This is my first YGO fanfiction, so I do admit this chapter may come off very slowly and tediously from inexperience. I used the Abridged first names for Yami Bakura and Yami Marik simply for convenience. Ironically I actually hate the name Melvin and such, but I didn't want to use a name the vast number of people would be unfamiliar with. Plus, Florence Bakura always makes be smile for some reason. Despite that all, I don't really want to use the Abridged personalities. I like all the characters in both version, but seeing canon personalities really make my heart all warm and fuzzy.
Each life makes its own imitation of immortality.
-Stephen King
{M*S}
Bakura's eardrums still buzzed even several minutes after the trial ended. The judge slammed down his gravel with a hard boom, yelling out the final punishment. Bakura payed no attention to the words purely because they sounded so annoying coming out like a death threat from the supposed law enforcer. Even with the trial over, Bakura had to stay to sign nitpicky paperwork and agreements. Of course, the thief hardly cared about the trifling details of his sentence, but he had come with his brother, Ryo, that refused to let a single thing slide. Considering that he, the Great Thief Bakura, had been caught in the act, he assumed just the wound to his pride should satisfy the killjoy government. Apparently, the law only wanted to rob him of his pride even more with various lame punishments.
"Bakura? Bakura!" his brother half-yelled. Considering how half-spoken the boy was, his yell sounded only slightly more than his normal speaking volume, but it vaguely reached Bakura's bored mind. "Have you heard a single thing the lawyer's been saying?" Ryo asked when the lawyer left the room for a new pen.
"Sod off. It's not like this matters. Didn't he mention that I 'lucked out' by getting such a passive punishment?" Bakura snarled. Ryo would just explain it all to him later in a less annoying "Lawyer-Speak," so Bakura saw no point in trying to understand all the formal wording. The only reason the thief still sat in the courthouse was due to the fact that the paperwork still needed his signature and Ryo's nagging.
"Passive? You have to complete 200 hours of community service in exchange for going to jail! And you have to pay back all that you stole, and you're banned from the store, which means that I might as well be banned because no one would tell us apart. I liked that store, too!" Ryo rambled in defeat. Bakura always knew just how to screw his life over.
"Please, like that's true. We may be twins, but no way am I obviously a pansy like you."
"Very funny, brother. You may not be able to be mistaken as me, but people come after me with enough blind rage to want to beat me up just for looking like you. You really need to stop getting into such trouble. You're only 19! You're too young to mess up your life. The law sees you as a legal adult, too, so you have to change at least a little."
"I suppose you want to tell me to 'act responsible' or other rubbish, right? Well, shut it. I take responsibility for my actions; however, I just do not act how you want. When we get out of here, you know I'm just going to ste-" Bakura wisely cut himself off when the lawyer reentered the room.
"Ah, hope you did not mind the wait. If we can get the last signature, Florence, you and your brother may leave," the ignorant lawyer said passing the fresh pen to Bakura.
Bakura almost broke the pen in half hearing the lawyer use his real first name. As sloppily as he could, Bakura signed his legal name, Florence Bakura, and slammed the pen down. "Let's go."
Ryo signed and nodded to his brother already at the door. Ryo picked up the papers they needed and waved goodbye to their seemingly nameless lawyer. Bakura scowled at the action, so Ryo refrained from doing anything similar the rest of the way home. For a meek young man, Ryo could admit that the last thing he wanted was to hear Bakura bitch about the entire situation at home.
Strangely the two brothers walked home in odd silence. Ryo expected a lot of angry curses and complaining, yet the other male remained so quiet because he was beyond angry enough to yell. Ryo ran fingers through his long, snowy hair and stared at his twin with his chocolate brown eyes. The passive twin had a few suggestions to make to help his brother, but he held his thoughts carefully to not tip the burning kettle.
Bakura stomped along the steps up to their apartment suite, almost breaking the steps from the pressure. Ryo made quick work unlocking the door, and Bakura pushed him aside as he stormed into their home. Ryo checked the time, 5:52, and decided to start dinner that had more meat than usual, Bakura's favorite.
Bakura still remained silent to the point of deeply unnerving his brother. Ryo almost burnt the noodles that went along with the steaks from sheer uneasiness. Bakura sat at their small table to the side and waited to be served with a cold, deadly glare.
"Do-done," Ryo called out grabbing the plates and silverware. Ryo placed the noodles on the table first and then the steaks. Needless to say the silverware and noodles were pointless on the table as Bakura ate the meat mostly using his own hands. Ryo decided to let Bakura grab the other steak originally for himself, and ate the untouched noodles.
Bakura devoured the meal and burped once finished. He snarled showing his teeth and glared at Ryo, who was finishing the last of his own meal.
"Something the matter?" Ryo asked softly.
"Well? What am I doing!" Bakura barked. "You can't expect me to actually do the shit they want!"
Ryo furrowed his brows and stood his grounds. "Oh, yes, you will. You will do as the gracious law commands and stop your fury. If you didn't want to face the punishments, you should have not done the crime or not gotten caught."
"What? You actually take theirside? My own brother? Traitor!"
"I am not a traitor. I am just not as stupid as you to think you can just ignore this. You willserve your community service hours, and I'll help pay for the stolen items."
Bakura scoffed and showed a menacing fang. "Like hell would I waste my bloody time trying to help the bloody community."
"You. Don't. Have. A. Choice," Ryo explained punctuating each word. "The library at my college is always accepting volunteers. I already have a job there, so I will pay your debt if I can see you actually working."
"A library? You want me to get hours at the bloody LIBRARY? What do you want from me next? Recycling the plastic that holds together my six-packs of beer?"
"Well, there is nothing wrong with helping the dolphins not get caught in the little loops and what not!"
"It was a damned rhetorical question! How the bloody hell are you the one in college?"
"Because I am the one that has to be able to support us in the future! Your stealing little things to help get us by won't work anymore, Kura, and you know that. If- if I can't get a good job in the future and you get caught again then … ," Ryo trailed off his words in a murmur. The soft-spoken twin knew Bakura only stole to help get the two some sort of financial stability; he just never wanted to accept the fact that something legally "bad" was all that kept them afloat for so long. Bakura would steal again like he had been doing for years, and Ryo really could not change that, not yet, but it ate away his conscience to the bare bones.
Ryo despondently looked at his brother before turning to their apartment. Space and luxury were nonexistent within two very small bedrooms, a half-burnt kitchenette, a single moldy bathroom, and a small miscellaneous room that connected all the others. Without the stealing, the twins would have been on the streets living in boxes years prior. Ryo realized how unfair he acted scolding and yelling at his brother for stealing. The smaller boy sighed and took up their dirty dinner plates to the sink.
"I'm sorry, Kura. The library really is not the worst way to get your hours. You can walk with me to the campus and everything. It's only a few minutes away, and a new semester is starting soon. Everyone will be rushing back, and they might give bonus hours if you help them prepare," Ryo spoke softly and placed a gentle hand on his twin's shoulder.
The thief threw the hand off his shoulder and stood up quickly. "Fuck it. I'm going to bed. I'll bloody think about it. You aren't going to give me a damn choice, right?" Ryo shook his head. "Fuck you, too," he replied slamming the door to his messy room.
Ryo sighed and debated knocking on the door and leaving his brother to cool. Like a fool Ryo chose the former and went into the chaotic living space.
"Piss off," Bakura spat from his bed.
"You know I won't. I wanted to say sorry for scolding you. Just know I want to help you. Please know I love you, 'Kura. You're my brother. You're the reason I work hard."
Bakura said nothing for a bit with stoned, icy eyes. Soon he realized that his brother wouldn't leave until he said something. "Did you always know that stealing things was how we've been making it so long?"
"No, not always. I thought the bills were just not as expensive as I had expected. I didn't know you paid for the water bill and some food and other things. I found a receipt for some groceries and a bill you forgot to hide once or twice, then put it together. I … Thanks, brother. For taking care of me for so long."
"Shut the bloody hell up. If you think I care about you, you're wrong. Chances are those retarded cases where twins always feel what another twin feels could be right, and if something happened to you, karma would make sure something similar happened to me."
Ryo released a small laugh at his brother's very lame excuse to be the macho, heartless, jerk. "Thank you anyway, 'Kura. I'll see you in the morning. Think about my offer and sleep well."
Ryo flicked off the lights and closed the door softly before heading to his own room. The kind male missed his brother's scoff.
"How does the idiot expect me to 'sleep well,' and think about what the hell to do. Bloody idiot. Hope it doesn't run in the family," Bakura mumbled before drifting to sleep.
{M*S}
"Move your damn ass out of my bed!" a nasally, angry voice barked out. The owner of the voice's violet eyes shone with impatience. "You sleep on the couch!"
The receiver of the yelling glared back with equally his violet that held even more anger than his twin. "Like hell! You got the bed yesterday!"
"I got the bed yesterday because it is my bed. This is my appartment, and you are just lucky the neighbors have not heard you yet! Just take the damn couch, so I can go to bed. Unlike you, I actually have to do stuff tomorrow. You are going to get out of my bed, Melvin."
The other man, Melvin, growled and muttered a foul retort in their native tongue. Melvin only made himself more comfy between the sheets and turned his back to the other, gravity-defying blond hair sticking up even laying down. The only thing said in English was a distinct mumble, "Fuck off, Marik."
Marik finally had enough and ripped the covers away from Melvin. "Do not speak that damned language in this house! We are not in Egypt anymore, and your English is awful. A bit of practice might make you actually able to sound like you are educated. Every possible employer never hires you because you cannot even tell children where the cereal aisle is!" Marik fumed in the foreign language. Truthfully, yelling was a lot more simple in the ancient Egyptian the two grew up learning, but neither were actually in the country, nor did they need to be reminded of their time in the nation. Marik struggled for months picking up basic words while his twin seemed to cruise away time without even learning how to spell "cat."
Melvin shot up from the bed in an attempt to punch Marik, but the twin narrowly missed. "I said fuck off! Is that good enough for your precious English-only ears? It's not like I need a job. You took enough gold from the tomb to sell that could last years. You shouldn't even bother applying for school."
Marik growled, showing his nicely grown canines. "You are an idiot if you think a few gold relics would last a few years. At best they will pay for my tuition. Still, unlike you, I actually work, and I paid for the bed you are sleeping on. If we weren't twins, I would have kicked you out by now, you deadweight!" Marik screeched landing a blow on his younger brother's arm. Marik aimed for the face, but after so many years knowing each others' fighting pattern, they managed to dodge most attacks.
Melvin accepted the punch as a distraction for his own assault to Marik's exposed stomach. Melvin always hated the way his twin would flamboyantly flaunt his abs with a short cut lavender hoodie and low-cut black pants. At least with a nice fist imprint, Melvin knew his idiot brother would actually wear a semblance to real clothes. Marik hadn't even changed into his sleepwear out of annoyance of changing in front of Melvin. Melvin always assumed his brother was the worst type of in-the-closet faggot. They were identical twins; Marik had the same junk Melvin did, only Melvin thought he pulled it off better because at least he didn't look like a woman.
Marik felt the blow and knew it would bruise. Thankfully, his natural mocha skin tone hid most blemishes, but clearly Marik would not be wearing his usual revealing clothes for awhile. Both Marik and Melvin reached their pinnacle of anger and waged a full out war on the very bed they fought over.
Bites, punches, kicks, and a few more hits in more private areas later and the two lay panting on the floor. Neither had enough energy to get up and claim the bed, so on the floor they both stayed. Marik made a mental note of gratitude that at least he set his alarm already for the morning. Marik would have to go to the local college and finally enroll his classes before he missed the approaching cut. Even if he didn't want to, Melvin would be coming with him in a vain effort to convince his twin to enrich his life with education they never had he opportunity for before. Either Melvin would go to the college or Marik had clipped "Help Wanted" ads from various sources he could fill.
'Tomorrow,' thought Marik with a mixture of anxiety, hope, fear, and excitement. 'Tomorrow I'm going to officially start the path to a better life.' Finally the young man closed his wary eyes to embrace sleep and sweet dreams after a long day.
{M*S}
A/N: So if anyone is wondering what the heck Metaphysical Salvos means, think of it loosely as an "Abstract, intangible warfare" or "Continuous attacks that transcend reality." Isn't it funny how one word leads to another? I admit I have unorthodox methods, but everything I write is a work of art in progress or at its best. I know this should be left unsaid, but please review. I really am new to this fandom, so a bit of encouragement really gets me moving sometimes. I try to give other authors as many reviews as I can, so knowing others would do the same for me puts me on cloud nine.
Sorry for rambling and I hope you come back for more. Grey is out!