Akia's eyes fluttered open and she found herself looking at an unfamiliar room. As her hazy mind began waking up, she remembered where she was and what had happened. Her lack of clothes and Marik's strong arms embracing her from behind were pretty obvious clues as well.
She smiled to herself, feeling a comforting wave of happiness wash over her. This was it, wasn't it? Marik was really hers, he was really there, they were really together. She felt his body shift a little and a warm pair of lips landed gently on her forehead, giving her a loving kiss.
"Good morning, princess," Marik whispered in a husky morning voice.
"Good morning, my king," Akia replied with a slightly groggy tone, still feeling pretty sleepy.
"Don't tempt me like that," Marik chuckled, "we need to get up and get ready for school."
"Oh yeah, school… What time is it?"
"Still early, so let's take a shower together."
The young man got out of bed and carried Akia bridal style in his arms, causing her to squeal and giggle.
"Taking a shower together? You think we'll actually make it on time if we do that?" Akia said in a seductive voice and smirked.
"Not if you keep tempting me like this," Marik replied with an equally seductive tone.
Their shower took a lot longer than they had anticipated, so they rushed to school afterwards, making it barely on time. When they arrived in class, hand in hand, their friends and some close classmates immediately started teasing them about it.
"The class couple is coming in, everybody!" One of the guys said, prompting others to whistle, laugh, or clap, partaking in some good-natured teasing.
"Shuddup, you weirdos," Akia retorted with a laugh.
They made their way to their group of friends and greeted everyone.
"You're lucky I got your back, Akia, mom and grandpa were wondering where you were last night," Yugi flicked his sister's forehead.
"Ow, yeah I deserve that… Thank you, Yugi," the girl replied while rubbing her forehead.
"So you did spend the night together, you horndogs," Jounouchi smirked.
"Jounouchi, cut it out with your lewd comments!" Anzu reprimanded the young man.
"Oh come on, Anzu, we all know what they were up to," Honda came to his friend's defence.
"You should spend the night at my place next time, Akia-chan," Bakura joked with his usual sweet smile.
"As if I'd let that happen," Marik pulled Akia behind him.
"I don't believe I was talking to you," Bakura flatly replied.
"Why you…!"
"Alright you two, it's too early for this," Akia interrupted them. "Thanks for the offer, Ryou, but I think I'm good. I'll stick to going to my boyfriend's place."
"I guess I can't say that I didn't try," Bakura shrugged.
The bell rang, prompting them to go to their seats and putting an end to their friendly banter. Akia, uncharacteristically, tried paying more attention in class, since she wanted to be able to help Marik if he ever needed it.
At the end of the day, Akia asked her boyfriend if he wanted to come home with her this time.
"I would love it, but I still need to unpack and get my things in order," he answered, apologetically.
"Yeah, I guess you're right… I don't know how I'll survive not seeing you until tomorrow, but I understand…" Akia sighed.
"If I could, I'd want to spend every second of every day with you," Marik held his girlfriend by the waist and held her close, both of them looking longingly into each others' eyes.
"Geez, guys, you make it feel as if you won't be seeing each other for months! Chill out," Jounouchi teased.
"Shut it, Jounouchi!" Akia yelled out.
Everyone started walking home together, until they had to go their separate ways. Now walking alone with Akia, Yugi noticed her energy drop.
"You really feel down from not being able to spend the rest of the day with Marik, don't you?"
"Yeah… I don't know… It's more than missing him. It's like needing oxygen to breathe. I need him with me to feel fully happy. I wonder what kind of past we shared for our feelings to be so intense."
"It is definitely the most intense relationship I've seen. Never thought you'd be the clingy type," Yugi teased his sister.
"I'm not clingy! Or am I…? No! I just… Ugh, forget it!" Akia rolled her eyes.
Throughout the next few days, Marik and Akia hung out some nights when he didn't have things to take care of, and they would always miss each other terribly whenever they couldn't spend the evening together.
One particular evening, Akia was tending to her grandfather's shop, mostly keeping an eye on everything until the latter came back from unpacking new merchandise in the back-store, when she heard a loud engine sound getting closer outside. She didn't initially pay it much attention until the sound stopped right in front of the shop.
"A customer at this hour?" She asked herself, a little surprised, since it was pretty rare for that to happen after eight.
A few seconds later, a very familiar face opened the shop door, causing Akia to squeal. "Marik!" She ran to him, jumping in his arms that opened just in time to catch her.
He gave her a peck on the lips and smiled. "Did you miss me?"
"So much! What are you doing here?"
"Well, since I finally got my license to ride my motorcycle here, I wanted to take you on a late night drive."
"I'd love that! Wait let me tell grandpa first."
"No need to tell me, I heard everything," a voice behind the couple said as Sugoroku got out of the back-store.
When they heard his voice, they quickly let go of each other and turned towards the old man.
"So, Marik. I trust you'll be taking good care of my granddaughter?"
"Yessir. She's more important to me than my life."
"I guess I don't have much of a choice but to trust you'll do as you say. Have fun you two."
"Thanks, grandpa!" Akia went and gave her grandfather a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you, sir," Marik gave a respectful bow before he took Akia's hand and led her out.
"Ah, to be young again," Sugoroku mumbled to himself with a smile.
Akia put on the helmet that Marik handed her and she got on the motorcycle behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist.
They rode into the night, whipping through the pleasant cool air. The thrill of the ride was filling both of them with dopamine and adrenaline, making everything feel that much more enjoyable. Akia didn't know if it was just her, but she felt as though the stars above, that night, were shining brighter than ever.
I'm so sorry it took me so long to update! A lot has happened in my life, between changing jobs and getting pregnant haha. My husband and I have been over the moon with the news, but with pregnancies comes a lot of doctor appointments and lots of nausea, so less time to do anything else. Thank you so much everyone for being so patient. Next chapter we will start the trip to the past! I'll try to update soon, but no promises...