Bakura to himself, for the umpteenth time: "Oh, for fuck's sake."

-.-.-.-

Bakura Regrets Everything

(Every Single Thing)

-.-.-.-

The building is on fire, and for once, Bakura is not even partially responsible. "Oh, for fuck's sake."

Had he been responsible, then he would have stood there, basking in the heat and glow of the roaring flames.

Had said flames been consuming his enemies or something precious to them, then he would have laughed; he would have laughed, cackling like a madman in complete disregard of any onlookers. He would certainly not have cursed, and he would certainly not have rushed right into the inferno, because that is what idiots did and Bakura is not an idiot.

That is how it was supposed to be, at any rate.

However, it unfortunately seems as though idiocy is actually contagious.

In hindsight, subjecting himself to prolonged exposure had not been such a bright idea. It had been exceptionally stupid as a matter of fact.

"Why must I keep bothering with these fucking morons?"

That is a rather excellent question actually.

-.-.-.-

Bakura is rather annoyed to learn that some Shadi guy holds two of the Millennium Items, the Millennium Ankh and the Millennium Scale.

This is annoying because 1) Bakura has no idea where to find him and because 2) Bakura is fairly certain that he has already killed the guy once. And for all that he himself is a disembodied spirit, Bakura is clueless as to how he ought to deal with the issue at hand.

For one thing, Shadi probably knows the truth about Bakura and can as such reveal it to the Pharaoh, which would obviously ruin things. However, the guy apparently speaks in riddles, so the Pharaoh and his friends are no closer to figuring out Bakura's identity.

In hindsight, it also appears that Shadi and his easily misinterpreted vagueness can have their uses.

After the end of the Duellist Kingdom, that Kaiba guy sets up his own tournament in Domino City. He is now in possession of a God card, the Giant God Soldier of Obelisk.

Soon, the Pharaoh turns up with another, the Celestial Dragon of Osiris.

Before long, the last of the three turns up. Bakura manages to track him down using his Millennium Ring, seeing that the third person holds not just the Winged God Dragon of Ra but also the Millennium Rod.

Marik Ishtar is a revenge-obsessed idiot, but a potentially useful one at that, given that he has an army of brainwashed cult members at his beck and call. He also has a burning hatred of the Pharaoh, courtesy of him misinterpreting Shadi's ill-timed message of the Pharaoh's imminent return. Really, Bakura has to refrain from laughing out loud.

Unfortunately, Marik Ishtar is all for killing the Pharaoh, and Bakura cannot quite have that, because the Pharaoh must live long enough to participate in the final game. After that though, Bakura has every intention of killing the guy himself. As such, Bakura is forced to sabotage Marik's plan, if only to a miniscule amount.

He and Ryou make it to the finals, alongside the Pharaoh, Marik, Kaiba and a few others. Among them is Marik's sister, Ishizu Ishtar, who holds the Millennium Tauk. Fortunately, she is defeated and turns her item over to the Pharaoh, which is great, because she is not nearly as blind as her brother. Heck, even when Shadi turns up again to warn the Pharaoh of the thief, they believe that Shadi is talking about Marik rather than him. Again, Bakura has to refrain from cackling, because it is simply priceless. Cackling would hardly have been appropriate after all, given that he has just woken up from a "coma" after taking a direct hit from an Egyptian God.

Of course, his streak of luck can only last for so long.

Once Marik is defeated and regains some sanity and clarity, he is not late to confront Bakura on the issue.

Unfortunately, he is also smart enough to do it in the presence of a quite sizeable audience.

Bakura cackles. Then he retrieves the Millennium Eye from his pocket and holds it up for all to see. "It's about time," he cackles, because the looks on their faces is simply gold and he had been about to crack a rib in his efforts to hold back the laughter.

Then he leaves Ryou to deal with the mess, which isn't very nice of him. Then again, Bakura and nice don't get along in the present and have never really gotten along in the past, unlike Ryou, who is proving to be far too nice for his own good.

-.-.-.-

Roughly a week after the Battle City Finals finds Bakura on a rooftop, enjoying his solitude up until the point when it is rudely interrupted.

"Bakura."

The Prat. "Yugi? Is something the matter?"

"Thief King, I know it's you; drop the act."

Bakura doesn't like taking orders from the Pharaoh. He drops the act, yes, albeit not in compliance with any orders but simply because keeping it up is taking entirely too much energy. "Yes, it's me. What about it?"

The Pharaoh regards him, but there is another emotion in addition to the obvious disdain. "Why?"

Bakura's attention flickers to him briefly and then back towards the skyline. His fingers reach out to grasp the net fence that surrounds the school roof, presumably to discourage any impulsive students from leaping off when they fail to deal with their pathetic lives. Fence or not however, it would still have been so easy for Bakura to push that troublesome Pharaoh off the roof, and the mere thought of it has Bakura's fingers tightening their grip.

"Why what, Pharaoh?" the Thief King asks at last. "It's lunch break. In the current day and age, even the worst of convicted criminals are entitled to an hour's worth of fresh air and exercise, you know? Not quite like the olden days, don't you agree?"

In the olden days, there had been execution and if not, then at least mutilation. Granted, this practice still exists in certain places, but never mind. Besides, as far as the death penalty is concerned, Bakura is still largely on the fence as to whether or not it would be worth it. The Pharaoh of the olden days would have (and had) ordered for the Thief King's execution without batting an eyelid. The one of the current age flinches; the flinch is miniscule, yes, but there is little denying it.

"Bakura. You obviously have some kind of reason to hate me, but‒"

Bah. "I only had ninety-nine reasons to hate you back then. Currently, I have over a hundred."

"Ninety-nine reasons?"

Bakura chuckles at the sheer obliviousness of his foe, letting go of the fence in favour of turning around. Then he slouches against it, regarding the visibly perturbed Pharaoh with a mixture of mirth and disdain. "Those things," he snarls, pointing at the Puzzle. "Seven magical items at the cost of ninety-nine souls; the massacre of Kul Elna, my hometown, as ordered by your daddy dearest."

"That's‒!"

"‒Impossible?" Bakura smirks, finding immense joy in his foe's utterly horrified and disbelieving expression. "Well, believe whatever you like, I suppose; it's all the same to me. But let me tell you this: I didn't just see them slaughtering my family; I watched them melt the blood, flesh and bone out of each and every villager into the gold that went into making those things."

The Pharaoh opens his mouth, closes it, repeats the action. "I cannot speak for the actions of my father, but‒"

"Don't pity me," Bakura snaps in return, because being pitied by the Pharaoh is a new low. "I don't care why he did it. Heck, that bastard went and died before I got my vengeance. But, back then as well as now, this hatred isn't going anywhere; you're simply the next in line."

"Then why?" the Pharaoh demands. "You could've easily killed us, but instead you've helped us. And back then, you could just as easily have left us to die, so why‒?"

It's laughable, really. "Don't delude yourself into believing that I actually did any of it for your sake; I spared Pegasus for Ryou's sake, but that's about it. As for the rest, it was all for me; gathering the Millennium Items, you regaining more of your memories…"

"Why?" the Pharaoh persists. "If you were truly my enemy, then why do you wish for the same thing as‒"

It's hilarious. "If I were truly your enemy, you say? Hilarious. Of course, as much as I absolutely loathe having to admit it, I actually find you vaguely tolerable these days, which, let's be honest, is way more than I can say about Zorc. Our interests no longer fully align, you see, and if he wasn't all tangled up in my soul, then I would've ditched him way before this."

"Bakura." The Pharaoh has the gall to extend a hand; Bakura feels immensely tempted to cut it off.

Still, Bakura remains where he is, leaning against the fence, his fingers clutching it. "You and I have unfinished business, Pharaoh. Let's not forget that it was your idiotic self-sacrifice that got us both sealed away, you without your memories and me with the worst roommate in history. Of course, I imagine that hating you for what your father did isn't very fair, but‒ it's just the tip of the iceberg really. But yeah, I fucking hate you, and the only reason why I haven't killed you yet is because I need you alive, for now."

"Just for now?" the Pharaoh repeats, withdrawing the hand at last.

"Well, of course. I did mention that we had unfinished business, didn't I?"

"You did," the Pharaoh relents. "Though I myself still have not been made privy to the details."

The latter is a clear stab at Bakura for withholding information, and he smiles viciously, because whoever said Bakura had a duty to share information with the enemy in the first place? "Tell you what, Pharaoh: You lot were awfully fond of playing games in the past, even to the extent that your priests tore out people's Ka just to have more Monster Spirits to play with. While I'm not gonna say that I don't understand the appeal of a powerful weapon, I never quite developed a taste for those mock battles of yours. Well, up until now, I suppose."

"You want a Duel?"

Bakura smiles, because a mere duel would be pointless. "I want an RPG, with all the perks of a true Shadow Game."

"RPG?"

"Of course," Bakura says, very deliberate. "A bit of role-play to jog your memory and whatnot."

The Pharaoh considers him, evidently sceptical. "Why?"

Why indeed? "Because there's absolutely no point in killing you right now; you're not only clueless, you're not even alive anymore, technically. Besides, it was you sealing away your memories that got us all tangled up in this mess, meaning that only your memories can release us."

If anything, then the Pharaoh looks even more sceptical. "Is there really that much power in memory?"

Bakura scoffs at that. "It's not memories that carry power; it's names. How did you think you ended up with the moniker the Nameless Pharaoh in the first place?"

The Pharaoh blinks. "I sealed away my name?" he says, evidently confused.

"You sealed away your true name; there's a clear difference," Bakura snaps in return, pointing. "Using your true name, you sealed away both yourself and Zorc in there. I only ended up with part of Zorc. I admit, I wasn't exactly sane before, but spending a couple of millennia under his influence didn't really help."

The Pharaoh regards him almost curiously now, as if he is yet another puzzle for him to solve. Ugh. "Going by what you've been saying, it sounds an awful lot like you don't want Zorc to win."

Bakura shrugs mildly at that, stepping past him. "Whether it's you or Zorc, it's still be my loss. If I had known beforehand that getting proactive was just gonna make me out as one of the good guys, then I wouldn't have bothered."

"I rather doubt that."

Bakura turns, mildly surprised, and finds himself locking eyes with the Pharaoh's host, who regards him with a soft and utterly nauseating expression.

"Even if you only needed me alive, you came back for us both then, in that fire. Without you, Jonouchi and I would've both‒"

Bakura had definitely had ulterior motives for that, but heck if anyone cares. At first, he was trying to convince people he was their friend. Now, he is struggling with making them realise he is not. Regardless‒ "If you fools actually think of me as a friend by the end of this, then what the heck, knock yourself out. It's your funeral."

Mutou Yugi smiles softly at that; most would have found it warming, but Bakura finds it positively chill-inducing.

-.-.-.-