Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh characters.

Warnings: This will get very angsty in later chapters, sometimes gory so this is not for the faint of heart. Also, this is AU. (My first AU story, wee!)

Her Sweetness: Hey, guys. - -'' So, listen, I'm pretty new to these limes and there will be a few throughout this fic. I'll try to get better so if it's not as good as some other people's please remember I'm still learning.

— Everybody, Everybody —

Chapter Three

Walking down those lonely, fog-covered streets at six in the morning, Marik Ishtar was happy. In every sense of the word and it's synonyms, elated, delighted, blissful. As he walked by the bare, naked trees, their leaves long since dead and scattered in the gutters, his eyes shone through the fog, lavender headlights, shining a way through, reflecting how light his soul was then. In his school bag, thrown carelessly over his shoulder, he had placed his books inside, like every other day, but today he carried something in his arms.

Since changing classes the day before, when he had bumped into that wonderful thing, Ryou Bakura, he had obtained something that he had grown quite fond of. A binder. A blue binder, random stickers strewn across it and inside, a textbook and a few loose sheets of paper, scribbled and doodled on by Ryou Bakura. He recognized the delicate and somewhat rushed handwriting from the notes that he saw Ryou writing back to others. Marik stayed up the night before, reading over what he had written there, even giggled at the obscure doodles on the tops of the papers.

It was as if he was finally let into Ryou Bakura's world, just a little bit. And as much as he detested the idea of having to give the binder back to the boy, he knew he had to. This would be his reason, his reason to finally speak to beautiful, Ryou Bakura. He would miss his binder and wonder what happened to it and, out of the blue, Marik would come up and gallantly return it and he would say his name, something that he'd only been able to say aloud in his own home.

You dropped your binder.

Ryou Bakura.

The late November chill was setting in around the town and caused the dense fog that Marik was forced to walk in, due to his missing the bus. But he didn't mind, he had planned on missing the bus, he had to take extra steps that morning to ready himself to meet this boy face-to-face. For as long as he could remember, he'd only seen Ryou Bakura from the back and he doubted that during their sudden clash the day before, Ryou had actually taken a good look at him. He was thankful for that. He hadn't looked his best that day, he'd admit, but today he decided to iron his clothes before throwing them on his body and shuffling into the school building.

As Marik Ishtar continued down the misty streets, looking both ways and checking for headlights of cars before entering the street. As dense as the haze was, he could make out others his own age, some younger, some older, all heading in the same direction. But, of course, there were noticeable differences between Marik Ishtar and his peers. They traveled in pairs, sometimes groups of threes or fours. Their aura was carefree and pure and they had friends.

He sighed. Friends. Something he did not have but wished that he might someday be blessed with. He had read somewhere that one did not need friends, that human beings were efficient on their own and would be delayed with such things. Marik's mind instantly raced to Ryou Bakura and how he smiled at everyone and how nice he seemed to be. If Ryou Bakura was his companion, was his only friend, he knew he would not mind being delayed. If there was company, then why hurry?

Today will be a good day, he told himself, nodding as he got closer to the school building and the huddling mass of teenagers at the gates. He clutched the binder closer to his chest, trying to find some comfort in it.

-

Will not be coming to school today. Have reached a new area in Halo 2, I'm close to beating it. Will be waiting for a reward when you get home, fine ass.

That was all that was written on the crumpled piece of paper that Ryou Bakura found in his pocket. He wrinkled his nose in disgust at the last sentence. His big brother was coarse and crude when he wanted to be. Unfortunately that was most of the time, especially when they were around anyone but themselves. With friends or their parents, and even sometimes with Ryou, Bakura was rather vulgar while he was always feigning sweetness to everyone.

Though, Ryou supposed that was what his friends meant when they said they complimented each other so well, like two sides of a coin. He stuffed the note back into his pocket, trying to hide that smile that came to his lips whenever he thought of Bakura. Despite his skipping school and sometimes crude remarks and even gestures when they past each other in the hallway, Ryou was glad his brother was around. He was someone to talk to and he did listen whenever Ryou was serious.

Ryou closed his locker and continued on his way down the hall, greeting and waving at everyone who said, "Good morning," or something similar. He thought back to just the night before when he was trying to get some time alone. It seemed that lately the only place he could get away from his parents or the phone that constantly rang off the hook, always for him, was the bathroom, taking a long bath, sometimes so long that his fingers would start to prune and the water would get cold. Didn't matter, though, salvation comes in all forms, Ryou soon found out.

As the sun set, the calls started; his friends and some people he didn't know very well, calling to see if he was free tonight, if he wanted to see a movie. He nearly ran into the linoleum-covered room to get away from that horrid sound, the constant ringing of the phone in his ears, still sounding throughout the house. He'd shut the door behind himself and discarded his clothes even before he ran the bathwater, running his hand down and up the warm water as the tub filled.

It almost overflowed as he lost himself in the sight of the water and he quickly came back to here and now, the tub overflowing, his hand in the hot water and the phone ringing off in the distance. He hated that sound.

Ryou climbed in, not bothering to test it with his foot as he usually did, no time for that, had to get away from that sound, these terrible noises. He lay almost entirely submerged in the water, his nose and up was all that was exposed, save for his hands gripping the rim of the tub. He counted the rings as they continued, no one touching the phone, everyone in the house knowing that those persistent calls were for Ryou and him alone.

He sighed when they stopped five minutes later and let his body relax, sliding further into the water. The room was quiet, his steady breathing filling it with content rhythm. The door opened suddenly and closed just as quickly, Ryou's own form coming in and stationing itself at the sink, washing it's hands.

Ryou turned his head, his mouth still submerged, "Can't you knock?"

"Why should I?" His mirror image asked, the answer to the previous question. When he heard nothing from his younger brother, he turned his head from the sink, his deep brown eyes starring at the delicate, pale body in the water. Bakura turned his body, fully from the counter and walked the six foot distance to the tub, kneeling down and placing a hand under Ryou's chin, lifting it out of the water. He smirked, "The phone stopped ringing. You don't have to hide in here anymore."

"I'm not hiding," Ryou countered, feebly, now not in the mood to argue. He sighed, letting his head rest in Bakura's palm as the older of the two cupped his younger brother's cheek, bringing him closer. He breathed in the strawberry scent of Ryou's hair, closing his eyes and trailing his lips along the dainty jaw line until he reached the boy's lips. Ryou responded to the kiss immediately, opening his mouth to his big brother's eager tongue. Bakura slipped his other arm down into the water, his sleeve wetting, and feeling down the boy's sleek back, lingering at his hips and nudging him up, his chest now out of the water. The phone started ringing again and Ryou turned away quickly as if nothing happened though his breathing was a bit ragged.

"I hate this…" He muttered, bringing his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms securely around himself.

Standing up and slipping his shirt over his head, Bakura smirked and began to unbutton his jeans. He threw them on the floor. "If you hate it so much, then don't acknowledge it, Ry. It's your own fault for being this vulnerable."

Ryou didn't say anything as he felt his brother's body next to his in the warm water and leaned over, resting his head on the teen's chest, trailing his hand up to Bakura's shoulder. He sniffled, trying to prevent his tears from falling. He shook his head then, smiling, forcing the tears away. "Maybe Marik Ishtar is the one calling me…"

"Who?" Bakura tilted his head, busying himself by stroking his brother's cheek, leaning in and kissing it.

Ryou chuckled, "Marik Ishtar. This boy at school, he's… 'K-Kura…" He moaned as Bakura's hand tweaked his left nipple and slid lower as he moved, pushing Ryou down and finally emerging on top of him, attacking his brother's lips with his own. Ryou managed to break away quick enough to ask, "What are you doing?"

"We're going to drown out the phone."

-

Ryou looked up, coming to the door of his fifth period class. The hallway was nearly empty, with fifteen minutes until homeroom begun, most of the other students were out in the courtyard. He knocked lightly and didn't wait for an answer, opening the door and quickly shutting it behind himself.

The classroom was silent inside, the windows half opened and the light of early morning flooded the room, shining gentle purple and pink light on the desks and floors. This part of the building oversaw the courtyard and the sounds of happy, eager teenagers was the background music filling Ryou's ears. At the large desk in front of the room, two mischievous, green eyes glinted in the hazy light, and two lips curved to a smile at the teen boy's arrival.

-

Marik Ishtar had already visited his locker and put up the unnecessary books but keeping the binder tucked under his arm as he walked down the deserted hallways. Passing a clock, he noted that there were five minutes until homeroom began. He wanted to be in the room before Ryou Bakura arrived so that he could possibly return the binder without so many people in the room. He wanted their encounter to be as personal, as intimate, as possible.

He continued down the corridor, shuffling along and looking out but not really seeing the hallway, the lockers and doors that surrounded him. His purple eyes were overcast with his daydreams of Ryou Bakura, how perfect it would be when he took the blue binder from his hands. He might even smile at him. Marik Ishtar wanted that smile so badly, it was starting to hurt. Marik quickened his pace now, more than eager to reach the classroom.

As the hallway deteriorated before him, his footsteps eating up the linoleum-covered floor, and he drowned out every sound, replaying the only two sentences Ryou Bakura had ever said to him. But something broke through that angelic voice and Marik stopped with one foot lifted from the ground. He turned his head slightly, listening to that odd sound, it was foreign in these hallways. It was not the sound of laughter or a marker running down a whiteboard. The sound seemed to be coming from the classroom right next to him and he took a step back, pushing his face to the glass window on the door.

His purple eyes widened, just a bit. In the classroom, clouded with early morning haze from sunrise, the curtains drawn, a beam of light shone through to the front of the room, to the teacher's desk. Those sounds, those lust filled moans, were coming from Mr. Pearson who was seated on the top of his mahogany desk, pants drawn to his ankles, hem of his shirt halfway up his chest and his legs spread apart from each other.

And those perfect pink lips between those legs, two pale, delicate hands grasping Mr. Pearson's hips and he gasped again, throwing his head back, one hand fisting Ryou Bakura's silver hair. And just as stoically as Ryou Bakura had kneeled down before his teacher, watching him unzipping his trousers, he stood up again smoothing back his hair and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

Ryou waited and Mr. Pearson's panting soon dwindled to small intakes of breath as he looked at his beautiful student through cloudy eyes. He smirked, said breathlessly, "Y-You're amazing, you know that?"

Ryou Bakura's eyes were not cloudy but focused. "Like I said before, I can't be bothered to do the next three reports for your class."

"I understand," He nodded, still smirking, mischievous eyes never leaving that body.

Ryou began to walk towards the door as his teacher stood, hurriedly pulling up his pants. He was stopped by the older man's voice and soon felt his hand on his shoulder. He leaned in, whispering, "You have a lot of potential, Ryou… You're a junior, right? Come senior year, you could be in a position to be Valedictorian." He slid his other hand around the boy's waist, tugging at the hem of his sweater, "Just work a little harder and—"

"Address me as Mr. Bakura. Don't use my first name." Ryou looked straight ahead, at the door that was less than two feet away. He narrowed his eyes when he felt the arm around his waist tighten and felt Mr. Pearson's hot breath on his neck. In one movement, he swatted away the hands and grabbed the door handle, opening it and stopping at one inch when he saw someone familiar just outside of the door. Two rounded, lavender eyes starred down at him as Marik Ishtar took a step backwards, like he'd seen a ghost. He stuttered incoherently, "I-I'm sorry, I-I didn't…"

Mr. Pearson's hand grabbed Ryou's shoulder forcefully before the boy could react to Marik and he whipped his head around, brown eyes narrowed as the older man hissed at him.

"Don't be so quick to turn your back on me, Mr. Bakura." His green eyes glistened. "It would be wise for you to be nice to me. I can give you everything and just as easily take it away, you know that."

"I gave you your payment, you know the deal. Let go of me." Ryou tried to keep his voice strict but it began to waver as the grip on his shoulder started to hurt him. His eyes flashed to the side and Marik was still there, looking as if he were about to run. Mr. Pearson's eyes are fixed on me, Ryou thought, his mind racing ahead as he grinned to himself. He gripped the door handle again and pulled it all the way open, immediately feeling relief where Mr. Pearson's hand once was.

Not wasting any time, Ryou walked to Marik Ishtar, leaning his head on the taller boy's chest, looking over at his teacher and smiling. Mr. Pearson growled under his breath, the faint blush on his face apparent as he tried to regain his composure. He walked back towards his desk, saying coolly, "You should hurry to your first period class, Mr. Bakura. You and your friend."

Marik flinched but refrained from saying anything to the teacher as Ryou Bakura closed the door in front of them, locking that man in his room, his world, with his fantasies. Ryou crinkled his nose at the door and then proceeded to look up at that face which had, at one point, been so horror-stricken. Ryou's eyes softened at his expression now, not scared or disgusted, simply confused. He squeezed lightly on the tanned arm to gain the teen's attention. Marik looked down at him, eyes transforming from a blank stare to breakable violet orbs.

"Y-Yes?"

Ryou put on a smile. "You saved me, Marik. I was in serious trouble for a second there, I didn't know what to do."

Taken aback by this, Marik didn't say anything. Ryou noticed his somewhat flustered state and continued, "… What were you doing out here, anyway?"

"I… um," His eyes darted around, but couldn't find anywhere to look besides right into Ryou Bakura's eyes. He was then reminded of what he'd seen in the classroom and went a little pale as he starred at Ryou's lips, rosy and innocent looking. It was amazing how dirty innocence could be. Ryou's round, doe eyes starring up at him and his body still pressed against him, Marik was feeling more than a bit dizzy and said the first thing that came to mind as he stepped away and held out a blue folder in front of himself.

"You dropped your binder, Ryou Bakura."

Perfect, he thought. No stutters, his voice didn't go higher, either. He savored the taste of Ryou's name on his tongue as he waited for the other teen to take his belonging. Ryou Bakura took it and smiled. And that was just for him.

To be continued…