DH: Here's a story for a contest.

OW: Hope you like it; it's a coffee shop AU.

DH: We don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

OW: We just occassionally make fun of people who do.

-DDLDHoW-

Bakura needed a tea. Badly.

He pinched the bridge of his nose as he pushed the door of the local coffee shop, Grind Me, open.

No one who knew him could deny that this was the worst day that he'd had in years, least of all Bakura himself.

His younger brother Ryou had been locked in their room the previous night after whoever he was dating had broken up with him - Bakura hadn't bothered to learn their name. However, their father had found out that it was a boy that Ryou had been dating and locked him in the room.

This meant that Bakura had to sleep on the lumpy couch, which always hurt his back. It had taken him nearly three hours to fall asleep.

Because of this, Bakura slept through his alarm. This meant that his father woke because of the alarm, and that was always a bad thing.

Bakura had gained several new injuries, making him late for college, and he already had a pile of work that he had yet to catch up on from when he was sick the previous week.

He had planned to get the end of some homework done before class started, but as he was late, he had to hand it up incomplete, meaning he would fail the assignment.

At a break between classes, he had tried to get coffee, but someone had crashed into him and he had spilled it all down his shirt.

For the rest of the day, people had been snickering at him, despite the fact that he had grabbed a jacket off a bench to hide most of the stain. He didn't know who owned the jacket. Whoever it was, they hadn't confronted him about it. Smart kid.

As soon as the college day ended, he ran to his car to drive home, only for one of the older students to pull him back, claiming that Bakura owed him money.

And thus ensued a fight, which Bakura emerged from with a split lip and a few bruises. The other student wasn't so lucky.

On his way back to his car, he dropped his phone - a new phone, no less - and the screen shattered, so he had no way of communicating with anyone for a while.

Then his car wouldn't start, so he had to walk eighteen blocks to get to the coffee shop, and it was another twenty blocks home. In the pouring rain.

Bakura sneezed. I had better not get a cold from this... He scowled as he walked up to the counter. "Lady Londonderry, no sugar or milk," he muttered.

The girl behind the counter nodded with a cheery smile. "Of course, sir," she chirped. "Amanda!"

"What?" A girl with a scowl grumbled.

"Lady Londonderry, no milk or sugar."

"He said no sugar or milk, Julie."

"It's the same thing!"

"You said it in the wrong order." The girl 'Amanda' smirked.

"Oh, just do it," the girl sighed.

'Amanda' caught Bakura's gaze and rolled her eyes. Bakura smirked. Now there was someone he could relate to.

"That'll be four thirty, please," 'Julie' chirped, turning back to Bakura.

"Give me a second," Bakura muttered, reaching for his wallet. It was gone. "Son of a..." He growled, checking his other pockets. He hadn't taken anything out in the car, so someone must have stolen it. It wasn't his money, so he wasn't too upset about it, but it meant he couldn't get his tea. "Cancel the order. Lost my money," he muttered, turning to leave.

"No, don't cancel it. I'll pay for him."

Bakura frowned at the voice. It was familiar and deep, baritone even. No, not today. Any day but today. He turned around and saw the tri-coloured haired boy that was now taller than him, after having hit his growth spurt at seventeen. It could be his brother... Bakura knew that it wasn't. Yugi Mutou was short by genetics and had a higher pitched voice.

Standing in front of him was Yugi's half-brother Yami Sennen.

Yami turned and grinned at Bakura. "Hey."

Bakura scowled. "I do not need this today, Sennen."

"What?" Yami shrugged. "All I did was pay for your tea. Though I don't know why you'd buy tea in a coffee shop."

"Because I hate the taste of coffee," Bakura growled. "And I meant I don't need to talk to you when all you ever do is end up fighting me. I've had a bad enough day as it is."

"Actually, it's usually you who starts the fights," Yami pointed out. "And I have no intention of making your day any worse. You look terrible."

"And now I remember why I always fight you. You really do ask for it."

Yami rolled his eyes. Julie smiled. "Your drinks are ready."

"Thanks." Yami took Bakura's tea and his own chai latte. He glanced at Bakura. "Do you want to come back to my place for a bit? It's just across the street, and you can't tell me you're going to walk home in that." He nodded at the downpour that was taking place outside.

Bakura scowled. "What makes you think I walked here?"

"You're literally dripping, and your car isn't outside."

Bakura's scowl deepened. "I was planning on waiting here for it to dry up."

"In that case, I'll wait with you. But it'll be a long wait; it's going to be raining throughout the night." Bakura cursed under his breath. "Look, you can stay with me tonight. Just text Ryou to let him know."

"I can't. Phone broke." Bakura held up his phone.

Yami chuckled. "I'll lend you mine."

Bakura hesitated before nodding. "Thanks."

"Don't worry about it." Yami smiled and led him over to a table. Bakura plopped into the seat, somehow retaining the pride and grace he carried himself with in the process. Yami handed him his tea only to frown. "What happened to your hand?"

Bakura glanced at his right hand to see a split knuckle. "I got into a fight with Ushio and his goons. Nothing big."

"No, your other hand."

Bakura glanced at his left hand, cursing when he saw a large burn. "Nothing." He pulled his sleeve over his hand to hide it. "Just spilt a hot drink on it."

Yami glared at him. "You're lying."

"I don't have to tell you everything," Bakura hissed in response.

"Well you could tell me some things." Yami's gaze found Bakura's neck and his glare deepened. "Like why there's bruises around your neck shaped like a hand."

Bakura looked down and took a sip of his tea. It was weak. Like me.

"Bakura." Bakura didn't respond. "Bakura, look at me." After a moment of hesitation, Bakura looked up and met Yami's gaze. His glare had faded into a look of concern. "What's going on?"

"I can't tell you." Bakura's voice cracked. He felt his stomach knot, imagining what his father would do if he told anyone. "I just can't."

"Bakura, please." Yami reached across the table and placed his hand over Bakura's. "I want to help."

Bakura's throat tightened.

"Look at me, Bakura."

"I'm doing this to help you, Kura."

"No... no! Leave me alone!" Bakura stood up, yanking his hand away from Yami's. He clutched his head as though in pain.

"It's for your own good."

Bakura shook his head and took a step back. He felt his back hit the wall. He could feel everyone's gazes on him, but he didn't care.

"You'll thank me later."

"Bakura!"

Bakura's head shot up and his shaky gaze met Yami's. "I... I have to go." He turned and half-ran, half-stumbled out of the coffee shop into the rain. He heard a horn blare at him and saw a pair of headlights rushing towards him. A heavy weight crashed into him, knocking him out of the way of the car. He landed hard on the ground and the car sped past him.

He looked up to see Yami. "Are you insane?" Yami yelled, but Bakura could barely hear him over the storm. "You could have been killed!"

Maybe that wouldn't have been a bad thing... Bakura blinked at the hand in front of him. He looked up at Yami.

"Well?" Yami raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to take it or not?" Bakura hesitated before taking Yami's hand. The crimson-eyed male pulled him to his feet. "Come on, let's get you inside. You're freezing."

If Bakura heard his words, he didn't react to them as Yami led him back to the Mutou-Sennen house. They were the only ones there. Yami said something about his brothers having either gone on a date or to the arcade as Bakura kicked off his shoes, but Bakura wasn't listening.

"Here."

Bakura looked up to see Yami offering him a towel. "...Thanks..." He took the towel and roughly dried his frost-white hair. It wasn't the best method, but at least he was no longer leaving a trail of water everywhere.

Yami sat down on the couch. "So what's going on?"

Before Bakura could answer with his usual response of 'It's none of your business, Sennen', the lights flickered. Then they went off.

Bakura's eyes widened. No... He couldn't even see his hand in front of his face.

"It's always better in the dark. That way it's a surprise."

He didn't even realise he was shaking until he felt Yami's steady hands on his shoulders. "Bakura, calm down. The electricity just went out."

No kidding. Bakura wanted to roll his eyes but instead, found himself wrapping his arms around Yami's torso.

He felt Yami tense. "Bakura?"

Bakura didn't respond, but buried his head in the crook of Yami's neck. Yami felt the moisture of withheld tears on his skin. Bakura felt Yami's arms wrap around him and the latter led him over to the couch and sat him down. "Sorry..." Bakura mumbled, although making no move to pull away from Yami.

"Don't be," Yami replied. "Just tell me what's wrong."

"I-I... I can't. You'll think I'm weak."

"Of course I won't." Yami laced his fingers beneath Bakura's chin and lifted his head up so that he could meet the other's gaze. Bakura's rusty eyes were watery and there were small tear tracks running down his cheeks.

Bakura hesitated and looked down. "I... I'm scared of the dark, okay?"

He expected Yami to burst out laughing. Instead, Yami shrugged. "That's nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone's scared of something. I'm scared of blood."

Bakura blinked in surprise and looked up at him. "But whenever you got into plenty of fights with me. We always came out bleeding somewhere."

"I can control my fear," Yami replied before hesitating. "To a certain extent. But we're not talking about me here. Where did you get that bruise?"

Bakura didn't respond for a minute. Yami was beginning to think that he wouldn't when he croaked out, "My father..."

Yami's eyes widened. "What?"

"I said my father." Bakura closed his eyes. "You know my father's religious. He's devout Catholic. He found out that I'm gay and he's done a lot of things to me since then."

"Like?"

Bakura flinched. "... Hitting... Using a belt on me... Cutting... Strangling..." He trailed off.

"That's not all, is it?" Yami asked, his voice soft. Bakura shook his head, tears building up in his eyes again. "What happened?" Once again, Bakura shook his head. "Bakura, please. I just want to help."

"H-he..." Bakura swallowed. "He... r-raped Ryou and I..."

Yami's arms tightened around him. "I should have been there for you..."

"How could you have been?" Bakura whispered. "You didn't know. That was the point. No one was supposed to know."

"Then how did you expect anyone to help you get out of there?" Bakura stayed silent. Yami narrowed his eyes. "You didn't, did you?"

"I already tried escaping with Ryou several times, and it hasn't worked."

"Well it will this time."

Bakura looked up at Yami in confusion. "But-"

"But nothing. Seto and I are going to help you guys escape."

Seto. That was his name. "I thought Seto broke up with Ryou."

"No, someone text him from Ryou's phone saying that they were finished. He guessed it wasn't Ryou when they used text talk."

Bakura had to agree that Ryou would never do that. He hated text talk, saying that it was an insult to any language. He was probably right. Bakura didn't care at that moment. "Why would you help me?" He asked. "What have I ever done for you?" Yami didn't respond. "Well? Why would you-?"

Bakura was cut off as a pair of soft lips were pressed against his own. His eyes widened but he found himself returning the kiss.

After a minute, Yami pulled away with a caring smile. "I'm getting you out of there. Okay?"

Bakura hesitated before nodding. Yami's arms tightened around him. He found himself relaxing into the embrace, his fear of the dark having less of a hold on him now.

Yami had shattered it.

A moment later, the lights came on. "Well isn't that convenient..."

-DDLDHoW-

DH: Alright, hope you enjoyed!

OW: Please vote and comment!

DH: See you next time Killer Queens!

OW: Bye!