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A/N - OK! Ryou and Bakura meet in this chapter. Yay! And Anzu's in this chapter.
Boo! But Ryou and Bakura meet in this chapter! Yay! On a more serious note, thank
you very much for reviewing, if you're reading this fic and not reviewing, don't be shy,
I might just reply...
Katarina - You think it's dark? I didn't think it was dark. N'ya well. If that's your interpretation...
ladywolf(Terri - Why thank you. I live to entertain.
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Ryou looked up at the suburban monstrosity that was the Crawford residence. It was impressively massive but still retained a strange cottage feel to it and there were gnomes in the garden! Always a bad sign. With a sigh, he mustered up the courage to ring the doorbell and waited uneasily on the front porch.
The light behind the stained glass altered and the door swung back to reveal the kindly face of his mother's sister.
"Ryou! Darling!" Cecilia cried happily and engulfed the boy in a bone crushing hug.
"Hello aunty." Ryou wheezed through lack of oxygen.
"How long has it been? Two years? Three years?" the woman said "Too long at any rate."
"Yeah. Er...I brought you some chocolate."
"Oh that's lovely, thank you." said Cecilia as she led him into the warm living room that as filled with various relatives and friends "I hope you don't mind but Pegasus brought some of his business friends tonight." she motioned for him to sit down. "You know Marik and Isis of course." Marik sneered at him. "This is Mr Kaiba, Mr Devlin and you remember my daughter Anzu, don't you?"
Ryou looked at the young woman he had sat next to and smiled nervously. "Yes.
It's...nice to see you again Anzu." Anzu smiled back flirtatiously. He really didn't have
a clue who the girl was and
was just being polite. This disturbed him a bit as he usually had perfect recall. Maybe
he'd just never had the chance to talk to her or had been too distracted to notice which
was a fair possibility. Practically his entire school career had been spent idolising his
best friend but never finding the courage to say so. Then his father had found out and
went absolutely mental and forbade all contact between them whatsoever. Gradually
they had just lost touch. Whoever said "out of sight, out of mind" was clearly a
complete and utter liar.
The dinner passed without incident. Anzu kept giving him weird looks from across the table which made him feel slightly uncomfortable and Marik kept sending snide comments in his direction but that was nothing out of the ordinary. When it was all over Pegasus and his cronies moved back into the living room. Ryou got up to follow them but found himself cornered in the hallway by a certain brunette.
"Where are you going?" asked Anzu.
"Um...I was just going to talk to your father." said Ryou nervously.
"Step-father! I take it as a personal insult to be related to that bastard!"
"Oh! Sorry."
"Doesn't matter. I wouldn't recommend going in there, it's the most boring thing in the universe. Why don't we ditch these losers and have us some fun." she said suggestively, in a way that made Ryou blush.
"I-I er better not!" he stammered.
"Come on. There's nothing to be afraid of." said the girl and wrapped her arms around his neck. Ryou's blush became a shade redder. "You are just too cute for words." and she pulled his face closer to her own.
"Er...I really sorry but I have to go!" Ryou said quickly before breaking free of her grip and rushing towards the living room.
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"And so I'm stuck with this game shop that the old fool sold me. Hasn't made a profit since 1972 and I can't find anyone dumb enough to take it off my hands..." said Pegasus and was interrupted by Ryou's hasty entrance. "Oh! Hey kid, what took you so long?"
"I've got an idea!" Marik exclaimed "Why don't we get the squirt to look after it?"
"Look after what?" asked Ryou.
"Oh yeah! Great idea Marik. Ryou-boy, how would you like a chance to run your own business."
"Really!" the boy's eye's nearly popped out of his head.
"Yes. Think of it as a chance to prove yourself."
"Wow, I don't believe it! Thank you so..." he stopped short when Anzu tapped on the window from outside and, unseen by the room's other inhabitants, lifted her top to expose her bare breasts.
"What's wrong, squirt? Lost for words?" Marik jeered.
"Sorry! Sorry! I'm just a bit shocked. (A/N - Ahem! Understatement!) Thank you uncle." said Ryou and blushed a lovely shade of beetroot and tried not to look out the window as the conversation continued and the liquor flowed until he got talked into driving Marik and Isis home.
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Bakura watched with idle interest as the group began to block the car under the bridge,
yelling various racist insults and banging on the windows and windscreen. He was
completely unprepared when the driver's door opened and his almost exact double
came out and pushed his way towards him.
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Ryou couldn't believe his eyes. It was him, just standing in the middle of the road with
his wild crop of silver hair and his dark eyes clad in denim and leather. It was Bakura!
The boy who had taken him under his wing in the seventh grade, warded off bullies
for him, was the only thing that kept him going during those angst ridden times. The
same Bakura who constantly played a starring role in all his dreams and fantasies for
as long as he could remember.
Suddenly the thugs outside seemed obsolete as he forced the car door open and rushed out into the chilly October evening.
"Ryou, what the fuck are you doing?! Get back in here!" Marik shouted from the passenger seat. But the boy didn't even here him as he rushed towards the familiar figure.
"Kura?" he cried joyfully "Bakura it's me, Ryou. Remember?"
The other boy looked at him in mock thought then smirked. "Nope doesn't ring any bells." instantly Ryou's face fell. "Of course I fucking remember you baka! You wouldn't leave me alone for five years!" The words were harsh but there was no malice in them. Ryou smiled, his friend hadn't changed at all.
"That your family?" Bakura asked pointing towards the terrified figure of Isis and Marik who was fending his gang off with a broken whiskey bottle.
"Oh my God! Marik!" Ryou cried. "What are they doing? Make them stop!"
"Hey! You lot! Piss off!" Bakura shouted. "The boy's with me!"
"But we were just getting to the good part!" Honda protested "They're supposed to be working for us, not taking all the jobs!"
"I said, get lost!" Bakura yelled and threw his empty beer can at him. The other boys backed away grumbling and gradually faded into the night.
"Wow! Thanks Kura." said Ryou with amazement.
"No problem. I'll se you around." said the older boy and walked away till he was completely hidden by the shadows, leaving Ryou alone in the middle of the road...
