There is no other one who can take your place

I feel happy inside when I see your face

I hope you believe me

'Cause I speak sincerely

and I mean it when I tell you that I need you

You're my best friend

and I love you, and I love you

Yes I do

I'm here right beside you

I will never leave you

and I feel the pain you feel when you start crying

Weezer – My Best Friend

Marik looked at Bakura with a mocking grin on his face, "So you're going to go all Prince Charming?"

The white haired twenty year-old frowned at his roommate and took another hit, holding the smoke in before letting it out in a long thin stream, "No, I'm just going to get to the bottom of this. That's all."

Marik looked over at him, his lavender eyes hazy, "Okay, I'll play along, but if you're just going to kick some ass then why don't I go with you? It's not like I can't afford to miss a few classes; I've been really good this semester."

"Why do you need to come?" Bakura wasn't really looking over at Marik anymore; even though he was starting to feel the effects of the joint he and Marik had been sharing there was one thought that rang with clarity in his mind. Well, maybe two. He was wondering why Mika was getting picked on … but then he started wondering how accurate his dreamed up version of Mika naked was.

The blond sighed and stood up from where he'd been seated on the soggy grass, "Look, you can be mister big shit and go take care of it yourself, and I'll stay here and take care of all the girls who will be so heartbroken to find out that you've run off to your little high school lover."

"Oh, piss off."

After the long drive it felt good to get out of the car and stretch his legs. It felt even better to wake his little brother up with a harsh kick to his back.

"Owwww-!"

"Get the fuck up, I want to know what's going on."

Ryou looked up at his brother with squinted eyes; he had never quite developed his brother's ability to see in dim lighting. "Yuichi, what are you doing here?"

Fighting a grumble at the use of his first name Bakura flicked a light on and crossed his arms, "What's going on with Mika?"

The younger brother rubbed his eyes and sighed, "Alright alright, can I just –"

"No."

"Okay, fine. Uh, well … Okay, look – her friends and their boyfriends have been trying to fix her up with someone for the past two years," he paused to make eye contact with his intimidating older brother, "And she's refused them all. She spends all of her time outside of school studying or playing the seventh wheel to her friends."

"What does this have to do with anything?" He was getting annoyed at the thought of her friends setting her up with all these boys.

"Stop interrupting; she's become this prude all of the sudden, but people saw how she was with you and Marik. They've all made up this joke that she was like –" he paused here to gulp, "Well, they're saying that she's probably refusing everybody because she was your private 'easy fuck.'"

The elder boy snarled and Ryou shrunk back, "What the fuck gave them that idea?"

At the risk of further angering his brother Ryou rolled his eyes, "Really? You have no idea? If I didn't know your GPA then I'd assume you were a complete dolt," Ryou stopped as Bakura cracked his knuckles.

"So they're spreading rumors about her being a whore, my whore specifically."

"Yes, although there are some rumors that suggest that it was more of a three way affair."

The elder brother snorted, not that was humorous. "I still don't see why they think that."

"Do you not remember how many parties you took her to? How many times you had her skip class? People notice these things and now they're talking."

Bakura remained silent and glanced down at the digital alarm clock on the nightstand, "You should get dressed; you have to go pick her up soon."

Ryou stood up and stretched, his boxers sagging a little and his white t-shirt crinkled, "Now that you're here, why don't you go get her?"

He immediately regretted the sentence as he felt his brother's fist make contact with his rib cage. "You have to go get her because I don't want her to know that I'm here. I want to get to the bottom of all of this."

"Look Yuichi, I have commitments and unlike you I actually honor them. I have to go pick up Reiko and she lives in the complete opposite direction; my girlfriend isn't going to be very happy if I go pick up another girl instead of her," he crossed his arms in an attempt to look severe and final, but he couldn't quite pull it off the way that his brother could. There were lots of things that his brother could do that he couldn't, and he was not about to let his brother damage one of the things that he could do. His relationship with his girlfriend was actually important to him what with all of his familial relationships being irrevocably damaged and otherwise dysfunctional.

Bakura picked up a picture of Ryou's girlfriend and leered down at it, "Now, now little brother there was a time when you would have said something similar about your friendship with Mika," he set the picture down and took a few meaningful steps towards the boy in front of him, "You go get her and don't worry about your little girlfriend, I'll go get her for you. Fair is fair."

The teen looked unhappy, but he couldn't exactly argue with what his brother had just said, "Fine, she'll be out front by seven thirty. She lives on –"

Bakura smirked and held up his hand, "Oh, I know where she lives; her older sister was quite a delectable thing sophomore year."

Mika was shifting her weight from one foot to the other, squirming as she waited for Ryou to arrive. It was embarrassing that he had to come pick her up. He hadn't really spoken much to her since he had started dating Reiko. She didn't hate him for it; there was nothing wrong with growing up and developing new relationships. New relationships; now there was a concept. Those boys had been following her home and teasing her for a full month now. It hadn't been as bad in the fall when her friends still walked home with her, but now that cheer had started up again they had to stay after school for practice.

She heard the car before she saw it; both Ryou and Bakura had amazing rides. It was probably their father's attempt to buy their love, especially after everything had gone down ten years ago. The white Lancer (a model two years newer than Bakura's blue one) stopped right in front of her and she heard the doors unlock.

"Hi Ryou," she slipped into the front seat looking for his girlfriend out of the corner of her eye. Mika had a feeling Reiko wasn't very fond of her. "Where's Reiko?"

Ryou put the car into drive and made a u-turn before replying, "Oh, she got a ride with one of her friends today."

She could tell he was lying but settled for folding her hands in her lap, "Oh … well, thanks so much for doing this for me. I mean, it's really not necessary …"

The white haired boy looked over at the girl who had been like a sister to him while he was growing up and felt his heart break a little, "Don't even think about it. I know that my brother is very upset about all of this and I … well, I'm sorry for letting this go on for so long."

"Bakura knows about this?"

Ryou didn't need to look over at her to understand the embarrassment that must have been etched into her features. Instead of saying anything, he reached over and placed his hand on her thigh to give her a comforting squeeze.

The rest of the ride was silent and when they pulled into Ryou's assigned parking lot Reiko was sitting on the fence right beside it. "Thanks again for picking me up, I'll see you two later."

She waved awkwardly as she made her way to her first class where her friends were waiting. She made it through the day with little to no disruptions; her tormentors usually saved that for the walk home. Mika enjoyed herself gossiping with her friends and ignoring the suspicious looks that she was getting; there was some sort of new gossip going around, but she couldn't be bothered to inquire about it.

Well, not until she heard the name. "Yeah, did you hear Mika? Supposedly Bakura's back in town, do you know anything about that?"

She gaped at Ami, "No, no I haven't –"

"But you're always talking to him; he must have mentioned it," Minako said as Yuka nodded her agreement.

"Well, no, he didn't mention it. I can text him right now, but I really don't think that he wouldn't have told me if he was here," she pulled out her iPhone and shot him a text. "He should reply soon."

"Oh, of course he will, he is your boyfriend after all," Yuka teased while taking a bite of rice; Mika blushed and looked down at her phone. He'd read the message but he hadn't replied.

Bakura parked his car on the street that Mika had been on when she had called him the day before and stepped out into the warm spring air. He locked the car and started making his way toward the school, he had spotted a good corner he could hide out in and wait for Mika to come by.

After just twenty minutes he heard footsteps, footsteps and then taunting.

"Come on Mika, stop being such an uptight bitch." He was so dead.

"Yeah, let's go to my house, I live right up the street." So was he.

"Hey, hey who said that you two get to have her?" Oh so dead.

"I don't understand why you boys want her," a female voice said in disgust, "She's obviously been well-used."

Another few steps and they'd be passing his location where he was leaning up against the wall, he counted her footsteps and then there she was. He reached out and stopped her as he stepped out from behind the wall and stood at his full height. "Well, well what do we have here?"

"Bakura?"

He couldn't help but smirk at the way his name was cried out in stereo; it was always flattering to be recognized. One of the boys stepped forward, looking around him at Mika, "Really? You went crying to Bakura?"

Mika stood there wide-eyed and open-mouthed.

Bakura pushed the boy back a step, "No. But once I found out I wasn't exactly going to just let this go."

He could hear Mika taking a few tentative steps forward, "Bakura – this, this really isn't necessary … We can just go –"

"Yeah, why don't you two just get out of here?" The boy who had spoken was about Bakura's height and had a mop of black hair falling into his eyes.

Bakura sneered, "Not until you three learn to leave Mika alone. Oh, and you," he pointed at the girl, "You need to get away from these boys before someone starts spreading rumors that you're a whore who only gets off by fucking three guys at a time."

"Hey fuck you man, that's my sister!"

The second tallest boy lunged at him and he heard Mika shriek, but he was prepared and dodged the boy's poorly aimed attack while simultaneously hooking him hard in the jaw. The girl cried out and ran to her brother's side as the black haired boy cracked his knuckles, "So it's a fight you want?"

"No, not at all; the way I see it, we can do it the easy way or the hard way. You leave her alone and I'll leave you alone," he paused to crack his own knuckles, "You continue to bother her and you and I have a problem, and let me assure you that I take care of my problems."

Mika stood there, just a few feet behind Bakura clutching her books and staring at Ichiro who was clutching his bloody jaw. She couldn't see Jiro's face, but she hoped that he would call them off, that they would agree to leave her alone.

That hope shattered when Bakura took a step to the side to dodge a flying fist, with incredibly fast reflexes he managed to spin on his heel and grab the boy by the hair before slamming his face into his knee and throwing him to the ground. As gruesome as the scene was becoming there was no one else on the street with them and Mika was too afraid to call the police. Somewhere deep inside Mika was celebrating the fact that Bakura had come all this way to take care of her.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

He gave her a stern look and pulled his keys out of the ignition, "I'm fine."

"But you're bleeding."

"I've had worse," he huffed leaning his head back on the head rest.

Mika leaned over and swiped a tissue over his brow, one of the boys, she couldn't remember which one, had nailed him pretty hard. Of course, once Bakura had started bleeding he ended the fight rather quickly with some well placed punches.

"You know, if you keep glaring at me like that you're only going to open up the wound again."

"Whatever."

She sat back after cleaning up his forehead, "Thanks for coming to save me."

He looked over at her; she was staring at her lap toying with the bloody tissue. She'd gotten a haircut or something because her bangs were styled differently and were currently obstructing the view of her face. He hadn't really had a good look at her yet, what with the ass kicking and all.

He opened the door and got out of the car, going around to the other side to open her door. She stepped out and looked up at his house, she hadn't been there in a very long time and she secretly wondered if it still smelled the same. He slung his arm around her and escorted her up the steps and inside. Ryou and Reiko were sitting in the family room watching television and laughing together. Reiko stopped laughing when the two walked by and she turned away from Mika.

After Mika had fully cleaned and bandaged the small cut on Bakura's eyebrow he went back into interrogator mode. "What the fuck was that all about Mika, why haven't you told me?"

She turned away from him, leaving the bathroom where Bakura had been sitting on the toilet while she fixed up his wound, and sat down on the bed, "I don't wanna talk about it. Besides, Ryou told you."

"I want to know from you. I want to know why you haven't said anything."

"It's essentially what he told you; and I didn't say anything because it's embarrassing. Why would I want to tell you that people think that you took my virginity and otherwise used me to fulfill your sexual desires? Why would I want you to know that school has sucked since you left? They're stupid anyway."

"So why did you call me yesterday?"

She balked, her fingers buttoning and unbuttoning her Domino High uniform. He didn't hear what she said. He stopped paying attention when he realized that she was laying back, her fingers still playing with the buttons on her coat and her skirt hiked up but still just low enough to cover anything too scandalous – just high enough to let his mind wander. Maybe it was the way the light was filtering in through the window, the only light source in the otherwise dim room, or maybe it was because he kinda really wanted her.

She sat up abruptly, well to him it seemed that way, when he didn't respond for a few minutes. She brushed the hair out of her face and looked up at her friend, "Dude, what's up with you?"

"What?"

He had hardly spoken the word when she tugged on his arm and he let himself be pulled on his bed. She laughed as he stiffened to catch himself and keep himself from putting his full weight on her. He held himself over her for a moment and stared into her pretty blue eyes. Those pretty fucking eyes.

Mika's breath caught in her throat. Her hand was still clamped around Bakura's wrist, the other flat by her side; he was so fucking close. And better than his room still smelling the same, he still smelled the same. She felt a familiar desire rise in her veins, rushing through her. This made all of the trouble those boys had been giving her worth it, more than worth it – she had them to thank for it.

Bakura wasn't sure if she was pulling him down or if he was lowering himself onto her of his own accord, at the moment he really didn't care which it was. She was blinking up at him, her eyelids fluttering like the butterflies in his stomach. Fuck the butterflies; it wasn't like he'd never kissed her before. He closed his eyes and closed the gap; he pressed his lips down onto hers and then moment it happened it set something off in both of them.

Her lips responded to his of their own accord; she'd kissed other guys before but they had never elicited this type of response from her. It was fucking innate. It barely registered to either of them that this was their first sober make-out. She clutched his wrist a little tighter as she felt him try and pull his arm away, he grunted but let her have her way as he used his other hand to slide down the left side of her body.

Two heartbeats later and Bakura felt her release her grip on his hand and clutch his shoulders instead. He moved his left hand down her body, gripping her waist. Mika moaned under him and he squeezed her harder; she broke away from his lips for a moment and panted trying to regain her breath. He was in a similar condition, but she could see from the grin on his face that it was far from over. Perfect.

She slipped her hands under the collar of his grey v-neck, at first she made contact with just her fingernails, waiting to elicit a response from him, when he let out a ragged breath she gripped his shoulders and kneaded them. He relaxed onto her further and then she felt it, the unmistakable hardness in his jeans. Her cheeks flushed in an annoyingly virginal response, but he couldn't see because he was tugging at the blue bow that was tied around her neck in the required Domino High fashion. He was doing that with his teeth.

When he managed to loosen it and free her neck he attacked, his lips priming a spot on her neck before he allowed himself to graze her neck with his teeth. It was so light and so unexpected; she scraped her nails over his shoulder blades a little bit harder and he hissed into her ear, "Fuck."

His fingers rubbed at her hipbones and she was torn between pulling his lips back to her face or letting him give her a hickey. "Bakuuuuraaa …"

He stiffened for a moment and she was worried that she had ruined the moment, instead she felt him lick the shell of her ear, "Yes, Mika?"

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

She pulled his face back to her own staring straight into his eyes as she leaned up to kiss him again. His handsome brown eyes were staring straight at her, not daring to close until she herself closed her own eyes. He gripped her hips more firmly once again and rolled over, pulling her on top of him and listening to her shriek and then the small bought of embarrassed laughter that came afterward.

"I miss you."

That hadn't been what she had wanted to say, but it was close enough; two out of three words wasn't bad.

"I'm right here."

She buried her face into his neck, "Only right now."

"I can stay the weekend?"

She traced his jaw line with her nose feeling the slight stubble, "Would you?"

Instead of giving her ears another taste of his deliciously husky voice he pressed his lips against hers again, his fingers tangled up in her long brown hair holding her against him. Once he was sure that she wasn't going to pull away his fingers danced down her spine and slipped her pink coat off, he ran his palms up and down her arms and he felt her move against him. Mika bit down on his bottom lip (it was slightly plumper than the upper one) and his hips bucked beneath her.

And then her phone rang.

"Fuck it."

"But it's my mom," her voice was thick and breathless.

"Fuck it."

"Bakura," she pulled herself up and off of him going over to try and find her coat, it was darker in the room now that the sun had changed its angle.

"Hello? … Yeah, uh, sorry … No, I came to Ryou's house," Bakura narrowed his eyes at her, she poked her tongue out at him and he settled for sliding his fingers under the hem of her shirt and running them over her abdomen. Her eyelids fluttered, but she kept her composure, "I'll be home in a bit, okay? … Bye."

She looked over at him expectantly, he was leaning his face in his left hand, his right hand still running over the skin of her stomach, "Can you please take me home?"

He looked into her eyes again, before closing his own and withdrawing his hand, "Sure."

They didn't say a word about the events of the day on the drive to her house. When he pulled up to her driveway she leaned over the center console and hugged him tightly, he returned the hug with his left arm and cupped her ass with his right hand. He brushed his nose down her cheekbone and she shivered.

"Thank you for being there for me."

He nodded, his lips millimeters from hers, "Always."

She pulled away and before she closed the door she lowered her head back into the vehicle, "See you tomorrow?"

He grinned at her and shrugged; she rolled her eyes and flipped him off.

Later that night, when she couldn't get to sleep, Mika replayed the afternoon in her head … he was a helluva of a kisser. The best friend she'd ever had. They'd be even better friends if she ever had her way.

Alright, extra long chapter to make up for all the suspense of the last one :) Thank you to everyone who added me to their Author Alerts/Story Alerts - you make my heart melt! And a special thanks to CraftyLion (as per usual), Akatsuki's Bitch, julen, and darkvampiregirl13. You all make this story worth writing!

Reviews are LOVE.

Oh, and your move Crafty ;)