An Unexpected Ally or an Una-fucking-greeable Alliance

Two days had passed since the incident at school. The rumour mill was still buzzing and Ryou was still embarrassed to show his face in public. Every time he walked down the hall, there was someone staring at him, whispering about him. According to the grape vine, he was easy and would play the part of the blushing virgin in anyone's fantasy if they knew the codeword. He blamed this whole mess on Bakura and his inability to keep his mouth shut.

Malik, on the other hand, had to deal with the same thing. Though instead of having guys leer at him with a smirk, most people flinched away at the sight of him. Each of them giving him narrowed suspicious looks as if he were some kind of criminal. Simply because the rumour mill stated that he had killed a man after he refused to sleep with him. He cursed Marik again for getting him into this situation, and he would have continued to curse him if he hadn't bumped into someone.

Ryou and Malik stared at each other a moment before narrowing their eyes into matching glares. After attempting to stare down each other for a moment they walked around each other and went their separate ways.

- DtCW –

Malik grumbled as he headed towards the school exit. Bakura had claimed to have something to do after school, and so that meant he had no choice but to either brave the house on his own, or hang around until late when he was sure Bakura would be there.

As a cold breeze drifted through the area he quickly decided to go home. There simply was no way that he was going to wait out in the freezing cold just to avoid Ryou and Marik. Besides, the last thing he needed was for them to think that he was scared of dealing them. Because he wasn't! Fear was just a stupid emotion that stopped you from doing what needs to be done. He just found it rather exhausting to have to put up with so much stupidity on his own.

"Alright, I'll see you later when you come home, Marik." Malik paused from where he was to see Ryou lean in to a car to give someone, whom he assumed to be Marik, a kiss. "Try not to stay out too late."

Seconds later he watched as a few of his peers scampered over to Ryou as the car pulled out of the parking lot. "So, Ryou, are you walking home today?"

"Yes, it would appear so."

"Well we're leaving now. Do you want to walk with us?"

"Sure, that sounds fun!" Ryou gave them a bright smile.

Seeing them together filled Malik with an uncontrollable feeling of jealousy. He didn't think it was fair that after a little less than two weeks Ryou had so many friends while he had none. Not that he wanted any! He never wanted to be close to anyone again, because if he did get close to them, they would be able to hurt him as easily as Marik had.

With a silent huff he stormed off towards the house, at least he wouldn't have to deal with both Marik and Ryou.

- DtCW –

Ryou waved lightly at Yuugi and the others as he split away from them to head to his house. Silently he was dreading having to deal with both Malik and Marik, but it was cold outside and there was no way he was hanging around outside just so he didn't have to deal with them. Besides, he wasn't Marik, so it wasn't like he could take them both on at the same time. After all, fear could be a good thing. It helped keep him from acting reckless.

As another cold breeze rushed down the street, Ryou picked up his pace to a light jog to speed up his journey home. As he was approaching a street corner, he noticed a black van sitting right by the crosswalk with its back doors open. Unfortunately, a large building blocked off his vision of what was around the corner. Sighing, slightly to himself he turned his light jog into a full out sprint seconds before he was lined up with the building.

He heard a swear as a man who'd lunged at him, from the blind spot the building had provided, ended up missing him and tumbling straight into the open door of the van. Ryou smirked to himself. As if he'd be stupid enough to fall for that… again.

No matter what his father and Bakura's mother said, he absoulutely refused to believe that they were not somehow connected to the mafia. Otherwise, he wouldn't have the occasional person try to kidnap him.

With a little bounce in his step, Ryou slowed back down to a jog as he noticed his house come into view. However, in his pride of avoiding his would-be kidnappers, he failed to notice the silver sports car slowly following him.

- DtCW –

Ryou still had the grin on his face as he entered the house, one that became wider as he noticed Malik's shoes, but there were no signs of Bakura's footwear anywhere. With a giggle, Ryou placed his shoes in the closet by the door, before moving Malik's in there as well. Today, he could tell was going to end in a great way.

Humming softly he entered the kitchen, and blinked in confusion as he saw Malik standing in front of the stove, gently stirring the pot filled with… something. He wasn't quite sure what it was, and with the way that it was bubbling and the rather terrified expression on Malik's face, it was clear Malik wasn't sure what it was either. Ryou continued to watch in amusement as Malik continued to stir the pot, occasionally leaning forward to sniff it, before reeling back in disgust. Suddenly it happened. One of the bubbles seemed to reach out of the pot to try and grab at Malik who screamed in terror and through the pot across the kitchen.

Ryou lost it.

He started laughing so hard, and Malik whipped around to glare at him. "The fuck are you laughing at, it wasn't funny!"

Still giggling, Ryou managed to regain some of his composure. "So here what we're going to do. You're going to clean that up," he said snickering, "and I will make us something that we can eat because it won't, you know, try to eat us first."

Malik almost sneered at Ryou and refused, but thought better of it. Neither he nor Bakura had any idea how to cook and so the thought of some real food sounded amazing. "Fine." he grudgingly agreed.

"How does broiled zucchini and potato with parmesan crust and lasagna with veggie noodles sound?"

Malik heart actually stopped as his mouth began to water. Suddenly, Ryou didn't seem like such a bad person. "Fine, it sounds fine." His response came out a little breathier than he would have liked, and Ryou smirked at him and gave him a knowing look. But there was no way in hell that he was about to fuck this up because Ryou was offering to make him real food, and man was he hungry.

For a moment there was silence and suddenly the kitchen was filled with noise as the two of them moved about to get things done. It wasn't long before Malik had finished cleaning the mess he had made, and somehow he had ended up helping Ryou with the cooking. It wasn't so bad, actually helping Ryou instead of fighting with him.

- DtCW –

About two or three hours later, the cooking was done and after serving Malik, Ryou went about putting the rest of the food away. After a moment, Ryou called Malik to get his attention. "Your lunch," he said gesturing to one container, "his lunch, and his dinner." He showed Malik exactly where he put their meals in the fridge to avoid any future mix-ups, before placing his own lunch and Marik's meals in a different location.

Malik nodded his head in acknowledgment as he set the table, glad to have something to decent to eat for once. He sat down and grinned when Ryou walked by and placed a hot drink down beside him, before moving around the table and sitting in his seat to take a sip of his own drink.

Malik took a sip and almost burst into tears as his taste buds ran away to heaven. "What is this?" He gasped as he looked at Ryou.

"Brazilian Chocolate drink" Ryou smiled at him.

Malik nodded his head, before digging into his meal. One bite in, and he began to wonder if Ryou was secretly a god in human flesh. He almost continued eating, when a thought popped into his head. "This is really good, Ryou." Malik flashed Ryou a disarming smile when the boy looked up at him suspiciously. "You should cook more often."

Ryou eyes widened as he caught onto what Malik was trying to do. "Maybe, and perhaps if we're getting along I'll even share some with you." he smirked, watching as Malik scowled slightly at the table.

"Yeah," he grumbled, "if we're getting along." Well, Malik sighed, his plan had been to butter Ryou up and get the boy to cook for him more often, but apparently Ryou had seen right through him.

After that they ate silently and it wasn't long before they were washing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen back up. Grabbing the bottle of oil he had forgotten to put away earlier Ryou blinked as he heard an odd sound.

"Did you hear that?" Ryou asked.

"Hear what?"

"That sound… I think it was coming from the front door."

"Maybe Bakura or Marik arrived." Malik rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Suddenly they heard a thud and the rattling of the doorknob.

"I don't think it's either of them." Ryou said nervously, clutching the oil bottle closer to his chest.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of the thought of someone at the door."

"Well, I'm sorry, but if it were Marik or Bakura they would have used their keys and gotten in here already!"

"So! What does it matter, some people probably have the wrong house and will be gone in a moment or two."

"Or it's a bunch of crooks trying to break into the house, so they can steal our stuff and kill us!"

"Yes, because that's the most likely and logical explanation. You're so paranoid."

"I am not!" Ryou yelled. "I'm cautious there's a difference!"

"Well in your case, the line between cautious and paranoid is rather blurred!"

"Excuse me! Just because I think someone's trying to break into our house, I'm paranoid? Whoever it is, is still at the door! If it was someone at the wrong house they would have realized it by now!"

"For fuck sakes!" Malik screamed. "I'll go check who is at the door if it'll make you shut the fuck up!"

"Go right ahead, but if someone slashes your throat while you're opening the door don't come crying to—fuck! Run!"

Malik whipped around to stare at the front door, and gulped at the sight of a few men in suits as the door swung wide open.

"Damn, if we'd only waited a few moments longer the blond would've opened the door for us." one of the men chuckled as he flipped open a switchblade, and ran his tongue along it length.

"Shit!" Malik cried as he took off after Ryou. Both of them scrambled up the stairs, and as they were rounding a corner the bottle in Ryou's hand almost knocked him in the head. "Why are you running around with that fucking thing?" he shrieked at him.

"What?" Ryou mumbled. "Oh!" His eyes brightened as he took notice of the bottle in his hand.

"Well, boys, why don't we give them a few minutes to hide upstairs? It's not like they can do anything else up there."

"Sure, boss, a game of 'Hide and Seek' sounds fun."

"Sounds good to me too." Ryou whispered to Malik. Darting back around the corner he kept his body as low as possible as he untwisted the cap from the oil and poured it down the stairs. He watched as the liquid slowly but steadily began to cover the stairs, but shortly after he realized that there wasn't enough oil in the bottle to properly coat the stairs.

Malik popped out of nowhere with body wash and squirted it down the stairs as well. He had just enough to help finish coating half of the staircase. "I guess it's a good thing that we use a relatively clear soap." he murmured as he began dragging Ryou back around the corner, so that they could eavesdrop without being seen.

"Well, boys, I do believe it's time to grab Ryou and make our getaway. His bodyguard should be coming along in about an hour."

"But, boss, what about the blond? Shouldn't we take care of him?"

Malik eyes widened slightly and Ryou paled at the conversation.

"If one of you wants the blond, go ahead and grab him. Just remember, keeping him alive will come out of your pockets."

"Yes sir!"

"We should probably go?" Ryou whispered to Malik.

Malik didn't bother to make a smartass remark as he dragged Ryou into the master bedroom, and shoved the boy into the closet before crawling in behind him.

A few seconds later they heard footsteps making their way up the stairs. "Fuck!" someone screamed, which was followed by a series of yells, crashes, and thuds.

"The little shits coated the stairs."

"Get the fuck off me!"

"I can't believe all you clowns were taken out." More footsteps began climbing the stairs. "Ryou, blondie, come out, come out, wherever you are." 'Boss' called.

"Oh, shit!" Ryou whispered. "He made it up the stairs."

"Really, and here I thought he was outside dancing the Conga." Malik sneered at Ryou.

"Well, then it's a good thing I cleared this up for you. I wouldn't want you to be confused when he found us." Ryou shot back.

"Trust me, I wouldn't be confused. I'd be too busy picking your jaw off the floor as you stood here in shock."

"Well, it won't be so shocking if he finds us, now would it? Seeing as how you won't shut up, your voice is going to lead him right to us!"

"My voice will lead him to us? You're the one that started talking!"

"Well I'm sorry that I panicked and WHISPERED something to you!"

"You should be, you stupid, little –" The closet door slammed open. The tall blond man in front of them smirked, his sunglasses glinted. "Oh shit." Malik finished lamely.

"Your bandana doesn't match your clothes." Ryou said after a second in reference to the American bandana wrapped around his head.

"Oh really now." The trio continued to stare at each other for another moment when suddenly the male lunged and grabbed them both.

With a chuckle he slung them both over his shoulder and walked back towards the stairs. As soon as they were close to the stairs, Malik lashed out, and managed to get one of his legs to connect perfectly with the man's groin. "Fuck!"

Dropping them both the man knelt over to grab at his precious cargo, when Malik sprung into action and shoved him down the stairs. Twisting slightly the man caught Malik by the shirt as he fell, causing Malik to lose his balance and stumble down a few steps. Naturally, the slippery steps almost sent him the rest of the way down the stairs, but he was grabbed by the arm.

He managed to avoid giving Ryou a nasty glare as he was tugged up the stairs, but couldn't help but growl in frustration as he slipped and almost fell again.

"Why are you having such a hard time getting up these stairs?" Ryou muttered under his breath to himself. Unfortunately, Malik heard him.

"Maybe because you went and made them slippery."

"Well, I'm sorry," Ryou stopped as he yanked Malik up the remaining few steps between them, as the men at the bottom of the stairs tried to ascend them once more. "For trying to make sure that the guys who want to nab us couldn't get to us!"

"You should be! What idiot coats the floor in oil! We're lucky they haven't set them on fire and smoked us out of the house."

Silence. The men all smirked as they looked at one another.

"Thanks for the idea, blondie." 'Boss', the man who'd recovered from the knee to his groin said with a smirk.

"Yeah, Malik, thanks for the idea!" Ryou screeched at him.

"So, any of you boys got a light?" 'Boss' asked.

"Right here, boss!"

One of the smaller men reached out to hand the male a lighter.

Seconds before he could hand it to the bandana wearing blond, he went sprawling across the room, landing with a loud thud as he hit the wall.

"Marik!" Ryou cried in relief as he saw his boyfriend.

"Shit!" 'Boss' yelled. "Why the fuck is he here so early? He wasn't su—" The man was cut off by a pale fist burying its way into his face.

"Hey, Bakura, what took you so long?" Malik shouted.

With two of their men down, one of them being their boss, the other two guys didn't look so sure of themselves.

Marik calmly cracked his neck. "You have five seconds to grab your trash and get the fuck out."

The two men sprung into action and grabbed their fallen. "What the fuck!" Bakura cried. "You're just going to let them walk out of here!"

"You're free to chase them down if you like." Marik sneered at him as he walked passed the struggling men to head up the stairs to Ryou. Upon reaching the male despite the slippery stairs, Ryou gave him a sensual kiss before reaching into the male's pocket and pulling out his phone.

Pulling back he quickly dialed a number. Bringing the phone to his ears he leaned against Marik, as Bakura began to climb the stairs. "Hello, Marik?" a man answered.

"Hi, dad." Ryou responded.

"Oh, Ryou, it's you. Why are you calling from Marik's phone?"

"Because it's closest to me. Do you mind if I ask you a quick question?"

"Go right ahead."

"Is the family business related to the mafia in any way?"

"No, Ryou, we've been over this again?"

"What about the Yakuza?"

"No."

"The mob?"

"Nope."

"Then why are people trying to kidnap me again!"

"Are you okay, did they succeed?"

"No. Marik kicked their asses with a little help from Bakura."

"A little?" Bakura cried out indignantly.

"Did you guys call the police?"

"… I'll call you back, dad."

Pulling the phone away from his ear, Ryou hung up.

"Hey, Malik," Ryou began "you realize we had five minutes to coat the stairs?"

"Obviously."

"You had five minutes to coat the stairs." Bakura asked incredulously.

"Eh, they were giving us time to hide for some reason." Malik sighed as he wrapped his arms around Bakura.

"Well, that's good I guess. So the cops are on their way now?" Bakura stated.

Silence.

"You did use the time to call the cops, right"

"Bakura…" Ryou sighed.

"What?"

"Shut the fuck up." Malik snarled.

"Morons." Marik chuckled lightly.

"What did you just say?" Malik yelled at him.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you're both deaf and stupid." Marik sneered at him.

"Oh hell no! You did not just say that to me."

"Sounds like he has a case of denial." Ryou snickered.

"Better a case of denial than a case of uselessness." Bakura shot at him.

"Repeat that, Bakura, I dare you to!"

Needless to say, the police weren't informed of the incidence for a long time. And so, the culprits managed to make a clean escape.

TBC

Yay! New chapter everyone! Wow, surprisingly I managed to type this all out in one day. Impressive I know. Well, I'm sorry it took so long, but I really hoped you enjoyed the chapter. Until the next time folks!