Illusion

By Snare-chan

Pairings: Yami/Bakura
Ratings: T
Category(ies): Angst/PWP
Warning(s): Mind warping mystery
Status: One-shot, completed
Summary: Yami is visited by none other than our friendly neighborhood Tomb Robber…maybe.

Notes: More or less a practice at darker fanfiction than actually writing something fandom, I started this out as perhaps what I had hoped to become a lime, but it never worked out that way. Worked on at mainly early hours of the night (2:00 am to 6:30 am); it perhaps makes little to no sense, but I think I got what I wanted out of it.

It's not really based anywhere, and doesn't follow a point in the series, manga or anime, so just kind of put your mindset in 'nowhere zone' while reading this. It might help you keep your sanity. Wow, and I just realized this is my first real kind of, somewhat, sort of character-torture fic. Boy, do I feel like one of the fangirls now. XD;

Disclaimer: I dun own YGO; wish I did like everyone else. They should put YGO in stock, then I'd buy it all!

See the wind blow,

Hear the light glow,

Love the smell of the rain,

Taste the bitterness of pain.

Illusions, by Ayame-chan1

Darkness.

There was always darkness. It just always was, as if it were time and space itself. It was unrelenting, cruel, and mocking. Always, always there, haunting him time and time again.

The darkness was cold.

The darkness was quiet.

The darkness was…a very lonely place.

Without warning, Yami's body shivered, chilled once more by the room. The cold seeped into his bones, freezing him to the point that, if he were forced to breathe here, he'd have choked on such chill. It was a strange kind of freezing feeling, not that of bodily cold that you felt when taking a daring leap into the snow, but rather that of the spiritual kind, that which couldn't be rid of so easily.

It was numbing, haunting, and everlasting…

He didn't much like the silence either, such quietness setting him at unease. He had no heartbeat of his own to comfort him, to listen to in the dead of his soul room. No sounds of self-breathing, no ringing in the ears or anything like that.

He only had his thoughts, and they weren't much help.

Absently, he coiled his arms around himself, whether to comfort himself or to try to warm up, not even he was sure, but it could have very well been both. In his soul room, all by his lonesome, he had no one to comfort him or share warmth with.

One would think that after 3000 years, one would get used to it all, but no…of course not, no one could, much less Yami. He'd been human once - he still was human, despite the fact he had no body to call his own anymore. He could still think, act…feel, like any other human.

Stiffly, Yami tossed and turned in his bed, the large silk-covered canopy-bed not helping to comfort him in the least. It's empty surface only served to remind him just how alone he was here, how he'd always been alone since those days long since past. Yami hardly took up one whole third of it, his eyes befalling the other two thirds with dismay.

He could not help but be selfish in times like this, wishing beyond hope that by some miracle someone could take up that space, making this place less alone for him.

With a weary sigh, he turned once more under the sheets, trying in vain to get comfortable among the masses of sheets and pillows. But as always, no matter how much he went about shifting in his bed, he could not get comfortable enough to rest. It was like some eternal curse, one that had him forever restless.

But also, just as always, he kept on trying to break that curse. He stubbornly closed his eyes, willing himself to drift off into nothingness. It didn't work, of course, but he refused to give up, even after 3000 years. When nothing came of it, he only clenched his eyes shut tighter, repeating to himself over and over again, 'sleep sleep sleep,' until the word blurred with the next, the mantra almost lost to him.

And then he felt it: a gentle brush against the back of his neck. The gentle caress went practically unnoticed since Yami was concentrated so strongly on getting some sleep, though the odds were against him. It was gentle at first, but when it didn't seem to grab Yami's attention right away, it became more insistent, coaxing him to respond.

And respond he did.

His eyes snapped open and he flung his sheets aside as he sat up, looking all about him. Either his eyes did not dart fast enough or he'd not really felt anything at all, but he spotted no one in the bed with him. Slowly his eyes trailed across the room as well, but still there didn't seem anything amiss or out of place. He was still very much alone…

Yami snorted abruptly, roughly pulling his sheets back and collapsing back against his pillows, trying once more to get some sleep. It was still just as futile as before, and giving up for a time, he gruffly turned back over onto his side. He decided to just 'rest' as it were, letting his mind drift as he laid there with his eyes closed; this was the closest that he'd ever come to resembling sleep.

But something was off; he could just feel it now.

His eyes snapped open too late, something grasping his shoulder out of the blue and slamming him back against the bed in one swift turn. As Yami rose up his free fist to connect with whatever it was, he could feel his upper arm being grasped as well; now both arms were down for the count and the rest of him was not looking so good. Angrily, he raised his eyes to see his attacker, and almost suffered heart failure (that is to say, if he still had a beating heart to call his own) as his eyes fell onto the least likely person possible.

"Surprised?" Bakura purred, strengthening his hold in Yami's moment of shock.

"More like horrified; do you have any idea what your face can do to a person first thing in the morning?"

Bakura snorted, either miffed or insulted, not that the emotion lingered long enough for Yami to decipher it. Catching himself in time, Yami was able to get the upper-hand for just one second, his leg getting under the other and pushing back against the other's spleen. The other grunted angrily, but managed to get Yami flat on his back once more, as well as place all his weight down on him, keeping him in place this time.

"How did you-"

"Get here?" Bakura finished for him, a fanged tooth practically peeking out at the side of his grin, "That's for me to know."

Yami snorted, turning his head away, "When did you get so secretive?"

"I can be boisterous too, if you prefer," Bakura snorted, his grip still just as strong as it had been moments before. Yami would know; he still couldn't budge an inch under the other's hold.

"I'd prefer you weren't here at all."

"I wouldn't have thought so," the other started, something unknown entering his voice as he spoke, "From that forlorn expression you had had on your face, you looked like you would enjoy anyone's company."

"Are you saying I'm desperate?" Yami questioned dryly, sounding all the while insulted.

The thief only chuckled as he let the other up, surprisingly enough, and watched as Yami scrambled slightly to the other side of the bed. Yami himself couldn't help but be confused at the turn of events; not only was Bakura - of all people - in his soul room, but he hadn't challenged him to anything thus far. Bakura was…acting mighty peculiar.

"What do you want?"

Bakura 'hm'ed softly and raised a brow in the other's direction, appearing as if he didn't know what the other was asking, "Whatever do you mean?"

"Do you take me for an imbecile?" Yami practically snapped, though managed to keep both his voice and temper in check.

"…do I really even need to answer that?"

Yami couldn't help but sigh, wondering why the other always had to be so difficult. He eyed him skeptically, noting how the other looked so comfortable on his bed of all places. Yami was sourly tempted to try and push the other off, if only to knock that cocky expression off Bakura's face.

"Why are you here?" Yami tried again, deciding to try and reword his question.

"To see you, obviously. Are you really that dense?"

"Alright then," he started slowly, "You've seen me. Now you can leave."

"How rude," Bakura scoffed, "Here I am, your guest, and-"

At the sight of the Pharaoh's truly homicidal expression (or as close as Yami could openly come to such a look), Bakura decided to slow down and choose his words more carefully. Apparently, he still had things to accomplish here, and being sent to the Shadow Realm by Yami would rather dampen his attempts to get…whatever he wanted done.

So he leaned in closer, coming nose-to-nose with the other. Yami didn't flinch or try to bend back and away, but it could be certain that he was a tad bit uncertain about this. He would never have guessed that Bakura would willingly come within a couple inches of him…unless it was to strangle him, but that's beside the point.

For once they were both silent, neither of them exchanging blows nor bribes. They were just staring, inches away from each others' faces…and that's when Bakura struck. Lips suddenly locked with one another Bakura made a move to pounce him, their bodies now in the same position as before.

Yami was quite surprised, and at first had no stronger an urge than to pull apart and send Bakura to the Shadow Realm in tiny pieces. But eventually, slowly, as Bakura made no move to strangle him, Yami started to relax. Mentally, he was kicking himself a good twelve dozen times, but his lips and hands were moving with a mind of their own.

It was weird, to be doing this with anyone, much less Bakura. He had never kissed someone before, or at least that he could recall, so with this being his first kiss, he wasn't sure if he should be upset or not about it going to Bakura. In the moment he didn't really care, or at least his fingers, which were currently lost in Bakura's hair, didn't seem to mind.

Then, suddenly, he was kissing air, and Yami's eyes were snapping open in surprise. He started slightly, sitting up on his elbows and surveying his room to note that he was, once again, all alone. The room was silent, perfectly dead silent like it always was, and nothing but darkness was there to keep him company. Absently, Yami stretched out his arm, feeling the cold, barely-ruffled sheets still covering his bed in thought.

It was as if the other hadn't been there at all.

-Fin-