AN: Just letting you know right now, this chapter is a little shy of the normal length my chapters usually are. (Not short by too much, though). However, the next chapter (Chapter Five) is longer than normal. Kinda like…compensating, no? (I personally like Chapter Five more than Four…)

Thanks to…

Tails7651: 'Ebil'? Ha, that seriously made me laugh out loud:D Thanks for the review!

FlyingShadow666: Lol, I'm tempted to say it in every response to my awesome reviewers. Thanks for the review!

The Vampire Prince: You're exactly right! Poor Ryou indeed…Thanks for the review!

AnimeNymph: That's great to hear! I hope you enjoy the next chapter…though I believe more people will like the next one rather than this one. Thanks for the review!

dragonlady222: Yeah, you're right on. Bakura has so much on his plate right now…sigh Poor Bakura. Thanks for the review!

Chapter Four: Sharing

The teen huddled on the seat of the toilet cover, knowing that his bathroom light was probably the only one on for miles around. After all, it was at least one in the morning.

How stupid can you get? Bakura scolded himself, carefully wrapping the lower part of his left arm with bandages. A glass bottle is chucked at your head, and instead of ducking, you throw your arm up? How can you block something that shatters upon impact!?

Somewhat crossly, Bakura fastened the bandage and yanked the sleeve of his shirt over it. Then he glared it at, as if that would make everything better.

But no matter how he looked at it, he knew his stupidity had really saved him.

His father would have kept yelling at him, kept chucking things at him, from having seen the alcohol his mother had drank. Yet upon seeing the blood running down his son's torn arm, he growled and said, "You'll get everything messy. Just go to bed tonight."

What a close call. Bakura heaved a sigh as he pressed a hand against his forehead, his leg supporting the arm, and closed his eyes. He was so exhausted from today! A small part of him was even wishing he could just die. Then maybe it would all be over, the stress, the pain, the fatigue, the torture.

Get real. Hell would hurt a lot worse.

Bakura smirked in spite of himself as he forced himself to his feet. Funny, how he assumed his entrance to the higher place was already rejected.

And perhaps it was.

Gotta get to bed… He had to get up at six for school, and six was in five hours. No, correction: he had to get up at six to get ready for school.

Turning the light off in the bathroom first, the teen slipped out into the hall and silently trudged toward his room.

Ugh, I'm not ready for tomorrow, but tomorrow's already here…

This sucks.

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Chocolate eyes slowly opened themselves, finding wooden planks staring right back at them. They blinked once, twice…and then they widened to match the size of apples.

Ryou felt like he was hit by a hammer, since he was suddenly wide awake. Oh, no! I slept in Bakura's bunk again…He's going to be so mad!

Erk! What time is it?!

As Ryou scrambled out of bed, recalling too vividly his wake-up call the morning before, something caught his ear. He froze for a minute, half of his body being eaten by the blankets with his torso hanging out of the bunk.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

An alarm? Ryou frowned, sweeping the room with a quick glance. Stereo, books, clothes… There was no clock…? Looking confused and thoughtful at the same time, Ryou hurriedly tried to untangled himself from the coverlet, but he couldn't get it off completely for some reason! In frustration, Ryou threw the covers off, and immediately discovered the reason for his blanket wars.

Bakura sat on the edge of the bunk bed, right on top of Ryou's blanket, slouched so he wouldn't hit his head on the low ceiling.

And sprawled at his side was his wristwatch, a flashing screen indicating what the time was through its digital 6:00 AM glowing in the dark.

When the child saw Bakura lightly snoring away, his first thought was getting revenge. Should he splash water on Bakura's face, to pay him back for yesterday morning? At the thought of water, memories from the day before flew through the child's mind's eye. Ryou shuddered as he remembered the insanity of it all. What kind of mother gave their child beer or wine or whatever the heck that liquid was?

"What…are you doing with alcohol?"

Just evoking the voice was enough to send chills down the boy's spine. There was something scary about Mr. Utaka, but Ryou excused the thought quickly since he really didn't know the man.

"Nhnn…"

Ryou jerked to attention as his brother stirred. His heart started to race as he began to wonder if somehow, Bakura had read his vengeful thoughts. Ryou was about to blurt out an apology when another surprise slammed into him that morning.

He watched Bakura perform one of the biggest yawns he had ever seen in his life.

The child couldn't help giggling at the teen's show, or at his absurd thoughts of a mind-reading Bakura.

"I thought I told you," Bakura sleepily murmured, stretching a little, "the top bunk is all yours. As in, the bottom one is mine."

"But I don't like the top one. The bottom one is more comfy."

"You've never been in your bed. Use the top from now on."

Ryou crawled out of the bed, prancing over to the door. As he opened it to go to the bathroom, he smiled at Bakura over his shoulder and asked, "Can't we share?"

Bakura's initial reaction was a dumbfounded one. Trying to grasp words to formulate a sentence, the teen strung some letters together but it was no use: the child was gone.

For several minutes, Bakura stared at the doorway, where Ryou had been standing.

"Can't we share?"

Was this…exultant wave what people called fondness? Brotherly love? Bakura sharply inhaled and quickly shoved the thought away.

"Can't we share?"

It was such an innocent question, but that simple inquiry was enough to impale Bakura right through the heart.

"Oh…" Bakura blinked, shaking his head a little. How long had he been sitting there for? There was no time to waste, he had to get started. Breakfast for three? Yes, and dad was going to be furious since he was already running late.

Grimly pushing his tattered body forward, Bakura felt his world shake as he quickly made his way down to the kitchen.

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AN: I know it's short, but I was really pressed for time this week! I'm sorry, but I'll be busy the rest of the week as well. I promise I'll update as soon as I can (hoping I'll be able to by Saturday or Sunday). I hope you liked it, despite its shortness! Thanks for reading.