Family Picture (1-Shot)

Three males with glistening white hair stood in line at the picture store. One was tall, muscular, tan, and had a smirk on his face as if he found something funny. The second one was a little shorter but had pale skin as if he hadn't been touched by the sun in years. He was tapping his foot impatiently and wore a scowl across his lips. He was clearly displeased with something. The third and final one stood in front of the others. He was smiling softly and was composed in a calm manner. His hands were clasped in front of him politely as he waited.

"How much longer do I have to stand here?" Bakura, the one scowling, said gruffly.

The one in front, Ryou, sighed for what seemed like the thousandth time in the past couple of minutes. Bakura's impatience was astounding. "Just a while longer, Bakura," Ryou said tiredly.

"You said that a couple of minutes ago," Bakura growled.

"It's only been about twenty seconds since you last asked," the tan one in the back said.

"Shut up, Akefia!" Bakura nearly shouted. Ryou sighed again and tried his best not to facepalm himself. Despite living with his brother and cousin for a couple of years now, they still found ways to annoy him. Sadly, many of those ways happened to be in public settings.

"Why don't you make me?" Akefia said with a devilish grin. Bakura tackled the older of the two, and they began to wrestle on the tiled floor of the shop. Their bickering and curses to each other resounded about the room, and Ryou sweatdropped awkwardly.

"Uh... guys?" he asked as politely as he could. He didn't like raising his voice in front of others, especially when they were complete strangers. "Guys!" He tried again, but the duo simply ignored him. The other customers in the store were giving them all weird and slightly frightened looks. Ryou sighed and thought, The last thing I need is to be kicked out of yet another store because of these two bloody idiots! Gathering his breath and best commanding voice, he yelled, "Bakura! Akefia! Knock it off right now!"

The two stopped immediately upon hearing Ryou's tone. They both looked at him as if they didn't know what they had just done wrong, and Ryou put his hands on his hips threateningly. Akefia released Bakura from the headlock he had been put in, and Bakura tried to reign in his dignity by straightening out his rumpled clothing. They both got up and stood there awkwardly as Ryou gave them his best glare. Akefia was chewing on the inside of his cheek while looking at the ground, and Bakura stared off to Ryou's left as he absentmindedly twisted his foot.

Ryou began a little rant, and the others in the room either looked on in amusement or laughed softly to themselves. "You two know better and should be ashamed of yourselves. I can't go into half of the stores downtown because of you guys, and this is the reason why. You always have to fight and bicker and make a fool out of not only yourselves but me as well. Now, you'll either shape up and behave like you're supposed to, or you'll be sleeping on the street for a couple weeks."

"Yes, cousin," Akefia said glumly.

"Yes, yadonushi," Bakura grumbled.

Ryou nodded and turned around. He heard Akefia mumble something to Bakura, but he couldn't make it out. The two shuffled behind him and were quiet for the rest of the wait. Luckily, they were the next people in line. The photographer rushed them in quickly as if he didn't want to make them wait anymore. The poor guy was probably afraid that Bakura would tear him a new one if he had to wait for just a second more. What made it worse was that Bakura would hurt the man.

"Whenever y-your ready," the photographer stuttered as he stood behind the camera.

Ryou sighed. Here goes another store I can't come into, he thought sadly. And I liked this place too. His older siblings moved to stand behind him. Bakura suddenly wrapped an arm around Ryou's throat, and Ryou grabbed at the arm instinctively. He felt one of Akefia's hands on the top of his head and half of his chest pressed against his back. Bakura's head loomed over Ryou's right shoulder.

"Ready," Akefia said, and Ryou felt him nod from atop his head. The camera light flashed brightly before Ryou could figure out what was going on.

Ryou sat typing furiously on his laptop as he tried to finish the English essay that was due tomorrow. In the middle of his final sentence, a notification popped up that said the family picture he had taken a few days ago had arrived in his email inbox. He didn't hesitate to leave his essay in favor of opening the message. A picture opened on the screen.

Ryou was in the middle while Bakura was to the left and Akefia was to the right. Bakura had a devilish grin on his face as he held Ryou possessively against him. His dark, almost black, eyes gleamed maliciously as he stared at the camera. Akefia was leaned over the both of them in a brotherly way. A big, friendly grin was spread across his lips, and he had one of his crimson eyes closed playfully. He had his hands on Ryou and Bakura's heads. Ryou had a curious almost wondered expression on his face as he gripped Bakura's arm that was snaked around his neck.

He giggled upon seeing the picture and their silly faces. He felt the two presences of Bakura and Akefia behind him as they leaned over the couch to look at the screen. "We're going to frame the bloody thing, right?" Bakura's gruff voice asked.

"Wow, bunny," Akefia teased with a smirk. "I didn't think you'd want anything to do with the damned thing after what happened at the store."

"Shut up!" Bakura yelled before tackling Akefia to the carpeted floor.

Ryou sighed as he looked behind him to see Bakura once again in a headlock. The two suddenly looked up at him as if asking permission to continue. Ryou sighed but returned his attention back to the computer screen. The loud cursing and shuffling sounds continued as if they had never stopped, and Ryou giggled at their antics.

His thoughts turned back towards the picture. I'll have to get this framed.

Bakura sat on the couch as he stared at the family picture that had been placed on the mantelpiece. Ryou was busy in the kitchen making dinner, and Akefia sat at the dining room table reading the newspaper. Ryou had printed and framed the picture a few days before when it had arrived in his email. Bakura tilted his head slightly as he stared at it. He felt the need to do something with it.

Making sure no one could see what he was about to do, he jumped up from the couch and dashed towards the mantelpiece. He grabbed the picture carefully before racing upstairs. His footfalls were quiet as he moved despite his swiftness. Once he was in his room and he was sure that he hadn't been spotted, he closed the door softly.

He walked towards his messy bed and flopped down on it. He took the sharpie that was on his nightstand and took the picture out of the frame. On the back of the picture, he wrote the words that Akefia had said to him that day at the shop after Ryou had yelled at them.

Let's give him some peace now.

He smiled as he gazed at the words. He slipped the picture back into the beautiful, darkly stained wooden frame. He hugged it to his chest briefly before hiding it beneath his pillows. Bakura then returned downstairs as if he hadn't done anything.

Later at dinner, Ryou had come back in from the living room. His brows were creased in confusion. "Do you guys know where our family picture went? It's not on the mantel."

Akefia simply shrugged and continued to shove the meat slices into his mouth.

Bakura hid the smile that wanted to cross his lips.