Round two of the contest! This round is a personal favorite of mine, Hostshipping, so I hope I managed to do it justice!
Regaining control of his body was always like stumbling through a heavy fog. Slow, tiresome, and disorienting. Thankfully Ryou fought his way out of the obscuring fog of his mind, and back into control of his body. He blinked once, to clear the dense white fog completely out of his mind.
The first thing he noticed was the soreness of his muscles – arms, back, legs, everywhere ached dreadfully. Ryou's muscles screamed in agony with every movement,no matter how slight. With a quiet groan, Ryou settled back into the cold stone wall of a random building; the Spirit had undoubtedly dumped them there for the few minutes it took for Ryou to regain control.
While Ryou waited for it to stop being quite so painful to move, he brushed a piece of white hair out of his eyes and began to survey his surroundings. The neighborhood he'd been dumped in didn't seem to be a "bad" neighborhood. The Spirit never let Ryou wake up in a "bad" neighborhood, probably out of fear that Ryou would somehow get into trouble and the body would be ruined or maimed in some way.
In any case, it wasn't a bad neighborhood, which didn't shock Ryou. What did shock Ryou was the familiar girl running towards him.
"A-Anzu?" Her name tumbled out of his mouth, and his eyes lit up.
The girl in question kneeled next to him, looking worried and cautious. "Ryou? Are you alright? What happened?"
Ryou shifted against the cold wall uncomfortably, feeling his muscles aching. "I'm – I should be fine, thanks. As to what happened… The usual?"
"Oh." Anzu's eyes tensed with concern. "The ring again then. Do you need help getting up?"
He was about to decline help but – he wasn't positive that he could get up on his own, and if that was the case Anzu would fuss over him some more. So, with a flushed face, Ryou nodded and stuck a hand out.
Anzu helped him to his feet, letting him lean on her. He noticed her looking at him out of the corner of a blue eye. His face got redder, if that was even possible.
"Do you want to go back to my place…?" Anzu asked quietly. "It's nearer than your apartment. I can make you some tea – you could stay the night too. And honestly, I'd feel terrible if I left you alone like that."
Ryou forced a weary smile onto his face. "That'd be nice, Anzu. Thank you. I'd really appreciate it."
The walk to Anzu's house seemed strained, though – too silent for his taste. Ryou was used to the quiet, living alone, but he hated it when he was with someone else. Two people can fill up a silence with noise and words; so why weren't they?* It occurred to Ryou that she might be more worried about him than she let off.
They passed a mirror when Anzu led him into her house. Ryou's face was more haggard and drawn than he thought it might be.
Anzu herded him onto the couch. With one hand on her hip, she stared at him sternly. "You stay right there until I get back. But first - what kind of tea do you like? Are you hungry? And do you need a blanket?"
"Um." Ryou processed all of these questions as quickly as possible. "Earl Grey, please. I could probably eat a horse right now. And if you could get a spare blanket, that would be very nice, thank you?"
"Alright," Anzu answered with a smile. "And I'm serious. Don't move – you could strain yourself." She left the room with dancer's footsteps, light and quick.
Ryou waited patiently on her couch, the ache in his muscles dulling every so often only to spike up again. A quiet groan slipped through his teeth. Almost instantaneously, Anzu stuck her head out of the kitchen door.
"Are you alright?" Her concern for him had apparently grown while he was out of her sight.
"Oh yes, I'm fine." Ryou said through clenched teeth. "Um, if you have any aspirin, that'd be nice as well." Ryou felt silly for even thinking it - but was her concern for him more than it would be for just a friend? It was possible…
Anzu nodded, auburn hair swinging with the tilt of her head. She disappeared into the kitchen again, and Ryou could faintly hear her rustling around in the kitchen, probably for the aspirin he'd requested.
Ten minutes or so later, Anzu returned, a blanket under one arm and a tray in the other hand. She threw the checkered blanket over him, before setting the tray on his lap. Anzu sat on the couch next to him, and watched as he ate ravenously; how long ago had the – his - body last been fed? In any case, it must have been a while, since he was ravenous and the sandwich tasted like the best thing he'd ever eaten. A part of him felt vaguely sorry for Anzu, having to watch him eat like a starving animal.
The aspirin and tea were thrown down his throat just as enthusiastically, though he tried to appreciate the tea. She'd brewed it well, after all.
Suddenly, he was tired. Too tired. A full stomach, an aching body, a warm blanket over him…he was definitely ready to sleep.
"Hey…Anzu?"
"Yeah, Ryou?" Anzu scooted away from him – apparently they had both just noticed how close she'd gotten.
"You said I could stay over right?" The very end of his question was punctuated with a yawn.
"Of course you can! Do you need me to get a pillow for you or anything? You seem really tired…" Anzu trailed off, and got up off the couch.
"No, no! I'm fine…I was just making sure."
"Well anyways, go to sleep Ryou, you need it. You can stay over as long as you need to."
She waited until he had settled into a sleeping position to leave. He fell asleep quickly – she was right. He had needed it. And god knew how good it felt to just relax and let it all go…
Anzu crept back into the living room. Ryou's chest went up and down slowly, his face calm and sweet. She knelt next to the couch and started stroking his white hair. She'd been fighting the desire to do so the entire time he'd been over at her house. He looked so peaceful in sleep.
Her hand ghosted over his face, tracing the line of his cheek and jaw. Anzu left a soft kiss on his forehead before she stood up.
She was prepared to leave when Ryou's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.
Anzu looked down at him, prepared to see Ryou's sparkling green eyes light up with mischief like they did occasionally. She wasn't prepared for them to be angry and deep.
She wasn't prepared to talk to the Spirit of the Ring at all.
His hand tightened around her wrist, and he yanked her down back to her knees, where she'd be closer to his face. The Spirit glared at her.
"Falling in love with him means falling in love with both of us, girl." He hissed the words out venomously. "Or at the very least, dealing with me. Could you handle that?"
"I – I think I can." She hadn't meant to stutter. But god, she had anyway.
"You can try at least." He sneered in her face and dropped her wrist. "You should hope you can handle it. If you can't…you might just have to face a Penalty Game." He chuckled softly, the idea of trapping her soul in a doll apparently amusing to him.
"I think I'm willing to do that, too. I'm willing to risk it."
He grinned wryly. "You think, you think, you think. And here I was, under the illusion that you didn't know how to think and just regurgitated the beliefs of others!"
Anzu scooted away from the couch, getting up on her feet. "I'm not like that at all."
"Prove it to me. Prove it." The words were full of contempt and venom.
"I don't…I don't think you're all that bad. I think you've got a reason for all of…this." Anzu gestured at the entirety of him.
The Spirit broke out into a peal of laughter. "Alright, alright, you've proved me wrong. I thought you were only mildly stupid, but no – you proved that you're stupider than I thought! This is hilarious!"
"Shut up." Anzu said irritably, turning away from him. "I don't even care what you say – I care about Ryou, not you."
"Ah, sweet girl, at this point I'm more of a part of him than anything." He threw her a razor toothed grin. "Believe what you want. This body is still Ryou Bakura. I'm in this body. Doesn't that technically make me Ryou as well?"
"No."
"This body is still Ryou. This is still Ryou. This body still has the wants of Ryou. Want to know a secret? Ryou wants you, and so does this." The Spirit gestured at himself. "So in extension, I want you as well. I always get what I want. So it'd do you good to deal with me."
Anzu left the room without another word. The Spirit didn't – or couldn't – follow her.
This had never been what she wanted.
It was wrong. He was wrong. This was so wrong, every last bit of it. He wasn't who she wanted at all. Not at all. Not him. Never him.
Those rough hands she hated so much held her waist and drew her in close, while the pervasive scent of cinnamon and other earthy spices that clung to him filled her head and made her dizzy. She could feel his chest (smooth and strong and lean) pressed against hers, and the warmth of his hands against her lower back as he held her there.
She didn't like it. Not one bit. Or at least that's what Anzu tried to tell herself as the monster inside Ryou's body smirked down at her.
She didn't want any part in this twisted relationship between Ryou and his stupid spirit. But the Spirit always got what he wanted.
She wanted Ryou. Sometimes, she got Ryou. Sometimes, she just had to deal with this.