Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh! or any characters from it. However, the nameless, mute cohort is mine. He's not that important…

A/N: Well, after torturing Ryou in my last story, I had to make a sort of comfort one for myself. I actually felt bad for hurting Ryou, and while he does get injured in this story, it leads to a good thing.

Warnings(?): Violence toward Ryou, Bakura violence.

My Protector

Ryou couldn't believe how stupid he had been. Why, oh why, had he decided to take the shortcut back to his apartment?! Well, the choice didn't matter now; it had been made and now he had to face the consequences of his actions.

He glanced up and down the alley he had trapped himself in, his breath hitching when he saw Ushio pace down one end and another of his cronies start down the other. The fear mixed with adrenaline caused his head to spin unbearably, and the lack of breath made him begin to hyperventilate. He pressed against a wall halfway between the two, knowing there was no way he could run past one or the other without being caught.

Host…let me take care of these fools, a spectral voice chimed in the back of his mind.

Ryou couldn't help but whimper. Not only was he about to receive a beating from the worst bully in school, but now he had to keep his dark in check, too. "No…" he whispered, inaudible to all except for the one sharing his body. He willed himself to maintain control of his body, something he had been managing more and more often. Occasionally, he could thwart the spirit's attempts to take his place. Ryou was hoping this was one of those times.

Dammit! Let me out! the spirit shouted, causing Ryou to flinch. A miniscule shift of his head told Bakura he wasn't going to give in that easily.

'Why? So you can beat them to a bloody pulp while I get in trouble again? I'm sick of being your pawn all the time. Stop manipulating me!' Ryou yelled mentally back. For all he knew, it was another ploy for Bakura to steal his body; he wasn't going to take that chance. He concentrated with all his might to keep his rightful place. He was so wrapped up in his internal struggle, he didn't even realize Ushio was standing right in front of him.

"What's wrong, girly-boy? Too scared to even run or scream in terror?" the bully asked, reaching out to take hold of Ryou's silvery hair. The smaller boy gasped, trying unsuccessfully to wrench free. A small moan escaped as his scalp burned with the force of his tugging. "So you can speak?" Ushio taunted. "You're always so quiet…like a little mouse waiting to be stepped on. Are you going to squeak, mouse, when I hit you?"

Ryou's eyes bugged as the promise of physical torment rang through his ears. However, as his mind was still preoccupied with Bakura, he couldn't even prepare his body to receive the punch. A pained gasp slipped through his lips.

Ushio cackled. "That wasn't what I wanted, vermin. I wanted to hear a squeak!" Unshed tears sparkled in Ryou's eyes at the insult. He couldn't help that he was shy and withdrawn; if others had lived through his personal hell, he could almost guarantee they would have turned out the same way, maybe worse. One thing about Ryou was that he was mentally strong; but, he had to admit that if he was physically stronger, he might not have had to rely on mental strength alone…

Another fist impacted with his stomach, resulting in a low thud. Had he not been held up by his hair, he would have doubled over in pain. As it was, his abdominal muscles flexed, sending a shock from the abused region down his spine. This time, he groaned.

"You want more pain, don't you, mouse? That's why you won't squeal for me, isn't it?" Ryou shook his head, but didn't say anything, choosing to retain his dignity over the humiliating situation. "Then squeak, you little rat!" The grip on his white locks vanished as a boot connected with his right kneecap. Ryou dropped like a stone with another gasp, fairly sure the bone had been shattered, or at the very least chipped. The boot collided with his ribs, knocking him to the side, his breathing becoming even more labored.

"Stop…!" he wheezed, finally breaking his forced silence. Every breath he took wracked his body, rasping into his lungs until an inadvertent squeak escaped his throat. He hung his head in embarrassment and shame.

Another cackle tore through the air. "That's a good mouse! Ahahaha! I guess you've been good for today. I'll leave you in one piece so we can do this some other time. Heh heh…" Ushio finished, walking away with his crony at his side.

Ryou couldn't hold on much longer to consciousness, his eyes slowly sliding closed. The last thought before darkness claimed him was that his yami had stopped fighting against him some time during the attack.

--

Bakura growled as his host passed out, quickly claiming the body as his own. The idiot! Why hadn't Ryou let him assume control? Did he want to feel the life being beaten out of him? For being an honors student, sometimes the boy had no sense at all.

As the spirit tried to stand, even he felt the pain rip through his knee and abdomen. Bloody hell! How did he manage to hold on as long as he did? For Bakura, the pain was tolerable, which was saying something. The thief never felt injuries of any kind, something he prided himself on. Imagining Ryou in this kind of physical torture without crying out astounded Bakura, but he could dwell on that later.

He pulled himself up the rest the way, calling out, "I really hope you weren't planning on going anywhere."

The two boys stopped and turned, Ushio smirking and the other looking entirely perplexed. "Does da wittle mousy want to play some more?" he asked in baby tones.

"Yes, and you're not going to like it very much," the spirit growled low in his throat.

"What are you going to do, you stupid vermin?" the bully asked, advancing on Bakura with every intent to pound him again. "Bite me?" he mocked waving his hand in front of the thief's face.

Bakura's eyes narrowed in a kind of maddened glee, grinning maniacally. "Just remember," he taunted, "you suggested it." With that, he launched himself at the taller boy, grasping his arm to prevent escape, and embedded his teeth in both sides of Ushio's hand. He was pleased when he tasted blood leaking from the wound.

The bully yowled in agony, holding his bitten hand. His cohort took one look at his partner and bolted, leaving Ushio to fend for himself. Bakura scoffed; that explained why the boy hadn't touched Ryou. He was a coward.

"You…you're a monster!" Ushio yelled, edging away.

The spirit smirked. "Close enough," he admitted, following the other's attempts to flee. "And now, since you seem so intent on hearing the sounds of animals in pain, I'm going to keep you here until you whimper like the bitch you are." With another lunge, he gripped Ushio's other arm and twisted him around until he could use the arm to force the boy to the ground. He heard a satisfyingly loud pop as the shoulder was dislocated.

"AAAARRRGGGHH!!" Ushio writhed against the grip, jarring his shoulder more. However, he refused to give in to Bakura and growled.

"Do you want more pain?" he teased, tossing the bully's words back at him. "I can arrange for that."

Bakura pressed his uninjured knee against the base of Ushio's spine, carefully applying pressure while pulling back his arm. A pathetic grunt told the spirit his position was working quite favorably.

"I can crack your spine like this, and I'm quite certain you would be missed by few. So I'll tell you once again. Make the sound and I'll let you free, and you will never touch me again. Do we have a deal?" Bakura asked, jerking mercilessly on the torn shoulder.

"Yes…please stop. Please…ohhh…" Finally, the whimper left the bully's mouth, and the thief stood carefully, yanking Ushio up by his injured arm again and shoving him forward. Clutching his shoulder, he scampered away as fast as he could.

Bakura watched him go, tenderly placing his right foot down and bracing himself against the wall. He was making sure not to agitate the wound any further than necessary. Slowly, he hobbled his way to Ryou's apartment, sighing at the discomfort he knew would surely follow his arrival there.

--

The spirit watched anxiously as Ryou's eyes fluttered open. After two hours of stressful waiting, Bakura wondered how much damage had been done to their body.

Ryou's gaze flickered around the room, lighting on his dark and away again quickly. He knew what was coming, another speech about how weak and pathetic he was. His body was throbbing, and he just wanted to sleep again, but he was going to wait until his yami vented at him. That way he could sleep in peace.

Oddly, his spirit didn't say anything.

"Get it over with," Ryou said heartlessly. "Add your mental scars to the physical ones today and say your little rant. I know you're going to."

Bakura stiffened. "You don't know anything," he growled. "Look down."

Ryou examined his body, noting with surprise the bandages around his ribs and the splint holding his knee in place. "What…? Who?"

"It was me, and it hurt like bloody hell twisting to get them in place," the thief admitted, glaring.

The hikari's eyes widened. "You put them on, while you were in control? …Why?" He sat up cautiously, expecting a pang of agony, but the tightly bound wrap kept his ribs from aching too badly. "You've never…you don't care about me. You've made that painfully obvious. You're trying to manipulate me again, and it's not going to work this time! Leave me alone!" Ryou yelled in a panic.

Bakura snarled in anger. "You honestly believe that, don't you?! You don't think that I would help you without trying to weaken you, do you? Just because I'm an evil bastard doesn't mean I can't care about something. Fine! Next time, I won't bother then!"

It was the first time Ryou had ever heard that kind of emotion come from Bakura, and it through him off-guard. "You…care about me…?"

"Did you think I protected you all those times just because I needed a body?" the thief wanted to know.

"Protected…? Well, yeah…I'm your host. Even you've called me that." Ryou mumbled, uncertainty creeping into his tone.

Bakura sighed. "You might be the only reason I can exist in this form, but yes, I protected you…from everyone who's ever tried to hurt you, in case you didn't notice."

"I…didn't," the hikari realized. His mind tried to search through memories of what the spirit could be referring to, but they all blurred into scenes of being controlled for no reason at all.

The thief's gaze fell slightly. "You don't remember, do you? Karita, Pegasus, even Yami Yugi. I protected you from all of them…Karita was just a bastard, but when Pegasus tried to attack you…I stepped in. I didn't care what happened to the other mortals, but as soon as he mentioned your name…I stopped him."

"You did…!" Ryou gasped, recognizing the truth in what Bakura said. For the second time that day, tears threatened to cascade down his cheeks, and he had to turn his head. Everything he had ever thought had just been turned upside down, and he wasn't sure how to react.

"As for Yami Yugi…as he was about to attack you, with Kaiba's goading, I had to take over, to stop him from hurting you. I…admitted that night that I needed you…" Bakura said quietly.

Ryou looked confused and saddened. "I thought that meant…you needed my body, and that was it…" The realization that Bakura might have felt the need to protect him left him speechless.

"I need more than just a body…"

Both boys shifted uncomfortably in the silence that followed. Ryou's mind was in overload. Bakura despised him, right? Or, maybe not…

Bakura had never shown so much emotion to anyone in all his life, even in Egypt. It left him a little drained and feeling exposed. He waited for his light to say something, anything to break the awkward silence between them. After a few tense moments, Bakura decided to return to his ring and began to fade.

"Don't go!" Ryou yelped suddenly, causing the spirit to freeze and stare. The smaller boy was facing Bakura now, tears flowing freely from his eyes. "If what you said is true, don't leave."

"Wha-?"

Ryou sniffled a little. "You've led me to believe you hated me with the things you said, that I was weak and not worth your time. And now you say you cared about me. Why?"

"I was wrong when I said those things. I was trying to make you stronger by making you feel weak, and now look at you. You carried those wounds without making a sound. You've fought against me to the point where I can't even possess your body without a hell of a battle. You aren't weak, and never were."

Suddenly Ryou remembered something he had thought about before he fainted. "You stopped fighting me once Ushio started hitting me…"

"I was causing more damage that way. You weren't defending yourself because you were trying to control me. I decided to give you back your concentration."

The spirit had a slight blush on his cheeks from his candidness toward his host, as though it embarrassed him to admit such a weakness. He gazed warily at the other boy, awaiting his reaction. He wasn't expecting the question of, "So what do we do, now?" Bakura had never heard Ryou talk about them in terms of "we" before. Was Ryou accepting him?

"Um…I don't know. Steal Yugi's puzzle and plunge the world into darkness?" he half-joked, trying to make light of the situation they found themselves in.

Ryou let out an exasperated sigh. "I guess we'll figure it out later, if that's how you want to be," he suggested. "In the meantime, I'm getting some sleep. I'm exhausted!"

"I wonder why?" Bakura asked sarcastically.

"Hmm…quiet, you. Goodnight…Bakura."

Bakura was shocked into temporary silence by Ryou's hesitant use of his name, and he was almost sure the boy had fallen asleep before he whispered back, "Goodnight…Ryou…"

The End

A/N: Thank goodness for no homework! That just all came spilling out! Sorry if it was just another clichéd Ryou/ Bakura fic, but I did enjoy writing it. I hope you enjoyed reading it! Please read and review! They help me out a lot.