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Similar Differences	By : Amarin Category: Yu-Gi-Oh > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 2748 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh!, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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I have no idea how I missed uploading this chapter the first time I posted this story, but here it is, albeit five years late. -_-

Mbr>

Therapist To Insane Megalomaniacs Isn't In My Job Description

***

Two Weeks Later

***
Well, normal was one thing, but that still didn't change his circumstances. After all, normal teenagers went to school, right? And Malik still had to go to classes. While it wasn't pure torture, the best part was lunch.

And no, unlike Joey Wheeler, it wasn't because he got to eat.

It was because of Seto Kaiba.

Malik refused to think about why he liked spending time with the CEO so much. That way lay madness, and he'd already fulfilled his lifetime quota with Marik.

It was...normal...to enjoy spending time with your friends, right?

And even if it wasn't, that was the last thought he allowed himself on the subject.

***
Normal definitely wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Glaring at his car, Seto sighed. It was...normal...he supposed, to have car trouble.

But if normal people didn't enjoy it, why should he be any different?

He knew there was gas in the tank, and the oil was changed regularly. The lights hadn't been left on - there was a safety feature that turned them off after fifteen minutes - so the battery was okay. Beyond that, he had no clue what was going on.

A low chuckle from behind him caused him to whirl around.

And he came face-to-face to Malik Ishtar.

Was it normal for him to be...glad...to see the other?

He supposed not. But then, when had he ever been normal?

"Having car trouble?" Malik asked.

Seto's grin was sour. "Master of stating the obvious, aren't you, Ishtar?"

Malik shrugged. "For all I know, you locked your keys in there - and while that's trouble, it's not specific to your vehicle."

Glowering at the shorter boy, Seto dangled his key ring from his right hand.

Malik's merriment was clearly evident in his reply. "My mistake."

Seto's response was a low growl as he went back to contemplating his car. He supposed he'd have to call someone...

Sighing, he reached into his pocket for his cell phone, only to be stopped by six little words.

"Mind if I take a look?"

On eyebrow raised, Seto said, "Do you know what you're doing?"

Malik's response was yet another shrug and the words, "More than you do, I assume."

"That's comforting," Seto said sardonically, but he waved the blond over.

Malik moaned theatrically as he placed his backpack on top of a nearby bench. "Can't you respond to any inquiry without using biting sarcasm?" He undid the snaps on his school uniform jacket and shrugged it off, leaving him in only a tight pale purple shirt. He dropped it on top of his backpack and headed back over to the car.

"Sarcasm is the safe alternative to expressing anger," Kaiba quipped. "Or so I've been told."

"By who?" Malik asked, walking around to the front of the Mercedes. "And can you pop the hood?"

Unlocking the driver's side door, Seto pressed the hood release lever as he answered, "By Mokuba. He has this huge book of quotes, and he memorizes a page full each week. He's made it up to the Ps so far, and last week he read that one by Richard North Patterson and decided it was advice I needed to follow."

"And why was that?" Malik asked, voice muffled as he was now buried inside the engine block.

Seto rolled his eyes; even though the other couldn't see him, the gesture was apparent in his tone of voice. "For years he's been harping on me to make friends. He thinks I'm not nice enough to people, and that's why I drive them away."

"If people are so sensitive that they can't take a little heat, they then need to learn to toughen up. The world is not a nice place," Malik said absently. "Try and start the car, okay? See if the lights pop on."

Seto complied, and though the dashboard lit up when the key was turned, the engine remained silent. "I agree, but Mokuba sees things differently," Seto replied. "He wants to believe in the innate goodness of humankind. His big thing is trying to get me to spend more time with people my own age. To no avail, until recently, since he'd been trying to get me to befriend Yugi and his followers."

Malik snorted as he examined the interior of the engine. "Fat chance of that happening," he mumbled. "You can turn it off now," he added.

"Exactly," Seto agreed, removing the key from the ignition and climbing back out of the car. "He'd just about given up on me making friends when you showed up. And apparently he's decided that while I do need more friends, I'm not doing a very good job of it if you're the only one I've made."

"You're kidding," Malik said on a laugh. The sound of metal against metal was heard as he was obviously shifting something around inside the engine.

"Nope," Seto said succinctly, masking his worry over what the Egyptian was going to his car in his abrupt tone. "He said, and I quote: 'Did you have to take up with someone who's even crazier than you are?'"

"Hey, I resemble that remark!" Malik protested, laughing face popping up over the raised hood.

"You surely do," Seto agreed dryly.

Malik shook his head and slammed the hood back down. "Anyway... I know what's wrong with your car."

Seto's ears perked up at this. "Oh?"

"Yeah, you have a dead starter," Malik told him.

"Which means?" Seto asked impatiently.

"You ain't goin' nowhere until you get it replaced," Malik said, mouth pursed into a grin. "Better call a tow truck."

Seto's eyes narrowed and he sighed. "That's what I was going to do before you showed up," he grumbled, though there was nonetheless a hint of appreciation in his voice.

"At least now you know what's wrong with it so if they try and overcharge you you can sue," Malik pointed out, picking up his jacket and putting it back on.

Seto noticed that when Malik leaned over to grab his jacket, his shirt rode up in the back, and he could see what looked like...a tattoo?

Shrugging off his questions, Seto picked up the conversational thread again. "They wouldn't dare," he hissed, venomous rage in his tone. The last person who'd tried to screw him over...

Well, actually, the last person who'd tried to screw him over was Marik. The Big Five didn't count, really, since A) they were a group, not one person, and B) his board of directors always tried to screw him over.

They just normally didn't come so close to killing people.

Casting aside those thoughts, Seto flipped open his cell phone and dialed his mechanic, arranging to have the car picked up and towed. He was just about to call his driver to come and pick him up when he realized three things.

One: Malik had not taken his motorcycle to school today, so he would obviously be walking home.

Two: And he himself didn't actually live all that far from here, so he could walk.

Which led him to conclusion number three: They could walk home together. And he could spend more time with Malik.

Refusing to think about why that made him so...happy...Seto just decided, for once, to go with the flow.

"Well, since we both are apparently walking home today...and we both live in the same direction...do you want to walk together?" Seto asked, acting as if he didn't care one way or the other if Malik assented.

Because even if the Ishtar didn't agree, they'd still end up walking together. Seto had to get home some way, after all. And he wasn't about to walk in the other direction just because his presence might make Malik uncomfortable.

"Sure," Malik agreed blithely. He grabbed his backpack, Seto grabbed his briefcase, and they started walking.

A few minutes passed in a strangely comfortable silence. Seto was never one for wasted opportunities, and he knew that he and his walking companion would be parting ways at the park. So he should make the most of the fifteen minutes they had together.

"You seemed pretty confident you knew what was wrong with my car," Seto said leadingly.

Malik shrugged. "I'm taking Auto Shop this semester," he said dismissively

"Still..."

"And I used to do the same thing down at the Gear Head Garage on Sakura Street," Malik admitted grudgingly.

"You have a job?" Seto asked disbelievingly.

"Not anymore," Malik growled.

Seto raised an eyebrow, a silent inquiry for more information.

"I used to have a job as a mechanic; working on motorcycles mostly," Malik said morosely.

"What happened?" Seto asked. In most cases his gut reaction would be, 'What did you do to get fired?' but he was slowly coming around to the idea that he shouldn't automatically assume ninety-nine percent of the people in the world were idiots, and he should give them the benefit of the doubt.

Or at least the ones he didn't want to piss off. And for some reason, he didn't want to piss off Malik.

And it had nothing to do with the fact that the Egyptian used to be psychotic, either.

Most normal people didn't want to piss off their friends, right?

Or, at least, not too much.

Malik sighed heavily and shifted his backpack to his left arm. "The guy who owned the place was getting too old to handle the day-to-day stuff so his son took over as manager. And the son was some jackass who wanted to lay off all the 'unskilled' labor and hire people with actual training. And I ask you, what does a guy who took a six-month course have that I don't, other than a piece of paper saying that he passed said course?" Malik demanded. "I mean, I practically built my own motorcycle from spare parts, and just because I didn't take a few useless night classes, the guy lays me off."

"That's rough," Seto commiserated. And he meant it; plenty of the people who worked in his R&D Department weren't even college graduates yet, but they did most of the imaginative and creative work.

"Yeah, well," Malik said, slightly mollified. A wide grin crossed his lips. "He's regretting it now, though; he's lost almost twenty-five percent of his customers, since his 'trained technicians' aren't as good as the 'unskilled' labor."

Seto's only response to that was a thinly-veiled smirk.

"I actually think I could have been pretty happy working as a mechanic for the rest of my life," Malik admitted. Tossing Seto a grin, he said, "I mean, I know it's not as glamorous as being CEO of your own company; really just a blue collar job with no room for advancement, but I liked it. I enjoyed working on the motorcycles."

"I enjoy designing the games more than running KaibaCorp," Seto revealed. "But they go hand in hand, for me."

"With great power comes great responsibility," Malik quoted.

"Though thankfully not always a red and blue Lycra bodysuit," Seto quipped.

Malik chuckled. "Yes indeed - though I do think you would look good in skintight clothes, red really isn't your color."

Choosing to disregard the implied compliment, Seto said drolly, "So I've been told."

"Oh, really? By who?" Malik asked curiously.

"By Mokuba - for some reason he doesn't like it when I'm bleeding," Seto joked.

The joke obviously fell flat, though, since Malik's smile slipped. His face paled and he looked down at the ground. "Yeah, well...you're not the only one," he said finally.

Cursing himself for having apparently stepped on an emotional land mine - and who knew Ishtar of all people had them? - Seto waited until another lull came up to say, "So was it just that you didn't have time to take the night classes, or did you just not want to?"

It was a noticeable change of subject, but Malik seemed to appreciate it.

"I never wanted to go to school in the first place, but Isis made me," Malik said. "I don't think I need to know algebra, or how to use fancy tools to fix a car the same way you use a socket wrench."

"I find that ironic," Seto said.

"You do?"

"Considering that you wanted to take over the world, I would have thought you'd like power, no matter what kind."

Malik sent the other boy an uncomprehending look. "What are you talking about, Kaiba?"

Seto smirked. "Knowledge is power, Ishtar. Haven't you heard?"

Malik snorted. "And power corrupts. So what? You're saying study hard, be evil?"

Seto was dumbfounded. The other's train of reasoning was actually...logical.

Sort of.

If you considered insanity logical.

Shaking his head, Seto mumbled, "Never mind. I can feel my IQ dropping as we speak."

"Oh?" Malik asked, one platinum eyebrow raised in inquiry.

"Yes, apparently your stupidity is catching," Seto quipped.

Malik pursed his lips in a frown. "That wasn't very nice, Kaiba," he sulked, a mock-pout on his face.

"You expect me to be nice?" Seto asked curiously.

"Expect? No," Malik answered. "But one can always hope."

"Well, I wouldn't bet money on it," Seto said dryly.

"Hope, like very little else in this life, is free," Malik said solemnly. "Just like your insults," he dug.

Seto snorted and rounded on the other boy. "So you're saying I should charge you for each invective I lob at you?"

"I'm saying that your insults are a service you provide free of charge, Kaiba, that's all," Malik said, knowing he'd finally gotten the other's goat.

"Why you..." Kaiba hissed playfully and lunged at Malik.

"Catch me if you can!" Malik called, racing off towards the park.

"You can run but you can't hide, Ishtar!" Kaiba yelled, giving chase. He was acting like a kid...

Of course, he was a kid, so maybe this was something else in his life that had become normal.

Pelting down the sidewalks toward the park - which they had already been within blocks of - Kaiba soon caught up to the other boy, the Egyptian's quick feet no match for his longer legs. He was only a few yards behind Malik when his prey decided to change tactics.

Malik headed for the small stand of trees at the edge of the park, and, putting on a burst of speed, soon broke through the bushes at the edge of the wooded glade.

Malik was quick, and Seto knew that if the blond got much farther into the forest, he'd lose him. Speeding up, he soon overtook the other boy, grabbing onto Malik's jacket and yanking him back towards himself.

The move threw them both off-balance, and they ended up pressed against the trunk of a nearby tree, Malik with his back to it, Seto facing him. Raising his eyes to meet Malik's, Seto's breath caught in his throat.

The other boy was beautiful. How had he never noticed that before?

White-blond hair in disarray, with leaves and twigs caught in it, panting hard from running and laughing simultaneously, eyes dancing with lively humor...

Suddenly they were face-to-face, lavender eyes staring into blue, breathless laughter dying out on their lips.

Kami, he hoped Malik didn't kill him for this.

And since when was he normal enough to take stupid chances, anyway?

Reaching out with one hand, moving almost in slow-motion, Kaiba hardly dared to breathe as he cupped the back of Malik's head and bent down the scant few inches needed to kiss him.

***
Malik was stunned; he'd never expected this to happen, even if secretly, he had wanted it to. He spent the first few moments of his very first kiss paralyzed, before he realized that that might be taken as a rejection and leaned into Kaiba's soft lips.

It started out as only a slight, whisper-soft pressure, soon building as they each exerted more carnal force. The kiss wasn't a battle for dominance, as he would have thought; instead, they each took turns being in control, mouths slightly open and caressing each other with slick softness. Warm, wet, sticky sweet...

Ra, if he'd known kissing was like this he wouldn't have shunned romance for so long.

Kaiba tasted like some sort of exotic spice; cloves, maybe, or cinnamon...

He never wanted it to end.

But, unfortunately, all good things - and this kissing was a very good thing, all told, Malik thought - must come to an end.

When they pulled apart, Malik almost whimpered at the loss. Fuck, when did I get so...needy? he thought moodily, blinking up at the boy in front of him, glad to see that Seto looked as confused as he felt. "Kaiba, what..." Malik was completely and utterly lost.

"You can call me Seto, if you want," Kaiba said softly, one hand playing with a lock of the Egyptian's almost unnaturally blond hair.

"I...only if you call me Malik," Malik bargained.

Seto nodded slowly, a calculating gleam in his eye. "All right," he agreed.

They stood there for long moments, just looking at each in a comfortable silence, until a sudden gust of cold wind brought them out of their reverie.

"I...I should get home; Isis and Rishid will be worried," Malik said.

"I should go, too, Mokuba's probably waiting for me," Seto said.

"See you at school on Monday?" Malik asked, trying to keep the plaintiveness from his tone. Ra, enjoying Seto's company was one thing - especially considering this...relationship?...they seemed to have embarked on - but the thought of being apart from the CEO for two whole days actually sent a pang of sadness zinging through his heart.

Was that love? Or something like it?

"Monday," Seto agreed warmly, the timbre of his voice sending an involuntary shiver down Malik's spine.

"Okay," Malik agreed breathlessly, and he watched as Seto walked away, ducking underneath low-hanging branches and dodging roots in the ground.

Sliding down the tree trunk until his butt hit the ground, Malik just sat there for a minute, thinking. He needed some time to pull himself together before he headed home.

Even though nothing had been said on the subject, he liked to think that...maybe...he and Seto were now dating.

Forget the fact that he hadn't realize until ten minutes ago he apparently had the hots for Seto Kaiba... Since when was he gay?

Ra, maybe he should take his sister's advice and get therapy.
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