IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!! - This is the Yu-Gi-Oh! Yaoi portion of the Shipping List in order. Be forewarned. Some "pairings" will not be fluffy and cute. But they will all, hopefully, be believable. Rating's will vary.

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! is the intellectual property of Kazuki Takahashi

Author's Note: This one's an AU...obviously.

Rating: M


Yu-Gi-Oh! Shipping List #40 - "My Place"

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Cageshipping (Yami no Bakura x Yami no Yuugi x Malik)

"You're absolutely disgusting Bakura."

"That's not what you said last night."

The nineteen year old wrinkled his nose in reply and shook his head in the special way that would have told his companion, the seventeen year old white haired male in front of him, that he would not be repeating those statements tonight…if the other could have seen him.

Bakura came to a graceful stop atop their destined roof, a single story building overlooking the town square of a small desert city.

"Yami, that's him."

Yami followed Bakura's gaze downward to the single-cell cage in the center of the square, flanked by two guards. The night was pitch black and it was difficult to make out the figure trapped inside the cage but Yami trusted that Bakura's information was right. Yami had never seen the boy himself but that made little difference to him. This boy was his brother.

Yami nodded. No words needed to be said. It was Bakura's job to pick the lock and that left the guards to Yami. They jumped from the roof together in perfect sync. Whatever their differences, and they were many - Yami disapproved of most of Bakura's decisions, motives, and actions; they fought like an old married couple, he had always said, and honestly Yami was sometimes disgusted by Bakura's very existence all together, but they made the perfect team. They knew each other on a level that was thoroughly obscene to Yami and that made them perfect.

Keeping to the shadows and making use of the guard's positioning, Yami was able to sneak up on them easily enough, grabbing the front of the first guard's shirt for leverage to drive his foot into the second guard's stomach, giving him time to take out the first before knocking out the second. By the time he was done, Bakura was swinging open the cage door.

Bakura reached inside and dragged the boy out by the wrist into the light of the torches above. Yami gasped. The markings were the same, the skin, the eyes; the boy looked so much like him.

"Who are you?! What's going on?!" The boy was afraid but trying to hide it.

"They were going to cut off your head in the morning." Bakura hissed. "Should we come back for it instead?"

This silenced the boy, a teen Yami guessed at only a year younger than Bakura, and made him manageable enough for the white haired thief to drag along behind them as they made their escape.

The horse they had left tied at their small camp outside the city was still there waiting for them when they arrived with their bounty in tow. The three rode together with the boy in the middle and Yami behind him toward the mountains. None of them seemed to know what to say. Bakura found himself lost in memory, the boy feared he would be abandoned should he speak, and Yami, Yami found he could not contain his curiosity. Reaching between them, he pushed up the thin, ragged material that served as the boy's shirt, revealing to his searching hands a terrible, scarring tattoo painted across the entire width of the teen's back.

"Hey!" the boy squirmed violently beneath Yami's touch. "I'm no whore! I won't be used! I won't!"

"It's there, Bakura." Yami said quietly, ignoring the boy's outcry. "Just like Marik."

The world might have stopped then, had the horse not continued to plod along, caring little for their conversation as it made its way homeward diligently.

"You know my brother?" The hope in the boy's voice sickened Bakura, so he was quick to dash it.

"Marik's dead."

Yami reached a hand around the teen, feeling beneath his eyes for the tattoos he had seen in the town square and, finding them, traced his thumb along one gently. "Your name is Malik, isn't it? You were very important to him."

Malik slumped slightly between them. "…dead?"

"We heard your sister was called to the capitol." Bakura was eager to change the topic. "And you didn't fare so well without her so you'll live with us now."

"You're our family." Yami added, trying to sound reassuring to compensate Bakura's harsh, straightforwardness.

Malik did not ask how these people had known Marik or what his own place among them would be. Marik had always been violent and poor with socialization. He suspected they would take him to the lair of some gang of thugs where he would spend the remainder of his life filling the roll his brother had filled as a thief or raider of some sort. He couldn't say that he cared much what became of him at this point. Malik had never had any real ambition in life. He just seemed to get by and deal with one day at a time as it came without caring much for the future.

Bakura led the horse down a narrow passage in the mountains and into a secluded cave. It was much quieter than Malik had imagined it would be. Inside they dismounted and Yami lit a torch to take them further back into the cavern.

"How many people live in here?" Malik asked after a time, noticing absently that the horse was following along after them on its own.

"Three." Bakura answered curtly and Malik's eyes widened.

Finally they came upon a chamber lit by lamplight. The floor was covered in furs of various origin, the walls lined with treasures of gold and weapons that shone in the dim light. At the back wall a large bed had been made of fine pillows and thick furs. Crimson curtains hung to cover the walls. Four large chests stood near the bed, clearly labeled by scraping away and burning the wood: "Food", "Bakura", "Yami", and "Marik". Barrels and pots stood stacked along another wall in two piles.

To Malik, it was all an amazing sight. "You lived here, together with my brother?" Malik asked. "Just the three of you? You got all this?"

Bakura ignored him, throwing off his shoes and throwing himself on the pile of furs that was the bed.

Yami smiled as best he could. "Yes. And now everything that was Marik's is now yours." he said, indicating the chest with Marik's name carved into it.

Bakura shot up at that. "That's not what we agreed to!" he yelled. "It belongs to us. He can have the dagger," and it truly sounded as though it pained Bakura to grant him that "but the rest is ours!"

"But it's all he has left of Marik." Yami returned calmly.

"It's all we have left of him!" Bakura yelled back.

"We have Malik."

Bakura growled and returned his face to the pillows, muffling a string of what Yami could only assume were curse words.

Yami turned back to Malik, ignoring Bakura for a moment as he directed the teen toward the ceramic pots to their left.

"We'll deal with all of that tomorrow." Yami said, guiding Malik with a hand against the small of his back. "This is our supply of water. You're allowed one jug per day for drinking and cleaning unless you're injured or sick and you'll be responsible for refilling it too, ok? Over there," and Yami pointed "is the food. Help yourself tonight and well deal with everything else tomorrow."

Malik nodded. "Thank you."

Yami lay in the fur bed with Bakura that night and after he had eaten and drank and cleaned himself, Malik curled himself on the rugs to sleep. He wondered if Marik had slept with them, since they only had one bed.

Malik did not really know that much about his brother. Marik and their elder sister Isis had had a falling out early on and Marik had left home at the age of fourteen. He had returned several times to bring them food and money, always while Isis was gone. From all that Malik could glean, Marik was a dirty sadistic bandit. But he seemed to want to provide for him. Malik had never understood why.

It was late into the night and Malik could not sleep. From the direction of the bed, the quite murmur of voices suddenly erupted into shouting.

"I liked the middle!"

"Bakura! You'll wake Malik."

"I don't care! I don't have to make him feel anything! His Ra damned feelings aren't more important than mine damnit! Quit acting like you've forgotten him already!"

"That isn't fair! You're the one that decided to bring him here in the first place. Don't blame me that he looks like Marik and it makes you miss that cock up your ass!"

"Shut up!"

Malik clamped a hand over his own mouth as he heard the sounds of sudden movement and stomping coming his way.

"I won't let you take his place, you little shit!" Bakura shouted, giving the bundle of furs on the floor a swift kick.

Malik gasped, his own sound followed by the strike of hooves against rock.

"Are you ok?"

Malik turned and looked up in the dim light to find Yami standing near him, a sheet wrapped around his body revealing only one naked arm. "Yea." he hurried to reply, looking away from the older teen.

"Sorry." Yami gave him a small smile that never reached his eyes. "He brings out the worst in me."

Yami said no more to him, merely returned to the bed and Malik struggled to find rest before dawn.

In the morning Yami took Malik out to his brother's grave. Bakura was nowhere to be found.

"How did he die?"

"There's a group of bandits that roam the sands some way from here. But they've been getting closer lately, expanding their territory, and we've been fighting back. Three days ago we were caught in such a battle when the royal guard showed up. Apparently the bandits had crossed them too and we were caught in the crossfire. A hail of arrows came down on us from a high ridge and Marik couldn't get out in time. We lost Marik and his horse and mine going back for him. We had no idea they were coming."

Malik stared down at the crudely marked grave in solemn silence.

"You have to understand." Yami went on. "That Marik was very important to us. And especially to Bakura. I didn't mean what I said last night. It's not that way at all."

"Marik, he…he had sex with Bakura?"

"Yes."

A moment of silence followed but it was neither Malik nor Yami who broke it.

"And you."

They turned to find Bakura behind them, the horse grazing among the scarce blades of grass some way off. Bakura turned his head to the side, gaze set far in the distance.

Malik chuckled, a grin pulling at his lips from one end. "You guys are completely insane."

Bakura and Yami turned, not quite catching what was so funny.

"I can't believe my brother…he…" Malik was laughing still as the tears started to stream down his cheeks. "He was such a shithead. He said he was going to rule the world and have slaves and…I never thought he'd ever have anything worth…having. I never thought he'd ever die…"

Yami put a hand on Malik's shoulder, trying to comfort the teen but Malik grabbed his wrist, yanking it away. "He had it, you know," Malik said, turning to Yami, whose wrist he still held tightly "that monster inside of you that people say can devour souls. That they harvest in the capital for battle." Malik looked Yami square in the eyes and Yami felt himself falling. "I have it too."

Bakura yanked Malik's hand away from Yami none too gently with a scowl. "Open your eyes. That's guys not gonna give a shit about your weakling little inner-demons. If you could see what he's got you'd piss yourself." Bakura threw Malik's hand back to him and Malik looked back to Yami who gave him a sad smile. "You didn't know shit about Marik. And you don't know shit about us either."

* * *

The weeks that passed did little to settle Malik's soul. He pulled his own weight and did as he was told but it wasn't as if he felt he belonged there; it wasn't as if he felt any more alive. Bakura and Yami got used to having him around. Malik wished they hadn't because with each passing night, Bakura made less and less effort to keep his voice down while they weren't sleeping in that bed that his brother had fucked them in. If Malik was irritable in the mornings it wasn't his fault and it wasn't, as Bakura had suggested, just because he wanted to act like some pissy little girl. They treated him like a child; they went out at night without him, brought back jewels and silk without even asking him to come, touched each other in front of him as they sat around the cooking fire as though he wasn't even there. If Malik was irritable and short tempered it was entirely their fault.

One day, he came across Bakura rooting through his treasure chest, throwing things over his shoulder as he went. Malik looked around, not finding Yami in the vicinity.

"Where's Yami?"

"Who knows." Bakura answered him offhandedly. "You seen that red knife of mine anywhere?"

"No."

Bakura often left various things laying around when he was drunk, only to go hunting for them later.

"Are you busy?"

"Are you blind?"

Malik considered his next sentence. "I want to go with you on your next raid."

Bakura stopped what he was doing and stood, turning to face Malik. "Fine."

"I'm not a kid you know."

"I said fine."

"You treat me like one."

"You act like one."

Malik closed the distance between them in two long strides and took Bakura by surprise, crushing his lips against Bakura's in an act of inexperience and desperation.

Bakura was more surprised than anything but he didn't take long to recover and took the younger teen firmly by the arms, turning them and forcing Malik back onto the pile of furs. Bakura smirked as he forced his way past Malik's lips, plundering his mouth with a vicious enthusiasm.

It was when Malik realized that he was trapped there that he began to struggle but it only seemed to encourage Bakura who reached between them to tear his pants down.

"Is this what you wanted?" Bakura asked, with a venomous enjoyment that Malik wasn't at all certain he should be trusting. "You only needed to ask nicely. Didn't that sister of yours ever teach you any manners?"

"Ah…"

Malik lost his chance to complain that quick as Bakura grabbed hold of him and Malik arched his back as the shock hit him.

* * *

Malik lay there on his back, staring at the hard rock of the ceiling above him while Bakura redressed himself, not quite sure what he should be thinking.

"You can sleep in the bed with us now. I assume you're through being stubborn." Bakura added, giving him a look and Malik had to wonder if Bakura had only been waiting for it to happen.

"Are we done yet?" Yami asked and Malik's face heated when he found the other leaning against the wall nearby.

"Enjoy the show?" Bakura asked, smirking back at his companion.

"Could have been better." Yami answered nonchalantly.

Bakura laughed. "Arrogant bastard. Nothing's as good without you, is it?"

"No." Yami agreed, shaking his head with a self-satisfied grin "No it's not." Yami pushed himself away from the wall and came to stand over Malik, looking down at the teen with interest.

Malik suddenly felt self-conscious, laying there with only his loose-fitting tanned pants after being with the lover of the man looking down on him.

Yami knelt down at Malik's head. "It's distasteful to be so jealous of someone who cared for you too."

Malik's face turned red and Yami smirked.

"It wasn't…"

Bakura kicked the bottom of the boy's foot. "Don't make excuses."

Malik sat up and looked away. "I'm glad…that you were there for him. I cared about him that much."

"We won't ever treat you like Marik." Yami said, sweeping the hair off the back of Malik's neck. "You won't ever replace him. But I think we can make room for Malik."

"We have to." Bakura said, ignoring them as he pulled his shirt over his head. "We've got too much food for two people."

Yami murmured his agreement from the back of Malik's neck as Malik tried to ignore the hand on his chest.

"You could give the kid a break." Bakura muttered. "It was his first time."

"At what, exactly?" Yami returned, moving back to let Malik fall back beneath him.

In response, Malik reached up, catching Yami's lips and Bakura rolled his eyes.

"What the hell." Bakura threw his shirt on the floor where Yami's soon joined it. "Just don't think we're gonna frickin' spoil the kid, alright."

Yami might have answered him, if he hadn't already been adding to Malik's "first time" list.


Post whatevers: Next up: Bakura x Seto x Ryou