Title: Breathe Slowly

By: KuroSakura

Summary: Mokuba has been going to Bakura for comfort when Seto gets too oppressive for a couple years now. But this time, he wants more than just someone to rely on. He wants to be kidnapped.

Category: Yu-Gi-Oh.

Genre: Drama, Hurt/Comfort,

Warnings: 1st Person, Yaoi,

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh.

…

-Bakura-

There is nothing like being woken by someone jumping onto the small of your back and clinging tightly as you thrash, trying to throw them off. And it doesn't matter how many times it happens, because your body will never, ever get used to the sensation. Of course, by sensation, I mean severe pain, because it hurts like a bitch, especially when said person is a fifteen-year-old boy whom is apparently aiming to grow taller than his brother.

I bite my pillow, trying to keep from swearing and cursing everyone in the house, especially the kid on my back. He only does this when he needs my comfort and perhaps my expertise at plotting peoples' bloody deaths. I guess it's his way of letting me know that his brother has pissed him off quite a bit. I suppose I should be glad that I haven't woken to him having crawled into bed with me and crying on my unconscious shoulder.

He hasn't done that since he realized that Ryou is a much better consoler, and a much better person to go to for relationship advice. And Seto Kaiba is very lucky that the one time Mokuba did curl up in my bed sobbing was not caused by him. I would have gone through at least one of the scenarios he and I have thought up for the uptight CEO's death. As it is, no one will ever find the person who had caused that incident.

"Mokuba..." I growl when I find that I can ignore the pain in my back. It dulls down rather quickly, but then, so does the pain from a stab wound, but that doesn't mean everything is better. The weight on my back shifts over to sit beside me before I can growl for him to move. I grimace as I move, the pain in my back flaring up just a bit in protest. I turn onto my left side to look at Mokuba, who's not meeting my gaze, but rather, glaring stubbornly at my covered window. I hate the sunlight, and I'm still paranoid about people being able to see me when I'm asleep and vulnerable, so the window is covered in thick black cloth that Ryou put there for me. I wait for a few more moments before reaching out to grab his arm.

I didn't grab him too hard, but he still winces and pulls away from me quickly. My eyes narrow, and I shoot up, grabbing his wrist and pulling his arm to me, shoving his sleeve up. I let my breath out through a hiss as I see the bruises starting to develop on his arm, in the shape of a long-fingered hand. It's fresh, only just now starting to yellow, so it must've happened as Mokuba was leaving the mansion. And now, I am going to murder the CEO. And not while he sleeps, because that's too good for the bastard. He doesn't deserve to go peacefully in the night. I'm going to kill him now. Broad daylight. Although he won't be able to see the light when he dies, because his soul will be torn to shreds within the Shadow Realm once I'm through with his body.

I move to the edge of my bed, my face twisted in rage. I'm not sure when I developed this brotherly attachment to Mokuba, but it's here now, and I will protect my "little brother" as best I can, even if that means murdering his biological one. Not that I haven't considered doing this before, because I have, but not usually for Mokuba. Usually, I contemplate murdering Seto Kaiba for other, more personal, reasons, but those aren't even shadows of thoughts in my mind right now.

"Wait, Bakura, don't!" Mokuba surges forward to grab my arm and cling to it. I start to dislodge him, but he just clings all the more. "Bakura, please, listen to me. I don't want him dead. Although he's a bastard, I don't want you to kill him. I just want you to help me run away." His words come out in a torrent, and I stare in shock. I sit back, resolving to at least hear Mokuba out before deciding if I'm going to kill Kaiba or not.

Mokuba's quiet for awhile again, until I frown at him. I don't trust myself to speak at the moment, because Ryou gets upset when I teach Mokuba words that he believes 15-year-olds shouldn't know. Mokuba sighs and tugs his sleeve down over his arm again. He's not meeting my eyes, still, but I'll give him some slack. "He's getting worse, you know? He found out that I've been to a couple clubs with you guys, and went ballistic. Don't get me wrong, he didn't even try to hit me or anything, but he was threatening me with a tether and bars on my window, so I turned to walk out. Show him he couldn't control me, but he grabbed my arm. I don't think he meant to grab me so hard, but he wouldn't let go, so I kicked him in the nuts and ran out before he could recover."

I smirk at the mental image of Kaiba in a fetal position, nursing his busted balls. "And the running away?" I ask, seeing him shift guiltily at my smirk. So, he feels bad for injuring his brother...He really is attached to Kaiba, even if the bastard doesn't deserve it.

Mokuba shrugs, pulling his arms in to clasp each other. It almost looks like he's trying to protect himself from me, or whatever he thinks I'm planning to say about it. "It's gotten to be too much. I can't stand staying there anymore. At this rate, I'm going to end up being locked in my room, not able to leave for anything."

"You could just move in with us." I suggest, knowing Ryou'd allow it in a heartbeat, even if we are starting to run out of space with everyone we have living here now. Or maybe Malik and Otogi just take up too much space.

"You know I can't. Seto would just come here and take me back, and I don't want to drag you guys into this."

"Yet you want me to help you run away." I point out.

Mokuba nods fervently, not even looking guilty for his decision to involve me in this. "You'd be able to help me stay under Seto's radar. No matter how much money he pours into finding me, if you were helping me hide, he'd never find me."

"Have you thought about what you would do if I said no?" I ask, and I can see by the sudden fire in his eyes that he has. I sigh, knowing what he'd do if I said no. Ryou and I would both do the same thing, and even if Mokuba isn't our biological brother, he has the same determined streak in him. "You'd go anyway, wouldn't you?" He nods sharply, and I flop back to stare at the ceiling. He knows I won't let him go alone. He could get hurt, and I'd blame myself forever if he got hurt and I had the chance to prevent it. "All right, fine. You have clothes?" He shakes his head. Right, he'd hightailed it out of the mansion without planning. "OK. I'll go get your clothes after I go and tell Ryou." I roll over, letting myself drop out of the bed.

"Why are you going to tell Ryou?" Mokuba asks, watching me pad over to the closet to grab a ratty black shirt to pull over my bare chest.

"Because he worries about you, too, and if I don't, he'll drive me fucking crazy while we're trying to find places to hide." I respond. Plus, if he knows what's going on, he's more likely to just slam the door in Kaiba's face if he comes here looking for Mokuba. I forgo socks and pick up the Ring from my bedside table, dropping it around my neck. "Stay here for a bit. Give me about 10 minutes or so, then head down. I'm sure Ryou will pack us some food for the trip."

My orders given, I turn and walk out the door, grabbing the edge of my ratty blue jeans and giving them a tug back up around my hips. It's still strange to me that I sleep clothed, but with five other people living here with little care for knocking, it has become a necessity. Plus, Mokuba's unexpected visits to me while I'm sleeping are even more incentive, because the kid is my little brother, and I would never expose myself to him, even on accident.

Ryou is in the kitchen, which is not unexpected. It's noon, which means that everyone in the house is going to start getting up, and most of them will want to be fed while almost none of them can cook. Marik isn't even allowed to touch kitchen appliances anymore. Ryou's the only one in the house who seems to be able to move in the kitchen like it's his natural home, and he's the only one who wakes before noon. I lean on the door-frame, watching him patter around the kitchen, checking the tea and coffee before glancing into the oven. The smell of sticky buns wafts over to me, and I let an appreciative moan announce my presence. Ryou jumps slightly, turning to look at me and give me a sweet smile.

"I figured you'd be the first one up, what with Mokuba letting himself in and running straight to your room." He says, pulling off his oven mitts and setting them on the table. "Tea or coffee?" He asks, turning to grab me a cup.

"Tea." I answer, walking into the kitchen and pulling out a chair at the table. I plop down, and he sets my cup of tea in front of me, still smiling, though it's tinged with worry at the moment.

"How is he?" He asks, pulling out a chair to sit next to me.

"He'll be all right. But, we're running away." I answer, sipping at my tea. Ryou's smile fades, and with the glare he's giving me now, I'm starting to wonder if I'm not actually talking to Ryou, but my reflection in a mirror. "Look, he asked me to help him run away, and he'll do it alone if I don't. I don't want him to get hurt, and perhaps it won't be such a bad thing for him, anyway."

"Why now? What happened this time?" Ryou's glare softens, and he looks down at the table. I know he's thinking about how great Kaiba used to be to Mokuba. But, it's been years since then. Once everyone started retiring from dueling, Kaiba had nothing to take his mind off of his stress at the company. More and more, he's begun reminding me of High Priest Set.

"He grabbed Mokuba hard enough to bruise while threatening to lock him in his room." Ryou's face is the perfect picture of horror. He brings his right hand up to cover his mouth, and I sip my tea, unwilling to meet Ryou's eyes at the moment.

"All right." He says after a few moments of struggling with his horror. "All right, you can go. I will make sure that no one here helps Kaiba find you two, just, take care of yourselves, all right?" I nod in agreement, and Ryou smile brightly, but I can tell it's fake. He hops up and pulls his oven mitts on again to pull out the sticky buns. "I'll get food together for you two. But first, here, have a sticky bun. I know you love them."

A/N: Whoo. This one is going to be a bit different from my normal YGO fics, but hey, change can be good, yeah? Let me know what you think, k?