Hey guys. Sorry for the late update. At least it's sooner than the others, right?

CW: Fighting, strangling, insults towards those who cross-dress/dress in drag (if I've missed any, let me know in the comments).

Silver Crosses
by
JazzyMin97 and The Disposable Villain

Chapter Four

Ryou was waiting for Marik and Bakura when they returned. "Sit." He glared at them as they closed the door behind them.

Marik crossed his arms but sat on the couch, Bakura right behind him. "Come on Ry, there isn't anything to be pissed off at us for! It's their faults for being judgmental pricks!" Bakura whined.

"The school called! How did you even manage detention on the first day! They haven't even planned out detentions yet!" Ryou's glare darkened and he folded his arms.

Bakura huffed. "We played a prank. It's not a big deal, Ryou."

"You dumped a thirty litre vat of glue covered rainbow sparkles over students off the roof of the school as they left!" Ryou snapped. "And then poured slushies over them after that!" Honestly, after he had put the phone down, he had laughed a bit. It was pretty funny. But they weren't about to learn that. "How did you even- I don't know if I even want to know how you two idiots managed that!"

Bakura snorted, "Oh come on, you have to admit that it was funny. It was glue and slushies. It's not like it was blood and gore. Besides, it's their fault."

Ryou raised an eyebrow. "Really? Did the entire student body slam you into a locker? Or throw your books in the toilet? Or try to throw you in the toilet? Or did you two just get bored and decide to throw yourselves a 'Welcome to Domino' party?"

Marik huffed, not looking at either of them. "No. They are judgmental idiots, who should go die."

Ryou's eyes narrowed. "Really?" He repeated. "So what happened?"

Bakura sighed, "It's one of those schools that hate anyone who isn't straight, and they wouldn't let Marik make a skirt in home ec."

"We haven't even talked to the principal about Marik wearing the girls' uniform yet. The teacher probably thought he was taking the piss." He looked at Marik. "Which you do a lot. No offence."

"Not about clothes," Marik protested.

"But they didn't know that," Ryou pointed out before turning back to Bakura. "And even if it is that type of school, did anything actually happen to you today?" Bakura didn't reply. "I'm waiting."

Bakura rolled his eyes, "Just shut up. It was a small prank. We got detention."

"Bakura." Ryou's arms fell to his sides. "It was 'small pranks' that got us caught in Ireland. We can't afford to get noticed here."

Bakura growled, "Don't you think I know that?! Just leave it alone Ryou." He got up off the couch and made his way to his room.

"Bakura!" Ryou protested but Bakura ignored him and closed the door. He looked at Marik, but the younger boy just followed Bakura. Ryou sighed and made his way into the kitchen where Akefia was sitting. "Was I too hard on them?" He mumbled.

Akefia snorted, "No, Bakura's just being pissy and Marik's sensitive about the topic. Don't take it personally."

Ryou sighed again and nodded. "I just don't want this to end the same way as it did in Ireland."

Akefia nodded, "Yeah. Hopefully it won't get so bad this time."

Ryou nodded, resting his forehead against the table. After a minute, he stood up and grabbed a pot from one of the boxes labelled by messy markered writing. "I'll start dinner."

Akefia smiled at his younger brother's need to do something. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

Ryou shook his head. "No, I want to." He gave Akefia a smile. "Will you call them in a few minutes?"

"Yeah, sure," Akefia answered. "Need anything else?"

Ryou shook his head. He took three bags of blood, a few vegetables, and three slabs of meat out of the fridge.

Akefia watched his brother as he put everything on the counter to organise what he was doing. "Are you warming the blood up at all?"

"For you and me, yes. Marik and Bakura prefer it cold though." Ryou heated some water. "And I don't care how much they complain about the taste, tell them that they're eating at least one vegetable tonight."

Akefia snorted. "Good luck with that. You Bakura has always hated bunny food."

"Humans eat it too!" Ryou argued.

"Even when he was human he hated it," Akefia laughed.

"Too bad." Ryou pulled his hair into a ponytail. "None of us like it, but it's good to eat it."

"Yeah. You keep telling us that." Akefia nodded.

Ryou sighed and began heating part of the blood and the vegetables. "Go see if you can get them to set the table."

Akefia grumbled slightly before standing. "I'll check."

Ryou smiled at him. "Thanks, Kefie."

Akefia returned the smile. "Focus on not over cooking our food."

"I know." Ryou turned back to the food and stirred it. After a few minutes, he took off the vegetables and the blood, and began to dish out the servings.

He gave himself more vegetables than the others, knowing they didn't really like eating them.

He poured the blood into pint glasses and placed a slab of warm but uncooked beef on each plate. His slab was smaller than the others.

He sighed as he set the table. He should have known it would take Akefia forever to get them. As he set out the plates, the three came downstairs, Akefia pulling Marik and Bakura.

"Come on! You know you need to eat." Akefia groaned as he pulled them along.

"I'm not eating a fucking carrot," Bakura snapped.

Ryou frowned at him. "Yes you are. Now eat before I toss it out. All of it."

Bakura stuck out his tongue at Ryou but sat down.

Marik sat down as well. "Thanks for the food," he mumbled before taking a sip of his blood. He shuddered slightly at the warmth.

Ryou sighed. "Sorry. I kept it as cold as I could."

"It's fine." He and Bakura only ever liked it warm if it was coming straight from a blood bank or an animal. Otherwise, it tasted stale.

Bakura poked the carrots on his plate, "Yeah. We can deal with it I guess."

Ryou's shoulders slumped. He always tried his best with cooking. He was the best out of the four, but he still wasn't very good. Akefia noticed the slump and raised an eyebrow at Bakura.

"Why don't you try cooking tomorrow, Kura? See how well you do it."

"Why? Ry's better at it." He said as he looked up to glare at Akefia, "I just can't believe that you guys would think that I'd willingly eat fucking carrots. I've never liked them, and you're trying to make me eat it."

"Just eat one," Ryou pleaded. "You can have my meat if you do."

"No. You need to eat that." Akefia told Ryou, returning Bakura's glare, "Just eat one Bakura. Drizzle some of your blood over it; that's how you ate it before."

Bakura huffed. "Ruins the taste of the blood," he mumbled, but he poured some over the carrot.

"Next time just do that instead of bitching at your brothers." Marik rolled his eyes as he took a small bite of his. "You know they're going to just bury you in fucking carrots one day."

"The second they even try, I'm making sure they're buried in a Catholic graveyard if they die," Bakura snorted.

Ryou kept staring at his food as he took a small bite. Was his brother trying to be mean today? Why would he and Akefia die?

"Wow. That's the perfect revenge." Marik rolled his eyes again..

"Shut up," Bakura snapped, swallowing his carrot as quickly as possible. It wasn't like it was going to happen anyway. He wouldn't let it.

Marik hummed as he tapped his lips with his fork. "Nope."

Bakura shot him a glare and took a large swig of blood. "Whatever."

"Oh, stop being a grump."

"If you don't shut up, I'm going to start naming off those Barbies - which you're still collecting."

Marik put a hand over his- well. Where his heart still was, though it didn't work. "Excuse you, those are limited edition and they have just started bringing out cool ones this decade, so yeah. I'm keeping them."

"Well if you don't shut up, I'm either destroying them or selling them," Bakura replied, taking another large gulp of his blood.

"You wouldn't."

"Try me." Bakura stuck out his tongue and took a large bite out of his meat.

Akefia rolled his eyes, "You both are so childish."

Ryou didn't add anything like he usually would.

He just continued to take small bites of his carrots, occasionally drinking his glass of blood.

Akefia watched him for a moment. "Are you okay?"#

Looking up, Ryou nodded, "Yeah. Just thinking."

Bakura finished his meat and drained the end of his blood before standing up. "I'm going for a walk."

"When will you be back?" Ryou questioned, "You know we have school in the morning."

"I don't know," Bakura huffed. "Soon." He grabbed his trench coat and strode outside.

Marik groaned and stood up, following him. "Bakura, wait!"

Bakura sighed but looked back at him. "What do you want now?"

Marik closed the door behind him. "Quit taking your fear out on them."

Bakura scoffed and continued walking. "Just leave me alone. I don't want to talk."

"Then we won't talk. But I'm walking with you."

"Why? I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself." Bakura huffed.

"Don't care." Marik grinned at him. "I like the company."

"Well I don't want yours right now."

"Oh well. So Kura, where are we walking to?" Bakura huffed and didn't reply. "The silent treatment? Okay. That's fine." Marik suffered through the ever-thickening silence for about ten minutes. "Okay Bakura, please talk to me."

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Apparently something is bothering you."

"Yeah, no shit. Silver Cross hunters might be here." Bakura stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I need a hunt."

"We can't hunt here. Somebody might see us," Marik murmured. "What about seeing if there's any gangs around here that we can beat the shit out of?"

Bakura huffed but nodded. "Yeah, that's fine."

Marik hummed, "Good. So, where to now?"

Bakura shrugged. "The dumps and alleys generally have a few gangs."

Marik nodded. "Okay, let's go overthrow some gangs then. Yay!" He cheered.

Bakura chuckled and led the other further into the city. Marik grinned as the streets got darker. And the fact that he made Bakura laugh.

Bakura nudged him after about twenty minutes of walking and pointed towards one of the alleys. Nodding, Marik followed Bakura to to alley.

They could already see a group at the back. One was laughing, holding a light pink and silver purse and talking about, "-How loudly she shrieked! Damn, you guys should have heard her!"

"Dude, only you would be thrilled by the screams." One of them muttered. "Seriously, the blood they give us is better."

Blood? Marik glanced at Bakura. He had to have misheard that.

"Yeah!" Another agreed, "If they can't pay us what they owe us; blood is enough."

Oh shit. Bakura nudged Marik. The other nodded and they turned around only to crash into someone walking into the alley. The man grabbed Bakura by the scruff of his jacket and slammed him into the wall. "What've we got here?" He asked, drawing the attention of the rest of the gang.

"Ooh Rover found some fresh meat!" One of them cheered.

Marik growled, "Let him go!"

"Why should I?" Rover cackled. Marik lunged at him but one of the others pulled him back. "You're the ones trespassing in our territory, fledgling."

Marik struggled and a hiss escaped him, "We were taking a stroll! Let us go!"

"A stroll?" One of the others hollered. "Why were you standing in our territory then, little one?" He ran a finger down Marik's cheek, flashing his fangs. "We could eat them."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't eat him. He isn't that tasty, assholes."

"Fuck you too, bastard! You taste worse than I do!" Marik huffed in annoyance. "Let us go!" He yelled again.

Rover hissed. "The thing is, we can't do that, fledgling. The second one of you enters our nest, you're trespassing. And we need to drain all trespassers."

Bakura growled and kicked Rover away from him, landing unsteadily on his feet. "You'll let us go, or I'll steal your fangs. What good is a vampire without fangs?"

Rover regained his footing. "What good is a vampire without a body?" He shot back. One of his cronies lunged at Bakura, but Bakura punched him hard, sending him sprawling backwards.

Rover used the opportunity to grab Bakura by his throat and slam him against the wall. Bakura's feet dangled a little off the ground.

"Just let us go! We won't come back!" Marik hissed.

Rover pressed harder on Bakura's throat as the pale teen scratched at his hand. "Nah."

There was a quick thud and Rover collapsed. Bakura fell to his knees, gasping slightly for breath. He didn't breathe; none of them did. Well they did. They didn't drop the habit. But they didn't need to. Not often anyway.

However, if the oxygen flow was completely cut off, it could kill them. He didn't know how or why, but avoiding being strangled was always a good idea.

Bakura glanced up, still holding his neck, to see Seto standing in front of him. Shit. How long had they been here? "So we've finally caught you. Did you really think we'd let you continually kill more people?"

Rover groaned and staggered to his feet, only to his his feet swept out from under him by Yami.
"Stay down. You know it's over." Yami growled. Atem knocked out the guy holding Marik.

Two more lunged at them. Yami knocked one out but one grabbed him. Marik quickly pulled him off and kneed him in the spine, hard enough to almost break it.

The other two guys shared a look before trying to run for it. Yami lunged after them, Marik at his side.

They tackled them down. Yami knocked his opponent out with the tackle alone while Marik had to wrestle with his to keep him pinned.

Yami bent down beside him, "Let me show you a trick."

"Hurry up if you're going to do it! I'm losing my grip if you hadn't noticed!" Marik hissed. The guy under him squirmed until Yami hit a pressure point on his neck. He tensed for a moment and then fell limp. Marik sighed and climbed to his feet. "Thanks."

Yami rolled his eyes as he helped his brother start making a pile of bodies. "You both are fucking idiots. Why do you roam the streets and enter an alleyway?"

"Went for a walk, got lost, tried to find a shortcut home." Bakura shrugged. "Won't happen again. Why were you guys out?"

Seto raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly, "We're out doing a job. And can you stop letting guys pin you against a wall?" He said with a small

"Oh shut up asshole! Maybe you shouldn't have been one of those guys." Bakura huffed.
Marik rolled his eyes and grabbed Bakura's hand. Getting into a fight with Hunters wasn't a good idea. "Right, well we're going to head back. See you guys tomorrow."

"Didn't you say you guys were lost?" Atem asked.

Marik hesitated. "We'll just get directions from someone."

"Don't worry about it; Yami and Seto can walk you guys back," Atem said. The two shot him a look but he ignored them.

Bakura rolled his eyes, "We can find our own way back. Just finish your 'job'." He air quoted the word before tugging Marik with him. He didn't want them to go with them.

Atem shot Yami and Seto a look. They sighed and followed the two. "Too bad. You're stuck with us," Seto muttered.

"We're showing you the way," Yami added.

Bakura clenched his jaw. "We don't need you to."

Bakura glared at him. "We can find our own way back."

"Well, we don't trust you not to get into another fight you can't handle," Seto sneered.

"I was handling it just fine!" Bakura hissed.

"No you weren't Idiot!" Seto yelled.

"I was too!"

Marik moved out of their conversation with an eye roll. He barely glanced at Yami. He should have grabbed some headphones.

Yami was walking, eyes strictly forward, hands in his pockets. Marik sighed and nudged him. Yami's eyes flickered to him, and then looked forward again. "What do you want?"

"You okay?" Marik asked quietly.

"I'm fine. And even if I wasn't, why would I tell you?" Yami snipped. He glanced at Marik again. "And why are you wearing a skirt?"

Marik crossed his arms. "'Why would I tell you?'" He mimicked not looking at Yami. Bakura and Seto were still arguing.

Yami shrugged. "Fine then. Don't. It doesn't matter to me."

Marik rolled his eyes, "Then why ask?"

"Curious. Not the kind of thing that goes down well in Domino."

"So? I can wear a skirt if I feel like it." Marik huffed. "It's clothes."

Yami shrugged again. "Alright. I've got nothing against it. Good luck getting the girls' uniform though. The principal will be fine with it but the teachers and students will give you hell."

Marik dug his fingers into the arm that Yami couldn't see clearly. "I already know."

Yami caught his hand. He quickly dropped it. "Don't do that."

Marik rolled his eyes and crossed his arms again. "I can do whatever I want, jackass. You're the douche who won't make a good conversation."

"Whatever," Yami huffed, folding his arms.

"What? Can't deal with the same bitchy attitude you give everyone else?" Marik questioned.

"I can. I'm just not bothered with you." Yami rolled his eyes.

Marik snorted, "No of course not."

Yami glanced over at him, gritting his teeth. "You... played a good game today."

"Yeah. Thanks." Marik shrugged. "You did too."

"Hn. I know. I always do." Yami glared at the ground in front of him.

"Not conceited at all," Marik mumbled. "Besides, it was fun so that's all that matters."

"Hn." Yami didn't reply. Marik snuck a glance back at Seto and Bakura. Still arguing.

Marik sighed. "I wonder how long their going to keep arguing."

"Probably for as long as this stupid walk is. Seto hates to be challenged," Yami replied.

"Bakura loves it; it gives him the chance to prove he's better than someone." Marik looked at Yami. "You're a bit like Seto, right? Don't like being challenged at sports?"

"No. I hate to be close to losing, because I always win." He won to prove himself. He couldn't lose it.

"Well, even the best players lose a game or two. I'm sorry to tell you," Marik sighed, "that no one is good enough to be a god."

Yami shot him a sharp look. "I'll find a way." Marik was about to laugh - he really was. Until he saw that Yami was deathly serious.

"That'll be interesting. Planning on being an all star player?" Marik questioned.

"No." Yami looked away from him. "I just have to win."

Marik rolled his eyes. "Why? So that your ego is well fed?" He scoffed. "Let me ask you this; what's going to happen when you lose? Are you just going to give up?"

Yami scoffed. "Of course not." But it would mean he wasn't good enough. If he could lose at something as meager as basketball, what was going to happen in a life or death situation?

"Then loosen up. Losing is a part of life. You just have to be sure not to give up," Marik murmured.

Yami shook his head. "It's not part of my life." He couldn't let it be.

Marik shook his head, "Okay, when it does happen, don't come crying to me."

"Why would I?" Yami glared at him. Defensive. "We're not friends."

Marik snorted. "So? Bakura and I weren't friends and now I'm dating him." He grinned as he kept walking. "I'm sure if I bug you enough, you'll warm up to me."

"I don't have friends, and I don't want to be friends with you." Yami spun so that he was in front of Marik, forcing him to stop walking. "And you know what? When I see someone having a go at you in the hallway for wearing the girls' uniform-" A cold smirk curved onto his lips. "-I'll help them."

Marik's eyes flashed - he was barely able to stop them turning red. But they were colder now.
He clenched his jaw as he shoved Yami out of his way, noticing a bit of glitter still on the other. "Then I guess I'll just have to beat the shit out of you too." He called back as he kept walking.

"Good luck with that," Yami snapped, halting in front of their apartment complex. Bakura walked past him, roughly bumping into him as he passed.

Yami growled, ready to go after him. He stopped when Seto placed a hand on his shoulder. "You need to stop picking fights."

Yami shrugged him off. "I will when he does."

"You started that one." Seto narrowed his eyes. "And now both of them are looking to fight you. Bakura nearly lunged at you the second you said it."

Yami snorted and turned away from the building. "Let them try."

Seto rolled his eyes, "You're not thinking clearly. If you don't stop being such a bastard, I'll suspend you."

Yami's eyes snapped up to him. "You wouldn't," he protested. "We both know I'm the best hunter."

"And while I respect that; I will take you out of commission for a while if you continue to be a problem." Seto told him.

"But I don't-" Yami began.

Seto held up a hand to cut him off. "You're impulsive, angry, spend every waking minute either thinking about hunting or fighting, pick fights over the smallest things, and the smallest change sends you spiralling out of control. Which one of those few selections isn't a problem?"

Yami looked away crossing his arms. "I don't care about doing anything else, so why should I worry about that stuff? All that matters is hunting."

"All of it matters," Seto said slowly. "You need variety, or you'll become predictable, and that will show in your hunting. Atem was only two points away from beating you in the last assessment. Even he never got that close before. Kek was only ten points behind you."

Yami rubbed his temples. "Okay. I get it."

"Do you? Or are you saying that so that I'll stop talking?" Seto questioned, raising his eyebrow.

"I'll work on my issues, okay? Just don't suspend me."

Seto sighed and looked away. "If you don't work on them, you won't give me a choice," he commented. "One chance. A week. Agreed?"

"Fine." Yami reluctantly agreed. "What do you want solved by then?"

Seto raised an eyebrow. "All of them. At least to some degree."

"Fine." Yami muttered. "Should we go see if Atem's done?"

"He is." Seto folded his arms and nodded at the barely-visible, thin plume of smoke rising from the alley over the rooves of apartment blocks.

Yami frowned but nodded, "Fine. At least I'm not covered in blood this time."

Seto didn't bother to respond. He turned away from Yami. "I'm going back. You've got the rest of the evening off."

Yami held back a yell. "Why? I'm still good enough to go out there. Is Atem getting the night off too? Or you hunting with him?"

Seto glared at him over his shoulder. "Atem's got another job, and Kek is going out again, but no. I'm going back to finish the end of year work so that I can do more jobs in case you get suspended."

Yami matched the glare but gave a nod. "Fine. And you won't have to. I'll be fine enough to hunt." Even if he got suspended, he'd head out on his own. He couldn't lose this.

"Hn." Seto turned forward and began walking. Yami watched until he was out of sight before storming up to his apartment. When he got there, Marik and Bakura were there. Bakura was muttering under his breath but Marik was just leaning against the wall, staring out into the car park.

"What do you want?" Yami snapped.

Marik's eyes flickered to him. "I decided to be the bigger person and apologise - despite his protests." He lightly kicked Bakura. "I didn't mean to get into a fight with you."

Yami clenched his fists. Damn it. First Seto, now Marik trying to make him feel bad

"Yeah fine. Whatever." He refused to apologise. At least right now. "Just figure that we're even now. I saved your ass and then I was an ass. Cancels out. Now can you leave?"

Bakura's arm twitched as though he was going to either punch Yami over the railing or grab him, but Marik grabbed his hand before he could. "No."

Yami sighed through his nose. "What do you want?" He gritted out.

Marik shifted slightly. "You know what I want. I'll leave when you give it to me."

Yami's teeth ground against one another. "No. And if you're going to wait, you're going to be waiting a very long time." He pushed past them and unlocked his apartment door. As he tried to close it behind him, the two darted inside. "Get out!"

"Told you already; I'm staying until I get it." Marik folded his arms.

Bakura shrugged and went to sit on the couch. "You might wanna give it to him. He'll follow you around until you do."

Yami scowled and took in Marik's appearance. A crimson crop top, black leather skirt and worn out runners. Not exactly low-key. What else did he expect in Domino? Compliments about how he looked? "Too bad." Yami walked towards the bathroom. Even if he didn't get any blood on him, he wanted a shower.

As Bakura said, Marik followed him, blocking him from shutting the door. "Why won't you just apologise? You're the one who started it."

"No; you started it!" Yami snapped.

"I did not!" Marik argued. "Tell me how I started it!"

"You dumped slushie and glitter all over everyone!" Yami growled. He shook his shirt out and glitter floated down around him. "I've had two showers today and I'm still covered!"

Marik crossed his arms, "If it counts, I got Bakura's brother too. Plus it was a prank. What you said was rude and you deserve much worse than a glittered smoothy bomb."

Yami shook his head. "Why would that count? And why would I deserve worse?"

Marik's arms dropped to his sides. "You really don't get that actions have consequences, do you?"

Yami scowled. "I know that actions have consequences, asshole. I just don't understand why that would make me deserve worse."

"Gods! You are such an idiot!" Marik huffed.

"And you aren't?" Yami snapped. "You realise they're going to slaughter you, right?"

"Yeah? Well at least I'll die knowing that I went down myself instead of something I'm not." Marik glared at him.

Taking a deep breath, Yami met the glare with one of his own. "Do you really have a death wish?"

"Of course not," Marik snorted. "But I feel better in girls' clothes. I feel like me. And don't you dare fucking tell me that there's no difference and that they're all just clothes because they're actually not. They're designed differently. All of them. There's less material used and more figure in girls' clothes. They typically have lower set necklines, tighter sleeves and better designs. Oh, and there are actual skirts and dresses."

"Nobody is going to see that. All they are going to see is a guy dressing like a chick." Yami retorted.

"Too fucking bad. I don't dress 'like a girl'." Marik folded his arms again. "I dress like myself. It just involves wearing girls' clothes. And if people can't see it, they can just deal with it."

"And by that, you mean let them go ahead and beat the shit out of you and harass you. That'll be their way of dealing with it."

"Then I'll deal with it." Marik narrowed his eyes. "And you if you decide to join in. Now apologise so I can leave."

"Or you can just leave. I'm not apologising," he refused. It was the blonde's fault anyway.

"Well I'm not leaving you alone until you apologise," Marik insisted.

Yami glared at him. "Just go. Unless of course your boyfriend doesn't mind you watching me shower. So unless you want me to call the cops for harassment; go away."

"Go ahead and call the cops. I could easily shriek assault if you tried to go for the phone." Marik smirked. "And I think the neighbours would hear me before the cops heard you."

Yami pinched his nose. Damn this guy is aggravating. "Go away," he gritted out. "I'm not in the mood to deal with your shit. And why would you want an apology that I wouldn't mean? There would be no fucking point."

"Exactly. So I'm going to stick around until you mean it. But even if you don't mean it, it's something." Marik shrugged. "Besides, you're not the kind of person to apologise unless you mean it even slightly. So I'm waiting here until I hear an apology and then I'm hanging around until you mean it."

Yami groaned in annoyance. "Just go away so I can fucking shower. You're the one being an asshole now."

"I don't care at this stage. Pull the shower curtain across if you want, but I'm staying." Marik dug the sole of his trainer into the ground.

Clenching his jaw, Yami took a deep breath. "Hey! Get your boyfriend out of the bathroom! Unless you're totally fine with him watching me shower!" He yelled to Bakura. He didn't care if they didn't leave yet. He just wanted a shower. A fucking shower. Was that too fucking hard to ask for?

Bakura didn't even look up from the episode of Game of Thrones. "You don't have a shower curtain?"

"He does," Marik called to him.

Bakura shrugged one shoulder. "Then use it. He's not going to leave you alone."

"Seriously?! Just get the fuck out!" Yami hissed.

"Seriously? Just apologise," Marik mimicked in a mocking tone with a mocking smirk, and mocking gesture, and just everything fucking mocking Yami.

"How about this? I'm sorry for not being fucking sorry. Now get the fuck out!"

For some reason, Marik's first reaction was a flinch. Fear flashed through his eyes. Bakura looked like he was about to stand up, but the fear was quickly replaced by anger. "I'm not fucking leaving until you apologise so get the fuck into the shower and get over yourself!"

"You said that you wanted an apology. I gave you one!" Yami growled. This was just going to piss him off more. "I'm sorry that you aren't hearing what you want to hear."

"Yeah, well so am I, and so will you be by the end of the day." Marik glared at him. It was different to last time - more of a desperate grab for some sort of control rather than floundering in fear again. Yami didn't understand him.

"I swear, you'll be the one that's sorry." Yami huffed. He didn't care that it sounded like a threat. He just wanted to be left alone. He pushed Marik off the door and slammed it shut quickly, locking it in the process. He turned on the shower and let fog fill the room as he quietly slid down the wall next to the tub.

After a few minutes, he stood and undressed, climbing into the shower. He pulled the shower curtain over too. Just in case.

Marik sighed and leaned against the wall. "It'd probably be pointless to pick the lock, right?"

Bakura changed channels. "I'm pretty sure he would be even less inclined to apologise if you did."

Marik sighed, "I suppose so." He was making things worse, wasn't he? He made his way over to the couch and flopped down beside Bakura. "Am I being over dramatic about this?"

"A bit, but he should apologise. He's lucky I haven't sent his ass to the hospital yet." Bakura replied, leaning on Marik.

Marik rested his head on top of Bakura's. "Yeah I guess."

"It'll be fine. Knowing his brother, he'll be forced to do it eventually. Don't worry."

Marik shrugged. "Probably. But I want him to do it of his own initiative. Or because he gets annoyed with me. Preferably the former, but either works."

Bakura rolled his eyes as a small smile made it's way onto his face. "No, I get it." He looked at his boyfriend with a smirk. "Besides, you also want to hear it because you've developed a crush on the asshole."

Marik's face heated up. "I have absolutely no idea what the hell you're talking about."

"Sure you don't," Bakura chuckled.

"I don't," Marik huffed. "And what about you and your locker mate? He said something about slamming you up against a wall. You never let anyone do that unless you like them."

Bakura shrugged one shoulder. "That was before I knew he was SC. And he's intriguing."

"Uh huh. Liar. You wouldn't mind being fucked by him. I could see it when you were arguing with him."

Again, Bakura shrugged. "If he wasn't SC, yeah, maybe. But he is." He switched channels twice.

Marik nudged him, "You haven't done anything wrong. If you give him a chance, he might see that."

Bakura snorted. "You've only dealt with them once. Trust me." He switched channels. "He won't."

Sighing, Marik frowned. "So then it's hopeless for me to like Yami isn't it?" He asked quietly.

Bakura looked up at him, a yes already on his lips. Then he paused. "Not if he never finds out that you're a vampire." He grinned to lighten the mood. "And you just admitted it."

Marik crossed his arms, not looking at Bakura. "So? There's no point now is there?" Sure, he'd been able to date Bakura without realising the latter was a vampire, but Bakura was older. He'd had more practice. "He'll find out."

"I could help you," Bakura offered. Sure, they were dating. But it was complicated - as fucking stereotypical as it sounded. Forever was a long time to be with anyone. And they had already come to the agreement that if they liked anyone else, they could always get back together if they wanted to.

They weren't even in a polyamorous relationship because they never stayed together when they were dating someone else. They were basically just always one another's rebounds.

Marik shook his head. "No. He'll find out." He'd be putting them all in danger. He couldn't risk it.

"Marik." Bakura sat up, meeting Marik's gaze. "If you like him, go for it. We can handle ourselves; we've been doing this a lot longer than you have. And we'll help you. It's like you said; it's better to risk things and enjoy yourself than live carefully, always bored."

Marik sighed. "That's not what I said," he mumbled. But Bakura was right; to some degree, anyway.

Bakura nudged him. "It's similar. So, are you going to go for it?"

Marik hesitated before nodding. "Yeah. I think so." A small smirk formed on his lips. "Only if you do the same for Seto."

Bakura hummed. "I'll consider it." He smirked. "If you manage to get Yami to apologise by the end of the night."

Marik huffed. "Fine. It'll happen then." The shower was still running, so he'd have to wait.

Bakura's smirk grew. "Aside from wanting to see him showering, was there any other reason you insisted on going in with him?"

Marik laughed. "Nah, I just wanted to piss him off."

Bakura snorted and shook his head. "Of course you did."

Marik's laughter only grew. "Come on; you did it too by arguing with Seto earlier. When it got to the stage that you were arguing about tennis, you were really pushing the boundary between realistic and ridiculous."

Bakura stuck out his tongue. "So? I was enjoying an argument. That doesn't happen often."

Marik chuckled. "True. Hasn't happened since-" The water turned off. Marik used that as his excuse to stand up. Shit, that could have gone badly. Bakura hated anyone mentioning him.

Bakura clenched his fists. Damn it. He let out a slow breath. He knew Marik didn't mean to bring him up. Otherwise he would have finished the sentence.

He glanced over his shoulder to see Marik waiting by the bathroom door. Persistent bastard.

A few moments later, the door opened. Yami's scowl deepened when he saw Marik. Bakura smirked; he probably thought Marik had waited for him outside the door the whole time.

"So, are you ready to apologise yet?" Marik questioned.

"Piss off." Yami pushed past him.

Marik narrowed his eyes. "I refuse." Yami ignored him. Marik caught his arm and spun him around so he was forced to face him. "You're going to apologise. Now."

Yami jerked his arm away. "No way." He hissed.

"Yes you are! I'll make you if you don't hurry it up."

"Good luck with that." Yami glared at him. "I'm not apologising."

Marik raised an eyebrow. "Oh yes you will." He had a plan.

Yami growled. "I'm not!"

Marik poked Yami's chest. "You'll apologise."

Yami slapped his hand away. "I won't."

"Then explain to me why you won't. I deserve an apology."

"Because I wouldn't mean it."

"Really? Why wouldn't you mean it?" Marik questioned.

"Because I'm likely to beat the crap out of you."

"You can try," Marik sneered.

Yami snorted. "You're the one who couldn't take care of the guys who pinned your boyfriend against the wall. You really think I can't kick your ass?"

Marik spread his arms. "Try to punch me. If you can hit me once in a minute, I'll leave. Bakura, time it."

Yami rolled his eyes. "Seriously? You really want me to punch you?"

"No." Marik folded his arms. "I want you to try. Stomach, face, chest, anywhere."

"And if I don't punch you?" Yami inquired.

"Then you suffer with me being here until you apologise." Marik nodded.

"I have the timer set up. Ready?" Bakura yawned, head leaning on his shoulder.

Marik nodded firmly, his gaze fixed on Yami's. "Ready when he is." Marik smirked. "Oh, and if I manage to punch you without you punching me, you have to apologise."

Yami narrowed his eyes. "Fine, you're on."

"Start," Marik called. Yami aimed a punch - it would all be over with one blow. But Marik swayed out of the way. Yami's fist sailed through nothing but air. And it had been a fast one too.

Yami narrowed his eyes. He ducked under Marik's fist and aimed another fast punch.

Marik jumped back and twisted around Yami. His punches were a lot more playful than Yami's, making them easy for the hunter to dodge.

Yami gritted his teeth as he kept his eyes on Marik. He needed to punch him. He had to do it. He continued throwing punches, and each one was dodged.

"Thirty seconds." Bakura called to them.

"Come on, Yami," Marik taunted, leaping, spinning, and landing neatly on the other side of the coffee table. "I thought you said you could punch me."

Yami followed the jump, tackling Marik to the floor. He rolled over the dark-skinned male and pinned him, aiming another punch. "I can."

Marik moved his head at the last second, so Yami ended up punching the floor. Smirking, he kicked Yami off him and jumped up. Just as Yami moved to stand, Marik punched his arm - not a playful punch like earlier. It was like one of Yami's; hard, brutal. It sent Yami sprawling to the floor.

"Time," Bakura called seconds later.

Yami growled as he sat up holding his arm. He was going to bruise. Marik was stronger than he looked. "Damn it."

Marik held out a hand to help him up. "Sorry. I didn't mean to hit you that hard."

Yami slapped his hand away. "I'm fine." Or at least he would be.

Marik sighed but didn't comment on his stubbornness. "We can go again if you want."

"No." Yami shook his head. "You won," He gritted out. "My apologies for offending you."

Marik sighed. "I don't want to hear 'my apologies for offending you'. I just want 'I'm sorry'. I said it when I hit you too hard. It's not that difficult."

"Same difference, but fine; I'm sorry." Yami replied, annoyance edging his tone. His mother taught him to say it the former way. She said it made him sound more sincere.

Marik finally smiled. Though he wouldn't admit it, Yami found himself feeling a little better. "Thank you." He looked at Bakura. "Ready to go?"

"Sure." Bakura rose to his feet, dropping the television remote onto the couch. He hadn't stopped flicking through channels, even as he had timed their little contest.

Yami rolled his eyes, refusing to look at them. "Don't get lost. I don't want to have to save your asses again."

"You won't," Marik assured him with a grin as he walked towards the door. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Whatever." Yami replied. He waited for the door to be shut before laying back on the couch. His arm was throbbing. He lost. What good was he if he lost?

He closed his eyes. He lost to another human. If Marik had been a vampire, he could have been killed. No, he would have been killed.

He could feel the tears starting to pool. How could he protect Atem if he wasn't good enough to win? How could he protect anyone?

He squeezed his eyes closed, but the tears slipped out anyway. He couldn't. He never could. He couldn't protect his parents, and he was going to watch his brother go the same way.

Little more eventful. Sorry these chapters are so few and far between. I'll try to update more soon. Thanks for reading! Please review!