This chapter means that we survived. They were wrong.

~12/22/12~

o/`So I'll spend my Christmas with you

As usual, Marik and Bakura were out and about. And as usual, it was snowy. And snowing. But today it was not that bad.

For Marik, this was typical. Every year, the day before his birthday, there was a small birthday cupcake from Ishizu waiting at the pastry shop for him. He was out getting it now.

Meanwhile, Bakura was in the exact same place on an errand for Ryou. An errand that he didn't plan to complete and probably wouldn't have done anyway.

Then he heard someone talking to someone else at the counter. Why did that matter? The name.

"Hello again, Marik Ishtar. I have it right here."

Marik?! I knew it! Why do we keep bumping into each other?

Bakura navigated through the small store until he caught sight of. Marik, then hid behind a shelf and watched.

"As usual, your sister paid for everything."

Marik smiled at the small red box the man behind the counter handed to him.

"Thank you as always, Mr. Jacobus."

"Happy Birthday for tomorrow, Marik."

"Thanks. Have a nice Christmas!"

"You too."

Bakura watched Marik walk away with a smile on his face. Bakura followed, forgetting all about why he had gone there in the first place. He watched Marik exit the shop, and watched his smile fade as he walked through the door with the small box.

Marik Ishtar, huh? Why does his last name seem familiar?

Bakura shrugged and followed him home. And his birthday is tomorrow...

At some point, Marik looked over his shoulder. Bakura hid just in time. But when he did, snow fell on him.

Marik thought he felt someone following him. And if his ears weren't mistaking him, whoever it was just had a bunch of snow fall on him.

"Damn it!" the person said in a harsh whisper.

Marik shook his head and kept walking.

Bakura shook off the snow and looked around. Marik was gone. Wait... How did that happen?! It had never happened before! Ever! He must have been distracted by more than the snow.

He could still follow Marik's footprints, which he hadn't lost sight of. Or he could head home and call it a day. He kept walking. Without knowing, he did both. He managed to follow the footprints home. And for some reason he arrived at his own building. Which was odd. Was Marik visiting someone here? It didn't really matter. It's not like he could just knock on random people's doors and ask if Marik Ishtar was visiting them.

Bakura stepped inside, thought of something, and froze. Marik... He looked at the listings of all those who lived in this building. And there it was.

Ishtar.

The name was on the sixth row of names, meaning he was on the seventh floor, and directly above his own and Ryou's names. What are the odds of that?

They had bumped into each other three times- four if you counted today- in three (or four) days in a row. And they lived in the same building. And they lived directly above and below each other!

Again, Bakura didn't believe in Fate or Destiny. He believed that people were in control of their own fates and that only the past had any impact on the future. But now... he was having doubts. This could not simply be a coincidence. It obviously meant something. He and Marik were probably meant to be. Probably.

Wait... If Marik lived here, the surely he would have noticed that the name 'Bakura' was listed here. And twice, no less! But it didn't matter. For now.

What did matter was Bakura's next move.