Okay, so I finally broke down and joined the "30 Kisses Fanfic Challenge" on LiveJournal. x.x; The temptation was just too strong! D: But anyway... I claimed the coupling of Yami no Yuugi x Malik, which has become a recent fetish of mine... :D So yeah. Here's the first one I've completed. n.n

Glass
30 Kisses Challenge: #26 - if only I could make you mine
by PikaChan

Watching you from close by, your dream resounds in a glass heart.
-- Kawamura Ryuichi, "Glass"

Tonight was the night that he'd make his move.

He'd always confided in me about this particular situation, and I'd tried to advise him to the best of my ability, even though it pained me to do so. Okay, so "pained" is an understatement - it tore me to pieces. It was as if my heart was made from pure glass; it shattered and ripped me apart from the inside out. It wasn't just the fact that his feelings were not being directed towards me, but also seeing the pain and desperation in his eyes. Either way, when I egged him on and told him to follow his heart, I secretly wanted to tell him the opposite.

But I didn't, because I didn't want to hurt him more than he already was.

He was completely enamored with the holder of the Sennen Ring: a beautiful boy by the name of Bakura Ryou. He was the perfect compliment to my friend's outgoing and playful nature, for he himself was shy and soft-spoken. Together, they were like the sun and the moon, and not just in personality - my companion, with his flaxen hair and bronzed skin, and Ryou, with his snowy white hair and pale complexion, often appeared to be the embodiments of Ra and Khons themselves.

I suppose what pained me the most about this was because of how true this really was. So when he asked me what to do, it took every ounce of willpower within me to tell him what he wanted to hear.

...which brings me to tonight.

It was Ryou's birthday, and my friend had told me that tonight he was going to come forward. So the two of us sat near each other in the object of his affection's living room, waiting for a moment where he could get the birthday boy alone. We idly discussed the situation amongst ourselves, quietly so that none of his other guests could hear us.

"So... you're going to tell him tonight?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

He nodded, brushing a few strands of hair out of his lavender eyes. I could tell that he was nervous, especially with the possibility that Ryou might not return his feelings, but he'd told me before that it was a risk he'd be willing to take. He knew full well that it could change their friendship forever, but he wanted the fair-haired boy to know how he felt, regardless if his feelings were reciprocated or not.

"Listen, Malik..." I started, leaning closer towards him. "If Ryou happens to... reject you," I saw him tense up at the mere mention of it, "just know that it's nothing against you. Trust me, I've seen you two together, and even if he doesn't feel the same about you, I can tell that he thinks of you very highly." Okay, so maybe I was speaking on my part morseo than Ryou's, but my companion nodded as he took my words in.

"Yeah... I know," he replied, letting out a sigh. He was ready to confess, I could see it in his eyes. So now was just the matter of getting the birthday boy alone...

Malik's eyes lit up as he saw Ryou enter the kitchen of his house, and he threw a glance at me, his eyes asking if it was the right time. In spite of myself, I gave him a reassuring smile, and gestured towards the other room, urging him to go on. He nodded appreciatively at me, and then stood, crossing the room to where his destiny awaited him.

I stood up and followed, making sure I wasn't seen by him - I wanted to see how the scene would unfold. Would my friend get his wish, taking mine from me, or would his heart be shattered like mine was? I stood outside the door, casually peering in to the room. Malik was speaking so softly that I couldn't hear a word of what he was saying, I merely saw his lips moving as he backed Ryou up against the counter; though somehow I knew that he was spilling his heart out to the boy, who seemed more and more surprised with every word that left his lips.

I could see Ryou's face flush adorably, and he wasn't even able to get two words out of his mouth before he was silenced by Malik's lips against his own. I turned away from the scene, my heart leaping up into my throat.

...well, it's damn painful to see the one you have feelings for showing their affection for another. Never in my three thousand years of 'life' have I felt such a surge of... jealousy.

When I looked back into the room only moments later, the two hard broken apart, bright blushes staining both of their faces. Malik was avoiding the gaze of the other boy, who - in his flustered state - was stammering and trying to formulate his response. I watched as Ryou tentatively placed a hand on Malik's arm, and said something. I still couldn't hear, but whatever it was, I bit my lip as my friend's face fell - and then I knew that the white-haired boy didn't feel the same way.

A smile stretched across Malik's lips, though I could see in his eyes that he was anything but happy. He nodded, said something else, and strode out of the room, probably a little more abruptly than he wanted. He said nothing as he passed me on his way out, he just looked at me with those pale lilac eyes, and everything that was said in their conversation was reflected in them. Our gazes locked for a few moments, and I frowned as he walked straight out the front door. I was torn; part of me wanted to leap with joy, part of me wanted to scream at Ryou for hurting my friend that way, and part of me wanted to comfort said friend.

I decided to go with the third option.

"Malik," I called, following after him. He had walked out to the sidewalk in front of Ryou's house, and just stopped completely, his head tilted up towards the sky. The moon was out; it was nothing but a crescent in the sky, that would be covered by an occasional cloud. I hesitantly approached him, unsure of how he would react to my prescence - after all, he'd just been denied the affection that he wanted. "...Malik?" I repeated.

He turned and looked at me over his shoulder, a sad smile on his face. "He's in love with the spirit of the Ring," he whispered, and I could feel my temper flare up. How anyone could be in love with that damned tomb robber was beyond me; perhaps it was because Ryou shared a soul with the bastard. It was a reasonable explanation - I too shared a soul with a mortal being, and while it was true that I felt a very strong bond with Yuugi, I wasn't in love with him. But then again, Yuugi and Ryou were different. From what I knew about Ryou, he'd never really had many friends, so he'd been desperate for any form of companionship. Yuugi had his friends behind him at all times, so I knew that acceptance wasn't really at the top of his list of desires.

That thought made me even angrier. Malik had poured his heart and soul out to the boy, only to have his dreams shattered. He was second to someone that didn't even deserve the affection that was given to him. So when I came to stop next to my friend, it took a great deal of willpower to keep my true emotions under wraps.

"...I'm sorry," I muttered. "I told you to act on your feelings, and now look." Rather than telling him the truth, I'd told him to chase after a false dream. Now, it was my fault that he was in pain.

Malik shook his head. "It's... not your fault, Yami," he said, shifting his gaze back up at the moon. I turned to look at him, and his expression was unreadable. I could only imagine what was going through his head at the time - his moon had betrayed him. "...I should've known, anyway. He was... always talking about his darker half." He glanced at me again, and the look in his eyes spoke volumes. I could see the pain he was feeling, and I felt my own heart crushing as our eyes locked again.

"Malik..." I whispered, slightly surprised at his response, and became even more so as he suddenly took me in his arms, burying his face in the crook of my neck. I relaxed, and tentatively brought my hands up to return his embrace, my fingers weaving through his platinum-gold hair. Okay, so I may not have been Ryou, but I was there, and willing to comfort him in any way I could.

Now he knew the pain that I felt when he told me about his feelings for Ryou. Now his heart was nothing but fragments of glass.

...and I was ready to help him piece it back together.

-owari-