Chapter Text
"It's crazy to think I started with such a small sliver I had trouble holding control for an hour, and here I am able to run for over an hour," the thief marveld, pacing his breathing to line up with his strides.
"It's crazy that you choose to run for over an hour," Bakura corrected. He could feel the stress on their body, and he knew he was going to be exhausted tonight. The thief wanted to test himself though, and Bakura agreed since he knew the thief had really been pushing himself with the goal of running a 10 kilometer race.
The thief came to a stop in front of their apartment, panting hard but in good spirits. He'd managed an hour and three minutes before his cooldown lap. That was nothing on what he used to run like, but with how uncommitted his host was to fitness, it was a miracle he'd worked down to that.
If he could actually run more than once or twice a week, he'd get a lot better faster, he thought. He couldn't complain too much though. Bakura always let him run with Kaiba on thursdays, and there was little better on this earth than lapping Kaiba before he had his coffee for the morning.
The thief started stripping the moment their apartment door was shut behind him. He paid the open window no mind. If someone got themself all the way to the eighth floor to peep on him, he'd give a show for their effort.
"Would you at least gather our clothes in a pile?" Bakura rolled his eyes as he watched the thief discard the individual items he pulled off as he walked.
"Letting them air out," he dismissed, reaching the shower room nude.
"You are a pig."
"They're rather smart creatures."
Bakura gave up, burying his face in his hands. Whatever, he was planning on cleaning today, anyways.
The thief began showering, scanning the ridiculous number of bottles Bakura had lining a single shelf in the bath and looking for the one Bakura had begged he use. He insisted the thief at least wash their hair with a two in one shampoo and conditioner.
After a decent shower, nice and cold, the thief felt refreshed. With most of the suds rinsed out, he was satisfied and began filling the tub with warm water. He loved to bath after a long run, it reminded him of the days he used to sneak off to the Nile just after nightfall and soak, letting the day's hardships wash away.
He slipped in, putting his hair in a bun like Bakura taught him, and sighed as the warmth soaked into his body. His muscles warmed and stretched and he felt rejuvenated as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
Both their souls were tranquil in the warm bath, not breaking the silence for a good ten minutes.
"It really is amazing though, how fast a soul can grow back," the thief commented softly, not opening his eyes.
"I'm surprised they're not farmed," Bakura idly replied.
The thief opened his eyes and let them sourly glare ahead. "Well, not too often anymore." When Bakura's curiosity rung in his mind, the thief elaborated," Most duel monsters we know today arose from the evil in one's heart being ripped from their body. And the Millennium Items…"
"Oh, right." By now, Bakura knew most of the story of the Millennium Items. He was never told all of the story in one sitting, and he had to put much of the history together himself through clues tossed his way. He should have known better.
"And that evil could regrow, given time. Hatred, fear, you name it. Darkness plagued many hearts."
Bakura wondered why the sudden contemplation on souls, but dropped the thought as the thief picked a random bottle from the shelf and turned it around to look at the directions.
"This rich scented gel is made with…" The thief puzzled over the next kanji, knowing he knew each part of it, but forgetting the exact word as a whole. He traced its strokes in the air with one hand and hummed as he failed to come up with it.
"Plum," Bakura supplied.
Oh, right, the left side was tree and the right side sea. Those radicals meant plum together. "...Made with plum, grapefruit… and strawberry?"
Bakura encouragingly corrected," Close! Raspberry."
"Tree strawberries is a stupid name for raspberries. Don't we usually see it in katakana using, um, the english word?"
"Yeah, that's how it usually is in the grocery stores. This is the traditional kanji for it."
The thief grumbled that it didn't make any sense, but he continued reading anyways. "Made with those fruits… will leave you feeling awake and re-re… refreshed… Directions…" He thought of what "bubbles" and "standing" came together to be. "Lather well, then rinse. Repeat as desired until skin is smooth as… smooth as silk."
Looking briefly through the ingredients, the thief decided to call it good and stuck the bottle back.
"Your kanji is really getting good!"
"Once you've read one soap bottle, you've read them all," the thief dismissed. "All that changes is the scent and what they promise."
"Still, you're reading a lot faster."
True, his recognition was a lot better than it used to be. He could often figure out one of the kanji in a word and make an educated guess on the word he didn't know.
He was quite proud. He could read almost all the kanji on duel monster cards now, and he could get through some of the manga Bakura had laying around without relying completely on the furigana. He couldn't quite read the Monster World books yet, though he knew all the rules from the years of Bakura explaining it to new friends frequently.
He learned a lot from reading the subtitles when he watched TV, which he had admittedly become a little addicted to. Thinking about what words to expect coming up helped a lot too, and he had been going out of his way to read whenever he could. He wouldn't let Bakura set a menu back or put down a flyer with reading as much as he could.
He really owed Bakura a lot for all of his patience and help…
"I would never be good at reading without all the furigana you add and stuff, so thanks, I guess."
Bakura felt warmth in his chest and happily responded," Of course, I'm happy to help."