Author's Note: This is a fanart based fiction. I really like the way Bakura looks in a suit. Please forgive my use Akefia, the fan-made name. I really like it... Plus I needed to give the guy a name! Also, Ryou seems like the type of person to listen to Bob Marley.
Disclaimer: I do not own Bakura, Ryou, Akefia, Amane, or the Ishtars.

1:30. Final call. Not that there was much of a final call - the place was already empty. Being a weekday and all, most people were already home, sleeping, getting rested for the next day of 9-to-5 labour.

Being Thursday, my parents and sister had already gone to bed, leaving me to clean up the bar. Not that I minded much. I liked working in the low light, humming along softly to Bob Marley. It was the quiet part of the evening that well suited my personality.

That's why, when the door suddenly slammed open and two men walked in, I nearly jumped out of my skin.

They were relatively the same height. Both were white haired, sharp eyed and moving rather slowly. The one closest to me was limping and, even in the darkened room, I could see him wince every so often.

I hurried to get a chair for the hurt man. As he flopped down, he gave a muffled gasp of pain. Out of reflex, I asked, "What happened?"

"None of your damn business," the other one snapped back. "Get us some fucking alcohol."

"I'm sorry sir, we're closed." I could have smacked myself.

"Closed? Closed? Your door was open and you got a chair for my brother. You don't seem closed to me! So go get us some drinks and you'd better make it quality shit. If it's not, I'll burn this place down with it."

The man sitting down rested a hand on his brother's arm. "Akefia, please. You're scaring him."

His voice was smooth and somewhat soothing. It was like moisturizer on my eardrums after the other one's coarse and grating tone. I noticed that his eyes were cold and calculating, a sharp contrast from his voice, when he looked at me. The corners of his mouth twitched up for a fraction of a second in a sort of half smile.

The one called Akefia turned to me too. Their faces were the same - same red-tinged brown eyes, same pointed nose and chin, and wild white hair to frame it all up. Their expressions were completely different. Where the sitting man was cool, Akefia looked hot. And not the good kind of hot. It was the type of hot that implied anger and that people should back off. I surprised myself by not running away when he glared at me.

"Isn't that my job, Bakura? To scare people? If I can't do that, then kill me."

"I'm not going to kill you."

"You might as well, because it apparently doesn't matter if I'm here or not. You still get caught and hurt, which means I'm not doing my job. Snuff me and you'll have some extra air to breathe."

"Come on Akefia. I know you're upset, but this is a bit much, don't you think?"

"Upset? That doesn't even begin to cover it. If I ever see those fucking Ishtars again, I'll rip them apart."

"Go play darts Akefia. I'm not going to speak to you when you're like this."

I, standing pretty rigid just a few feet away, tensed up even more when Akefia brushed past me. He produced a knife as he moved.

"Drink, now."

I would have gotten him one too, no hesitation. The way he spun the blade around his fingers showed that he was more than skilled in the art of knife-wielding. But I didn't because the person behind me said,

"No. Don't get him anything."

Gulp. Who says no to a person holding an extremely sharp object? Certainly not me.

"What the fuck Bakura?"

"You're not drinking anything. Not now. Not until you calm down."

Akefia growled and glared and made all manner of angry faces, but his brother merely stared back. He seemed to have some kind of authority and the knife holder whirled around.

"Whatever."

I watched as he stalked to the darts corner of the bar. I almost ran over to him with a drink, just because he was that scary. He started twirling the knife around his hand again and I jumped when it shot towards the dart board. Immediately after, I cringed as he twisted it out, realizing the size of the gouge created.

"You'll have to forgive my brother. He's a bit rough around the edges."

I refrained from saying 'I noticed.' Instead, I chose to focus on my job as a waiter. "Can I get you a drink?"

"Surprise me." He pulled out his wallet and handed me his drivers license. It was perfectly shiny, as if newly laminated.

Bakura Touzoku

DOB: September 2, 1991

HT: 5-11

WT: 117

Hair: WHI

Eyes: BRO

Sex: M

I glanced between the picture and the man. It was a pretty good resemblance, all the way down to the cocked eyebrow and smug grin.

But ...

"This is fake."

The grin dashed away like a marathon runner at the gunshot. For a moment, he looked exactly like his brother. Then it came back, more amused than smug this time.

"How'd you know?"

"You can't possibly be 21. You don't look a day over 15."

Bakura glared. "I'm 18, thanks. But you can't make assumptions like that based on what someone 'looks like.' There are a million people who are blessed with naturally young looking features. I happen to be one of them. It's a curse sometimes, but it's something I must live with."

I tried not to laugh. "Sorry, sorry. That's not the only reason." I handed his card back. "Your license doesn't have an issue or expiration date."

"What? Bloody hell ... That's pathetic. I'm never going back to that place again. How could they possibly forget the issue and expiration date? ... For the record, everything but the year is true. Does that count for anything?"

I glanced over to the stairs leading to the upper floors; my family's living space. I looked back at Bakura. His smirk had changed from one of amusement to one that he probably wore when trying to pick up a date. It kind of suited him.

"That's my birthday as well."

"Oh really?" Up went the eyebrow.

"I'm eighteen too."

"I'm liking you even more."

"You're kind of tall."

"Yeah ... I get that from my father. He was a pretty big guy." His voice sounded like he was used to this back and forth type conversation.

"You'd probably hurt me if I said no, huh?"

"What? No, of course not! I wouldn't bother dirtying my hands for something like that. Besides, you're kind of cute." Bakura winked.

That sealed the deal. What can I say? I'm a sucker for ... Well, just about anyone who so much as looks at me. But he actually winked at me. That's big ... Right?

"I th-think it'd be okay. Maybe one. Anything in particular?"

He shrugged. "I said, surprise me."

"Okay."

I scurried behind the bar counter and quickly grabbed a wine glass. Bakura seemed like a wine person to me.

"Do you prefer red or white?"

"Hmm ... I'm thinking red."

"Okay!" I pulled out the second bottle of red wine from the shelf. I sometimes had a glass or two and I liked this one the best. I hoped we had the same taste.

I brought it to him and held it out, hopeful. I almost dropped it when he reached for it. Not ... Not because he touched my skin. I'm not that pathetic. ... It was because I saw his wrist when his sleeve rode up.

It was red and really raw. There were deep marks in it that were very rope-like and dark spots here and there that looked suspiciously like not-quite-scabbed-over-cuts, complete with a drop or two of blood.

Bakura didn't seem fazed by the fact that I could see it. He just retracted his arm back slowly. He didn't even bother to pull his sleeve back down to cover it. I didn't ask about it, remembering the response I got before.

"H-how do you like it?"

"It's nice. Light. Just my type. You really know me, don't you?"

He winked again and I tried not to blush. I opted for a different topic.

"So, are you and him twins?" I pointed to Bakura's brother, still tearing holes in the dartboard. I'd probably have to buy a new one before tomorrow night.

"Oh no. If we were, I think my mother would have died from exhaustion, not ... Ah, never mind. No, we're not. Akefia is 21. Really." Bakura laughed. It was a pretty sound - kind of airy ... But it didn't have any of the real joy you typically hear when a person's laughing. It was laced with pain. He doubled over, clutching his middle.

"Are you alright?"

"Bakura!" Before I could take a single step, the other male in the room appeared by his brother's side. "What the hell did you do?"

"I laughed. Serves me right for enjoying myself a bit."

I felt my eyes grow when he pulled his hand away. There was a red blot in the center of his shirt that definitely wasn't there before, and it was growing.

"Damn. I just had this suit cleaned."

"I'll grab some bandages for you," I said, backing away.

I don't like blood. I know everyone has it and it comes out sometimes, but it's still creepy. Especially when it comes out as fast as it was on Bakura.

I rummaged through the cabinets for towels and bandage wraps. I thought it would be pointless to bring little finger band aids. I grabbed some rubbing alcohol too.

I got back to the ground floor to find Bakura laid out on a table, shirt ripped open and Akefia standing over him, sleeves rolled up.

"I swear to god Bakura, if you move one more time, I'm gonna stick my fingers in that cut."

"You're not the one splayed out on the table like a dead body. If you were, you'd understand. Stop complaining."

"Oh shut up. You've had worse than this."

"You didn't have to rip my shirt. I paid a lot for it."

"You and your damn shirts."

"You should wear them sometime. They're quite nice you know." I saw Bakura try to laugh again, but his face screwed up in pain.

"... Fuck the Ishtars. I'm gonna murder them. Where's that damn kid with the bandage?"

I hurried forward, not wanting to make Akefia more angry. He probably would have gone through the house looking for me if I delayed anymore. Though, on the other hand, the way he was standing over Bakura looked very much like a mother cat over her kittens. He might not have left his side at all.

But he made a lot of noise.

"Here, sorry. I couldn't find everything right away. They were all over the bathroom." Lies. But I wasn't going to admit to eavesdropping.

Akefia grunted something like "Thanks" when he took the first aid off me.

"This is gonna hurt like hell Bakura."

"Well ... Fuck."

I blinked. That was the first time I'd heard Bakura curse. It was a bit surprising.

I decided to step out the side door until they were done, since I really had no desire to see anything going on during the patching up of Bakura.

I glanced at the clock on my way out. 2:15. Wow, it was getting late. I foresaw a hard time getting up for me in the morning. With a sigh, I settled against the wall and waited.

Every now and again, I could hear a groan of pain, followed by a,

"Shut up!"

Ten minutes or so passed before Akefia called me back in.

"I'm done kid."

I came around the corner hesitantly. Bakura was sitting up, his torso completely covered in white wrap. He still winced when he moved, but there wasn't any more blood, so I stepped out fully.

"Are you okay?"

"As good as I'll get for now. Hey, what happened to my wine?"

I grabbed it from the table to my right.

"Here, put this on." Akefia flung the shirt off his back and handed it to his brother. I had to clamp my teeth together to keep my mouth from dropping.

I have no problems saying that he was hot. The good kind of hot.

I blinked rapidly and gave the wine glass to Bakura, solely to take my eyes off (the very ripped) Akefia.

Bakura's eyes twinkled knowingly.

"Like it?" he whispered. "I can't even keep my eyes off. It's hard being his brother."

I, embarrassed beyond words, was spared the responsibility of responding when I heard a sound behind me. I whirled around to see my sister in the doorway, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Ryou, what's going on?"

I hurried to stand in front of her and block her view of the room.

"What're you doing awake Amane?"

"I heard noises and I went to get you but you weren't in your room."

"You shouldn't have come down here."

"Wha-?"

"It's nothing!" I shooed her back upstairs. "Go back to bed."

"We should probably leave anyway."

I twisted to see the brothers heading to the entrance. Bakura lifted his arm in a wave. "Thanks for the drink. I appreciate it. Maybe we'll see you around sometime."

Akefia raised his hand in a similar motion. "See ya kid."

They stepped out into the late night and blended into the darkness.

"Who were they Ryou?"

"... No one. Let's go to bed Amane."

I wanted to murder my alarm clock when it went off. Blearily, I opened my eyes and ran a hand through my hair.

6:45

Way too early. I wondered if I could get away with sleeping in today. Through probably not, since my parents knew nothing of my late night adventure. Even if they did, I probably wouldn't be able to sleep in. Oh well.

I swung my legs into the cold morning air, reluctant to remove the blanket. Then Amane walked in.

"Good morning Ryou!" she cried, jumping on my bed and effectively taking off all four layers of covers.

"Morning Amane."

"Come down for breakfast, okay?"

"Okay."

She didn't move, so I guessed that meant she wanted me to go now. I suppressed a sigh and stood up, took her hand in mine, and headed down to the second floor for breakfast.

The table was all set - eggs, bacon, juice, tea, mom and dad, tv. I put Amane on one side and sat on the other.

"Good morning honey," mom chirped.

Dad glanced at me, nodded, and returned to the tv. "Listen to this. Some kid was found bleeding to death in some alley this morning."

"Morning to you too dad," I mumbled, but watched the television anyway.

"He didn't die. They got him to the hospital just in time."

"Uh huh."

"There's some secret war going on between these two families over on the east side. The kid's family immediately blamed the other one for this."

I nodded along, not really paying attention. I was too busy shoveling eggs into my mouth at the speed of light.

"Suzie?"

"Thanks Martin. This morning we found a young man in an alley with deep knife wounds in his arms and torso. The man was taken to the hospital immediately and his family is with him now."

"They're recapping now."

"I figured," I waved my fork at dad.

"Mrs. and Mr. Ishtar refused to comment, but their son, Malik, blamed the Touzoku family for this incident."

I, who had taken a break from eating and switched to tea-drinking, nearly sprayed a mouthful across the table. In the process of keeping it all in, I burned my mouth. Turning to the tv, I locked gazes with the pixels of the reporter's eyes.

"I'm here with the two Touzoku boys now, who were kind enough to speak with me today regarding this event."

The camera panned out to include Akefia and Bakura in the screen. Akefia had thrown on a suit, though it looked like it had been very hurried. Or maybe that was the look he was going for. His jacket was open and flaring to the side. His shirt was unbuttoned at the neck and the collar pulled apart just enough to show the top of his chest. I had to put my tea cup to my mouth to prevent my parents from seeing my failed attempt at keeping my mouth shut.

Bakura had exchanged the borrowed t-shirt for a crisp new suit. His shirt was a pale pink, buttoned nicely and tucked away in his very fitting pants. His jacket was also undone, but the look was pulled together by a smooth black tie.

I gritted my teeth together and tapped the edge of the cup against my lips

"Good morning Mr. Touzoku and Mr. Touzoku."

"Please, call me Bakura. This is Akefia, my older brother."

Bakura motioned to the man standing behind him. Akefia glared at the camera and then turned away.

"Alright. Bakura, what can you tell us about this incident?"

"I can't honestly say anything."

"I see. Well, why would Malik Ishtar blame you for his brother's near death experience?"

Bakura shrugged. "My family is very powerful. We own more than half the town and I suppose Mr. Ishtar and his family resent that. I can only see this as a way to ruin our, so far, impeccable reputation."

"So, you're saying Malik Ishtar was lying simply to make you and your family look bad?"

"Perhaps." Bakura shrugged again and exchanged a glance with his brother. "It could be that or it could just be that he believes we're at fault and is just very much misinformed."

"I see, I see. If you had harmed the young Ishtar, hypothetically, would you admit to it?"

"Shall I be honest?"

"Yes please."

"Of course I wouldn't admit to something like that. The Touzoku family hasn't gained its reputation by admitting to every misdemeanor committed by a member. But, to put your mind at ease, I can truthfully say that I have never dirtied my hands with Ishtar blood."

Reporter Suzie turned to the other Touzoku. "Do you have anything to add Akefia?"

Akefia's rough voice sounded loud through the speaker. "Nothing."

"Okay. Well, thank you both for coming out this morning to speak with me." She faced the cameraman. "I'm Suzie Renee, reporting on the—"

"Oh, excuse me." Bakura appeared on the screen again. "Might I add something else very quickly?"

"Of course."

"Thank you. I'd like to thank a friend I met last night for his hospitality and generosity to my brother and I. We quite barged in on you and appreciate your patience. I know this incident might come as a shock to you, but I sincerely hope that you won't think too badly of us because if it. That's all." He stepped back from the camera.

"Well, that's interesting. Who is your friend?"

"I'd rather not say. He knows who he is, if he's watching this. That's all that matters."

"Okay then! I'm Suzie Renee … "

I sat back in my seat for the first time in 20 minutes. I had even more questions, but at least now I knew who exactly had visited me last night.

"I wonder who that boy was talking about."

"He's not a boy mom. He's at least 18."

"Oh, do you know him Ryou?"

I froze. "N-not really. I'm just good at guessing ages."

"Ryou?"

I looked over at Amane. "Yeah, what's up?"

"Is that the same man that was here la-?"

"No!"

"Oh ... It looked a lot like him."

"It wasn't, so don't worry about it. Hey, I should probably get going. My class starts in half an hour."

I jumped up from the table and rushed up to my room. I threw on a shirt, some pants, and grabbed my bad from the corner of the room. I pecked my mom and Amane on the cheek and waved to my dad.

No need to worry about Touzokus and Ishtars and family wars. I had biology to focus on.

A/N: What? What sort of lame ending was that? Anyway, I don't know how much younger Amane is than Ryou, so I put her around 9 in this.
I meant to make this a one-shot, and yet, somehow I managed to end it on a very non-one-shot note. It's not necessarily a bad thing. I get to write more about Bakura in a suit. But still, this is terrible.
Anyway, please review and tell me what you think.
FYI: I picked R. Bakura and Marik I. as Character 1 and Character 2 only because I can't have a Character 3, 4, and 5. Ryou and Marik are the hosts, so I thought it was fitting.