A/N: I'm so proud of this fic! It's got more reviews than any other fic I've written so far (4) and it's been added to one C2 community :D Thank you so much everyone who: reads this, reviews, has added to favorites/on alert etc.

This chapter is shorter than the other two because my right hand is suffering from so much typing and I think I got a flu. That also means that it'll take longer to up-date since my hand needs rest and I need to have some other life.

After barging through the door of his apartment, Bakura was surprised to find the golden boy there, drinking tea with his little brother. This was no time to be having tea! What was he thinking? Then again it was Ryou who invited him there… Stupid kid…

Why wasn't Marik moving? He was told to leave! He just stared at Bakura like he hadn't ever seen a human before. The guy had a weird expression; a mix of fright and… fascination? What the hell!

"Didn't you hear me? I told you to get out!" That seemed to wake the boy from his trance.

"I was invited here by Ryou. You have no right to tell me what to do." He just stated calmly and turned to the smaller boy who looked scared and worried. "Ryou?" The youngest glanced at Marik then at Bakura in inner conflict.

"Y-you should go…" He finally told to the blonde. Of course he would take the side of his brother over someone he barely knew. Long time had passed since he had seen his brother like this.

Marik nodded and stood up.

"Fine I'll leave, see you later Ryou. Thanks for the tea." He started walking to the door but stopped to speak to Bakura before passing him.

"Don't do anything you'd later regret." Was he seriously worried that--?

"I would never hurt Ryou." Bakura stated firmly. He wouldn't hurt his brother, not willingly or on purpose at least.

Marik nodded at him approvingly, sent a last glance in Ryou's direction and walked out the door, shutting it behind him.

After the Egyptian was gone Bakura turned to his brother again.

"Come sit down and tell me what's wrong." Spoke Ryou quietly; he was still sitting on the couch.

……………………………………..

Marik decided to head home via longer route. Dinner- time had passed and he should have been hungry but the teen had so much on his mind after what just happened that hunger didn't feel very important.

The situation had been… odd. What could have caused Bakura to act that way? Sure it was obvious that the guy wasn't very sane in the first place, but this… And the expression on his face…

The boy shook his head. He didn't have time to ponder someone else's problems. It was none of his business anyway.

"I would never hurt Ryou."

That sentence suddenly echoed in the young Egyptian's mind. Why? Marik had deemed the older albino as sadistic arrogant bastard the first time he saw him but know it seemed that there was more to him than meets the eye. Anyone who has enough heart to care about his little brother couldn't be all bad, right?

In fact Marik felt quite envious about the close relationship Bakura and Ryou had. He and his siblings used to be like that too when they were younger, before the incident… They managed to re-establish some of the relationship but the damage had already been done.

He finally reached his house and opened the door only to have a worried Isizu attack him.

"Where have you been? We were so worried! You go to the supermarket and don't come back for ages and here we wait half starving and worry about you then you just come home all cool like nothing had happened without any explanation! Have you no shame?" she said in one breath.

"I went to have tea with a friend and lost track of time." He answered casually and went to the kitchen leaving his hysterical sister standing in the hall. She soon gathered herself and followed her brother.

"Marik? Where are the groceries?" Huh?

"Oh." Where were the groceries?

Shit. He had forgotten them at the albinos' place. Ryou had taken them to the kitchen so they wouldn't have to worry about them while having tea. Marik had been in such hurry to leave that he had totally forgot the damned groceries.

"I left them at Ryou's."

"I see… Is he the friend you had tea with?"

"Yeah." He found the left over dinner from the fridge and put it in the microwave.

"A new friend?" Isizu had a hopeful look on her face.

"Yes, I met his brother and him at the concert." The dinner was heated and Marik dug in while still standing, leaning against the kitchen counter.

"What kind of people are they?" The older sister was clearly hoping that he finally had some decent friends.

Hmm... What could he say? The younger one was so kind and polite that it was scary and the older was an arrogant bastard with kleptomaniac tendencies and apparently some murderous intent?

"They're ok, I guess." He answered with a shrug. What his sister didn't know couldn't make her worry. She didn't look very convinced though…

"Ok…"

Marik decided to go to his room before any further questioning could occur.

………………………………..

Ryou was crying. After so long time with out a tear.

As Bakura had feared the news of their father's death broke the kid's heart and now he was leaning against his big brother's shoulder, sobbing and looking for comfort.

The older albino wasn't the best person to turn to when facing heartbreak; he had no idea what to do or say in a situation like this. He just sat there and let his little brother wet his shoulder.

Ryou's reaction, when Bakura told him that there had been an accident and that their father wouldn't be coming back, was very naïve at first:

"Daddy moved to Egypt for good?"

The older brother sighed. He had been able to practically hear the kid's heart turn to tiny peaces when the answer to that innocent question was:

"No! I meant that he's… Dead. Ryou father is dead."

Maybe he wasn't the most sensitive person. He could have chosen his words a bit differently… Well it was too late for that now. At least Ryou knew and didn't have to hear the news from some unknown person through a phone call.

The sobbing stopped; Ryou had fallen asleep. Bakura picked him up, carried him to his room and tucked him in. After that the older brother turned on the TV when he realized that he hadn't eaten anything since lunch. He went to the kitchen and remembered that his brother hadn't cooked anything for dinner. That was of course understandable. Who would even notice something so insignificant as food at a time like this?

Bakura checked the fridge: yogurt, milk, juice… Ooh, yesterday's leftovers! He threw them in the micro and turned it on just when his sleepy little brother walked in, rubbing his eyes.

"Ryou go back to sleep."

"I heard noise…" yawn "I can't sleep…" Ryou said tiredly and turned to look at his toes.

"Could you sleep with me?" he asked glancing hopefully at his brother.

This reminded Bakura of the five-year-old Ryou: afraid to sleep alone since there was a serial killer living under his bed. Of course the serial killer was just something Bakura had made up and accidentally mentioned to Ryou while telling him a bedtime story. Then again, all Bakura's bedtime stories should be rated M for detailed violence and adult content.

Sigh. "Ok." How could he deny his baby Ryou when he looked so adorable and five-year-old-ish?

They both headed to Ryou's room. The older brother tucked them in and watched the little brother fall to a peaceful sleep using his new big brother pillow. He moved some hair of the sleeping teen's face and couldn't help but fall asleep himself.

……………………………………

The next morning Marik was sent to get the foodstuffs back. It was always better to just do what you're told then to suffer the consequences and he was the only one who knew where the two albinos lived. Well, besides Shadi who refused to go and get killed.

The blonde soon reached the apartment but stopped before ringing the doorbell. What about Bakura and the last evening's happenings? What had happened after he left? He decided to find out and pressed the doorbell once or twice.

The door was opened by who else but Bakura.

"What do you want?" Marik got the feeling of deja vu when he was greeted in this oh so polite manner.

"I forgot my groceries here yesterday. Oh hello Ryou. How are you?" The Egyptian had spotted the younger of the two and slipped past the irritated one to greet him. If Ryou didn't mind him here Bakura would have no choice but to stand him.

"Morning. You came for your groceries?" Something was wrong… The teen didn't smile in his usual way.

"Yes." The Egyptian wasn't sure what he should say and was almost glad that Bakura knew exactly what to say.

"They're in the kitchen, just grab them and go home."

"Don't be so rude to Marik." Ryou stood up to him and Bakura just grunted. What was his problem?

………………………………….

Bakura really didn't need Marik here, too bad that Ryou seemed to like him for some reason… The pain had gone to the kitchen to get the stupid groceries. Ryou vanished to his room leaving Bakura to deal with him. Oh joy…

"What the hell is that smell!" was heard from the kitchen.

"What sme-…" Damn! There was a terrible stink in the kitchen. How come no one had noticed it until now? The Egyptian was holding his nose.

"Are you sure you're housetrained?" The blonde asked from the albino kidding-ly.

Smart-ass. "Shut up and help me to detect the source!"

Oh crap. The day before yesterday's leftovers were still in the microwave! He had been distracted by his brother's childish antics and left the food to go bad.

"I don't think that's eatable anymore." Stated Marik looking at the ex-food.

"Obviously." The white haired one rolled his eyes and threw the food to the kitchen garbage can.

"That's not going to help, you know. It has to be taken out."

"I know that! Since you're just leaving, you do it."

"You can't make a quest take out your thrash!"

"Oh yeah? Just watch me!"

Ryou just walked in only to see the two practically in each other's throats.

"Wah! What are you doing!" He had a reason to be a bit shocked. The scene he walked in was, well…

Bakura looked like he tried to feed the garbage to Marik who defended himself with a kitchen stool. They turned to look at the shocked boy the same time and yelled rather childishly pointing at each other:

"He started it!"

"I see… How come I am the most mature one here..?" Ryou said the last part more to himself then to anyone else.

When the youngest of the three learned that the fight was about garbage, he of course offered to take them out leaving the two alone again, on purpose, no doubt.

They went to the living room and just stared at each other, leaning on opposite walls. Silence.

………………………………..

And some more silence. AAARRGGHHH! Marik didn't like the silence very much so he figured that if he wanted it to end he would have to start a conversation. Yay… What could they talk about?

"So… Have you tried to kill any delivery guys likely?" This got a rather strange expression from Bakura.

"Just one from the Ankh and Scale. Why?" So it was him who tried to kill Shadi.

"I know him; he's my cousin Shadi."

"Really? The one you wanted to murder with hair?" Bakura remembered that?

"Yep."

The atmosphere of the room lightened up now that they had found something they both wanted to eliminate.

The white haired one smirked arrogantly.

"How come he's still alive then? Couldn't kill him?"

"Hmph, it's not like you did any better."

"Ryou stopped me. Besides I only wanted his food. If I really wanted your cousin dead, he wouldn't be breathing right now." Somehow Marik believed him.

"You're pretty much wrapped around his finger, aren't you?" The Egyptian asked referring to Ryou. That, made the smug look on the other's face turn into a frown.

"That's none of your damn busyness." The question hit a nerve! It was Marik's turn to look smug.

"Oh I think you are. You're just not admitting it." He walked to the couch and sat down. "I don't blame you though. Your brother is cute in a puppy kinda way."

"You'd better not touch him!" Possessive over your brother much? Of course Marik had no that kind of interest in Ryou. The kid was bit too nice anyway.

"Don't worry, I'm not planning to." He said with a dismissive wave of his hand "No need to stand, you know, plenty of room on the couch." The blonde patted the space next to him indicating the other to sit down, which he did after some hesitation.

…………………………………

Bakura couldn't believe that they were actually having a civilized conversation. Well at least if you count conversing about topics like 'How to make your family miserable with out actually causing severe physical or mental damage' and 'Ways to drive your neighbors crazy' as one.

The mood in the room was relaxed and casual. The only question was: where was Ryou? It didn't take this long to take out garbage.

"You think we should go look for him?" asked the blonde, leaning against his arm, which rested on the couch's backrest.

The albino opened one eye to look at the other, his head leaned back and feet on the small table.

"He'll come around. I'd know if he was in trouble." They were connected in some weird way, always been.

The Egyptian sighed. "You're really close, you and Ryou."

"It's been just the two of us since…forever."

"Since your father left to Egypt?" How did he know?

"Yeah… Now I guess we'll just be alone for good." Bakura wasn't sure why he had mentioned that to the other. He glanced at the tanned teen who seemed interested in his choice of words.

"What do you mean? Did something happen?" Should he just tell him? Well, he's out to find out anyway…

"He died." He stated simply.

"Your dad?" A nod from Bakura. "Oh…"

"Aren't you going to tell me you're sorry? I thought that's the polite thing to do." The albino didn't really care about politeness much but he felt like 'Oh…' wasn't something you should say after learning about someone's death.

"No. It would be stupid to apologize, after all I didn't kill him or anything." The statement was said without a hint of sarcasm "My parents are dead too…" If the albino's hearing weren't so good he would have missed that part. At that moment he felt that they had found some kind of common ground; they both knew what it was like to lose a part of family.

"Well, at least you still have your cousin." Bakura looked at Marik when he said this and discovered that the Egyptian actually smiled at the rather sarcastic statement.

"Only until someone finally manages to kill him." That made both of them laugh a bit and the previous sad atmosphere was gone.

A sudden 'aawww' –sound was heard for the door of the living room and they both looked at the direction of the voice.

There stood Ryou, looking like he had just witnessed some kind of great love scene.

"When did you get there!" Or more importantly: why haven't they noticed "the audience" before?

"Early enough." Answered Ryou with a small…smile? It was a smile. Not so bright as it used to be but the first one after father's death.