Warnings: Implied shonen-ai, very mild Anzu bashing
Disclaimer: Aki does not own Yugioh.
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Ryou sat on the floor of his apartment, chatting happily with his friends. Jounouchi, Otogi, Honda, Anzu, Yami, Yugi, and himself all sat cross-legged in a circle with the exception of Anzu, who couldn't because she was wearing a skirt. Malik was standing a bit further back from the group, keeping an eye on Marik. Mai was as far away from the two blonde Egyptians as she could get, and was currently making small talk with Ishizu and Rishid. Lastly, Kaiba was leaning against the far wall, arms crossed over his chest while he pretended to be uninterested in whatever was going on. Ryou was a bit nervous about having all these people crammed into his apartment at once, and it was a miracle that a fight, or even worse--a Yami no Game, hadn't broken out yet. But what was the reason all of these people were in Ryou's apartment to begin with on this fine September day? Well, that's because this wasn't just any day. It was Ryou's birthday. He had invited them all over, not expecting half of them to come, but they all had. This made the white-haired hikari very happy. However, there was one person missing from the group. The others were aware of it too, but didn't seem to care. Of all people, the one that was absent at this little gathering was the one closest to Ryou — Bakura. The thief had been in a rather unpleasant mood the entire day, and had shut himself in the kitchen when the guests had begun arriving in order to avoid them. Ryou had tried asking the other what was wrong earlier, but all he got was a scoff and a barely coherent "Nothing."
This had bothered the birthday boy at first, but the thought was slowly pushed to the back of his mind as he laughed at Yugi's retelling of a rather embarrassing incident that had happened to Jounouchi at a restaurant in the mall a few days ago.
"…and then he tripped and fell face first onto the pizza! You should have seen the look on the waitress's face when he asked for extra napkins!" Yugi exclaimed while Yami gripped his shoulders to keep the hikari from falling out of his lap due to hysterical laughter.
"Aww, come on, Yugi! It wasn't that funny!" a rather red-faced Jounouchi complained.
"Yes it was," Yugi argued teasingly.
"Why you--!" Jounouchi said as he lunged for the spiky-haired hikari, who moved away at the last second, ducking behind Yami. At first, this amused the Pharaoh, but he soon grew tired of being used as a human shield and told them to cut it out.
"Yes, Yami," they both replied in unison. Kaiba scoffed, though whether it was from amusement or the fact that they were acting like idiots was anyone's guess.
"You ready to open your presents now, Ryou?" Jounouchi asked, trying to change the subject.
"Um, okay…" Ryou answered hesitantly. "Could someone get Bakura out of the kitchen for me?"
Malik's response was to walk over to the door without a second thought, pound on it loudly with his fist, and shout, "Hey Bakura! Get out here, would you?"
"No." came the muffled response from the other side of the door.
"Everyone's waiting," Malik insisted.
"No." Bakura repeated, sounding slightly annoyed.
"Let me try," Marik offered. "Oh, but Bakura, your hikari wants you…" Ryou blushed at the suggestive undertone of Marik's statement.
Apparently, Bakura noticed it too, because there was the sound of something falling to the floor with a crash, soon followed by the reply of, "I-I said I'm not coming out, you baka! Now leave me alone!" Marik was about to make another comment, but Ryou told him to just forget about it for now. Yugi and Yami handed Ryou their present first. Ryou curiously inspected the package wrapped in Duel Monsters print wrapping paper before tearing it off. His eyes brightened as soon as the contents were revealed.
"But I thought this RPG wasn't supposed to be released until next week!" Ryou exclaimed.
"True, but game shops tend to get shipments early on occasion." Yami answered. Ryou glomped the two game kings and thanked them.
The Ishtars' present was next. The white-haired hikari's eyes widened as he pulled out a golden ankh necklace. There were hieroglyphs inscribed on both sides. "It's beautiful! But, what does this side say? I can recognize my name on the other side, but…"
Marik and Malik smirked eerily, causing the ones closest to them to back away a bit. Ishizu just brought a hand to her forehead, knowing very well what was coming next. "Your favorite game is Monster World, right?" Marik asked. Ryou nodded, not understanding where this was leading. "Good, then you should get this without much thought. It says 'Master of the Dark Master'." Ryou gave the two blondes a puzzled expression for a few seconds. Then, it hit him like a ton of bricks, and he blushed intensely. Yami understood the phrase as well, and clutched his stomach in a fit of laughter. Those that hadn't played the game just looked on, lost, as the rest of the group caught on one by one. Their expressions ranged form a raised eyebrow (Kaiba) to all out hysterics (Yami and Yugi).
"Um…uh…thanks. I think…" Ryou mumbled while trying to cool his blush.
"Mine next!" Jounouchi exclaimed. Ryou sent him a thankful look for breaking the tension and opened the gift. It was a t-shirt that said in bold letters. 'Don't mess with me. I have a yami and I know how to use him.'. "It was actually my sister's idea. I went along with it because she felt bad for being away."
Ryou laughed a bit. "You'd better hope Bakura doesn't see this," Jounouchi paled at that sentence. He hadn't thought about that when he had the shirt made. "Don't worry, Jounouchi. Like the shirt says, I know how to deal with him. And tell Shizuka thank you for me."
Mai was next. He didn't have any idea of what she might have gotten for him, seeing as they didn't know each other that well. He ended up staring at her present in shock. There were two tickets to an upcoming concert by his favorite band, Bad Luck! "Mai-san…how did you know? Thank you!" Ryou said as he gave the female duelist a hug.
"No problem. Just make sure you give the other one to someone special." Mai said with a wink. She signaled for Anzu to go next. Ryou fished around through the tissue paper in the bag until he pulled out a Change of Heart keychain.
"Thank you, Anzu. I like it." Ryou commented.
"Uh-huh! I thought it would remind you of friend—" She was stopped when Yami clamped a hand over her mouth.
"Yes Anzu, we know…" Yami said in exasperation. The rest of the group sweatdropped.
Kaiba, not wanting to be last, handed Ryou his gift. Some of the other guests shook their heads at the wrapping paper that was covered with the Kaiba Corp logo. Ryou couldn't help but gape in disbelief at what was under the paper. It was a brand new, not to mention expensive, laptop. "Thank you, Kaiba." Ryou said, bowing politely.
Otogi's package revealed a set of collectable dice. Ryou thanked the black-haired bishonen and promised to take good care of them. Honda's present, however, revealed something no one had expected.
"A Ouija Board?" Ryou asked curiously.
"Yeah, I thought it might help you and Bakura bond a little, since he's into that stuff," Honda explained. Ryou nodded in gratitude, leaving out the part that it wasn't just Bakura that was drawn to this sort of thing.
Jounouchi backed away in fear. "Th-that thing's not gonna possess us or something, is it?"
Ryou smiled. "I won't use it while you're around if it bothers you." Jounouchi still looked pretty scared, and jumped three feet in the air when he heard a scream from the kitchen. This was accompanied by what sounded like a small explosion. The owner of the apartment got a panicked looked on his face. "Bakura!" he exclaimed, fearing for the safety of the spirit of the Millennium Ring. He rushed to the kitchen door, practically growling in frustration to find it locked.
"Why do you have a lock on your kitchen door?" Honda asked curiously.
"To try to prevent something like this from happening," he began looking around desperately. "Mai, do you have a hairpin?"
"Sure, here." Mai answered while handing him the requested item. Ryou bent it slightly and inserted it into the lock, ignoring his friends' startled expressions when it opened in mere seconds.
"Bakura! Are you okay?" Ryou asked as he burst through the door.
Bakura sneezed, his nose trying to rid itself of powdered sugar. "Damn oven…" It then became obvious that he was not only covered in whatever substance he was trying to cook, but also covered in flour from making it in the first place.
Ryou stared
And stared.
And stared some more.
Then, out of nowhere, he started laughing. Bakura glared at him, clearly offended. "Hey, I try to do something nice for you and this is the thanks I get?" the thief covered his mouth as soon as he finished, eyes widening slightly at the slip-up. Ryou immediately stopped laughing and looked up at Bakura. Cautiously, he wiped some of the substance from Bakura's face and brought his fingers up to his mouth.
"…Cream puffs?" Ryou whispered.
Bakura looked away, trying to cover his blush with a scowl, which ended up looking more like a pout. "What? They're your favorite, aren't they?"
Silence passed between the two. Suddenly, with a cry of "Arigatou," Ryou latched onto his yami in a tight glomp.
It took a while for Bakura to adjust so he could breathe properly, but when he could, he leaned down and whispered, "Happy Birthday, Yadonushi."