AN: I do not own Apple! This is my disclaimor! I do not own Apple! (Or any of the YGO cast). Anyways, I made the deadline again today (though barely). Geez, I can never determine how long it takes to edit…it varies too much.

Thanks to…

casaragi: Hehe, even with your powers, I don't think you can kill the evil man that is Bakura's father. Besides, he's still in the story! And yeah, Malik and Marik are nice/cool. Thanks for the review!

ONIX-21: I felt as if Malik wasn't getting enough spotlight when I put together the plot, so I revised a few things to make him a little more than 'minor' (a little short of 'major') character. Anyways, I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for the review!

Superhumansaiyajin: Oh, really? School starts that early for you? Hm…my school doesn't start until next Wednesday, lol. And yeah, I agree with you! It was quite nice of Marik to get a laptop for Ryou. Thanks for the review!

dragonlady222: A good, strong bond between brothers. Thanks for the review!

The Vampire Prince: I'm not so jealous about the beach this time around. (I got sick last time, remember?) Anyways, I'm glad you noted the relationship, and thanks so much for the reviews!

Chapter Fifteen: Money Makes the World Go 'Round (Part 2 of 3)

Ryou was sitting at the dinner table, happily typing away on his new laptop, when Marik came home. He immediately jumped off and gave the teen a hug, talking a mile-a-minute about the new options and programs his mini computer held. When Ryou said thank you, all Marik did was grunt. "Just don't break it, m'kay?" said the Egyptian as he hung up his coat in the side closet.

The child, who was loving his new Apple laptop, fervently shook his head. "I'm not going to let anyone at school touch it!" Ryou announced as he cheerfully sat back down at the table. Then he quickly added, "Except Takui."

"Ah, that classmate of yours, right?" Marik ruffled the child's head as Ryou sat back down and resumed his homework.

"Yeah! He seems kind of in a hurry all the time, but he's really funny."

Malik walked into the tiled kitchen that adjoined the living room, greeting Marik with a small wave. Then, while he made his way to the many drawers in the kitchen and pulled out cooking utensils, he asked, "Why don't you invite Takui to the park or something sometime? I wouldn't mind taking you guys after school."

"We could," Ryou said, peering at the teen thoughtfully over the screen of his Apple. "Are you sure you wouldn't mind?" He knew that both Marik and Malik worked during the day, just like Bakura. The last thing he wanted to do was put more stress onto the people who cared for him.

"Not at all," replied Malik. He started to wash vegetables in the sink as Marik sat down across from Ryou.

"Hey Ryou," Marik started. The boy stopped typing for a moment and looked up. The teen slowly took a breath as he tried to decide how to begin. "There's one condition for the laptop. You…can't show Bakura, or tell him about it."

Marik felt a lump grow in his throat when Ryou frowned and asked the question he was hoping to keep buried. "Why not?"

There was a pause as Marik's mind raced for a good way to explain the situation to Ryou. "We shouldn't, uh, bother him about things like this." The Egyptian saw his look-a-like brother wince at the lame answer.

Ryou wasn't dumb. He knew the reason for the secrecy…"It's because he'll get mad, huh?" It's because we don't have money to spare, isn't it?

Marik knew the boy's mumbled words were a statement, not a question. He felt bad for asking Ryou to go behind his brother's back about this, but Bakura's health was far more important than his pride at the moment. Already Malik was fussing over the snow-haired youth's wellbeing, only to be snapped at by the defensive teen.

"Tell me you'll keep quiet," Marik quietly said, studying the child.

His head was ducked, so neither Marik or Malik could see him. Ryou, whose hands were now fists in his lap, was struggling to overcome all these awkward feelings. Remorse and resentment were making his heart heavy, but the worst was how miserable he felt, knowing that this was probably for the best. They didn't have money to pay for a laptop right now. He knew Bakura well enough to know for a fact that the teen would demand the laptop to be returned and repurchased with his money. Bakura would buy it, even though they couldn't afford to, because it was for Ryou's school. Sometimes, all the weight of expenses hanging on Bakura made Ryou hate school.

"I…I won't tell…" Ryou finally mumbled.

Marik knew that he should have felt relieved, but he didn't. He glanced up and hastily decided to help Malik prepare dinner, to try to overcome the despondency now settled in the air.

When Bakura came home that night, he was too tired to even notice how unusually quiet everyone was. As soon as he walked in, he muttered a greeting before taking a quick shower and falling asleep on the couch.

"Don't you want dinner?" Ryou asked, but there was no answer. The only thing he could hear was Bakura was light snoring. Sighing dejectedly, Ryou wrapped the dish in saran wrap and placed it in the fridge.

The silence and dead mood made the feelings twice as awful. Marik was sleeping in the room he shared with Malik, and the latter brother was out teaching a night class at his university. Ryou was about to go to bed himself, when he noticed Bakura was sleeping on the couch.

It hit him that this would probably be the first time in a few months that he'd have to sleep alone. As much as Ryou wanted to wake up his brother and ask him to move to their room, he knew he shouldn't.

I wish we had a lot of money so he doesn't have to work, Ryou thought mournfully. But he shook his head and told himself to stop. Bakura was working hard for them. He had no right to complain, especially since his brother was the one suffering.

Yet a rebellious and childish part of Ryou wanted so badly to cry and pout and scream about how much he hated Bakura working. He knew he should have been happy with the promise that his brother had made about going to the park, and he was! But…that one trip to the park had been so much fun, so refreshing! His heart ached for the time spent laughing together with Bakura as they played on the swings, just like old times. He wished he had a lot of money, like most kids in his class, so that Bakura didn't have to go to that stupid factory every day. Then they could go to the park after school every time.

Ryou bit his lip as he felt tears run down his cheeks. Stop it, you crybaby, he demanded, angrily wiping them away. It was no good. He knew he shouldn't feel so angry, that he was just being self-centered. However, he couldn't help but storm into his room and throw himself on the bed.

Muffling his sobbing and, on occasion, screaming, with a pillow, Ryou eventually cried himself to sleep.

The alarm installed on Bakura's wristwatch flashed 12:30 AM in an eerie green blaze, beeping every two seconds or so. Groaning as the fully-dressed Bakura sat up, he groped with his free hand to turn off the annoying sound which had pulled him away from unconsciousness.

Pausing only to stretch for a moment, the teen could feel his back throbbing in pain from lifting too many boxes at work. Cursing under his breath, Bakura got to his feet and shook his head a bit to clear his mind before he silently got up and checked in on Ryou. He had meant to fall asleep on the couch, so that it would make it easier to leave.

Note to self – never do that again. Bed covers were sprawled all over the place, with a tear-streaked Ryou in the fetal position. Bakura quietly trudged next to the bed and straightened his little brother's sleeping form before pulling the blanket over the child.

Then he softly kissed the boy on the forehead and muttered an apology.

Afterwards, Bakura walked out of the room and made his way toward the door of the condo.

The blast of cold air that met him when he stepped out from the lounge expelled the last bit of drowsiness. Bakura coughed a bit before he pulled his jacket closer and started down the street for the closest bus stop.

He made it just in time. The bus had pulled up only a moment ago, and a few people had clambered on board. Bakura joined them, and kept to himself as the bus whisked him away from the city lights of Kyoto.

Twenty minutes later found the teen in a large, dark room complete with deafening music and too many wine glasses to count.

A young, handsome man no older than twenty one waved Bakura over, smiling. "Welcome to Tameron's Bar! It's your first day working here, right? Lemme show you the ropes."

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AN: Whew, that took some time. :) I hope you enjoy. Please review! Expect the next chapter on Monday or Tuesday! (Probably Tuesday, since Monday's a holiday).