Chapter 18 - Persuasion and Deception

Bakura slowly walks out of the bushes, the wildlife echoing quietly in the woodland clearing as the twigs under his feet snaps under his weight. He looks out and sees the quartet of people on their knees. Yami was standing there with a scowl on his face and a gun pointed at Dartz. Obviously, he wasn't in the mood for messing around.

"Yami, stop this." The male in question briefly glances over to the albino nearby before redirecting his cold gaze to the men on the ground. Yami growls at him, "How did you find me?"

Bakura gestures to Dartz. "Saw him, figured he'd help me find you, though I lost track of him for a bit." The green-haired male sighs, glancing at Yami with an apologetic look.

This whole setup in Bakura's eyes seems off somehow. If Yami was out for revenge like the note said, why is he treating this like it was some sort of game? Why not just shoot them and be done with it?

"Look, Yami," the brunette known as Valon says, bold enough to push himself off the ground and glare at him. "There's no need for us to go through with this! Why are we even fighting? What's the point?"

He swallows a bit when the former pharaoh returns the dark look, but he stood his ground. Then, Yami gives him a small smile, lowering his weapon a bit. "You're right, we should end this little blood feud. It's not like any of us know why we're continuing to act like children."

Valon sighs in relief. "However," the crimson-eyed male suddenly says, pulling the trigger and taking a shot beside his head. The brunette yelps and instinctively gets back on the ground in fear. "You all were there when my parents were murdered in front of my eyes. I can't just forgive that. You understand, right?"

"That's what all this is about?!" Bakura looks over to the redhead, who had this horrified expression on his face. "That was eight years ago! Why wait so long to do all of this and what makes you think we did it?" Yami shoots right next to Alister.

"Shut up, I don't wanna hear any excuses out of you," he coldly demands.

The albino looks between them. Rafael and Dartz are oddly quiet despite their comrades almost being killed in front of them. Yami's holding their very lives by a thread, yet they keep their silence, waiting for something. It's like they knew what was going on. But what?

"Yami," he says slowly. "Give me the gun. We can avoid bloodshed tonight if you just put it down."

"Why are you telling me to back down?" his lover growls. "Since when did the thief king ever let up when he seeks revenge?"

"Yami, please," said Bakura. "I know I shouldn't be one to talk, but revenge won't solve anything. Just hand over the gun before someone gets hurt."

"You've become quite a hypocrite since Egypt, you know that?" He cringes a bit at that. Even if he believed that he was lying, it still stung a bit that his own boyfriend's sitting here and saying that about him.

"Your boyfriend has absolutely nothing to do with this, kid," Dartz finally says, returning the focus to the men on the ground. "Don't make him end up as collateral damage."

"He's not gonna be collateral, Dartz," he scoffs. "What kind of person do you take me for?"

Bakura steps forward and tries to reach for the gun in his lover's hand. "Let me go, Bakura!"

"I'm not just going to let you sit here and toy with these people's lives!" the thief huffs. "This isn't some game!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Yami inquires, stopping for a moment with his struggle without letting go of the gun.

The albino stares into his crimson eyes, which seem to look over his shoulder a bit before widening in surprise. "Far as I can tell, pharaoh, you haven't shot them yet even though you left that note claiming it was for revenge and you're talking about something that happened in your past."

He was about to go on with his rambling, but Yami's chuckling threw him off. "What, what's so funny?"

"Wow, you actually fell for that?"

Bakura looks bewildered as he looks back at the group. Dartz was laughing too, the others were just talking amongst themselves. "I don't understand."

Yami lets go of the gun and points behind him. Upon turning, a certain brunette was dragging some random black-haired male by his leg, unconscious on the ground.

"We had this set up in case the actual killer showed up to watch the show," the green-haired male answers. "This man had some blood feud in his family that was related to Yami's family. Not sure about details, but I'm sure he'll tell me eventually."

The former pharaoh looks at him and laughs, "That's assuming I remember anything of my family history involving blood feuds."

Kaiba walks over to them and drops the body by the thief. "The police are on their way through, give them a couple of minutes."

He nudges the body with his foot, kicking it again for good measure. "Where'd you find him anyway?"

"Not in a tree if that's what you're hoping for," the brunette scoffs. "In some building not far from the park."

Yami smiles, looking back down at the man as the police stumbles into the clearing. "I owe you for this, Kaiba. Thanks."

"Perhaps I can have you pay for dinner next time and call it even," he says as he begins to take his leave. "Either way, I'll hold you to that."

The captain walks through the crowd of police, approaching the body on the ground. "Is this the man, Kuro?" Receiving a nod, he looks over to a couple of the cops and gestures to the unconscious male.

Bakura stands there, still bewildered on what just happened. His lover approaches him with a smile on his face. "You didn't actually think I had the heart to shoot anyone, did you?"

"I was more worried about you going through with it," he replies. "I knew something was off."

Yami starts laughing, walking away with his hands behind his head. "Admit it, I had you going for a minute there!"

"No, you didn't," Bakura huffs, looking away as he follows everyone out to the park with his lover still giggling up ahead.

"Liar."
_

A/N: Alright, getting back into the swing of things, been meaning to finish this story up. Two more chapters after this, then I'll finish up my other stories. Just a fair warning, expect a lemon in one of these chapters, if not both. If you guys want a sequel, I'm still writing the first few chapters out, so it'll be a while before I actually start posting those. Hope you guys like this chapter ^^; Please Review!

Next Chapter: Too Many Questions

Bakura was confused as hell, but with the pharaoh willingly giving himself to him at the moment, the thief accepted the attention without further question.