Summary: Bakura isn't too happy about Ryou inviting the gang over for a Christmas Party! Nevertheless, he agreed. But then… there's always a catch. Would Ryou agree to it? Knowing that it can maybe take out his freedom? [RXB]
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"Seto's house?" Ryou repeated. "Yeah… he couldn't go out that much because of his stupid meetings! So we have to go there!" Tea explained. "Why does he have to come anyway?" Joey mumbled.
"Because, Joey… he is also our friend!" Yugi said with a smile. "Meetings? On Christmas? I don't think so…" Tristan rubbed his chin. "Are you coming with us, Ryou?" Yugi asked as he looked at the silver-haired boy beside him.
"Umm…"
//Don't you dare, Aibou!//
"I…"
//Ryou! You're going to get a full-time lesson tonight!// Ryou felt Bakura clutch his fists. "S- sure! In fact, why don't we have the party at my house?" Ryou asked.
"At your house?" Tristan blinked. "Why? Is there something wrong with my house?" Ryou blinked back.
"N- no! Not at all… it's just that- Wouldn't Bakura mind?"
//I do mind!//
"Of course not!" Ryou smiled.
//What?! Ryou!!!//
"Then that's settled then! We'll go to Ryou's house for the party! It's this Saturday, right?" Joey asked. "Yeah!" Yugi nodded, "School ends tomorrow so why don't we all go Christmas Shopping?"
"That's a great idea, Yugi!" Anzu cheered, "Let's all meet at the mall… say, 1pm tomorrow?"
"Are you coming, Ryou?" Yugi asked. "Yeah!" Ryou nodded. "You promise?" Yugi pouted.
"I promise!"
//I'll make sure you won't go anywhere, Ryou!//
/Yami… why don't you let me have some fun for once?/ But Bakura already closed their link off. Ryou is going to have the worst Christmas ever.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"I told you not to!!!" Bakura yelled as he planted a punch right across Ryou's face. Ryou fell back and stayed silent as blood trickled down his lips. Bakura glared at the boy on the ground for a while after finally lifting Ryou's head by the hair. "I think you already what'll happen to you once you disobey me!" Bakura sneered.
But Ryou still kept silent, apart from all of the moans that escaped his throat. "Answer me!" Bakura pulled Ryou's hair tighter. "Yes! I do!" Ryou answered desperately.
"Then, why did you do it, huh?" Bakura slammed Ryou in a nearby wall. Ryou slid down to the floor and coughed heavily. "This is… my… first Christmas with them…" Ryou stuttered.
"Christmas?" Bakura yelled in disbelief.
/Please, Yami… let me spend it with them…/
//Christmas! Ha! Spend your Christmas in the floor!// Bakura smirked and with that, he kicked Ryou in the torso so HARD rendering his Aibou's eyes to turn white and went unconscious.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Ryou tried to get up as he supported himself by the wall. He wheezed and tried to regain his breath. The last hit had made his heart skip a few beats right before it could continue. He was unconscious for 12 hours and was desperate for the time.
"No use getting up… you can't leave yet!" Bakura glared at his Aibou. Ryou's eyes were starting to fill up with tears. His chest hurt so BAD and I mean, really BAD! He wanted to flop down into a bed and melt into the warmth of a blanket. "I- Itai…" He yelped. The tears kept running down from the immense pain. "Itai yo…" He cried.
His breathing got worst by the second as heavy drops of sweat dropped to the carpet. He felt himself burn up as he held his chest with his hand. "You can't leave, Aibou… you just can't!" Bakura said as he carried Ryou over his shoulders and proceeded up the stairs.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Ryou's fist turned white from clutching the blankets tightly. The pain wouldn't go away. "It hurts… it… hurts!" He breathed in and out in such haste. His eyes showed pain as Bakura slowly pulled his Aibou close to him and allowed Ryou to bang his fist in Bakura's chest.
"I don't… understand… you at all!" Ryou muttered.
"I know… don't speak! I know it hurts!" Bakura replied.
/What the heck is your main objective?/
"To keep you all to myself!" Bakura embraced Ryou, which made Ryou gasp.
/D- don't. It- it hurts!/
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"I'm not home right now, please leave a message and I'll get back to you later!" BEEP!
"Ryou? It's Yugi! I know you're home! Please answer the phone! We were wondering why you didn't show up at the mall today!" Yugi paused, waiting for Ryou. "You know, Ryou… we were all very happy to hear you say you would celebrate Christmas with us… we didn't thought you would join… well, since you never join us in our outings!" Yugi smiled, "Why didn't you keep your promise, Ryou?" There was a hint of sadness in the tone of Yugi's voice.
"Well… We'll come over tomorrow to help you with the decorations, okay? Bye!" Yugi hung up.
"Something must've happened." Yugi said worriedly to his Yami, "He didn't pick the phone up at all!"
"Bakura…" Yami grumbled.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Ryou had finally fallen asleep after 3 hours of suffering. Bakura stared silently at his sleeping counterpart as he caressed his Aibou's cheek. "How can I make you understand?" He whispered.
/Why don't you let me have some fun for once?/ He remembered Ryou ask. He wanted to make Ryou happy. But, Ryou wouldn't appreciate it for Ryou was clueless about the feelings Bakura felt for his Aibou. "If only you knew…" He said. He heard the phone ring as he snapped back to reality.
He slowly went downstairs to pick it up but noticed that the answering machine had already done the job.
/"Ryou? It's Yugi! I know you're home! Please answer the phone! We were wondering why you didn't show up at the mall today!" Yugi paused. "You know, Ryou… we were all very happy to hear you say you would celebrate Christmas with us… we didn't thought you would join… well, since you never join us in our outings!"
"Why didn't you keep your promise Ryou?"
"Well… we'll come over tomorrow to help you with the decorations, okay? Bye!"/
Bakura felt really bad about his Hikari. He felt like he was keeping him in prison all the time. He made up his mind. He finally made up his mind…
He's setting Ryou free.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Ryou opened his eyes to see the sun slowly setting. He sat up and stared at the clock. 6pm. Yugi and the others are home by now. "Oh no…" He whispered sadly to himself, "I- I broke my promise!" Ryou felt tears swelling up his eyes again. He buried his face in his knees as he hugged himself from within, "I'm sorry, Yugi…"
/"Ryou? It's Yugi!"/
Ryou knew that voice! He raised his head to see Bakura standing by the door holding the radio in one hand, playing the recorded voice message of Yugi.
/"I know you're home! Please answer the phone! We were wondering why you didn't show up at the mall today?" Yugi paused."/
Ryou's eyes widened.
/"You know, Ryou… we were all very happy to hear you say you would celebrate Christmas with us… we didn't thought you would join… well, since you never join us in our outings!"/
Ryou went cold as his lips trembled together with his body.
/"Why didn't you keep your promise Ryou?"/
He felt tears stream at the brim of his eyes.
/"Well… we'll come over tomorrow to help you with the decorations, okay? Bye!"/
BEEP!
"I'm so sorry, Yugi…" Ryou whispered to himself as he closed his eyes and buried his face to his knees. Slowly, he felt a hand touch his shoulder as he looked up to see Bakura staring at him with concern. "Don't worry! We're going to make it…"
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"Bakura!!! We know what you did to Ryou! Open up now!" Yami banged his fists on the door of the Bakura household the next day. "Coming!" He heard a voice from inside, that voice wasn't the cruel voice of a Yami. It was…
"Ryou?" Yugi called. "Yeah… I'm opening the door now!" Ryou said as he opened the door and greeted both of his friends a beautiful smile. "Hey, Yugi! Yami!"
"Are- are you okay?" Yugi asked. "Yes, I am… why did you ask?" Ryou smiled.
"Y- you didn't come with us to the mall!" Yugi pouted.
"I'm really sorry, Yugi… We were very busy with the decorations… I totally forgot!" Ryou blushed as he apologized to the shorter boy, "I should've called… but I guess I forgot to again!"
"We?" Yami raised an eyebrow. And in such great timing, Bakura came out. "Who is it, Aibou?" Bakura asked but the expression on his face changed into a frown when he saw Yami and Yugi. "Oh… it's them." He snapped.
"Yami!" Ryou scolded, "Come in!" Ryou smiled as he led his 2 friends inside.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"Wow!" Yugi exclaimed as he looked around the whole house. The fireplace had 2 Christmas socks on… The white one with beautiful green and red linings on had "RYOU" embroidered on it. While the other sock, the silver one, which also had red and green linings, had "BAKURA" written on it.
Beside it, a huge Christmas tree was carefully and beautifully decorated with angels and ornaments. And on the floor, was a 'Santa Claus and his reindeers' carpet.
"I never knew you had a soft spot, Tomb Robber!" Yami smirked. "For your information, Pharaoh! I have a name… if you need help reading it… it is read as BA.KU.RA." Bakura prolonged the syllables in his name, "Besides, Aibou forced me to!" He grumbled.
"Really? Wasn't it you who wanted to help?" Ryou just smiled. Bakura blushed, "Don't start with me again, Aibou!" Bakura crossed his arms.
/Yami… it's strange…/ Yugi started a mental conversation.
//You got the word right out of my head, Aibou…//
/Something happened… but then, it's as if it never happened at all!/
//Maybe Ryou is just hiding it… Maybe Bakura forced him to.//
/I don't think so, Yami…/ Yugi disagreed, looking at Ryou's happy face as he placed the series lights over Bakura's head. /He looks so peaceful with Bakura… do you think… Bakura has changed?/
//Maybe… but, we have to be careful, Aibou… just in case!//
/Hai!/
"Can you help us with these?" Ryou asked as he showed Yami and Yugi the lights. "Hai!" Yugi nodded as he went to Ryou and took the lights from him. "Where do you want me to place these, Ryou?" Yugi asked.
"Why don't we put it around the Christmas tree, shall we?" Ryou suggested, getting the stepladder from the closet. As soon as he climbed on it, he circled the tree with the lights. Suddenly, he swayed from his position and the next thing he knew, his legs gave up on him and he fell off. "Aibou!" Bakura gasped and quickly caught him.
"Ryou! Are you alright?" Yugi asked as he knelt beside the boy. "My head hurts…" Ryou clutched his head.
"You should've went to bed last night!" Bakura scolded. "I know… but… we're far from over! I'm alright… don't worry about me!" Ryou said.
"If you won't I'll have to give you another lesson!" Bakura snapped. Yami glared as his eyebrows furrowed. "Really, Yami… I'm alright!" Ryou insisted. "That's it!" Bakura grinned and raised his hand. "Bakura!" Both Yugi and Yami's eyes widened, as Yami was about to hit Bakura but stopped when he saw Bakura tickling his silver-haired Hikari.
"Alright… All right! S- stop it!" Ryou giggled, "Y- yami… hahaha… I'll go! I'll go!"
"Good." Bakura smiled and lifted himself off the ground and carried Ryou back to his room. Yugi and Yami were both left with wide eyes in the living room as they looked at each other. Silence filled the air but it was suddenly interrupted when Yugi started laughing.
"What's so funny, Aibou?" Yami asked.
"Ryou and Bakura." Yugi laughed.
"Eh?"
"They're very unexpected. Unexpected, indeed."
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"It's all done! The decorations are all set up!" Yugi said as he entered Ryou's room. "Thanks, Yugi…" Ryou said as he slowly got up. "Don't get up." Yami said. "Don't worry, I'm fine now!" Ryou smiled. "Yeah, right…" Bakura pushed Ryou back slowly to the bed.
"Why don't you believe me?" Ryou asked.
"Because you're a bad liar!" Bakura answered simply. Yami, somehow, lost the frown in his face. Instead, it was a smile. 'Maybe the Tomb Robber has learned his lesson…' Yami smiled. "Well… it's getting late. We gotta go now!"
"Yeah… we'll see you tomorrow, Ryou!" Yugi waved as he left the room.
"Bye!" Ryou waved back. Bakura got up from his seat and carried Ryou out of the room. "Wh- where are we going, Yami?" Ryou asked. "I want you to watch the decorations…" Bakura answered softly. Ryou's eyes lit up when they entered the living room and Bakura set Ryou down on the couch.
"Wow! I can't believe you guys did all of this!" Ryou smiled.
Bakura sat beside Ryou as they watched the fire in fireplace tousle up. "Arigatou…" Ryou smiled as he snuggled closer to his Yami and leaned his head on Bakura's shoulder. "What for?" Bakura asked.
"For… setting me free. Even though it's just for a short while."
Bakura smiled as he softly took Ryou's head and place it by his chest, wrapping his arms around the boy.
~ Flashback ~
/"I'm so sorry, Yugi…" Ryou whispered to himself as he closed his eyes and buried his face to his knees. Slowly, he felt a hand touch his shoulder as he looked up to see Bakura staring at him with concern. "Don't worry! We're going to make it…"/
"Wh- what?" Ryou gasped.
Without replying, Bakura set off and went to the attic. "Yami?" Ryou called as he got out of bed, only to find that his chest had started to throb in pain again, he dropped to the ground as he tried desperately to breathe. "Don't get up!" He heard his Yami yell from afar.
"Where do you keep these Christmas thingamajigs?"
"Huh?" Ryou blinked, "U- um… on the closet beside the big mirror!"
"This large box?"
"H- Hai!" Bakura came back to Ryou's room and saw that his Hikari was on the floor, looking up at him with those chocolate orbs. "Teach me how to do these things…"
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"Why did you change your mind?"
"Huh?" Bakura raised his head from assembling the plastic pine tree.
"Why did you change your mind?" Ryou repeated, "And… why are you being nice to me?"
"I'm giving you a chance, baka!" Bakura pointed, "I'm setting you free for the time being and am allowing you to have this stupid party! I'll be nice to you whenever your little friends are around!" Ryou blinked, "H- hontou?"
"Yes! But when all of this is over…" He stopped. "You're mine!" He cursed. Ryou blinked again, this time; there was a sad expression on his face. "I guess I'll be forever yours…" Ryou muttered. "What?" Bakura raised an eyebrow. "Shall we get started?" Ryou handed him the ornaments.
Ryou stood up but then fell back again, luckily, Bakura caught him from below. Ryou blushed madly, plus with the emotion of pain in his face. "I think you should stay… weaklings shouldn't get up from a fever!" Bakura mocked.
"I'm not a weakling! And I don't have a fever!" Ryou protested.
"Yes, you are a weakling! And yes, you have a fever!" Bakura argued.
"Fine! I am a weakling! But I'm not sick!" Ryou admitted as he pulled away from the position they were on and started decorating the Christmas tree. Suddenly, Ryou remembered something! With that, Ryou went to the kitchen and returned to the living room bringing a box.
"What is that?" Bakura asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It's- umm…" Ryou stuttered, Bakura walked up to him and took the box from his hand. Bakura opened it to find 2 Christmas socks… one white. And one silver. On the white one had "RYOU" written it while the silver one had "BAKURA" on. "What is this, anyway?" Bakura lifted the socks.
"Christmas socks. They say that when you put it beside the fireplace, then Santa Claus will come and place some candies or presents on it!" Ryou said.
"Santa Claus? Who's he?" Bakura asked.
"Him." Ryou pointed to the 'Santa Claus and his reindeers' carpet on the ground. "How the heck did he fly?" Bakura wondered. Ryou sighed out loud as he giggled. "I don't see anything funny!" Bakura frowned. "I- I know… I- I'm sorry!" Ryou apologized, as his laughter started to fade out, "You have so much to learn, Bakura!"
Bakura went silent. He didn't know how to react… plus the fact that Ryou called him by his name. Not by 'Yami' or by 'Aibou'. "Did I say something wrong?" Ryou asked. Bakura stood up again and looked at Ryou with a despised look. "I'm going to have to teach you a new lesson!"
"E- eh?" Ryou trembled.
"Be prepared."
"N- no!"
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"Ack! Stop it! Hahaha… Stop it, Yami!" Ryou laughed. "You give up?" Bakura sneered. "Yes! I give… up!" Ryou laughed and wheezed as he got out of Bakura's new 'torture'. "Ow." Ryou wheezed as he held his chest. They were in silence for a while… when Ryou broke it off, "Umm… Yami?" Ryou asked as Bakura raised his head, "What?"
Ryou was having double-thoughts about asking his question, "Umm… y- you never told me the reason y- yet!" Ryou whispered. "The reason to what?" Bakura raised his voice impolitely and Ryou flinched to that. "Why you were being so nice to me…" Ryou answered with fear.
Bakura blinked for a while and stared away, "I can't tell you yet… you're not prepared!"
"Try me."
"You're still weak!"
"No I'm not!" Ryou argued.
"Yes, you are!"
"How bad can your reason be?" Ryou raised an eyebrow.
"A reason that can render you unconscious in your condition!" Bakura snapped, which left Ryou with sad and hurtful eyes. Maybe his reason was something Ryou isn't prepared to handle yet… "Fine." Ryou muttered as he went to the Christmas tree, "We better finish up before tomorrow… or Yugi and Yami will get suspicious!"
Bakura stared at his Hikari for a while and left his face with a puzzled look, not to mention a huge sweat drop suddenly appearing. Bakura smiled. His Hikari was changing… he was becoming stronger.
And he liked it.
~ Flashback ends ~
To be continued…