Disclaimer: Yuugiou (Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters) is the property of Takahashi Kazuki and respective publishers, including Shueisha, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, Toei Animation, 4Kids, and others. I would never claim to own it or attempt to make money off of it- just think of this as a written, free doujinshi and hopefully we'll get along fine ;)

Vocabulary: Yadonushi is host/landlord.

Nightmare

This is a nightmare. It has to be, because he can hear the spirit's voice and the Ring isn't here.

Before now the spirit has always arrived with the Ring, and, as useless as throwing it away is, Ryou is at least free of the spirit for the short time before the Ring will appear around his neck again. For the spirit to no longer be bound to it, to lose even that short respite…Ryou isn't going to think about that possibility, because it isn't real. This is just a bad dream, and he'll wake up at some point, he's sure.

Or maybe the Ring is here, arrived silently while he slept and buried not just the pointers but all of it under his skin, buried until it joins with his bones (or blood, blood, blood), a part of him for eternity.

He isn't going to think about that, either.

He isn't going to think about a voice whispering in his ear, sweet nothings about all that is dead and gone yet refuses to be gone, because he doesn't want the spirit back, he doesn't.

Ryou has always found the occult thrilling, and being touched by such things a wonderful fright, but it loses all of its fascination when harm results. His friends could be killed, Yuugi-kun buried in darkness, never to return…

You should be careful, a voice says, and he isn't sure if the thought is his or not.

The voice is right, though. Ryou should be trying to protect Yuugi-kun and the others, he knows, but somehow his thoughts all fall apart whenever he tries to gather his wits and actually do something. He's been unwell since Battle City, which is why his friends left without him, taking with them useless assurances that he'll call Yuugi-kun's grandfather if he needs help, and leaving him with well-wishes, games, and a fridge full of food in varying condition.

He wants to protect them, but doesn't know how he can when he can't even walk the necessary steps in order to leave his apartment.

Give up, a voice calls, amused or at least trying to sound like it. Stay out of all of this, or you'll just end up being used again. Do you want to see all of your friends dead, yadonushi?

"No," Ryou says, speaking out loud even though he doesn't have to. "But I can't just leave them when I know something awful is going to happen!"

A hand settles down on his hair, cold fingers running through it and brushing against the scalp underneath, and Ryou doesn't bother trying to rise from the bed or pull his face from the pillow where he's been hiding it. So he's asleep, now he knows, but this doesn't feel like a nightmare anymore.

Now he does try to raise his head, and catches a glimpse of a great, dark shape rising out of the darkness which surrounds them before the hand pushes his head back down. He lets it, and feels foolish for wishing that his heart was racing due to a more pleasant fright.

It turns out that this is a nightmare…just not his own.

AN:

I don't think that Ryou and Bakura had any interaction before episode 199 in canon, but it's interesting to consider.