Welcomes! :)

This is an attempt to write a fanfic in a AU without magic! It's proving to be rather difficult!

Our Yami's - Yami, Bakura and Melvin are members of the new popular rock bank! ^.^

((Melvin = Yami Marik))

Later chapters may contain mature topics - I shall give out warnings as needed

After five failed attempts at gently turning off his alarm, Ryou instead tossed it across the room and rolled back over to fall back to sleep, only for his mobile to choose to start ringing instead. For a split moment he was tempted to throw his phone as well but decided that explaining to his father that he needed a new phone due to lack of sleeping and a growing hatred towards alarms, would not be a pleasant conversation. Slowly sitting up, he slid his finger across the screen to answer before quickly pulling it away from his ear as he was greeted by loud excitable screaming. Sighing, he pressed the loud speaker as he climbed out of bed to get dressed, Yuugi's voice filling his room:

"Ryou-kun were you still sleeping? Sorry if I woke you but I couldn't wait till school to tell you!" he didn't sound sorry at all and Ryou just responded with a small laugh to let him know he was listening. Usually mornings didn't bother him this much but he'd argued with his father late into the night and hadn't slept much as a result. "You do sound tired though"

Leave it to Yuugi to pick up on things so easily.

"I'll tell you about it in class" Ryou replied as he sat on his bed and worked on getting the tangles out his hair, "Now why were you screaming when I answered?"

"Oh!" Yuugi gasped, making Ryou laugh slightly at how easily his friend could get distracted when he was concerned about his friends, "Remember that competition we all entered? Well the one Marik entered under all our names?". Ryou frowned a little as he tried to remember. Marik had the habit of coming up with crazy ideas though so it was a little difficult to try and pin down a specific one. Yuugi seemed to sense this as he laughed and continued on, "Anyway my name was chosen. I won three V.I.P backstage tickets to The Millennium Kings concert next week"

Again screaming filled his room while Ryou sat staring at his phone with wide eyes, his gaze shifting to the poster that was stuck to his door, colour filling his cheeks at the thought of getting to meet the band.

"Yuugi?" he whispered, picking up his phone and taking off the loudspeaker, "Remind me to kiss Marik for this"

"He might like that a little too much. I'll come walk you to school since I'm awake this early"

"Alright. I'll make some pancakes then"

Smiling at the excited little squeak, Ryou hung up and finally allowed his own little yelp of excitement break through, his gaze falling back over to his poster, a gift from Marik a few weeks ago. The Millennium Kings were a relevantly new band who had quickly gained in popularity. They sung a variety of styles so no matter your particular music taste there was usually at least one of their songs that people enjoyed. The band consisted of three members, lead guitarist and background singer Bakura, bass guitarist Melvin and lead vocalist Yami. Ryou's poster was promotional work for the concert he now had tickets for, consisting of a large throne in the center of the page with Yami sitting looking somewhat bored, Bakura leaning against the throne to his right and Melvin to his left, both with wicked grins that just about promised that they were up to no good. All three were dressed up like 'Kings' and dripping in gold and silver. It was a really nice looking poster and Marik had been lucky to grab a copy for all of them. Still, it was little nerve racking to think he'd have the chance to meet them all in just a week's time! Smiling and feeling more awake that he previously had, he grabbed his bag and skipped down the stairs to start on those promised pancakes, turning on the radio and smirking as the song playing just happened to be by The Millennium Kings, one of their soft rock songs.

Rolling up his sleeves, he turned to start making the pancakes, being careful not to spill anything on his uniform. The clock beside the kitchen window let him know it had just passed seven in the morning making him think that Marik must have changed the times on his alarm clock the last time he'd slept over. Maybe he could be let off this once though. Fifteen minutes later and he was placing out the cooked pancakes onto two plates, smiling a little as Yuugi half stumbled into the kitchen.

"You sure you're awake?" he asked as he took his seat across from the one Yuugi was half slumped in. Picking up at the syrup he helped himself to a decent amount before starting to eat. It was rare he was awake early enough these days to have breakfast. Maybe he wouldn't fall to sleep in class today. He continued to watch Yuugi as his friend slowly came out his daze and started to attack his own pile of pancakes.

"Yeah. After I phoned you I was almost tempted to go back to sleep" he paused to take a drink of the orange juice Ryou had just poured out, "But the promise of pancakes kept me going! Jii-chan was surprised to see me up so early but once I told him what had happened he seemed pleased" he smiled brightly before frowning and swinging back on his chair, "Let's not tell Anzu. You know how crazy she is about Yami. I honestly believe she'd try to rob us". Ryou gave a weak laugh even if he was aware of the truth behind the warning but the chances of Marik not letting anything slip at school were close to zero and both of them were aware of that.

"Do you want me to keep the tickets here? I'm sure she'd never think on me having them" Ryou suggested as he took their empty plates and set them next to the sink. Dishes could wait till after school was done. Yuugi was regarding him carefully before finally he nodded and handed over an envelope that contained the winning tickets. Smiling at the serious look on his friends face, Ryou took the tickets and walked back upstairs, carefully opening the door to the one room that no one other than him was ever permitted to enter.

Amane's room had not been touched ever since she'd passed away. A room designed for a small ten year old girl that now served as Ryou's sanctuary. After they had came back from the hospital his parents out right refused to go into the bedroom. His mother would break down even being near the door and his father almost refused to believe that his sister was gone. That night had torn his family apart at the seams but he could never be mad at her. Even if she was gone, Amane was still his little sister, still an important part of his life and was the last member of his family he still felt any type of connection with. He knew no one would enter her room without his permission. Even Yuugi had only been inside once and they'd been close friends for a while now. With a small smile he crossed over to the chest of drawers and placed the tickets in under a pair of pajamas before taking a seat on the edge of his sister's bed and silently reflecting on the thoughts passing through his mind. It was a habit he had whenever he came here but he knew if he stayed there for much longer Yuugi would start worrying about him.

"I'll come visit you later" he smiled and pulled himself to his feet, "Look after those tickets for us". With one last glance around the lilac room, he carefully closed the door and took a deep calming breath, not too surprised to find Yuugi sitting on the top stair waiting for him. "Ready to go then?" he asked, Ryou smiling before nodding, "Let's go get Marik". Hopefully before he told Anzu was the silent end to his sentence that hung heavy in the air as both boys set off towards the school.

Seto Kaiba was not a patient man. When he wanted something done, it was done with no questions asked. If he wanted to go somewhere then he went. He had never been one to sit around waiting. Money could be thrown at an issue and the problem was likely to be solved and quickly too. However today was one of those rare occasions when that was not the case and as he sat in the airport listening to his cousin arguing with his uncle and trying to ignore as his little brother reached the end of his juice cartoon and loudly sucked at the air, he had to wonder if this was some type of test of how long he could take all this nonsense before he just snapped. His laptop laid inside the limo waiting outside for them and the longer this went on without some type of distraction the stronger the itch got in his throat, to either shout about how stupid this all was or just to tell Mokuba to stop sucking on his darn straw!

By the silence that had taken over the entire terminal and by the puppy dog eyes Mokaba was giving him that he'd said his last thought out loud. Least things were finally silent now though. "Are we finally done then?" he asked, glancing towards where his uncle and cousin stood and ignoring Mokuba for now. Both of them seemed tense but neither was arguing anymore so hopefully that would mean they could finally leave. And here he'd thought Melvin would be the troublemaker. Patience now truly gone, he shot each of them a glare before walking towards the exit with Mokuba right behind him, juice carton thankfully having been disposed of. Approaching the limo he wasn't surprised to find Bakura leaning against the side, arms crossed and looking as though he may be dozing though he looked up as he heard the approaching footsteps, pulling down the sunglasses he wore and glaring towards them.

"What kept you guys so fucking long?"

"Family issues" Seto snapped back, "No one said you had to wait...how did you avoid drawing attention? You stick out a mile away"

"Your guards" he shrugged, reaching back to open the door as yelling broke through the car park, Seto climbing in silently, hoping that this was about to signal another delay. They were suppose to have gotten back to the mansion almost an hour ago now. Melvin was in his mansion alone with only a handful of guards to stop him getting up to too much trouble. Mokuba climbed in after him and pulled out his phone as they waited for the others. Now in the limo though, Seto was able to thankfully pull out his laptop and happily lose himself in some paperwork. All this babysitting was beginning to give him a headache, especially as he now had to deal with an angry uncle who was apparently not taking no for an answer. Deciding he'd rather leave Yami and Bakura to their own devices and deal with the PR backlash later, he reached over and closed the door again to block out most of the sound.

"We agreed that I was allowed to stay with Seto when I got back home" Yami was hissing. His rather distinctive hairstyle had been pulled back in a high ponytail that hung just above his shoulders, crimson eyes currently narrowed in anger towards the man who barred his way, "What's with the sudden act of fathery care?"

"As I have been trying to explain your mother and I have changed our mind" he frowned, aware of the small crowd that was now beginning to gather, gaze lingering onto Bakura who gave a short wave, "Yami just come home with me"

"No" he sighed and ducked around his father, Bakura opening the door for him "Tell mother not to worry. I'll still send money her way" he sighed and ducked inside, followed by Bakura who slammed the door shut behind him, Seto glancing up from his screen before motioning for the driver to head off towards the mansion. Yami sat with his arms folded, staring intently outside while Bakura laid across the other side of the seats. No one had ever pretended his job was going to be easy but painting this troubled band to be picture perfect to the public required a heck more effort than he'd first thought.

"Wish to inform me what all this has been about?" he finally asked, Yami glancing across for a moment before returning his attention back to outside. Not one to push for answers Seto returned back to his laptop, only glancing back up when his cousin finally decided to share what was on his mind.

"Mother wants me to go back home. So I can meet the girl she's decided I've to marry"