Notes –I'm too lazy to proofread this, considering that it's half past six in the morning and I haven't been to bed yet. I have to get up in two and a half hours. O.o

Anyway, enjoy the trashy angst/romance!

Hole Hearted 2

"Are you ready to go?" Ryou fussed over his yami, ignoring Marik's snickering from over his shoulder.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." Bakura said for the hundredth time, letting Ryou mess with his eyeliner.

"At least you might get laid," Marik offered, probably trying to be reassuring.

"If he even turns up." The thief muttered, turning away towards the door and grabbing his jacket when Ryou finally finished mothering him.

"He will. I promise." Ryou smiled sweetly, wandering over to where Marik was leaning against the wall. "Now go and have fun."

Bakura snagged his keys from the table beside the door and sighed in a put-upon way, wishing he'd never even bought the subject up.

"Fun." He repeated flatly, ignoring Marik's cackling as he left the house.

XxXxX

"Ryou."

Seto Kaiba greeted Bakura politely, if a little coldly, as they met outside the Italian restaurant they'd picked. At the greeting Bakura paused, then realised with a sinking feeling that Seto thought he was meeting his hikari. He supposed it made sense – the elder Kaiba brother would never have agreed to turn up if he knew who he was really meeting.

He was here now, though, and it was simply a question of whether or not he'd leave once he found out the truth.

"Kaiba." Bakura inclined his head slightly, the thought of just pretending to be Ryou crossing his mind. He'd done it before, but right now it was only going to complicate things and probably end up causing problems for his hikari.

"I didn't take you for the gothic type," Seto commented, referring to Bakura's black clothing – jeans and a tight-fitting black shirt, rocker boots with buckles halfway to his knees and plenty of silver accessories. All the yamis had a penchant for jewellery – with Yami it was buckles and bracelets, Marik had earrings and gold cuffs, and Bakura liked chains. Heavy silver links rested seductively on his exposed collarbone, a matching bracelet on each thin wrist. He had a pentagram ring on his right index finger because the occult had always fascinated him, and a stud that matched it in one ear. Three silver rings through the top of the same ear finished the outfit, which it seemed Seto liked from the look he was getting.

Deciding that was a good enough start, Bakura glanced towards the entrance of the restaurant and made up his mind. He had to come clean before they went inside, that way if Seto wanted out they could end this now.

"I have a confession. You may not like it." Bakura admitted, wondering how the CEO was going to take the news. He was just relieved that Seto didn't have access to shadow powers; at least his pride was the only thing about to get wounded.

"And that would be…?" Seto raised an eyebrow, folding his arms and looking stern. Bakura couldn't remember Seth even being that imposing, and once again he cursed his new, small frame.

"I'm… not Ryou. I'm Bakura. Ryou probably just told you it'd be him here so you'd turn up, I know the reputation I have." Bakura explained, watching carefully as the flicker of annoyance in Seto's icy blue eyes grew into curiosity.

"The thief? That's you?" He demanded, looking expectant. Bakura hated being referred to as though he were a common thief because he was far from it, but he knew that was how everyone associated with Yami saw him.

"Yes. If you want to call this off now…" Bakura allowed the suggestion to trail off, noticing that Seto's eyes were still running over him with as much hunger as they had been when he first arrived, although this time they also held a strange fascination as well.

"Why would an ancient spirit suddenly decide he wants to start dating?" Seto asked with a slight smirk, ignoring the offer to call the date off and moving to lead the way into the restaurant. Bakura wasn't sure what to make of that, so he followed the CEO and thought about his reasons.

"I've been alone a very long time. Everyone has someone, I want to know what it's like to have one person who's on my side. If not against the pharaoh, then just… in general, I suppose. Not that I can't take care of myself." He added as they were shown across the floor of small tables to a relatively secluded one in a corner. The generic waiter took their drinks orders and slinked off to fetch them while they sat down, Bakura wondering for the millionth time what in Ra's name he was doing.

"That's a surprisingly honest answer, assuming you're telling the truth." Seto commented, and Bakura noted that the CEO's eyes kept flickering to the chain around his neck. At least he knew that Seto Kaiba was physically attracted to him, which was better than nothing.

"I'm only a liar when I have a reason to lie." Bakura said slightly bitterly, picking up a menu so he'd have something other than Seto to look at. When it came to physical attraction, Seto Kaiba had everything. Tall, dark and handsome, but it was his eyes and his smooth voice that really had Bakura pinned. It really had been too long, he mused.

"For the record, I'd still have turned up if I'd known it was you I'd be meeting." Seto said, ignoring the waiter completely as he returned with the drinks and set them down before hurrying off again. Bakura looked up from his menu, not expecting Seto to say that.

"Why? What made you agree to this anyway?" The tomb robber asked, suspicious as always. Seto didn't seem to mind, which again surprised Bakura.

"To be perfectly honest you're a lot more interesting than Ryou. Also, I'm aware that Ryou and Marik are quite happy together, which is why I turned up. I was curious as to why Ryou would be doing this if he was already in a relationship." Seto smirked knowingly, picking up his own menu. "I had my suspicions that you might be involved somehow; the outfit confirmed it." He glanced up over the top of his menu to give Bakura another once-over, then went back to reading through the different meals.

Bakura's heart skipped a little at the burning look Seto gave him, not used to being looked at as anything other than the enemy. Not knowing how to reply, he scanned his own menu and quickly picked out a meal, glad that he recognised enough of the names to be able to order for himself. The waiter appeared after a moment and Bakura watched Seto order some pasta dish while he chose a risotto, before handing the menus to the waiter and watching him leave. Picking up his red wine, the thief sipped it and stared across the full restaurant, knowing that Seto was watching him again. He could almost feel the CEO's eyes burning a trail down his throat, hovering again at the first few open buttons of his shirt where the thick chain curved, heavy against his ghostly white skin. It made him want to shiver and he almost snapped at Seto to stop staring at him like that, but he clenched his teeth and tried to ignore it instead. It made him feel weak, and apparently Seto noticed the sudden tenseness and the frown on his face as he watched the waiters flitting about.

"Something wrong?" The CEO asked, sounding slightly amused that Bakura was uncomfortable with being stared at. The thief looked at him briefly then away again, wondering yet again what he was doing.

"No," he lied, changing the subject. "How's your brother?"

Seto seemed to know that he was avoiding the issue, but let it go and sipped his water while he talked about Mokuba, still keeping his dark eyes fixed on Bakura. The thief half listened to Seto and half thought about why he'd done this in the first place. He didn't want to be alone, but Seto was just staring at him like he was a piece of meat. He resigned himself to the fact that the night was probably headed in the direction of a one-night stand and nothing more. That wasn't what he'd wanted, and he wondered if he should allow it – because sex was better than nothing – or leave when the meal was over.

The food finally arrived and they ate in relatively comfortable silence, since Seto was no longer staring at him. It was a good meal, and Bakura made a mental not to tell Marik to take Ryou there sometime. When they'd finished eating Seto ordered ice cream and laughed at the surprised look on Bakura's face when he tasted it. It was one of the few things he hadn't tried for himself before, but he scowled when Seto laughed at him and refused to eat any more.

When the bill arrived Bakura had paid it before the CEO could get his chequebook out, which seemed to surprise Seto. They walked outside to where Seto's limo waited patiently to take him home, Bakura's bike parked around the corner.

It was dark outside and Bakura felt a lot better now that he blended into the shadows, as opposed to being stared at by Seto in the bright, busy restaurant. The whole thing had been a stupid idea, he decided. He wasn't weak, he didn't need anyone else. He got by just fine on his own.

As they reached Seto's limo the CEO turned to Bakura, who was keeping to the thick darkness against the wall of a building.

"Do you need a ride home?" He asked.

Bakura looked up, eyes gleaming in the blackness surrounding him as Seto approached him.

"No. My bike is over there," he gestured towards the alley where he'd parked it, feeling the burning gaze on him again. He'd turned down the one night stand option by refusing the ride home – that wasn't what he'd done this for.

"Goodnight, then. It's been an interesting night, I'll call Ryou's house tomorrow." Seto said, smirking as he closed in.

Bakura was surprised that Seto would want to call and looked up, meeting the CEO's intense blue eyes only inches away.

"Goodnight," he murmured, and stood frozen to the spot as Seto leant down to kiss him. It started soft, making his lips tingle for more contact, and he parted them to draw in a gasping breath. Seto took the opportunity to deepen the kiss and Bakura's eyes slid closed, leaning against the wall with Seto's thumb running over his collarbone where the chain lay, the CEO's other hand on his hip.

When they finally parted Bakura was flushed and almost wishing he'd taken up the offer of a ride home, his breath coming out heavier than usual as he tried to get his heart to beat normally. He looked up, still in shock, and watched Seto give him one last smirked smile before getting into his limo and pulling away into the darkness.

TBC

This one is long, because the next one is short but has fun bits, and the one after that is stupidly long.