Title: Underdog (may be subject to change)
Pairings: MarikxBakura, Ryou+Yami and eventual YamixRyou
Warnings: Swearing, shonen-ai, um maybe some sexual situations and violence
Disclaimer: Don't own. No sue.
Summary: Discovering that he's about as straight as a pretzel through his crush on the boy he thinks he can never have is making life very hard for Ryou Bakura. Add in the fact that he's a target for bullies and how will Ryou Bakura handle his transfer into a new school?
Notes: Right...I'll be using the English school system simply because I know nothing about American and Japanese schooling. This fic is AU (obviously)
Chapter 1/ Prologue
Ryou surveyed the living room, which looked like it had been hit by a hurricane named Bakura. He sighed and made his way around the room, picking his way through the victims: soda cans, dirty plates, take away containers etc. Just as he was about to venture back out into the devastation for another round of damage control, the doorbell rang. He stepped carefully through the mess as he made his way to the front door, so as not to impale himself on an upturned fork. The doorbell was rung again, accompanied by three sharp knocks.
"I'm coming, I'm coming! Hold on." He finally reached the front door and opened it. A smile broke out on his face when he saw who it was and he leapt up and flung his arms around his neck in a firm hug.
"Marik!" Marik stared down at the white-haired bundle in his arms, and grinned as he made his way through the door, bundle and all.
"Pipsqueak." He greeted as per usual, having never called Ryou by his name. "Is your–?"
"He's upstairs. In his room." Marik nodded then grabbed Ryou by the arm and proceeded to drag him through the living room and up the stairs.
"Hey–! Wha–?"
"Come on, I need to talk to you too."
"Oh, okay." And he resigned himself to be dragged though his house.
They finally stopped outside a black door with 'No Entry' and 'Do Not Enter' signs plastered to the door. Loud rock music blasted through the closed door, so loud that Ryou could feel the beat vibrating through his body. Marik didn't even bother to knock and just went straight in, knowing that a) it would never be heard and b) Bakura wouldn't mind anyhow. Ryou closed the door behind him and turned around, just in time to catch the scene unfolding in front of him.
Bakura was sitting with his back to the door, and with his music playing as it was, he hadn't heard them enter. Marik scowled and walked over to the boy sitting on the bed. Bakura finally noticed him but it was too late. Before he even opened his mouth to say 'hello', Marik had dragged him to his feet by the front of his shirt and, using that same grip, pulled him into a kiss.
Ryou stared for a second before averting his eyes, a light blush staining his cheeks. Knowing them both as well as he knew them; he didn't know why he thought that it would be a chaste kiss. He heard a moan come from their vicinity and his blush intensified. He contemplated leaving the room, and his hand was on the handle but was stopped by his brother.
"It's okay Ryou, you can look now. We're finished...for the most part." He turned back around, confused about the cryptic answer, but it soon became clear what he meant. Marik had pulled Bakura onto the bed and positioned him to sit in between his outstretched legs, and his hands were now exploring under Bakura's shirt, his face buried in his hair. He walked over to the bed, but made a detour to turn down the music before placing himself at the foot of the bed by their feet.
"What's this I hear about you moving school?" Came the somewhat muffled voice of Marik.
"Umm...yeah." Ryou stammered out, not really wanting to talk about it. "When school starts up again, I'll be starting year 9 at you and Bakura's school."
"So why aren't you staying on at your school?" Marik moved his face away from Bakura's hair and was just resting his chin on his boyfriend's shoulder, his hands still under Bakura's shirt but resting on his hips now. Bakura pecked him on the cheek, a smug smile gracing his features.
"I got bullied a lot in my old school so my parents figured that moving school would sort out the problem." Marik scowled and pulled his head away to glare at Bakura.
"Why wasn't I told about this?"
"Guys, it doesn–"
Bakura grinned, "I took care of it."
"You don't have t– You did what!"
Bakura's grin turned slightly sinister. "I took care of it. Found out who the bastards were and made sure that they wouldn't even look at you funny."
Marik pouted, which looked ridiculous on him since Marik was one sadistic son of a bitch and calling him insane was a massive understatement. "I still can't believe you didn't tell me. It would have been so much fun." Bakura raised one hand to stroke Marik's cheek, trying to placate his boyfriend.
"Don't be upset with me, this was minor stuff. You know I always call you for the important things." Bakura pecked Marik on the lips, still stroking his cheek. Marik, not satisfied with just that, leaned in and kissed Bakura deeply. He snaked his arm around Bakura's waist, his hand restarting its journey under his shirt while his other hand buried itself in Bakura's hair. Bakura braced his hands on Marik's biceps and lost himself in the kiss.
Ryou, momentarily forgotten, sighed and turned away. It was really scary how his brother and Marik seemed to bond over violence and brutality. It was even scarier how they loved getting into fights and got upset over missing out on any type of altercation that had the possibility to escalate into a full-blown fight. And they both seemed to have this... sinister childishness was the best way to describe it. For example, once Bakura got upset after one fight with a gang that had tried to mug him and Marik because they had run off before he managed to draw their blood. Sometimes it seemed that they were both not all there. It made Ryou glad that one of them was his older brother and the other had seemingly adopted him as a younger brother.
A groan startled him out of his musings and his blush returned full force. He hoped that they wouldn't forget about him and get...intimate. He waited a bit longer, but seeing that they weren't going to stop of their own accord took it upon himself to stop them. He just hoped Bakura had saved up because he was going to be paying for his therapy.
"Umm..." He cleared his throat, hoping to subtly shake them out of their embrace but, obviously, they were too into each other to hear it. "Err guys? Bakura? Marik?" Seeing Bakura's hand about to disappear down Marik's jeans almost made him hyperventilate, but it succeeded in totally freaking him out.
"Guys, stop!" They reluctantly broke the kiss, Marik nipping a few times and his boyfriend's lips before turning to Ryou.
"Sorry," they said simultaneously, not really sounding all that sincere.
"Anyway," Ryou brushed a lock of hair out of his eye and sighed. "I'm really grateful for what you did for me Bakura, but it doesn't matter because I always seem to be a target for bullies. So I'll probably be picked on again at my new school." Marik growled and Bakura scowled.
"Not fucking likely. Seriously Ryou, if anything happens at school – and I mean anything – you come find me or Marik in school, and if not then tell me at home and we'll sort it out. No one is going to bully you in my school."
"Even if it's just minor things like knocking your lunch tray or bumping into you in the hallways, make sure you tell us." Ryou smiled, relieved. He'd heard stories of how elder siblings didn't want anything to do with their younger ones in school, and feared that it would be the case with him and Bakura. He should have known better; he knew that Bakura was fiercely protective of him and Marik was just as bad. Coupled with their strange love of fighting and they were willing to hurt (or on bad days seriously maim) those that even breathed wrong around Ryou. That was probably why Ryou was sometimes wary of telling Bakura if anything happened to him because he was scared of coming home one day and finding out that Bakura was in jail for killing someone.
"So Marik, why did you come round?" Marik feigned looking hurt.
"What? Do I need a reason to visit my boyfriend?" Bakura bopped him lightly on the head.
"Don't be stupid, you know I love it when you come round, but you never come round when there's a chance of my parents being here, and today's a Sunday."
"Yeah well, where are your folks anyway?" Bakura shrugged, not really knowing and not really caring.
"Mum and Dad went to out to have dinner with some friends."
"Good," Bakura's parents didn't like Marik, and he hated them. It wasn't the fact that he was Bakura's boyfriend that ticked them off; his parents seem to tolerate the fact that their son was gay, like it was just a phase and he would grow out of it. They disliked him mainly because they believed that he was a good for nothing, bad tempered, street punk with a serious attitude problem. They thought he was a bad influence on Bakura (although that couldn't be farther from the truth; they were as bad as each other) and they loathed the fact that Marik had 'adopted' Ryou as his little brother.
"I just came round to see you, of course," At this, Bakura smiled. "And to tell you that there's a party tonight. Wanna come?"
"A party."
"Yep,"
"On a Sunday."
"Yep,"
"The day before we go back to school."
"Yep,"
Bakura jumped up. "I wondered why you were all dressed up," Marik was wearing baggy black jeans that hung low on his hips. His top was also black: it was a tight, black wife beater that showed off his toned upper body. On his feet were his heavy, black, leather motorcycle boots, and to top it all off, there was a black leather collar around his neck with spikes that made him look dangerously seductive. "Alright, I'm game. Whose party is it?" He walked over to his wardrobe, and flinging open the doors he searched for something to wear.
"Dunno. Otogi was the one to tell me about. All I know is that it's some rich bastard's who thought he'd be a 'bad boy' and throw a party while his folks were away."
"Right. So does that mean we trash his house?"
Marik smirked, "Damn straight. We're supposed to meet up with Otogi over on the east side in front of that strip club and he'll take us there." Bakura finally came out of his closet and stripped down right there in front of everyone, not in the least bit body shy (not that he had anything to be shy about), causing Ryou to avert his eyes, for the third time that evening. He squeezed himself into a pair of sinfully tight, black leather pants. His shirt was a mesh sleeveless shirt and it clung to his upper body, advertising how toned his torso was. His top sported an intricate design of blood red vines that started in the bottom corner of his shirt and expanded outwards, tendrils of the design curling sensually around the area where his nipples would be. He finished the outfit off with steel-toed, heavy motorcycle boots and turned to his lover for inspection.
Marik grinned. "Absolutely fuckable."
"I'm glad you like." He turned to his little brother who was still staring at the bed sheets. "Ryou were not gonna come back until late. You have two choices: either you can stay here by yourself until mum and dad come back, or you can come to the party with us. What do you wanna do?"
Ryou worried his lower lip with his teeth. "I don't want to stay here alone but...I've never been to a party like that before."
"Look, don't sweat it." He put his Bluetooth headset on and stuffed his phone into his boot. "Bring your phone with you and if anything happens or you just wanna go home, phone me and we'll sort it out, okay?" Ryou nodded and smiled but it soon dropped off his face when he caught sight of the identical evil grins on his brother's and Marik's faces.
"W-What?"
Both grins widened in synchronisation and Ryou feared for his sanity. "Time to get dressed."
xXx
Ryou scowled down at his outfit. He didn't even know that he owned jeans that tight; it was a bloody struggle just to get his phone into his pocket. And the shirt...Ryou crossed his arms over his chest feeling entirely too exposed in a top on loan from Bakura. It was a tight (what else? Bakura didn't know the meaning of the word 'loose') red sleeveless top with numerous slashes and rips. There was black mesh underneath some of the tears making it somewhat better, but Ryou still felt he might as well as been wearing nothing for the lot of good that top did him. He put a jean jacket on over the top, feeling marginally better but still leery of this whole party thing.
He looked up and found Bakura and Marik staring at him expectantly. He sighed and pulled on his trainers.
"Alright, I'm ready. Just how are we getting there?" Marik and Bakura exchanged looks before saying simultaneously,
"Bike," Ryou dropped his head into his hands and shook it.
"Alright, fine. It's not like I have a choice."
"That's right, you don't. Now you're riding with me. Let's go." They walked through the front door, Ryou locking it behind them, and he walked over to the garage where Bakura was opening the door to get to his bike. Marik straddled his, which was parked in the drive and started the engine.
"Meet you there 'Kura." he called back. Then he revved his engine once and took off. Bakura got on his own bike and turned to Ryou.
"C'mon, get on and make sure you hold on tight. I don't want you to get hurt." Ryou clambered on behind him and wrapped his arms around his brother's waist tightly.
"I'm ready," Bakura didn't answer; he just started the engine and took off down the driveway and onto the road. Ryou shut his eyes and clutched even tighter at Bakura. No matter how many times he travelled with Bakura (or Marik for that matter) on his bike, he would never get used to it. It didn't help that they both had no regards for personal safety and thought that the speed limit was merely a suggestion. He groaned as Bakura put on another burst of speed and buried his face into his brother's back. It was going to be a long night.
Soon he noticed that they were slowing down, and finally they stopped, miraculously with them both still in one piece.
"You can open your eyes now Ryou. We're here." Came the somewhat amused voice of Bakura.
"Otogi should be here by now." Marik said, annoyed at having to wait. Ryou jumped about a foot into the air, having not heard Marik approach and turned and glared at his other 'brother', which did nothing but make Marik burst out laughing.
"Hey Bakura," said an unfamiliar voice, one that served to make Ryou jump again. "Marik. What's up with the short lookalike 'Kura?" A young man appeared from the alley way beside the strip club. His long dark hair was pulled up into a ponytail and his cat-like green eyes glowed impishly. Bakura growled.
"I've told you not to call me that. Do it one more time and my knife will find a new home in your stomach." Otogi held his hands up in a defensive gesture even though he was still smirking.
"Alright, alright, no need to get violent. So who's the runt?" Ryou scowled; he wasn't even that short, so he didn't know why people felt compelled to imply that he was vertically challenged.
"Don't call him that. He's my brother and his name's Ryou."
"That's great, really it is, but why is he here?"
Bakura turned to his boyfriend. "Tell me again why we haven't beaten the crap out of this guy." Marik pecked him on the lips.
"I haven't got a fucking clue. But he's really starting to piss me off. How about we rectify that right now?"
"Sounds good."
Otogi waved his arms frantically. "No no no no no! You don't want to do that! I'll be quiet just...don't do that."
Marik smirked sadistically. "Good. Now shut up and take us to the party." Otogi shook his head and walked over to his car, deactivating the alarm, opening the door and sliding in.
"Just follow me." he called out of the open window. "I don't know why I put up with you two psychos..." he muttered as he started the car, not thinking that they heard.
"Because we make your sad and dreary life more interesting." Bakura called back, firing up his own engine again, Marik revving his bike right behind him. Otogi gulped and drove off, Bakura and Marik not too far behind, and Ryou clinging on for dear life.
xXx