First fanfic ever o.O hope you’ll like it!

Summary:

After the Ishtars had fulfilled their duties as tomb keepers, they moved back to Japan to rebuild their lives.
While Malik was trying to get his life back on track after everything that had happened, he suddenly ran into a certain somebody whom he knew all too well…

My view of what could (should) happen after the Memory Arc, if Yami and Bakura didn’t die and got a new chance.

Pairing: Bakura x Malik (thiefshipping / citronshipping)

Disclaimer: As long as I don’t look like some rich Japanese guy with an obsession for a children’s card game, I do not own Yuugiou. Checks mirror Hmm...nope.

Btw since I’m Dutch, my story might possibly contain some spelling or grammatical errors. If you see one, please note me! I’m kind of a spelling freak xD

And if you like this pairing, check out my Deviantart profile! xD Same username as on FF: Utsukushii-sama (advertising…advertising… ’)

As Malik walked down the stairs and started heading towards the kitchen to fix him some breakfast, he noticed Isis and Rishid had already left. His sister still worked at the museum, and Rishid had recently gotten a job at some restaurant nearby. Without an education, it was pretty hard for him to find a decent job, but Rishid was ambitious and a hard worker; it was only a matter of time before he got promoted.

Malik got himself some cereals and started eating them.

Moving back from Egypt to Japan had been a little weird at first. After they had finished their duty as tomb keepers, the Ishtars went back to Domino city to rebuild their lives. Isis still had her job at the museum after all, so it hadn’t been a coincidence when she had announced to her brothers that they would move back to Japan.

Though Isis and Rishid hadn’t had any trouble with settling in, Malik still had to get used to the idea of going to the same school as his former rivals. Of course, Yugi had immediately started acting friendly towards him as soon as he found out he was back in Japan, since the little runt was so naïve as to befriend anyone he met, whether that was a nice person or a psychotic murderer. But neither Malik, nor Yugi’s friends really, had been fond of this behavior towards him, and so Malik had told him to go fuck himself and leave him alone. Yugi may have helped him during Battle City when he was losing it, but that didn’t make them friends or anything. Malik had already paid off his debt to the pharaoh, and now he didn’t want to be bothered anymore with anything that had to do with said pharaoh.

After eating his cereals, Malik went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and comb his hair. When he had also finished putting in his earrings, Malik was pondering whether he should or should not put on some kohl. While most people at school were actually a little afraid of him, given that he wasn’t really a social person, there was a group of jerks who thought of him otherwise. He didn’t want those assholes at school to start yelling things again like ‘nice make-up!’ and ‘Malik’s such a pretty girl!’. But then again, he hated the fact that he was thinking about changing the way he looked, just because a couple of fuckheads he didn’t care about didn’t like him! So, being the stubborn guy that he was, he started drawing a black line above his eye with his kohl pencil.

--- --- ---

Crap! It was getting really late! Normally he would walk to school, but he was way too late to make it in time if he would go by foot. Malik decided to take out his motorbike and race to school.

As he was riding to school, suddenly his bike started making some weird noises. Malik decided it was probably nothing and ignored them. When the noises didn’t stop, he was beginning to get worried, so he stopped and got off his bike. He checked the motorbike but nothing really seemed off.

Suddenly, an enormous feeling of being watched overwhelmed him, and he started looking around a little paranoid to see if someone was indeed keeping an eye on him. There! In the shadow stood a figure, and though Malik couldn’t clearly make out his face, he could see he was looking this way.

He had very light hair, that he could see, and he sensed something…strangely familiar about him. Like his aura or something. Malik started pondering who this could be, since he didn’t really know that many people around here. When he couldn’t think of whom he might be, he realized that even if he did find out, it wouldn’t matter anyway, so he shrugged it off and went on with inspecting his motorcycle.

Some time later he still hadn’t figured out the problem with his bike yet. The thing had been broken before, and he had always been able to fix it, so why couldn’t he make out the problem this time? The problem with his bike had caused Malik to completely forget about school. Carefully, he glanced over his shoulder, and was a little shocked to find out the person was still glaring at him. Who the hell was this guy to have the nerve to keep an eye on him like this?

He stood up and tried to look as intimidating as possible as he walked towards the figure, who was still covering himself within the shadows. As he came closer and closer to the man, he suddenly realized who it was. And why he had sensed something odd, yet familiar, about him.

“…Bakura? Is that really you?”

This was definitely not the Bakura he seemed to remember. The Bakura he partnered with during Battle City was nowhere as muscular as this guy, nor was he this tall. His hair was shorter and wilder (if that was even possible), and he had a scar beneath his right eye he had never seen before. Despite this, he did have the same characteristic dark, nearly black eyes and the contrasting white hair color. But most important of all, he still had the same smug look on his face, and as soon as he started talking, while arrogantly referring to himself as “ore-sama”, Malik knew for sure he was still the one and only Bakura.

“Quite staring at me like I’m some alien, you shitface.” Came Bakura’s response to the rather shocked expression on Malik’s face.

“Well, it’s just…you look different.”

“Oh! So that’s why you were staring, you were checking me out! Think I look hot, huh?”

“Wh-what?! I didn’t think that! Why the fuck would anyone think that, you arrogant ass!” Malik immediately spat out, feeling a slight blush covering his cheeks.

“Kidding, kidding! Jeez, don’t you have a sense of humor?”

“Tck. It’s you who doesn’t have any humor. Besides, you are the one who was checking out me.”

“Ah, so you’re still the same stuck-up, short-tempered control freak I used to know.”

“And you’re still the same arrogant, sly piece of shit that you’ve always been.”

“Obviously.”

It remained quite for a while. Malik was dying to know how the hell it was possible that the white-haired boy was here, and why he looked different from before? But if he wanted to find out, he’d better try a more subtle way of asking, since he didn’t want to get another witty comment like before.

“So, I figured that, since after the whole ordeal with the pharaoh regaining his memory he had died, you must have died as well. But here you are.”

Okay…that was slightly less subtle than he had intended to make it sound. Then again, Bakura was such a blunt person himself, perhaps it was better to just tell it straight to his face anyway.

“Yeah, I did die. Kind of. But as soon as the pharaoh had stepped through that door to get to the afterlife, or wherever the hell he thought he was going, some odd shit happened and then the gods gave us another chance, or something like that.”

“Right. I didn’t understand shit of what you just said. Have you ever considered becoming a teacher or something like that? Because I hope you haven’t, since you suck at explaining stuff.”

Bakura laughed a quick smirk.

“Yeah, well, I don’t fully understand it myself, so I don’t think I can make it more clear than that. Because the pharaoh had sacrificed his life so many times and spent all those years inside that puzzle, the gods thought he should get another chance at life, or something sappy like that. Why the hell I also got a new chance, I don’t know.”

“And why do you look different from before?”

“Because after I got sealed inside the Millennium Ring, I didn’t have a body of my own anymore. That is why I started to take over other people’s bodies, like I did with Ryou. But now I’m back in my original body. Or, well, not entirely. I used to have a darker skin color, like you, but now I’m back to this shitty albino color! Guess the gods still don’t like me, huh? Or perhaps they wanted me to look more like a Japanese citizen?” Bakura said with sarcasm.

“If they wanted to change the way I looked, they could have at least removed the stupid scar as well!”

“Really? I think the scar looks pretty cool.”

Immediately after Malik realized what he had just said, he felt his cheeks redden.

“Err…I mean…I don’t –” Malik stammered, but he silenced when it struck him that he was just making things worse this way. Bakura just stood there, with that smirk of his still stuck on his face.

“So eh…where exactly do you live?” Malik said, trying to change the subject.

“Here.”

“…what do you mean, here?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“Well you do have at least a place to stay, right?”

“Yes, after the gods blessed me with a new life, they also gave me a beautiful villa with a big backyard and cute, little curtains on the windows!”

“Couldn’t you have just said no?”

“No.”

Malik rolled his eyes. “Guess the gods didn’t take your sarcasm away as well.”

“Yeah, well, it doesn’t matter. They also didn’t take my thieving talents away, so I’m managing just fine in my dark, filthy alley.”

“You know, I might know a place for you to stay. During Battle City, I had this empty building in my possession.”

“Is that the one you used to lock the friendship girl and Kaiba’s little brother in?”

“Yeah, that’s the one. I could look at home for the key and –” Suddenly, Malik’s eyes went big in shock as he stared at his watch.

“Oh crap! I’m late for class! I have to go now.”

“You go to school these days?”

“Yeah…I’m sort of trying to get back on track.”

“Heh. Well, good luck with that.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Oh come on, Malik! Do you honestly believe that after all the crap that you’ve been through you can actually live like a normal person?”

“Actually, yeah, I do.”

“Heh, don’t make me laugh. People can’t change. Society will always spit on people like us.”

“People like us?”

“Outcasts.”

Malik stayed quiet for a while, not sure how to respond to that. Because somewhere deep inside of him, he knew it was true. He didn’t want to believe it, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to, but either way: Bakura was right. He could probably never really fit into society, no matter how hard he tried. But he was going to try anyway. Because he was stupid like that.

“Well…I really have to go now. I can come by again after school…you’ll be staying here?”

“Do I have anywhere else to go?”

“I’ll take that as a yes. See you later then.”

“Sure.”

Hastily, Malik got back on his motorbike and started racing to school.