Hey, everyone! This is something I've wanted to write for ages, a sequel to Craziness and Confusion. And the pairing is... darkshipping! :D *cue applause from fellow crack pairing fans* Okay, I know it isn't a lot of people's favourite pairing, and couple of months ago I just couldn't see it working at all. But now... *fangirl squeal* IT'S MY OTP! XD! Along with angstshipping, of course. Which is in here as well! Well, I couldn't leave it out, could I?

This follows on directly from Craziness and Confusion, so I'd suggest you read it as well, although it isn't essential. This is one of my 'Spot the Pairing' stories; let's see if you can spot all the shippings I slipped in here! ;D

Warnings: Light slash, bad humour, and Atemu and Bakura going on a date. That alone may scar readers with weak dispositions for life...

Have fun reading!

"Well, this is awkward," Atemu muttered, fiddling with his cup. He was sitting in a booth next to the window in a quiet café, having a nice cup of coffee, with no monsters/psychopaths trying to take over the world/ gamers challenging him to a duel to disturb the peace. So, he thought miserably, this should be fun, right?

Wrong.

The problem was the boy sitting opposite him. The boy with the scruffy white hair that he stubbornly refused to have cut, even though everyone said it made him look like a girl (Jou had once said to Atemu that Bakura probably liked looking like a girl, which, although almost definitely untrue, still made the ex-Pharaoh smirk). The boy that was currently scowling so fiercely at the table top that Atemu wouldn't be surprised if he left a permanent mark.

The problem was Bakura. And the fact that they were alone. Together. In a café. Surrounded by other couples that were holding hands, or kissing.

In other words, Bakura and Atemu, life-long enemies and rivals, were on a date.

Atemu was honestly starting to think he was dreaming. A date with Bakura? There weren't many situations more ridiculous than that.

"Sorry," Bakura replied, not sounding 'sorry' at all. "I apologise if I'm not your idea of good company."

Atemu rolled his eyes. "Bakura, you haven't said a word to me apart from 'hello' in the hour that we've been out. Forget 'good company', you haven't even succeeded in being 'company."

Bakura's scowl disappeared for a split second to be replaced by a grudging smile, before lapsing back into his brooding silence.

Atemu fidgeted with his cup for a couple of minutes, before making another stab at conversation: "So Kaiba and Ishizu are going out, huh? I never would've thought that would happen. Malik's dealing with it okay, is he?"

To Atemu's confusion, Bakura's glare deepened, and he merely grunted in response.

What's wrong with talking about Kaiba and Ishizu? He thought, in frustration. Honestly, you can't hold a conversation with this guy about anything.

Atemu couldn't work out why Bakura was being so… well, grumpy today. At least they usually had some interesting arguments, or (on days when they were too tired to argue) would have conversations about Egypt, or complain about the cold, or play a game like Duel Monsters. It wasn't like they never spent any time together; Yuugi and Ryou were such good friends that they sort of had to. But Bakura wasn't even fighting with him today. He was just ignoring his former nemesis.

Atemu didn't like being ignored.

"Look, Bakura, why did you ask me out?" Atemu snapped eventually, breaking the heavy silence that hung over the table.

Bakura looked up at that. "What?" he asked, as though he'd just remembered Atemu was there.

Atemu growled in annoyance. "Why did you ask me out if you're just going to ignore me the whole time?"

Bakura sighed, and leaned his head on his hand, scowl fixed firmly in place as he finally acknowledged Atemu's presence. "I didn't want to ask you out," he admitted, irritably.

"Excuse me?" Atemu asked, torn between anger and bewilderment. What on earth was going on?

"Basically, Malik and I had this stupid bet going, all to do with his sister, and I lost. The forfeit was that I had to ask you out on a date," Bakura continued, bitterly. "I was kind of hoping that you'd say no, but you didn't, and now I know Ryou's going to yell at me for asking you out when I'm not actually interested and thereby raising your hopes that I like you."

This last sentence took Atemu a couple of seconds to figure out, and when he finally caught on he stared at Bakura, completely floored. Bakura stared back, wearing his defiant 'what-did-you-expect-I'm-not-a-nice-guy' expression.

Then Atemu did something Bakura did not expect him to do.

He burst out laughing.

Bakura stared at him in utter perplexity as Atemu leaned against the back of his seat, shaking with laughter.

"What's so funny?" Bakura asked, slightly annoyed that his news was being received so well.

"Oh, Bakura, don't be an idiot!" Atemu replied, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. "Yuugi made me say yes- he wants us to spend time together, so we can get along better. I was feeling guilty because I thought you liked me!"

Bakura tilted his head, a slow grin forming on his face. "So Ryou's not going to confiscate my horror movies then?" he said, half-hopefully. "You know, if I'm not 'deceiving you'- his words not mine."

Atemu smiled. "He really has you under his thumb, doesn't he?" he teased, before laughing again at Bakura's angry expression. "Joking, joking."

"The only power he has over me is that he owns the TV. And I happen to like watching horror movies," Bakura said, sulkily.

Atemu smirked, and changed the subject. "So I guess this isn't a date at all then, is it?"

Bakura frowned. "So what is it?"

Atemu shrugged. "I guess it's just two friends spending time together," he said, thoughtfully.

Bakura crinkled up his nose in distaste. "We're friends now?" he said, in a tone that implied the end of the world was approaching.

Atemu rolled his eyes again. "Acquaintances, then. It's an improvement on 'deadly enemies', at least."

Bakura grinned. "Yuugi and Ryou will be pleased," he said, sarcastically.

Atemu's eyes sparkled, and he took a sip of coffee. "Hmm. So tell me about this bet. I can't believe you lost to Malik!"

Bakura looked extremely offended, and launched into the story.

Half an hour later, and the 'date' was going surprisingly well. Atemu had found the whole Kaiba and Ishizu debacle hilarious, which had annoyed Bakura, and then an argument had ensued about whether Malik had known all along (Bakura was convinced he had, and Atemu returned with "You just can't accept that you lost" which irritated the thief even further) then a long talk about the new duelling system that Kaiba had just released ("It's okay, but I still think the classic's are better") and finally a mild discussion had started about life in general, which seemed to involve a lot of Bakura complaining about Ryou ("I mean, it's not like I destroy something every time I leave the house alone- his lack of trust in me is completely unfounded!").

It was all going fine until Atemu glanced out of the window and spotted Yuugi across the street, laughing with his characteristically adorable smile, and accompanied by his best friend, Jou.

Nothing abnormal about that, but what made Atemu do a double take and gasp in shock, interrupting Bakura mid-sentence, was what the pair were doing.

They were holding hands.

Now, Atemu wasn't an expert on modern relationships, but he was pretty certain that two boys who were 'just friends' didn't wander around public places hand-in-hand. In fact, he wasn't sure if two boys who were 'just friends' ever held hands for longer than was strictly necessary.

"What?" Bakura asked, before turning around and peering out of the window. When he saw the two boys he raised an eyebrow, before turning back to Atemu. "Well," Bakura remarked musingly, breaking Atemu out of his shock. "Looks like your little Yuugi has got himself a boyfriend!"

Atemu shot him what was meant to be an angry look, but probably just ended up being extremely confused. "Why didn't he tell me?" Atemu said, bewildered, as the pair watched Yuugi and Jou pause outside the cinema across the street. "We tell each other everything."

Bakura shrugged, clearly rather bored by the turn the conversation had taken. "Maybe you're not thinking about it from his point of view."

Atemu's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Huh?"

Bakura toyed with the sugar packets on the table as he continued to talk in an unusually thoughtful voice. "You've always been the more confident of the pair, am I right? Yuugi wasn't even friends with Jou and that lot before you came along, and he's still pretty shy. So maybe it's hard for you to understand why he hasn't told you yet, because if you were in his situation everyone would know by now. You're not afraid of what people think of you, so you wouldn't be bothered by everyone knowing that you had a date with another boy, a boy who'd been your friend for years."

Bakura sipped at his drink, before saying, dryly: "But Yuugi's shy. He probably wants to see how the date goes before he tells you. He's certainly not the type to rush into things, and to tell everyone before they've even had a first date; if it works out, then you'll be the first to know that he's got a boyfriend. And judging by the way that blonde mutt is looking at him right now, I'd say the chances of it not working out are pretty slim."

Atemu stared at him, completely taken aback. "Wow, Bakura," he said, in surprise. "That was really… insightful."

Bakura smirked. "Went through exactly the same thing with Ryou. He was so shy about it that I wasn't informed about his relationship until I walked in on Malik sticking his tongue down my hikari's throat." He grimaced. "Not the most pleasant sight."

Atemu laughed, and shot the pair across the street an affectionate look. "You're right; of course he'll tell me."

Bakura's eyes suddenly sparkled with mischief, and a wicked smile spread across his face. "But that doesn't mean we can't have a bit of fun," he said, sliding out of the booth.

"What do you mean?" Atemu asked, warily; usually when Bakura got that glint in his eye it foreshadowed something that involved explosives, bank robbery, or extreme danger for anyone within a hundred metres of the former thief. Sometimes all three.

"Want to know what they're up to on their date?" Bakura smirked, nodding his head towards the two boys that were disappearing into the cinema.

Atemu stared at him, aghast. "Bakura, I can't follow Yuugi on his first date!" he said, indignantly. "That would be really mean, they deserve their privacy and I'm not a stalker!"

Bakura shrugged, and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Well, alright. Just as long as you're okay with possibility of Jou groping Yuugi during the film- you know, a dark cinema always offers endless opportunities…" he trailed off, suggestively.

As expected, Atemu's over-protective instinct kicked in immediately. "Jou wouldn't do that!" he muttered, as if reassuring himself, before fixing a determined look on his face and standing up abruptly. "Well, you can never be too sure. Just in case, we'd better follow them!"

Bakura's smirk widened. "Oh, definitely," he agreed, trying not to laugh. "You can never be too careful."

Atemu nodded, throwing some money onto the table as a tip (Bakura had no idea why; the café was self-service) and hurried out towards the cinema.

Bakura shook his head in amusement, and followed the other boy, trying not to wonder why he found the Pharaoh's protectiveness to be… slightly endearing.

"Popcorn?" Bakura shook the box underneath Atemu's nose, whilst Atemu peered over the seats, searching the crowded theatre for the familiar brightly coloured hair. Atemu glowered at the grinning thief, and pushed him away.

"We're here on serious business, Bakura," he said, grumpily, craning his neck to look around at the front rows of seats. "And I can't find Yuugi anywhere."

Bakura snorted, and munched on a mouthful of popcorn. "Oh, lighten up. Jou's not going to do anything to Yuugi, you idiot. They are best friends, you know."

Atemu glared at him. "But you said-" he started, in outrage.

"I know- I can't believe you fell for that!" Bakura interrupted with a grin. "But I got free cinema tickets and a box of popcorn out of it, so I'm doing pretty well! I just love these modern snacks, don't you?"

"F-free tickets?" Atemu spluttered.

Bakura shrugged. "You were so preoccupied with trying to find Yuugi in the crowd that I picked your pocket and used your money to pay for the tickets," he said, dismissively.

Atemu wondered if he should be furious, worried at Bakura's pick-pocketing skills or whether he should try and carry on looking for Yuugi, but was interrupted by Bakura's whisper: "Just shut up, the movie's about to start."

Atemu leant back in his seat huffily, annoyed that Bakura had tricked him. The thief shot him a glance, before leaning over and breathing into his ear: "If you're still worried about Yuugi, he's two rows in front of us, six seats along."

Atemu jumped, checked to see if Bakura was right, and then rolled his eyes. Damn Bakura and his stupid observance skills!

"Shut up," he grumbled, before grabbing a fistful of popcorn.

Atemu rubbed a hand absentmindedly over the spot on his neck that Bakura had just breathed on, and blushed at the memory of the tingling sensation it had caused.

Bakura smirked.

It was clear just ten minutes into the movie that it had been Yuugi who had chosen to see it, rather than Jou. Judging by the forced looking smile on the blonde's face, Bakura thought in a satisfied way, he was as bored as they were.

The film was sickening. That was all Bakura really remembered afterwards. It was one of those rom-com types, but without any recognisable plot, just filled with pretty actors and clichéd lines.

Bakura, whose preferred genres consisted of horror movies, action thrillers, more horror movies, dark comedies, and even more horror movies, was not enjoying himself.

Atemu, still trying to spy on Jou and Yuugi, wasn't enjoying himself much either. Although Bakura was definitely having fun watching him go a darker shade of red every time Jou so much as touched Yuugi's arm; when Jou finally got up the courage to put an arm around the smaller boy, Atemu genuinely looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

"Atemu, you really need to calm down!" Bakura muttered, as Atemu attempted to glare a hole into the back of Jou's head. "They're bound to notice you if you carry on like this!"

"But his arm shouldn't be there!" Atemu argued loudly, causing a few disapproving heads to turn. "It's an invasion of personal space!"

Bakura rolled his eyes. "You are such a bad stalker. And you're an idiot, he's just putting his arm around your hikari! It's completely innocent, you stupid Pharaoh."

Atemu scowled, and before Bakura knew it he had slipped his arm around Bakura's shoulders. "Oh, so you're okay with this?" he asked, half flirtatiously, half smug at having found a way to prove his point.

Bakura stiffened immediately, and forced back the urge to shrug the other boy off angrily. "Nothing wrong with it," he said, stubbornly. "See? You were being a drama queen."

Atemu smiled knowingly. "Sure. Okay, you win."

"Good. You can… you can remove your arm now," Bakura pointed out, through gritted teeth.

Atemu winked at him. "Oh no, if you're so fine with it, I think I'll just leave it there. It's 'completely innocent' after all. Now be quiet. People are staring at you."

Bakura groaned mentally. He should have known it. Atemu was just as manipulative and cunning as him, after all.

But having the arm around him wasn't all that bad, he reasoned. It was better than admitting to being wrong, anyway.

So he just settled back into the chair and tried to concentrate on the film.

"That was awful," Atemu said, frankly, stuffing his hands in his pockets while he tried to hide 'subtly' behind a large ice-cream stand in the lobby of the cinema.

Bakura shook his head in disgust. "I know. Possibly the sappiest film I've ever seen… Ryou would have loved it. And why are you hiding again?"

Atemu peered around the crowded room surreptitiously. "I don't want Yuugi to know I was here, do I?" he hissed.

Bakura rolled his eyes, and began to say something mocking when a familiar voice chimed in: "Hey there, you two! What are you doing here?"

Yuugi, smiling innocently with those wide purple eyes, was standing behind them, hand-in-hand with Jou.

Atemu nearly jumped a foot in the air, and began to stammer in embarrassment, but Bakura was unperturbed. "Hi, midget. What do you think we're doing here- we were watching a film!" he replied, in a bored voice.

Jou scowled in a 'don't be rude to my boyfriend!' sort of way, but Yuugi seemed completely unaware of it.

"Oh, that's cute," he grinned, mischievously. "Guess you two are really enjoying your date, huh?"

Atemu looked as if he were about to shrivel up from the humiliation of it all, but Bakura (after colouring slightly- although he seriously hoped no-one had noticed) merely raised an eyebrow, smirked and gestured to their entwined hands. "I could say the same thing about you two."

Yuugi immediately went bright red as he realised he was still holding Jou's hand. "Um… Look, Yami, I was going to tell you…" he began to explain, anxiously.

"Nice diversion," Jou muttered to Bakura, while Yuugi and Atemu embarked on an extremely over-the-top conversation involving a lot of "but we tell each other everything!" 's and "you're still important to me!" 's, finishing off with a tearful hug.

"Thanks, I thought so too," Bakura replied smugly.

"Never thought you two would get round to it, though," Jou chuckled.

"Get round to what?" Bakura asked, sharply.

"You know, dating," Jou said, as though it was obvious. "We had bets on how long it would take for you to end up together." He scowled briefly. "Which I've just lost to Anzu. Damnit!"

Bakura opened his mouth, but found that nothing came out apart from an insistent: "We're not dating!", which even he didn't believe.

Jou smirked. "Okay, whatever you say. Not a very strong argument coming from someone who just spent the last two hours watching a rom-com with Atemu's arm around them."

Bakura was surprised, and (quite) impressed. "You knew we were following you?"

Jou gave him a look. "Please. I've heard elephants that are more subtle than you."

"Okay, that was Atemu's fault!" Bakura began crossly, but was interrupted by Jou shooting him a knowing smile before taking Yuugi's arm and telling Atemu that they were going to finish their date, that Yuugi was perfectly safe from all possible dangers with him, and he didn't need to worry- he wasn't the sort of person to have sex on the first date; the third date, at the least.

Bakura had to admit he was very impressed by the way Jou could shut Atemu up so quickly.

"I- I can't believe… He said… How could he… The third date? Argh!" Atemu kicked at a nearby lamppost in frustration.

"He was joking, you imbecile," Bakura said calmly, as the Pharaoh jumped up and down on one foot in pain, swearing at the aforementioned lamppost. "And it's made of metal, what do you expect? Honestly, if you're going to kick something out of anger, you should at least kick some sort of small mammal… My neighbours have a new dog, for future reference."

Atemu slumped down on a bench at the side of the quiet street, nursing his toe, and ignored Bakura, continuing to mutter angrily. Bakura sat next to him, more from the reason that there was nothing else to do, than for anything else.

The street had begun to darken as dusk started to fall, and Bakura noticed with a shiver that there was a cold evening breeze. Stars had started to shine in the inky blue sky, and the moon was just beginning to cast its glow over the town. Street lamps began blinking on, and the night-time bustle of the city was rising to a hum in the distance.

"Here," a gruff voice said behind him, and Bakura felt, with a start, a coat being slipped over his shoulders. "You look cold."

Bakura turned to see an embaressed Atemu, bare arms pale in the moonlight, his jacket slung round Bakura's own body.

"Thanks," Bakura muttered warily, pulling it slightly closer. "What about you?"

Atemu shrugged, and tilted his head up to watch the sky. "I'm fine. I guess I don't get cold easily."

Bakura leaned back into the bench and gazed up at the faint stars. He must have seemed peaceful because Atemu said, thoughtfully, "You like this time of day, don't you?"

Bakura glanced at him in surprise, and then laughed briefly. It was true, he loved the night; it was a time for darkness, shadows and secrets. He always found that the most interesting people were the ones that roamed the streets at night- those with bad intentions, those who were in a hurry to get out of the dark, and those who, for whatever the reason, merely craved the solace that the dark provided.

"Yeah, I guess. I like the darkness. It hides everything, it protects you. It makes it easy to forget who you are… And what you've done."

Atemu smiled. "Don't be so keen to forget. I should know; sometimes memories are the most precious things we have."

Bakura scowled. "You don't have to tell me that, Pharaoh," he said, bitterly. "Forgetting it all in one moment because of some painless magic spell is one thing, forgetting it over thousands of years of mental torture is another."

Atemu was silent for a few minutes, before standing up suddenly. Bakura watched him warily, tensing for an argument.

"I'm hungry. Want to go have dinner?" Atemu said, eyes dancing.

Bakura had not been expecting that.

He'd definitely not expected the answer to come out of his own mouth:

"Yeah. Why not?"

If someone had told Anzu and Mai that on their 'girly night out' (intended to be spent chatting about Otogi and whether he was planning on asking Anzu out any time soon, or about the new shoe shop that had just arrived in town) they would have been confronted with Atemu and Bakura on what seemed like a proper date, they would have laughed in that person's face.

So imagine their surprise when they walked into one of the nicer restaurants in town, and found Atemu and Bakura sitting at a small table near the window arguing over what to order.

"I must be dreaming," Mai hissed, rubbing at her eyes as the two girls lingered in the doorway. "There's no way…"

Anzu merely smiled faintly, and pulled her friend back out of the door. "On second thoughts, let's get takeout. Don't want to embarrass the love birds, do we?"

Mai grinned, and shot the pair across the room, who were still engrossed in their conversation- looking all the world like a couple on a date. "Atemu and Bakura. Who'd have thought?"

Anzu tilted her head, thoughtfully. "Maybe they'll prove us all wrong."

Mai smirked. "And even if they don't, I'm sure there'll be some pretty spectacular and enjoyable fights while it lasts."

Anzu laughed. "Yeah. I'm just glad I made a bet with Jou about this- he owes me 2000 yen!"

"I can't believe you actually finished that entire cake," Atemu said, shaking his head in mock disgust.

Bakura grinned and licked his lips as they walked down the now-completely dark street. "If there's one thing the modern world does well, it's food. We didn't have any of these sweet things back in Egypt."

Atemu laughed. "You'll get fat if you keep eating like that."

"Not with my exercise program. Running away from angry shop owners and security guards is great for keeping in shape."

Atemu raised an eyebrow. "Why do I get the feeling I don't want to know the reason you have to run away from security guards?"

Bakura shrugged and smiled darkly. "What you don't know can't hurt you."

Atemu chuckled, and then paused, looking up at the line of houses. "This is you, right?"

Bakura glanced up, as if surprised they were already home. "Yeah, it is."

He fidgeted, curling as wisp of hair round his little finger like he always did when he was nervous. "Well… thanks for the movie and dinner and stuff. I actually had a pretty great time."

Atemu smiled, awkwardly. "Same here. Maybe being friends wouldn't be too bad after all."

Bakura scowled. "Don't push your luck."

Atemu paused, and thought back over the day. The café, the movie, the moonlight stroll, the dinner, him walking Bakura home… He sighed in defeat. "You do realise that everyone will now think we're dating? I mean, come on, this whole day we did stuff that you'd usually do… well, on a date."

Bakura grinned. "We're not dating, Pharaoh. That sort of thing is far too romantic and cliché for me. And besides, everyone knows that I'm way out of your league."

Atemu smiled, and abruptly grabbed Bakura's wrist, pulling him in until they were nose-to-nose.

"Well, if that's the case," he breathed mischievously. "I've got to say that I really enjoyed 'not dating' you today, Bakura. It was a lot of fun."

Bakura smirked. "We should do it again sometime."

Atemu curled their hands together, and whispered into Bakura's ear: "This is strangely similar to the position we were in last time, remember?"

Bakura pushed himself away from Atemu angrily. "What?"

"Yuugi's birthday?" Atemu asked, eyes twinkling. "Don't tell me you've forgotten already."

Bakrura, in a rare moment of embarrassment, flushed red. 'The last time' of course, referred to Yuugi's party a couple of months back… during which a certain event had taken place which had resulted in a highly humiliating photograph being used by Kaiba as blackmail.

"I didn't think you remembered that," he muttered. "We were both really drunk."

Atemu sighed. "Seto used that picture as blackmail on me too," he said, in a confiding tone. "How else do you think I was roped in to babysitting Mokuba all those nights he's out on dates with Ishizu?"

Bakura stared at him for a few seconds, until an evil smile spread across his face. "You want to get revenge? I know some great pranks that I need help with, and they'd be perfect for getting back at a certain blackmailing Moneybags."

Atemu laughed. "It's a date," he replied. Suddenly, he leaned in and kissed Bakura briefly. His lips lingered for a split-second, before he pulled away with an unreadable smile.

"Just in case you wanted to try something romantic and cliché for once," he murmured, before turning and disappearing down the street.

Bakura watched him go, smiling faintly. He shook his head, and turned to go inside. Romantic and cliché? You got that one right, Atemu, he thought to himself dryly.

As soon as he entered the hall, Ryou poked his head out of the kitchen. "There you are!" he said, in a half-scolding, half-worried tone. "Where have you been?"

"With Atemu, remember?" Bakura replied irritably. "You were the one that set it up after all."

Ryou brightened immediately. "That's wonderful! I'm so glad you two are spending time together… You didn't kill him, did you?" he added, as an anxious afterthought.

Bakura glared, as he dropped his keys on the hall table.

"I'll take that as a no," Ryou said, in relief.

Malik stepped out to stand next to Ryou, a suggestive smirk spreading across his face. "So the date went well, I take it?"

Bakura began to shrug off his coat, before realising that he was still wearing Atemu's jacket. He stared at the leather garment, thoughtfully, before a smile twitched at the corner of his mouth and he hung it up on the hook behind the door.

"Oh, we're not dating."

And he pushed past a mystified Ryou and Malik on the way to his room, a satisfied smirk fixed in place.

Did you like it? My mission to convert you all to darkshippers continues! *evil laugh* Come on, there's a darkshipper in everyone. You can't help but love it! XD!

Don't know why, but I really like the idea of Atemu and Bakura going on a date, but still insisting that it 'isn't a date'. It just fits them! ^^

I know the bit in the middle from Anzu and Mai's POV was a little different to the rest of the story, but I wanted to add in a moment from someone else's perspective. Plus, I like putting Anzu and Mai in my fics. They're awesome!

(Side note: For those who are interested, 2000 yen is about £20)

Well, that's all folks! Hope you liked my first ever darkshipping, I had loads of fun writing it! :D

Bookworm