Chapter Text
Malik blinked as he was stuck reading the email for the third time now.
Seeing an email on a random Tuesday evening wasn’t something he expected to begin with. But that was in the range of realistic things. Maybe Yugi, he had thought when he saw the +1 notification, Yugi who had been keen on keeping contact ever since they all came back to Japan (with Atem nonetheless). Malik remembered the smaller one trying to pull him into a hug as a goodbye, before settling on a handshake as he saw Malik’s discomfort. How both of his hands grabbed his own, and left a small note inside. The younger Ishtar looked a little, a bit lost and confused, as Yugi said.
“My email. If you need to talk to someone, you know I’m here, always.” and just with that, he smiled and bid the other Ishtar siblings goodbye as well. Malik was just frozen, completely shaken as to what to do with this information. Talk to someone? And what should he even talk about with him? Yugi had just offered him that like he was offering to hang out with a random friend. With someone who didn’t try to have him killed a few months ago. He was at loss for words, not knowing what to do anymore.
Yet he had sent the first email, taking the opportunity that Yugi’s birthday was coming up to wish it to him and establish a contact. The young man had replied eagerly, now engaging in a conversation. He had asked when Malik’s birthday was, how he was doing, how his siblings were doing, what was his favourite meal. It felt nice, strangely nice to talk to him. They didn’t talk much about all the bad things that happened, but Malik didn’t mind. Maybe Yugi just wanted to restart all over, without dealing with stuff like that anymore. And deep down, it seemed comforting to be able to talk to him without being reminded of his misdeeds at any moment.
When Malik saw a different email address as the sender however, he frowned, his heart skipping a beat. Bakura. He knew that name. It was the Thief’s name. The mere thought crossed his mind, yet Malik cursed himself for having it in the first place as a shiver of shame ran through his spine. It wasn’t the Spirit who sent him this, it was the man to whom the body the Spirit stole really belonged to.
His bitter feeling only half swallowed, he sat down in front of the computer, and started reading it.
“Greetings Malik,
How have you been doing? I apologise for sending this email out of the blue as it might seem a bit unexpected. It was Yugi who gave me your email, just to clear that at the beginning so you do not worry.
It took me some time to reach out to you, having in mind that you knew me for being the Spirit’s host. I didn’t want to get close to you, I was afraid that it would bring him back in some ways. Let’s hope it doesn’t…
Yugi told me about the conversations you were having over the past two months. I must admit that I was a little curious about you. The first thing I recall from you, aside from what I’ve been told, is Battlecity.”
Malik tensed a little as he read that, grimacing. Oh no, it was going to be about that, right… He knew the experience must have been awful for Ryou and, being reminded of that fact, the Egyptian took a deep breath and got ready to read the rest of the email. He had been getting himself ready to face the consequences of his actions, now was one of the key moments to prove it.
“I never got the chance during the trip to Egypt (as it was very busy already), to thank you for helping me at that moment. I’m glad you found me, even though I don’t remember the timeline easily because of the Spirit’s control, but I know the wound on my arm would’ve gotten worse if you hadn’t taken me to my friends.
I apologise for taking so much time to thank you properly, I hope we will be able to see each other face to face so I can say it out loud as well.
In the meantime, I hope you and your siblings will be doing alright.
Sincerely,
Ryou Bakura.”
Malik was in such a state of shock that he didn’t move for a good minute. Well thank Gods that Ryou didn’t say that to him back in Egypt, or he would’ve faced the frozen reaction himself. Which was why Malik kept reading the text, trying to search for any hidden sense of sarcasm or irony, but no. Bakura was sincerely thanking him. Damn, that Spirit must’ve really clouded his memories so he didn’t remember a thing. Now that was a bit awkward…
The man just sat there, as he tried to type a response. He had to restore the truth with Ryou, that’s what he deserved. Even though Malik had doubted it for a second, he knew it wouldn’t be as honest to just hide that part of the story.
Responsible for the actions, all the way or nothing, what he told himself as he started to reply.
“Hello Ryou!
No worries about the email, it’s still a pleasant surprise to receive something from you. I hope you’ve been doing great as well, how is life treating you since we saw each other? It’s true we haven’t gotten the time to talk a lot, or even at all, but I appreciate the thought.
Although, not gonna lie to you. I don’t know how much you remember or don’t remember of that story, it’s not my place to know either so it’s alright, but I thought it would be better to tell you what truly happened.
It’s true that it was the Spirit’s actions, to stab your arm. I was actually the one who took advantage of that, to get closer to Yugi, and the Pharaoh. We plotted it together, with the Ring’s Spirit. For revenge, you know.
So yeah, I don’t really feel like accepting the thank-you’s, though I’m sure you genuinely meant well. I should be the one apologising, and I do apologise for all of that. Be sure that it wasn’t anything personal.
Hope you’ll do fine as well,
Have a good day
Malik.”
And just with that, without taking the time to proofread the email again, he clicked on ‘send’ with a heavy sigh. Maybe it was going to be the final straw for Bakura, who would decide that Malik was a real dickhead and never talk to him again. The man gulped, crossing his arms as he thought about it. Surely, it wouldn’t be nice, but he would understand it.
The wait of the email was so long that Malik thought that Ryou may not answer at all.
He was close to losing hope, and almost turned off the computer before he eventually received a reply. Eyes widening and heartbeat quickening, he opened the email. He was faced with something even more challenging than a lack of response.
“Oh”
That was all, nothing else was added to the email. It sounded so real, so sincere, removed from anything superflu.
Malik’s stomach twisted at the sight of this only word on the page. He knew better than to wait for another reply, knowing it wouldn’t come. Right, give Ryou some time, he needed it. He had his own stuff to deal with, the aftermath of the Millenium Ring’s Spirit, he had to let him process the information.
So that’s what he’ll do.
It was still a big surprise to see that +1 notification pop up on his screen a few days after. Truth be told, Malik didn’t even think Ryou would reach out again, let alone that soon. Yet, he was curious about his email, so he sat back down, putting his half full cup of tea on the desk.
“Hello again Malik,
I’m sorry for the abrupt, former answer. I didn’t mean to make it sound harsh, I was more shocked than angry, I promise. Though, I still needed a few moments to collect my thoughts, before I realised you’d been left with no reply from me.
Thank you for being honest with me. It may seem like nothing to you, but you had no obligation to explain the truth. So for that, thank you.
Tell me, how have you been feeling these days?
Waiting for your answer,
Ryou.”
Well, it surprisingly went well enough to let Malik’s nerves relax. He knew all his actions towards Ryou hadn’t been washed up yet, they probably never will, but at least, the other had appreciated hearing what had happened. And now he was asking for Malik’s life updates, like they just haven’t seen each other in a long time.
What could he answer? That since he banned his evil personna, he had been thrown into a life, a much calmer life. Especially since all the stuff with the Millenium Items settled a few months ago. Now, he was him, or at least it felt like it. His siblings were still close to him, and supporting anything that happened. Malik didn’t think he had enough of a lifetime to thank them for everything.
That he didn’t know what-to-do now. All of his life had been chosen for him. He thought he had freedom, looking for that revenge with the Pharaoh. All of that was done now, for real. That was true freedom, more than freedom! Although… Malik felt like he should have some sense of peace in his chest. He was excited for the future, a deep curiosity and will to learn things anchored in his heart, but no peace. Not yet. He had no desire for revenge, yet he wasn’t at peace.
… Maybe that was a bit of a too personal answer, even though Bakura seemed to yearn for it. Maybe it was too soon.
Instead, Malik settled for a shorter version, yet trying to hint at all of that. No use to lie, he had already gone too far to lie now and saying he was doing perfectly fine. Afterall, none of them did.
Malik was walking in his room, door open, waiting for … something. Bakura had told him that he had to get to the airport, to accompany his dad, and they could call (like, as if a real call, in live) as soon as he came back. So yes, Malik didn’t know what to do. Especially since he had received the “I’m home!” email a few minutes ago. Should he just call him first, or wait? Maybe Ryou needed time to get some water when he arrived, or anything of the sort?
Isis watched her little brother turn around and around and mumbling to himself, with a concerned face. She wasn’t fond to learn that Malik did still have the habit to think out loud when he was stressed, it sometimes took her by surprise when the room was filled with silence to hear a silent mumbling. Her heartbeat always quickened, but when she turned to look at the source of the noise, she would let out a small relieved sigh. It was only him, no one else.
The most impressive thing is that Malik didn’t seem to notice her presence at all so he must have really been bothered by his thoughts. Isis dared to take a guess as she saw the open computer put on the desk.
She knocked gently on the door to make herself known. Perhaps she could be of some help. “Malik? Do you need something?”
The sound made him jump a little as he quickly turned around towards her. Sensing that he didn’t actually hear her question, she stepped inside and repeated. “Do you need something?”
“Ha… I don’t think so.” He replied, a bit lost now that he got called out. He knew he still had the habit to think out loud, but it always felt a bit weird to get noticed when he did. “I’m uh… waiting for Ryou to call.”
Isis didn’t even take a second to recognise -and put a face on the man Malik mentioned. She had only seen him for a few moments, though she could feel that it was mostly the Spirit of the Ring controlling him. She hadn’t known a lot about him, at least before her brother started talking about him a few weeks ago. That Ryou had reached out to him, and now they were becoming friends, but it was the first time Isis heard Malik talk about a call. Which could explain why he was acting so disturbed and stressed.
At that time, she could only look at the situation for a tender smile. She could tell that it was a big deal to him, as he probably saw that as their big first call. She made a mental note to remind him that day when they would be calling each other every day, soon enough.
Before he could frown and ask her what was so funny, Isis offered. “Why don’t you go make yourself a cup of tea, in order to relax? I doubt Ryou will call among the next three minutes.”
Malik seemed to consider the idea, eyeing the computer and the entrance of his room, before sighing in defeat and nodding. He walked past his sister with a hurried step, a sign of impatience, Isis recognised.
Just as her brother left for the kitchen, she turned back towards the computer when she heard some noise coming from it. The irony almost made her chuckle as she saw Bakura calling just now.
Isis considered answering, and greeting Ryou herself, but she thought about it twice. It was her protective instincts that spoke, she feared that Malik was in danger again. That something was lurking in the shadows, just waiting to get to him again. She had to be careful, her brother was on a good path but she still felt that crippling fear that something would go wrong and she wouldn’t be there to protect him. It paralysed her, even though nothing could go south, especially with Ryou. He seemed like an honest man, probably even nicer than he appeared, which was talking for itself.
Yet, here she was. Afraid that Malik would get hurt by talking to a friend.
“Oh shit!” Malik’s voice made her snap out of her spiralling thoughts. Her eyes widened as she turned to look at her brother almost running in the corridor as he heard the calling noise coming from the computer. “He is calling already!”
She lightly stepped aside to let him slide back inside and put his cup on his desk with a sigh. Isis looked a bit lost in her mind still, until Malik gave her a look- a look that meant ‘Can you close the door, please?’, and she did so.
As she heard Malik’s excited greeting and Ryou’s equally glad voice reply black through the closed door, she felt a bit better. Right. All was safe, and it wasn’t her place to intrude those kinds of moments. Isis stepped back and returned to her book.
It was spring when a bigger news was dropped.
The sun had been set for over an hour, and the engine of Malik’s motorbike turning off could only be heard outside the house. He had taken a habit to go for rides, just to get his mind more calm sometimes. And those rides quickly became a way for him to call with Ryou as well, since they exchanged phone numbers a bit before Malik’s birthday.
Of course, Isis had tried to tell him that it wasn’t maybe the safest to call while he is driving and that he could absolutely phone Bakura when he was not at 100mp/h on roads that weren’t made for it, and Rishid simply agreed by shooting him a disapproving glance and crossed arms. Nothing that really stopped Malik, as he shrugged it off and kept doing it either way.
“I’m home!” The younger brother called, as he stepped inside.
And of course, it was now a habit to see him come back home when it was dark as well, as if his behaviour wasn’t dangerous enough in broad daylight.
Isis did her usual scolding lecture, on how phones distracted him while he drove and it was going to make him have an accident someday, as Malik removed his helmet –at least he wore one, and went to start setting the table. At least, the younger one was a bit sensitive to the fact that his siblings always waited for all of them to be here until they started their meal, a family tradition they had kept from their childhood. Malik was followed by his sister who kept on talking, even though he didn’t show a sign of listening like always, and Rishid silently watched them while he grabbed the plates.
“-Yeah I know, Isis, driving while being on a call is bad and stuff…” Malik stated as he closed the fridge with his hip, bottle of water in his hand and putting his said phone in his pocket with the other.
Isis sighed, at least glad he had heard all the things she said, even though the message seemed to fly just above his ears. “I’m sure Ryou wouldn’t mind you calling him while you’re here. You can even go out if you want some privacy.” Deep down, she knew it was no use. They had had that talk a thousand times before (as the bored look on Rishid’s face showed), and Malik never stopped acting so careless. Perhaps that was what kept Isis’ sisterly instincts so acute.
“No but today we were talking about something important!” Malik retorted, putting the bottle on the main table with a grin. Surely he only heard the things he wanted to, Isis pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration to have to repeat herself once again for nothing.
“How is he doing?” Rishid asked, as he tried to diffuse the conversation. He put the plates on the table and started walking back to the counter to grab glasses.
“Oh fine! Almost graduated from high school, he is doing great!”
“Tell him congratulations for us.” Rishid added. His face remained stern, but they both knew he meant it in a warm way.
“I will! He says hi to you, like usual.”
“That’s very nice of him Malik, be sure to return the greetings-” the younger brother seemed content with that, before Isis added, “-I’d sure be even more glad if he could knock some sense into you though.”
“Oh come on!” Malik complained.
Before the two of them could continue bickering on Malik’s activities, the oldest walked in with the plate of koshari in his hands. Malik quickly slid a folded towel on the table, before helping his brother to put it on.
“Thank you.” Rishid simply mumbled, before the other continued.
“And why are we even talking about me driving with my phone?” Isis almost retorted that it did become a pretty bad habit of the younger, but Malik kept on going before she could. “-While we could talk about the big news I have to tell you!”
Isis sat down, quickly followed by the other two. Malik grabbed the bottle of water and started filling everyone’s glass as he talked.
“You know Ryou’s dad is an archeologist, he is like out of the country for most of the year. Dude’s not going back to his own place until December, and he stays there for… 3 days at best.” He started, closing back the bottle. Both wondered how that information was relevant, but they let their younger sibling talk first. “Ryou is alone, in the flat for all the year. He starts college in September, and you know, we were talking and stuff, about what to do next year. I told him I’d like to, you know, move around.”
Isis had now understood where this was going, and gave Rishid a glance. If the other had too, he didn’t show it in the slightest way. Not even them could decipher the face he wore this time, not that Malik cared yet since he was playing with his fork as he ranted.
“-And, we got the idea. What if,” he finally settled his hands as he put his fork back on the table and instead grabbed his glass, “we moved in together, for this year? I could find a job in Domino, and he’ll go to college, and we’ll be keeping each other company and I could move around at the same time.”
Silence casted among the table, Malik suddenly sank in the expressions on his siblings’ faces. Rishid was unreadable even if he squinted hard, and Isis appeared like she had just been told that the Earth was flat. Maybe it was a bit too much for a Thursday evening. Maybe.
Surprisingly, the first question that arose wasn’t ‘have you gone crazy and you want to go live across the sea?’.
“Where will you be getting a job?” Isis asked, Rishid didn’t say a word for now.
“Uh- I don’t know, there’s maybe some place I could find. Some shops, a restaurant, anything. Just something that’ll leave me time to live.”
That answer didn’t seem to satisfy her in any way, and she replied, her tone not letting him even a chance to refuse. “I’m finding you a job.” And apparently, Malik still had the will to try and retort.
“What? No!”
One thing one should know about the dynamic of the Ishtar siblings was that Isis and Malik got into many arguments, numberless of times. The older’s protective senses were well intentioned, but as good-thought-of as they could be, they enraged Malik who kept seeing them as a threat to his freedom. It drove him mad to see that he had conditions to things he wanted to do, and considered them stupid and meaningless. Why was his sister feeling forced to take everything into her own hands and now let him have a voice in the deal?
“That’s not something you can debate about, you’ll need a proper job to get there.”
“A job that I can find myself!”
“I have a few contacts left in the Domino Museum, so I could arrange something.” Isis stated, like she hadn’t heard him this time, which seemed to infuriate Malik even more.
“Didn’t you hear? I said no!”
“Malik…”
“I don’t want your help for anything, I can handle myself pretty well!” He added, feeling the anger boil up in his blood. “I can do whatever I want!”
“It’s not about not doing what you want, it’s about making it easier to settle there-” Isis tried just at the same time her brother cut her off.
“-I’ll tell you what this is about– You want to overprotect me and control my life!”
“Malik, no…” She felt bad to have hit a sensitive cord, she knew Malik had troubles accepting others’ interferences in his own life, but she needed him to understand where she was coming from. “I don’t want to control your life, I want to make sure you’ll be okay this time.”
It seemed to be the final straw. Malik’s face twisted in ache at first, before getting replaced for a furious look. A shift that Isis managed to catch and she immediately got the will to apologise, sensing that it wasn’t the right choice of words. Unfortunately, she couldn’t utter a syllabus before her brother’s anger got too much and snapped.
BAM, the youngest slammed his hands on the table as he stood up, making them jump in surprise.
“This time?!” Malik’s tone changed, growing more resentful and hurt. “What are you implying? Do you think I don’t know how to handle myself anymore? I’m fine now, with or without your help! So please! refrain from messing up with my life, this time!”
Silence.
It sounded even more painful, in comparison with the sudden noise of Malik’s shouts that just vanished like it had never happened. Yet, Isis’ startled eyes were proof of the fact that it was actually real.
“Malik.” Rishid called, as a way to ground him back.
That seemed to work. Malik seemed to regain his senses. The shift that occurred on his face was even more painful, as the two other siblings shared a knowing look. Meanwhile, the younger looked taken aback, like he had just snapped back into reality, and looked at his siblings in an attempt to reassure himself. Meeting Isis’ worried face didn’t reassure him in the slightest, nor did crossing the sight of the scared yet stern facade of Rishid.
Malik blinked a few times. He was standing– when the hell did he stand up?, hands angrily holding the wood of the table. He quickly removed them yet still not knowing where to put them. He didn’t say a word as he did so, but immediately looked at the other two and blurted out, sitting back down.
“I’m sorry…”
The sudden situation was to blame for the lack of words from them. Rishid simply offered his hand for the younger one to hold, which he didn’t wait another second to do. Isis looked at him with an understanding yet still very concerned face. They had expected things like that to happen, while she was worried sick for him, she tried to not wear it on her face too much.
“I’ll leave you some time to think about it…” She stated, her voice calm. She didn’t have to make it matter so much, as she tried to convince herself that Malik’s reaction didn’t have to be so meaningful for his health. Maybe it didn’t mean anything. “...for now, let’s talk about something else, alright?”
Rishid gave him an uncertain look, but didn’t contradict her. Talking it out wouldn’t do good things right now, but ignoring it completely wasn’t ideal either. Still, sensing Malik’s distress– as the younger shoved his face into his free hand, Rishid agreed to let it go for now.