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A/N - Yes! I'm back on track! Thank you so much to all of you who reviewed. You guys are great.
Big thank you's to ladywolfTerri, Dark Magian Girl Hikaru and Dark Angel of Fire Ice for being so patient and supportive.
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"Oh there you are, darling!" said Cecilia as she poked her head around the front door "Pegasus was beginning to think you weren't going to show." she glanced at Bakura curiously "And who is this?"
"Oh sorry, this is Bakura, aunt Cecilia, my friend and business partner." said Ryou and smiled at his older doppelganger a light blush spreading to his cheeks.
"Oh that's nice, dear. Well, come on in, don't want you two freezing to death out here." said the sweet natured woman and ushered them in.
Bakura immediately spotted Marik sitting back on the couch with the utmost
confidence and laid back charm as he talked to several other people in the room. He
snarled quietly. How dare that bastard hurt Ryou and carry on as if nothing had
happened! Then another man with white hair and a freaky purple suit stood up and
welcomed them. Later on he found out that this was Ryou's uncle who had left him in
charge of the game shop. He also met some cold arsehole called Kaiba and some dice
crazed man whore called Devlin. There were a few other people but Bakura had
immediately forgotten their names, they were all weird and British sounding. He tried
his best to keep up with the conversation but soon found that he was out of his depth.
He didn't know anything about the stock market or international business affairs and
from the looks of it Ryou was pretty bored too. Marik kept sending threatening looks
in his and Ryou's direction which Bakura was none too happy about. Then there was a
girl about his age at the other end of the table that kept on giving his crush the eye
which he was none too happy about either. It was altogether a very depressing
evening so he went outside into the back garden. He was in serious need of a cigarette.
Bakura sat down on the wrought iron bench and carefully made himself a roll up. I probably about time that he quit smoking but that just wasn't the way his personality worked. One drop of pure nicotine could make a person's heart explode in their chest but knowing him that still wouldn't be enough to satisfy his cravings. He sighed and lit up. It was then that he noticed that the girl had followed him outside.
"Aren't you going to give me a drag?" she asked sweetly.
"You sure your dad won't mind?" he replied sarcastically.
"Well aren't you charming! And for your information he's not my dad. I'm Anzu by the way."
"Bakura."
"Nice to meet you, Bakura."
"Whatever."
"So you're Ryou's friend?"
"No, I'm the milk man, of course I'm his fucking friend."
"All right! I was only asking." Anzu smiled. "So how's his business venture going? I'm not really up to date with all those suits talking shop."
"Pretty good so far. We open on Saturday. Ryou's put a lot into it." said Bakura proudly.
"I should think so. His whole future in this family depends on it, in more ways than one..." said Anzu.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well the game shop is like a sort of challenge Pegasus set him. If he's successful,
he'll move on to bigger things, more important business ventures. Then we'll probably
get married, you know, keep the family going."
"You what!" Bakura snarled.
"Didn't he tell you? I'd have thought it was an obvious decision. Money and culture wise. It's all been planned."
"Isn't that like incest or something?" said Bakura, disappointment and sorrow filling him up inside.
"No, it's all perfectly legal and decent. And besides, who else would he marry in this shit hole."
"You're right." said Bakura, finding it hard to suppress his emotions. "Please excuse me." he stubbed out his cigarette and stomped back inside.
Fuck! He banged his head against the wall. How could he have been so stupid.
Chasing after some kid who was already taken! Idiot! He was so embarrassed! He
glanced at the living room door where Ryou and the others were laughing and
enjoying themselves. The only thing that came to mind was escape. He would just slip
out quietly and never bother Ryou again maybe find an old squat or a hostel to stay the
night. He was about to make his way to the hall when the older man who was Ryou's
uncle stepped out.
"Oh hello." he said. "Bakura, wasn't it?"
"That's right." said the younger man.
"Ryou-boy's spoken quite highly of you." said Pegasus "You seem like a strong lad and pretty shrewd too if what I've heard is correct. What would you say to an extra job, boy?"
"Depends what job." Bakura growled, he really wasn't in the mood for this.
"Just a few ... bailiff jobs I need done."
"What? Like taking away people's TVs?" said Bakura.
"Something like that. It's part time so you can still work at the game shop and the pay is reasonable."
"Thanks but I'm really not interested." said Bakura.
"Oh and Ryou mentioned something about you needing a place to stay. I have an empty apartment in Mishuku you could rent, should you accept the job that is."
Bakura turned around in the doorway. He was tempted, even though he knew the job meant something far more violent than simple evictions and confiscation. "I'll think about it." he said quietly and slipped out.
