A/N - As always thank you Dukie for the editing job.
"Why do I get all the crappy assignments?" Malik Ishtar muttered to himself as he slipped on his sunglasses to block the blaring sun from his eyes as he drove down the busy street in his rental car. 'Land of the Rising Sun' was an appropriate name for Japan.
Malik was a young journalist from Egypt; because of his abilities to easily pick up other languages he quickly received a job a newspaper in Cairo and was often dispatched to other countries to cover world news. Currently Malik was in Japan. Ten years ago the only son of the Egyptian Prime Minister mysteriously disappeared while on vacation in the Bahamas with his Japanese husband Seto Kaiba. They had set sail on their yacht only to never been seen again.
Many rumors surrounded their disappearance. Some claimed they were just another casualty of the mysterious Bermuda Triangle, others said they were murdered by angry business associates Kaiba had crossed, and a small few believed they faked their deaths, as they were tired of being hounded by the media and activist groups for being the most famous openly gay couple. Malik scoffed at the latter; his older sister was engaged to one of Atemu's childhood friends and he figured Mahaado would have said something to them if they were alive somewhere.
Malik found an empty parking spot in front of the dance studio he had been looking for. Turning off the engine, Malik picked up the file folder that had been lying on the passenger seat. Searching through the contents, he finally pulled out a page with a picture of a young brunette girl and information next to the picture with the girl's data.
"Anzu," Malik murmured, reading her name. Ten years ago the girl had worked at the Kaiba Mansion where the couple lived. Malik hoped she could give him some insight on how things were going between the pair before the trip. He had already interviewed Atemu's friends back in Egypt but they knew little, most having lost contact with him after he moved to Japan to be with Seto.
The doors to the dance studio opened and bunch of young children ran outside. Sensing it was the right opportunity, Malik picked up his notebook and tape recorder, exited the rental car and strolled inside the building, only pausing for a few seconds to pull off his sunglasses and hang them on the collar of his skintight navy t-shirt. Quickly, he found his target on the floor, stretching in front of a mirror, watching him as he walked towards her.
"Anzu?"
"Yes?" she said as she turned her brunette head around to look back at Malik. "If you're inquiring about booking your child into a class, I'm sorry to tell you that I'm completely full for the time being."
A small smile appeared on Malik's lips. "That's not what I'm here for," he replied in perfect Japanese. "I'm a reporter and wanted to ask you some questions."
"But you're a foreigner…" Anzu trailed off as it suddenly dawned on her. "You want to know about Seto-sama and Yami-sama," she stated with a frown on her pretty face.
"Yami?" Malik asked. He was confused. The Prime Minister's son was called 'Atemu'.
A small smile replaced the frown on Anzu's face as she remembered her time in employment under the Kaibas. "Yami is what he liked being called. He said he wanted a Japanese name so Seto-sama gave him that nickname. The rest of us became so used to calling him Yami-sama."
"So they were close right from the beginning?" Malik asked, sitting down on the floor next to the dance teacher, making it clear he was going nowhere. Showing her the tape recorder, he pressed the 'Play' button.
Anzu nodded her head. "I had already been working for Seto-sama at the time, working my way through University. He came home from a business trip one time and you could immediately tell the difference; that something had happened."
"They met at a business function in Egypt correct?" Malik already knew this but he wanted to her Anzu's version of events.
"Yes, I believe your Prime Minster contacted Seto-sama about expanding technology throughout his country…"
"Ahh…Mr. Kaiba, please meet my son, Atemu," the Prime Minister said directing the tall brunet through the crowd of people and over to the short Egyptian with wild, spiky tri-colored hair.
The party was to gain support for the Prime Minister's plan to connect the country with advanced technology. An expensive plan, which was why the Prime Minister was trying to wine and dine the other Cabinet members. Japan's Kaiba Corporation was the leader of such technology and CEO Seto Kaiba was the main attraction. Akunumkanon sensed the tall, handsome brunet was growing annoyed with the event and figured time with Atemu would calm him down.
"Hello," Atemu politely said, shaking Seto's hand as his father hurried off to kiss up to someone else. "Lame party isn't it?"
The CEO laughed, taking an instant liking to the spiky haired youth. There was an attraction he couldn't explain. "At least you get to hide in the corner the entire time."
"Only because I've gone to who knows how many of these stupid things since my father was elected." Atemu took a sip of the wine he was drinking. "Want to blow this place and have some real fun?"
Seto grabbed hold of Atemu's free hand and gave it a small squeeze. "Yeah."
"…Two months later Yami-sama moved here and six months after that they were married."
"Yami…I've been thinking…"
"About what?" Atemu sleepily replied as he snuggled closer to his boyfriend on the couch. It was late and Seto's younger brother, Mokuba, had gone to bed hours ago, leaving the two lovers alone. The brunet however was wide-awake.
"Ways to make sure you can never leave me."
"Don't be silly," Atemu said in between yawns as he closed his eyes and laid his head on Seto's shoulder. "I'm never going to leave you."
"Then marry me."
Atemu's eyes snapped open. "What?" he asked in disbelief as he sat up so he could look at his lover.
Digging in his pocket, Seto pulled out a gold ring that was surrounded with rubies. The ring sparkled in the dim lighting. "Marry me."
"Oh, Seto!" Atemu cried throwing his arms around the brunet's neck, hugging him tightly.
"Tell me about the trip."
"Why do you want to know all this?" Anzu asked with sadness in her voice mixed with some suspicion. "It's all in the past, they aren't coming back. All you're doing is bringing up old wounds."
Malik blinked his lavender eyes and wondered how he would answer that question. At first he was merely doing it because that was the assignment he was given but the more he learned caused him to fast get caught up in their story. A true romantic at heart, he longed for the day when he would meet a guy and have a relationship like Seto and Atemu Kaiba.
"Because I think I can find out what happened to them," he finally replied, giving her a truthful answer; he was determined to get to the bottom of things. "Isn't it worth bringing up the past to get closure?"
Anzu sat speechless before nodding her head. "It was Yami-sama's idea. He said Seto-sama had been working too hard and they should go away for a while. Seto loved the idea."
Bronze fingers clasped the top of the laptop and closed the device on Seto Kaiba during mid-type.
"Yami! I'm trying to work here!"
Atemu sat down on his lap and began kissing the brunet's neck. "Seto, you've been working hard…too hard…even for you."
"I know, I'm sorry," Seto replied with a small sigh. They had been married for a year but for the past three months Seto had been working non-stop as his company tried breaking into the video game market. Games were something they both loved. "Two more days and I'll finally be finished."
"Good," Atemu declared with a smile on his face. "Because I've decided you're taking me on a trip to the Bahamas next week for our anniversary."
"Oh and I supposed I'm to do anything you tell me?"
"Don't you remember our wedding vows?"
Seto picked his husband up and dumped him on the couch next to his desk. Plopping down on top of Atemu, Seto began tickling him.
"Did Kaiba have any enemies?"
Anzu shook her head. "No."
"Who took over the company after Kaiba went missing?"
"His younger brother, Mokuba, but he was only 11 at the time and barely escaped returning to the orphanage."
"An 11 year old was in charge of a huge global company?" Malik asked, wondering if he had heard her right.
"Well…Mokuba was in charge in name only. He made Seto-sama's right hand man, Isono, acting CEO, while Mokuba moved to the Caribbean to lead the search for his brother and brother-in-law. He vows never to return to Japan without them."
"He still lives there?" Malik asked in surprise and Anzu nodded her head.
"No one's seen him in years but yes he's still there."
"What of this Isono person?" Malik asked writing the name down in his notebook. "He seemed to have benefited a lot from Kaiba's death. Could he have something to do with their disappearance?"
"I doubt it," Anzu replied with a small laugh. "A remembrance service was held a year after their disappearance and Isono was sobbing like a baby the entire time."
"Thank you so much for your time and help," Malik said as he rose to his feet. Pressing the stop button on the tape recorder, the blond reporter strolled from the building, ready to find his next victim to interview.
"Mr. Isono, may I have a word with you?" Malik called as he sidestepped along the sidewalk as Isono hurried from the Kaiba Corporation building to the awaiting limo. The businessman was not stopping so it was time for Malik to bring out his ace in the hole. "I knew Atemu and want to talk to you about him and Kaiba Seto!"
The man in the black business suit froze in his tracks and turned his head slightly to look at the blond Egyptian through his thick sunglasses. "You knew Yami-sama?"
Malik silently nodded his head, continuing with the lie.
"Get in."
Isono slid into the back of the limo with Malik hot on his heels. "Mr. Isono-"
"Just Isono."
"Isono; thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with me."
"You said you knew Yami-sama." A tear slid down Isono's cheek. "How?"
"His childhood best friend is my sister's fiancé." Isono remained quiet while he continued to cry so Malik began talking again and pulled his tape recorder out from a pocket of his cream colored pants. "I'm also a reporter trying to find out what happened to him and Kaiba."
"You want a scoop," Isono impatiently replied. "Driver, stop the car."
"I don't want a scoop, I want the truth," Malik argued. "Okay…I may have not ever met Atemu but he's important to my country."
"Investigators from various countries have tried to find the truth and all came to the same inconclusive results."
"If you have nothing of importance to tell me then stop wasting my time," Malik snapped. Sometimes aggression was the best way to go when questioning a difficult person. "I'm trying to help!"
Malik head his breath, hoping his plan worked.
"What do you want to know?" Isono finally asked while giving the limo driver a nod to indicate to keep driving.
"When was the last time you spoke to Kaiba?" Malik wasn't prepared for what happened next. Isono fell into his lap, wrapping his arms around Malik's waist and began sobbing. "Umm…there, there," Malik said patting Isono's head, while wondering how he was going to escape the businessman.
"Seto-sama is the greatest person who ever lived! It was an honor to have worked for him! I would gladly give my own life to save his!"
"Can you just answer my question?"
"The day before he went missing!" Isono sobbed. "I had the great honor of looking after Mokuba-sama and he wanted to speak to me."
"Isono, make sure Mokuba spends time studying," Seto commanded into the phone. "He has a big test coming up and I don't want him slacking off just because he's smart."
"Yes sir, Seto-sama."
"Yami and I are going out on the yacht for a few days so don't bother trying to contact us. I'll call when we get back."
Seto ended the call as Yami walked out of the bathroom wearing only a fluffy white towel. "Are you ready to go?" the brunet asked, walking over to his husband and wrapping his arms around Atemu's bronze body.
"Not quite," Atemu replied with a grin on his face. Pulling away from his taller husband Atemu let the towel fall to the floor before walking over to the bed and laying down on it. "Care to join me?"
"What about their attitude? Did it seem as if they were willing to leave everything behind and escape their lives?"
Isono quickly sat up and shoved himself away from Malik. "Seto-sama would never do that to Mokuba-sama!"
"Where is Mokuba?" Malik pressed. He figured if anyone knew it would be Isono.
The businessman paused as if he was unwilling to answer that question. "…Lucaya…"
"Thank you."
Lucaya was located on the island Grand Bahama, along the coast, a suburb of Freeport. Two days after leaving Japan, Malik found himself on a small plane heading from Miami to the island.
"Are we safe?" Malik asked the pilot, who was sitting next to him. "Aren't we in the Bermuda Triangle?"
"Don't worry, we're almost there."
Despite reassurances Malik was glad when they plane made a smooth landing on the water. The pilot skillfully maneuvered the plane to the awaiting docks. As soon as the plane was tied to the wooden planks, Malik quickly left the plane, needing to get away from the small aircraft.
He knew from talking to Mahaado and other friends of Atemu's that Lucaya was the place the pair stayed until their mysterious disappearance. Malik didn't find it the least bit odd that Mokuba Kaiba would stay in the place where his older brother was last seen. Mokuba probably figured they would eventually return to that place.
Checking into his hotel, Malik dumped his luggage off in his room and grabbed his notebook and tape recorder before leaving to seek out the younger Kaiba brother. Malik already had gathered the address to the villa Atemu and Seto had rented, which Mokuba later bought. Now it was only a matter of seeing if the youngster was home.
Malik rang the doorbell of the rich home and waited patiently for a reply. Minutes ticked by and Malik was beginning to think that no one was home. Finally the door creaked open a few inches and Malik saw a dull gray eye peeking out at him.
"What do you want?" the person asked in English.
"Are you Mokuba Kaiba?" Malik asked him in the same language, ignoring the question. "I was told he lived here."
"What do you want?"
"I only want to talk to Mokuba," Malik replied in Japanese.
The door swung all the way open to reveal a thin young man, with shaggy black hair; the person looked like he hadn't been outside in a while, locked away inside the villa, wanting to be alone. "Are you a reporter?"
"Yes."
"Get lost, I don't talk to reporters." The door began swinging shut but Malik blocked it with his arm.
"If you think I'm just after some story, you're wrong. I want to know what happened to them and won't even mention your name in my article if you agree to help."
Mokuba nodded his head while reopening the door. "What do you want to know?"
"Did they yacht much?"
"We're rich and live on an island, what do you think?"
Malik wasn't surprised that Mokuba had an attitude problem; he lost his only family ten years ago. "I know this is hard," he warned. "But I need to ask you some things about your brother's death."
"Niisama is alive!" Mokuba angrily yelled at him. "He's alive and I know it! No one will convince me otherwise!"
The door slammed in Malik's face. 'So much for that,' Malik thought, mentally kicking himself. Moving onto Plan B, Malik eyed the homes around the place where Mokuba lived. It was possible that a neighbor, who lived there a long time, knew something about what happened.
The place to the left wasn't successful, a recently retired couple who had only lived in the place for three years. Across the street, the owners were not home. Finally Malik lucked out at the third location with the house to the right of where Mokuba lived.
Rapping on the wooden door, Malik only had to wait a few minutes before the door opened. A sexy, well-built man appeared with bronze skin and bushy white hair. He was wearing shorts, flip-flops and an open shirt that nicely revealed his sculpted chest. Malik found it hard not to drool.
"Are you the pizza guy?"
Malik blinked, coming back to reality. "No, I'm a reporter."
The man stared at Malik with his dark blue eyes. "A reporter is delivering my pizza?"
"I don't have your pizza!"
A huge grin crossed the man's face as he leaned up against the doorframe. "You're an easy one to annoy Mr. Reporter. You need more patience if you're interviewing people."
A huge blush appeared on Malik's cheeks. "I'm Malik."
"I'm Bakura. So what do you want Blondie?"
Malik rolled his eyes and ignored the insult. "How long have you lived here?"
"All my life," came the reply as Bakura shrugged his shoulders. "I grew up in this house with my parents until they got in my way."
"So you know of the rich couple who disappeared ten years ago?" Malik eagerly asked; finally a lead.
"Not that again!" Bakura rolled his eyes. "All everyone wants to know is about that. You better come inside, get comfortable, take off your clothes…"
"What!"
Bakura shrugged as he led Malik through his home. "What? You're hot! By the way, I'm expecting for you to pay for part of my pizza now; I don't give out freebies."
"Fine, fine," Malik grumbled, trying to focus on something besides Bakura's muscular legs. "So what do you do?"
"I find underwater ship wrecks and harvest them for my own profit."
Malik frowned. It reminded him of the Tomb Robbers who plagued his countries. "So you're a thief?"
"That's Treasure Hunter!"
"Alright, alright," Malik grumbled as he sat down on a couch. Across from him Bakura sat down on another couch. "Tell me what you know about the incident from ten years ago."
"There's nothing much to say," Bakura replied with a shrug. "I was on my way back on my ship Diaboundo when I saw them leaving."
"Seto, look at that impressive ship," Atemu eagerly said pointing to a large white ship that was passing them. "Diaboundo," he said, reading the name on the stern.
"Hn. That's a research ship," Seto grumbled. A gentle breeze was blowing his brunet hair. "Our yacht is better."
"Of course," Atemu replied with a huge grin on his face, knowing his husband was jealous. Walking up behind Seto, Atemu hugged him. "I love you."
"I love you too," Seto replied as a small smiled finally appeared on his face as he looked back at his lover. "You know…once we get away from land there's a rule aboard this ship that no clothes are allowed to be worn…"
"Is that so?" Seto nodded his head. "And when was this rule created?"
"Just now."
"You better hurry up then and get us out of here because I'm so hot and am dying to get these clothes off."
"That's it?"
"Yup."
"Then why did you invite me in?" Malik angrily asked. He hated people taking up his time, especially when he could be interviewing someone else.
"Because you're cute."
Again, Malik blushed. Normally he was the one who made advancements on guys he liked. Alas, he still had a job to do.
"Do you have any idea what happened to them?"
"Sure; they're dead." Reaching over to the table next to the couch, Bakura picked up a liquor bottle. "Scotch?"
"Oh why not, this day has pretty much been a write-off anyway," Malik replied and Bakura tossed him the bottle. "How do you know they're dead anyway? Mokuba Kaiba certainly seems to think they're alive."
"Of course," Bakura scoffed. "He's holding onto a glimmer of hope that his brother is alive. People will believe anything when it comes to their loved ones."
"But I saw the reports and they had perfect weather," the blond Egyptian argued, while a bottle of Tequila magically appeared in Bakura's hand who immediately took a swing of it.
Bakura sadly shook his head. "The cute ones are always so dumb."
"What are you talking about?" Malik asked, eyeing the white haired man. "Don't tell me those rumors of aliens inhabiting this area is true."
Bakura rolled his eyes. "Of course not Blondie. Bubbles killed them."
Malik's eyes bugged out of his head; the man was obviously insane. "Bubbles?"
"Methane gases lie beneath the surface here," Bakura explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "When an underwater landslide or other natural disaster occurs the land shifts, releasing the methane in an explosion of bubbles. These bubbles can sink a boat in seconds because they decrease the density of the water.
"The gas also gets in the air which screws up the altimeter of planes fooling pilots into thinking they are climbing when they are really crashing to the ground. Plus an airplane engine can stall if less than one percent gets inside of it. Therefore you can have a bright, sunny day and still find yourself dead all thanks to bubbles…and where the hell is my pizza?"
Bakura continued to rant and rave over his missing pizza, giving Malik an opportunity to think everything over. What Bakura said did make sense but he couldn't help but think of Mokuba and his insistence that they were alive somewhere. "Hey Kura, is it possible that they could be alive somewhere?"
"Did you just call me Kura?" Bakura seemed annoyed but Malik ignored him.
"I know this methane gas theory sounds like the most likely scenario but is it possible for them to be alive somewhere?"
Bakura stood and plopped down next to the blond reporter, wrapping an arm around Malik's shoulders. "Anything is possible," he purred into the Egyptian's ear before sitting back and taking back Malik's untouched bottle of Scotch. "Why do you care anyway? These people meant nothing to you."
"I want to know the truth."
"Bullshit, you're in it for the money just like the rest of us." Bakura's hand slid up Malik's leg and came to a rest on his thigh. "Why don't you forget about the stupid story for a bit and do what you want?"
"Okay."
Malik silently left during the middle of the night while Bakura slept. He didn't know what he wanted anymore, except to leave the country and go home; there was little he could do in the Bahamas anymore. He had a reasonable explanation for their disappearance and although he wasn't completely satisfied with the way things turned out he needed to get away.
Three days later, Malik sat in his apartment in Cairo typing up his article on his laptop. Upon returning to his native country, Malik had slacked off for a few days, his thoughts muddled with images of the treasure hunter. Bakura certainly left an impact on him.
Malik stared at the computer screen on his lap; he didn't like his article one bit; he didn't want to write a sad, depressing article about two young lovers lost at sea. With a frustrated sigh, Malik deleted what he had written. He needed something more upbeat, something to give hope that Atemu and Seto were still out there somewhere.
Thinking about it for a few moments, Malik typed in the words 'A Love Story' for a title and began writing a story chronicling their lives and about the people they touched. When finished, Malik was satisfied, knowing it was the best piece of work he had ever written.
"What is this garbage?" Malik's editor-in-chief yelled at him a day later as Malik sat in Akunadin's office, waiting impatiently to hear what his boss had to say about the article.
"What's wrong with it?" Malik asked with a frown on his face. His adopted older brother, Rishid, who was also his roommate, read the article last night and loved it.
"I told you to get a story that told people what happened to them! Not give a guess of what might have happened, but then say they could still be out there somewhere!"
Malik stared darkly at his boss. "I reported what I was told."
"Redo it."
"No."
Seated at an outdoors cafe, Malik searched the classified ads of the newspaper where he used to work. Akunadin fired him when he refused to rewrite the article.
"Maybe I should become a pizza delivery boy," Malik grumbled to himself, remembering his encounter with Bakura. Malik drifted off into a daze as he imagined ringing Bakura's doorbell, completely naked, holding a large pizza in his hands.
"So this is where you're hiding."
"Don't you have flowers or something you have to pick out for the wedding?" Malik replied not looking up from the paper. He knew his sister's voice anywhere.
"I got your message," Isis explained, sitting down in the chair opposite Malik.
"I gathered."
"Do you want to talk about it? You worked there for seven years."
"It's not like I won't be able to find somewhere else to work." Frustrated, Isis yanked the paper away from her brother. "Hey!"
"Malik talk to me. This isn't like you! You've never refused to rewrite something before!"
Malik stared at his older sister; like Bakura she had blue eyes. "When did Mahaado become the first thought on your mind in the morning and the last thing you thought of when you went to bed at night?"
Isis blinked and pondered the question. "When I knew I loved him."
"I see…" Malik replied looking down at the tabletop and lazily traced the design on it with his finger.
"Malik? Do you love someone?"
"I don't know," he heavily sighed. "Ever since I started researching this story I've envied them for finding love so easily. I wish I could find someone like that."
"It sounds like you're ready to settle down, end your bachelor ways." Malik certainly was a bachelor. Whenever he wasn't on an assignment he'd go to clubs and pick up hot guys.
Looking up at his sister, Malik rested his chin on his hand. "I met someone I can't get out of my mind."
"Lust; one of the seven deadly sins."
Malik wasn't impressed. "We're Pagans Isis."
"Lust still exists for us," Isis replied with a roll of her eyes. "You're lusting after a guy, so what? It could become something more."
"The guy's an asshole!"
"Just your type."
Malik stared down at the table once more. "I slept with him…"
"I thought you said he was an asshole?" Malik, however, ignored her.
"…And left during the middle of the night without saying goodbye."
"Sounds like you're the asshole, not him."
"It's just…all my life I've done what others have told me to do. Father told me where to go to college, Rishid got me the job at the newspaper, Akunadin always told me what stories to write; Bakura was the first person to tell me to do what I wanted…of course he just wanted me to sleep with him but still!"
"So what do you want?"
Not knowing what to say, Malik simply stared at his sister.
Malik nervously stood on the doorstep of the villa, awkwardly holding the large pizza in his hands. He had already knocked on the door and was now waiting for a reply. Finally the door opened, to reveal Bakura's bushy head.
"I have your pizza," Malik lamely told him.
"I didn't order a pizza."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes…" Malik sighed and began to turn away. "Wait! I meant yes, I ordered a pizza!" Standing aside, Bakura allowed Malik to enter his home. "Blondie, this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
"Seto?"
"What is it Yami?"
Atemu was on his stomach, sunbathing naked on the bow of the yacht with his head turned to look up at the tall brunet. Seto sat down next to him, took a sip of his wine and marveled at the beauty of his husband's body.
"We'll always be together…right?"
"Of course. Not even death can pull us apart."