The Assassin and The Thief

Chapter 7

(Marik's POV)

Who was it that said all good things must come to an end? I've been procrastinating for so long; distracting myself with long white hair like silk to touch, bright eyes of an innocent trust yet wisdom branded into a mind too young. I don't want to kill him. I won't kill him. I can't. I delude myself like this for weeks, pacing around Bakura's place or my tiny little motel room in wretched delirium.

I like him. Hell I think I love him.

My life is out on hold for a while, but inevitably Kaiba calls me for a progress resort. And what can I tell him? Not the truth. My phone rings in the early peaks of dawn, which is mid afternoon for him.

"Kaiba?" I groan, pulling the pillow down over my face to block any unsolicited sunlight.

"Why haven't I heard from you?"

"I'm...working on it. There's been some problems,"

I hear scoffing from down the line, and annoyed mumbling. "Kill him and get that ring. I don't care what fucking problems you're having. This is your retirement, one way or another,"

It would be foolish not to notice the subtle threat laced in his voice. "I will. Don't...don't worry. Can. I just ask you something?"

"If you must,"

"Why him? You haven't given me an explanation and...it's been eating away it me. I'm just curious, I guess,"

"You always have been,"

"Just tell me man, I have to know why you put a hit out on him and why he's worth so much!"

Really, I just want some insight into the man I love. Bakura is always so reserved, boring back what he really wants to say and restricting our conversations to small talk. Sneaky and devious, he hides his inner self under layered sarcasm and misguided humour. I'm no better; he doesn't even know my name. I might be being a hypocrite but I have been anxious to find out about him.

"Fine. Listen closely,"

*

Kaiba was always the most successful criminal mastermind in Japan and East Asia. However, there was a problem with him expanding into West Asia and the Middle East. Especially Egypt. Doroubu, originally a revel group, had become a gang of high-end jewel thieves and organised monsters ran the largest crime syndicate there. Ruthless and growing in numbers by he day, Doroubu seized complete control of cargo entering and leaving Cairo, leaving Kaiba unable to expand his drug market.

Their leader, a fierce psychopath named Akefia Touzoku, was driven solely by vitriol and revenge. An irrational man with a singular goal and no room for compromise. Smart, but paranoid and without a head for business. A liability to everyone.

So Kaiba came up with a plan to exterminate the rebel group. He would pose as a buyer offering millions of dollars for a extraction of a single artefact - The Millennium Ring, around 5,000 years old. Kept on display and heavily guarded in the Coptic Museum in Cairo', he set conditions that he'd only pay if Akefia himself stole it under the guise of honour.

The plan was: Akefia goes into the museum, Kaiba informs the police, they arrest and/or kill Akefia and he swoops into the aftermath, taking control over their group and running it from Japan.

If Kaiba has a fault, it's underestimating the intelligence of his rivals. Akefia had realised the condition only meant he had to steal the artefact. Not that he had to go in alone. With his shifty reasons, he invited his brother, Bakura, along with him. For several reasons actually, mainly because he was a minor and police wouldn't open fire on him if he hid behind Bakura.

It would have been a foolproof plan, if when the alarm rang and the guards stormed the building, one of them hadn't been an ex military marksman. At the first sign of trouble, Akefia ripped his brother in front of him, brandishing a knife which he pressed against the soft flesh of Bakura's neck. "Any of you move I'll kill him!"

From outside, the sniper fires his gun, sending a butler flying through Akefia's skull, imbedding deep in his brain. Bakura, in his shock, watches his brother fall to the floor, a limp body encased in a bright red coffin of fabric. The police advance slowly forward, speaking to Bakura in hushed tones of false kindness. "Son, we can help you. You need to cooperate with us,"

Tears fall down Bakura's far, teeth gritting harshly as his jaw clenches in a hateful wretchedness. He grabs the Millennium Ring, golden tassels falling between his fingers. "F-Fuck you! Fuck all of you!" He lets his body fall from the window, into the getaway carriage Akefia had parked. To the sound of gunfire he sped away, looking into the sky as his brother's blood dries into stains on his clothes.

*

I hang up the phone, replaying the story in Kaiba's voice. After evading the police, Bakura boarded a plane with the ring isn't fake documents from his bother. He settled illegally in the US and has been hiding out. Kaiba never did tell him how he found Bakura, but he can guess.

Sighing, he realises that Bakura remains his target. Far from the degenerate, low-level thief he has fallen far, Marik understands the politics of this situation. With a reluctant pain panting though his heart, he makes preparations to kill Bakura.

*
I'm sorry this took so long!
The scene with Akefia was really rushed, I admit. And I'm sorry!