like my brother!' Malik immdediately felt a sting of guilt for making being like his brother sound like an insult, because, he decided, it was anything but that.

"There's a possibility that blue might be my favorite color, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I know", Malik said dismissively. He really did not want to be teased by him again. He had had his share this morning already. He noticed that Bakura also took a glance at him and was about to say something to at least tease him back but he already spoke up.

"Why do you guys wear so much jewelery anyway?"

"Oh this?" Malik asked and automatically placed a hand on his golden choker. "Most of it was passed on to us by our ancestors. I wear most of it every day. I can't really explain why, it just doesn't feel right to me to leave everything at home in a box." He paused for a moment and began to fidget with one of his heavy ear rings. "My sister got a necklace from our mother but she never wears it. She says that she's afraid it might be stolen."

"And she's damn right about it", the whitette commented as they came to a halt in front of a red light. He took that chance to look at his partner who seemed a bit uncomfortable for some reason.

"Where are your parents?" he dared to ask and the other seemed ten times more tense than before. His back going stiff in an instant and eyes, although fixed on a spot ahead of them, unfocused. He had stopped fidgeting with his ear ring for a second but started again after the light turned yellow and Bakura had to look away from him to continue their ride. Malik bit his lip before he replied dryly.

"Dead."

It was silent for a moment. Bakura wondered about how he should respond to this. He would certainly not say 'I'm sorry' although he had felt a twinge of guilt when he heard the hurt tone in which the blond had said that one word. He knew something he could say, but should he? Before he could ponder that thought any longer his mouth had formed the answer already.

"Our... mom and sister died, too", he explained calmly. Maybe it would lighten the mood more than sappy comments and attempts at trying to cheer him up. "Our dad is usually on business trips. So it's only Ryou and me at home most of the time." He saw Malik watch him in the corner of his eye which encouraged him to continue. "I guess if it wasn't for Ryou I'd be dead by now, too", he joked with slight laughter. Malik smiled as well.

"And why is that?" he asked curiously.

"Will you believe me when I tell you I know how to cook?"

"Hmm...", the tan teen paused for a moment to put a finger to his chin in thought. "Judging from your appearance... nope. But I assume Ryou taught you?"

"Exactly." Bakura did not let it show in any way but he was relieved that his plan had worked, the tension almost completely forgotten.

"I don't really know how to cook. I help my sister with the cooking but I couldn't do it by myself... Oh look, we're here." They had reached the movie theatre and found their 'lovebirds' right away, standing in front of the large building. They were trying to buy the tickets, it seemed.

"Hey, Bakura." Said teen looked to his partner. "Do you even know what movie they're going to see?"

"No, but who cares? All we need to do is ask."

A blond eyebrow rose in question. "And you think the guy selling the tickets will just tell you that."

"Hey now, the 'guy' selling the tickets is a girl and I know her... somehow."

"Somehow?" Malik repeated doubtfully.

"I think you know her, too."

"How would you know?"

"Trust me, you do. Now get the fuck out of my car." Despite the rudeness of it all Malik obeyed. They went up to the person at the ticket stand after the vouple had vanished out of their sight and Malik realized that he, in fact, knew the girl after all.

"Miho-san?" he said in disbelief when he had gotten close enough to recognize her. The girl was surprised at first but then smiled happily at the young Egyptian.

"Malik-san! Come to see a movie?" In the next second she spotted the other Touzoku twin right next to her Egyptian classmate. "Huh? Bakura-kun is here, too?"

'Bakura-kun?' Malik repeated inwardly and gave his partner an incredulous look. 'What the hell?"

"Your brother is here, too!" The girl stated cheerfully, clapping her hands together in a girly fashion.

"Yeah, I know. We wanted to go see the same movie", Bakura explained calmly.

"Uhm..." Miho seemed a bit confused for a moment. We? As in him and Malik? She looked from Bakura to Malik and back to the older teen again. First he comes to visit Malik in his classroom, telling him to meet him after school and now they go watch a movie together? She remembered Malik telling mostly everyone who asked him about him and Bakura that they were only hanging out, but she started doubting that it was true. So, blunt as she was, she simply asked. "Are you two dating?"

Malik seemed to freeze on the spot, unable to say anything to that. 'What the fu-!'

"Actually not...", Bakura replied. 'Ra, thanks, Bakura', Malik thought but then the older teen grinned smugly at him and turned back to the girl. "...but that wouldn't be a bad idea."

Miho gasped and put a hand to her mouth but then let out a girly giggle. "B-Bakura? What the hell?" a flustered Malik exclaimed. That he felt uncomfortable about this whole situation was an understatement. Bakura was supposed to ruin his brother's date and not Malik's life! Not only was what he said embarrassing but also scandalous, for the young Ishtar knew that anything Miho was told would go straight to her friends and then spread through the whole school! Malik felt panic rise from the pit of his stomach, making him feel sick.

"Well, can you give us the tickets for whatever shitty movie my brother's watching?"

"Sure." With that they got their tickets and, thankfully, left Miho for their movie. They found out that Ryou had picked a film named 'Twilight'. They both remembered girls swooning over that movie and braced themselves for a stupid romance movie. They sat down in their seats in the last row which was what Bakura had requested. Malik could only guess why but he was sure the older teen would tell him about his plan this time. The movie started and Malik found himself already uninterested when he saw that the main character was a girl. 'Great... so it is some sappy movie after all...' Bakura chuckled lowly as he heard the other sigh in annoyance.

"Patience, kid. Let them enjoy their crap for a little longer", he said and, to the blond's discomfort, put an arm on the Egyptian's seat's backrest, pale fingers touching his shoulder lightly.

"So what's the plan anyway?" he asked in hope to cover his nervousness. Why did the proximity make him nervous anyway?

"Look", the albino began and leaned in closer to his partner to whisper in his ear which made Malik's face feel incredibly hot in an instant. "As soon as everyone is busy watching we'll go up there and sabotage the movie."

"A-and how are you going to do this?" Malik could have slapped himself for stuttering like that but Bakura did not even mention it. He either had not noticed or did not care.

"Very simple", he said with a smirk. "Everything needs electricity nowadays." Understanding, Malik simply nodded, not daring to look the older boy in the eye when they were so close. Bakura did not back off however and that made Malik worry a bit. 'Pull yourself together, Malik! He is not trying to make a move on you! He's a guy and you're one and he's currently trying to seperate his brother from your brother. Now stop doing as if... as if...'

"What are you thinking about?" Bakura suddenly asked, tearing the young Egyptian out of his thoughts. Said boy jumped slightly at the sudden question and finally locked eyes with his partner. They stayed like that for a moment until Malik regained his ability to speak.

"W-why do you ask?" Again, he wanted to slap himself.

"You're blushing. And I can see it although the room is dark and your skin tan", Bakura stated with a smirk. "Would you mind telling me what you're thinking about that makes you react like this?"

"Wha- Yes, I do mind!", he quickly said. "I'm not telling you about every thought that's on my mind!" After that the two of them gained some 'Shh!'s by other people who were trying to watch the movie unlike them. Malik instinctively put a hand over his own mouth, hoping that his brother had not heard and recognised his voice. He heard a chuckle from beside him and shot the boy a glare.

"It'd be safer if you didn't have one outburst after another."

"It would also be safer if you didn't mock me all the time!" the blond hissed.

Another low chuckled erupted from the whitette's throat. "Alright. For now, at least. Let's get to work then. I need you to back me up." With that he stood up and got to the top of the room were a seperate room for the technology was. Malik shook his head as if to clear it and went after his partner. Of course the room was locked and Malik wondered how Bakura was going to get inside. The teen simply smirked and pulled an awkwardly bent card out of his pocket. Malik raised an eyebrow at him.

"You want to unlock the door with some broken card..."

"Shut up and watch the Thief King at work", Bakura demanded, still grinning and put the crooked card into the slit of the door right next to where the lock was located and with only a few twists a quick clicking noise could be heard. Bakura successfully opened the door and held it open for his partner with a victorious grin on his pale lips. "Well?"

Malik merely rolled his eyes and motioned for him to hurry up and get it over with. Bakura gladly obeyed and stepped inside, ordering Malik over his shoulder to tell him when someone was either coming or anything suspicious happened. While his partner was busy messing up the technology, Malik stood beside the door and watched their surroundings. His mind found this to be an ideal chance to go into ponder-mode again and forced Malik to think back to what Bakura had said earlier. He knew that the boy had only meant to tease him but, yet he could not help but think about it again. Looking closer into it, he had to admit, it would feel nice to actually have someone who would take you out on a date like Mariku had probably done with Ryou. Thinking of them being happily together made the young Egyptian... envious. Suddenly he caught sight of an employee that was approaching them. He was immediately alarmed by that fact and turned to his partner to warn him.

"Bakura!" Malik said in a hushed voice, the employee had not noticed them yet.

"What is it? I'm almost done", he replied impatiently as his finger wandered over several switches and buttons.

"Someone's coming!" he said in an urgent tone. He saw Bakura pull two cables and handle some switches and in the next moment the whole room went pitch black including the seperate room Bakura was still in. The only light was coming from the signs for the emergency exits. Confused mumbles filled the room and Bakura took that chance to grab Malik by the arm, he was lucky he even found it, and yanked him towards their seats. His original plan to pretend they had been watching the movie when the lights went out. They passed a furious employee on their way down. Unfortunately, Malik brushed said employee's arm who whirled around into their general direction and yelled "Hey, you!" That was their signal to take off and run for it. They almost fell down the stairs as they ran towards the exit now instead of their seats.

"Wh-what's happening?" asked a confused and slightly afraid Ryou in the dark. He felt a hand on his own and knew that it was his boyfriend beside him.

"I don't know who the fuck's responsible for this but it's pissing me off", Mariku growled. Now he had let Ryou convince him to watch a movie that he could not even think about without feeling nauseous and now something was wrong with the technology? He felt anger boil up inside of him. First it was that incompetent waitress who had screwed and made Mariku yell at Ryou although he was not to blame. And now their attempt at making up was being destroyed. He inhaled deeply, trying to calm down. He would not become angry again. Not in front of Ryou at least. Or so he hoped.

In the meantime the employee had given up on chasing after the culprits and had found his way to the back room. When he could not figure out which cable was necessary and which not he told the guests they were having some technical problems and that it would take a moment for them to take care of it.

"Fucking-", the older Ishtar snarled and was about to stand up but a hand held him down.

"Mariku, let's just wait here", his lover pleaded. "I'm sure they'll fix it right away." Mariku hesitated a moment but then let out an annoyed sigh and sat back down, deciding he would do what he despised - wait. Eventually they took too long for Mariku's taste and he stomped out despite Ryou's pleas to stay.

As soon as his lover had left, his outstretched hand fell limply into his lap, his eyes lowering, his head hanging. He felt even worse than the last time they had fought. Something was going entirely wrong. They had not fought in ages and now it was becoming quite frequent. A wet feeling on the back of his hand brought him back to reality. He had not noticed that he had started crying. He clenched his eyes shut tightly, freeing a few more hot tears. 'I must be doing something wrong... why else would he be so angry?' A sinking feeling made itself present in the whitette's chest. He pulled his legs up to hug his knees and bury his face in them. He had always cried liked that when he had been a little boy. He should not act so pathetic anymore now that he was already so much more mature but he could not help it at the moment. He felt so helpless, the warmth from his hand were the his lover's had been completely disappeared. 'I wish I knew what to do...'

Meanwhile, the two partners had made it out of the darkness and were back in the foyer where both immediately burst out laughing heartily. "Fuck, di-did you see that?" Bakura said between fits of laughter.

"N-no, I didn't see anything! Bu-but I'm sure their faces were like...", Malik stopped laughing like a madman for a second to make a shocked expression to show his partner what he thought the others' faces were like now. "And did you hear that idiot yelling after us?" he asked, still laughing. Bakura merely nodded and put and arm around his partner's shoulder which Malik did not really mind.

"Oh, boy, it would be only half as much fun without a partner", Bakura commented, still laughing heartily. At first Malik was shocked and surprised by those words but found himself smiling widely in the next moment.

"I know...", he said softly. Bakura released him after a moment.

"Come on, we should go before your brother finds us and that's something I wanna avoid, really."

"Yeah", the blond boy agreed with a nod of his head and followed his partner out of the movie theatre. Outside, Malik stopped in front of Bakura's car while the other teen was already about to enter the vehicle. He raised a snowy white eye brow at him.

"Are you getting in or what?" he asked impatiently when he saw the other make no move.

"Huh? You mean you're driving me home?" the blond asked in disbelief.

"Why?" Bakura question, smiling. "What's so strange about driving your friend home?" A warm breeze blew by the moment he said that and Malik found himself once more unable to reply. His lavender eyes blinked once, twice. 'Did... did he just call me his... friend?' He stared at the older teen's still smiling face. Looking at that unexpectedly warm expression and after hearing those words Malik could not help but return the friendly gesture. He smiled, too.

Bakura saw the younger teen smile, a true, happy smile. The evening sun was setting right behind the blond, highlighting his features in a soft orange shade. It made him appear to be glowing together with his glittering jewelery. His lavender eyes looked serene as the passing breeze made his platinum golden hair float with it. The sight was simply breath taking, the smile enchanting. However, Bakura realized that he had been staring which made him very uneasy to say the least. He coughed awkwardly. "What? You're finally getting in now or what?" Malik still could not quit grinning but got into the car nevertheless, seemingly oblivious to how Bakura had been eying him. They spent their ride to Malik's home in silence but it was not an awkward silence, it was actually very pleasent. For their goodbyes they both chose 'See you tomorrow' and with that Bakura left.

Malik returned in such a good mood that it was impossible for Isis and Rishid not to notice. Their little brother headed straight into his room and the two siblings shared confused looks.

"What do you think, Rishid?" Isis was first to speak.

"I don't really know", the oldest of the family replied. The tan woman then began to grin slyly.

"Do you think it's something or... someone?"

"Isis...", Rishid said with slight laughter and shook his head. "As long as he's happy." She nodded in agreement.

"You're right."

"I'm home", came a timid voice from the front door. Bakura immediately sat up on the couch he had previously been lying on.

"Hey, Ryou", he greeted as his twin entered the room and noted with satisfaction that he did not seem all too happy. And in the same moment the fact that his brother had to suffer like this upset him. "How was the movie?"

His twin stripped himself off his light blue jacket and sat down beside his brother. "Oh... well...", he began. 'Jackpot', Bakura thought and celebrated his victory inside his head.

"There were some... technical problems and... we left somehow, so..."

"Ah, whatever. Wanna have dinner?" Bakura swept onto his feet, changing the subject suspiciously quickly, and went for the kitchen. Ryou was sad because of what had happened but he was not oblivious to the fact that something was not normal about the way his twin brother was acting. On his way to the kitchen he noticed the satisfied expression on his brother's face.

"Are you... in a good mood?" he asked carefully. If he really was in a good mood then he had no intentions of changing that of course.

"No, why do you ask?" 'Actually yes, but is it that obvious?' Despite asking he left the room for the kitchen. He was hungry after all and it was not too late for dinner yet. A few moments later Ryou joined him in the kitchen and started preparations. "You just... seem to be in a good mood, that's all... Is there a reason?"

Bakura paused for a second before shaking his head. "No."

Ryou wanted to ask 'Really?' but decided he would not get anything out of his twin brother. "Okay." It made him feel better somehow, knowing that his brother was happy, or whatever he was.

After dinner, later that evening, Bakura sat down on the edge of his bed and stared out of the window, deep in thought. "What's so strange about driving your friend home?" Mahogany eyes narrowed as his mind replayed his words. He let himself fall back on his soft bed, his arms stretched out on the sheets.

Friend. 'Why the hell did I say that? I never called Mariku a friend either and I've known him for... ah, I'm pretty sure it's been a long time-' Years, actually. '-so why did I feel the need to say it? I hardly know that kid. Heh, bet he'd freak out over the 'kid'-part again. But no, really, I have no idea why I called him my friend. We are just partners as long as Ryou's still dating that freak and after that... somehow I don't feel like just going into different directions after that... He can be pretty much fun if he just looses up a bit. But teasing him when he's uptight is also fun.' He grinned to himself in the darkness of the room that was illuminated by the bright moon only. Yes, he had to admit, he enjoyed being around the youngest Ishtar. And he decided that the fun should not end just yet.

Random swear words reached the blond's ears from downstairs where his brother seemed to explode from anger. He lay on his back on his bed, a soft smile tugging at his lips. He let his lavender eyes drop closed and replayed Bakura's words in his mind for the umpteenth time that evening. He simply could not forget them.

'If you really are my friend... then you'd be the first.'

Malik sat up again and turned his head to the side to look at the framed picture on his nightstand. A picture of the four siblings, taken when they had just moved to Japan. His sister and oldest brother were smiling for the camera while Mariku did not even try. He looked impassive, a lot like his brother next to him. Malik had a hollow, empty expression on his face. He did not really like the picture because of that but it was the only picture in which all four of them were together. He remembered all too clearly why he had that look, though. They had moved to Japan right after their father... had died. Malik hardly ever talked to anyone. In the beginning he did not understand Japanese anyway, which made things all the more difficult for the whole family. But even after he had mastered the language, he still did not talk to others. He never played with anyone except for Mariku when he was around which is why he never made any friends. He knew, he had always known it but he did not want to befriend anybody.

Malik smiled, eyes still fixed on the expressionless child in the photograph. 'But it seems... as though this is about to change...'

I learned that trick with the card from my brother but it doesn't work with all doors~ Like I said, the dates are getting better from time to time. I hope I didn't disappoint you there~

See you in Chapter 4! *wave*