This chapter features some angsty Ryou, the other Bakura misbehaving, hints of season 0 Yami Yugi, smut, swearing and gender bending. Yes, you read correctly – gender bending!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh.

Chapter 2

Dark Alchemy

Returning home from school, Ryou dropped his bag, kicked off his shoes and irritably stomped in the direction of his kitchen. These days, he was not good at expressing his anger or emotions outwardly and always tended to internalise his problems. If anyone ever asked him how he was doing, he would put on a false smile and pretend that he was fine.

The last four years of his life had been spent in torment, while trying to avoid the intervention of the authorities and anyone else who thought they were helping him. None of them understood that if they interfered too much they would lose their souls. If they had any sense they leave him alone. He had already lost his loved ones and now he feared he would slowly lose his sanity.

But it had not always been like that: Once upon a time, he had been a happy outgoing boy, with lots of friends and a loving family. All that had changed when The Ring chose him as its wielder. The Ring was pure evil and the spirit that was trapped within had made him its host. And, with its control over him complete, it had slowly set about destroying everything in his life that was good.

But despite its control over him, he felt a connection to the Spirit of the Ring. There was a sadness deep within the spirit, giving Ryou the feeling that he had also experienced the painful and traumatic loss of his family. Whatever had happened to the spirit, had almost certainly turned him down a path leading towards darkness and despair.

Had the Ring chosen him, in the same way that it had now chosen Ryou? Had it forced him to do its evil bidding until it got bored and killed him, trapping his soul inside?

Ryou was generally an optimistic, sunny sort of person, and in no way did he want to let The Ring force him down the same path, and ultimately, destroy him.

Sighing, he opened the fridge and took out a carton of milk.

He was just about to pour some into a glass, when a voice inside his head spoke. "You think too much – host! Just relax and stop trying to fight me. I mean you no harm... just as long as you comply."

Ryou felt a sharp stab of pain behind his eyes, which he knew to be the Spirit reminding him of who pulled the strings, forcing him to flinch and pour milk all over the counter.

"Oh dear! Look who is being clumsy. Now you will have to clean up the mess." Snickering filled Ryou's head.

"Shut up!" He screamed, gripping the side of his head and falling to his knees. Sobs racked his skinny frame as he pleaded with it to leave him alone and stop hurting him and his friends.

"But that woman isn't your friend! She tried to expel you. You have already been forced out of three schools. We can't let that happen again now, can we?"

"Just let me fight my own battles. Let her go, please?"

"Give me one good reason why I should?"

"Because... because the authorities will be suspicious. My classmates saw everything."

"Stop worrying! I made sure they did not see anything suspicious. But if you wish, I can take their souls as well?"

"No! Yugi already knows about you and can stop you. He has a Millennium Item."

Evil laughter rang in his ears, threatening to split his skull. "The Pharaoh is weak. He doesn't even know who he is! He and his little vessel have no idea how to fully wield the power they hold. I could kill them both, just as easily as I could kill you now..."

"Then why don't you? Go on, kill me? I hate you. I hate you. You murdered my family and stole the souls of my friends. People avoid me and think I'm mad.. I lost everything because of you! I would rather be dead than be your puppet."

"I have no intention of killing you... yet! And I feel hurt that you hate me, because I like you. You and I are like brothers." There was a brief respite to the pain in Ryou's head, allowing him to stagger to his feet.

Sulkily, he snatched a cloth from the washing up bowl and started to wipe up the spilled milk.

The Spirit inside the Ring could feel him seething. Had he pushed his host too far again? If he was to succeed in his goal of gathering all of the Millennium Items together and return them to the stone tablet to reawaken his master, then he would need Ryou Bakura on his side. "I know!" He suddenly said, more cheerfully. "I will do something to show you that I am your friend. I will release that woman's soul from the card. What do you say?"

Ryou took in a deep breath and let it out loudly. "Fine!" He snapped. "Now, do you think you can leave me alone so that I can do my homework? I might not have much of a life, or a future, but you can at least let me pretend that I do."

The Spirit relaxed his hold, and Ryou felt the pain in his head and in his chest subside as the Ring cooled and relaxed against the brutalised skin on his chest.

He knew the spirit wanted him to say thank you, but there was no way he was going to do so.

Sitting down at his desk, he opened his laptop and started to work on his assignment. As he did so, he took a sneaky peek at the card containing Miss Chono's image and was relieved to see that it was now just a blank card again. At least the spirit had kept his word this time.

::::::::::::

The night of Bakura's party had arrived.

Although none of them would readily admit they were afraid of going into Bakura's apartment on their own, they all agreed that it would be better if they met up somewhere else first, and then go together – there was safety in numbers!

Jonouchi and Honda turned up at the meeting point carrying several cans of beer, causing Anzu to frown at them disapprovingly. "Where did you get that from? You're not even old enough to buy it!"

Jonouchi grinned at her. "My old man has been sending me out to the store to buy his booze for years. The shop keeper knows me and always sells it to me."

"Well, don't you dare get drunk," she scolded.

"We won't. It's not all for us anyway! We plan to share..." Honda began, with a smirk.

"Yeah," Jonouchi interrupted. "If we give some to Ryou's fan girls, they might get a bit frisky and let us...Ow!" He was stopped abruptly when Anzu slapped him.

"Don't you dare!" She levelled her glare at them both.

Not impressed at their plan either, Yugi frowned. "I don't think it's a very good idea to get them drunk. And besides, we need everyone to stay sober in case the Ring tries anything."

Jonouchi threw an arm over Yugi's shoulder. "Stop worrying Yuge! We were only joking about the girls," he winked. "Our real plan is to give Bakura a couple a beers. Maybe then that damn spirit will be too drunk to try anything."

"That's also a terrible plan," Anzu huffed and grabbed Yugi's arm. "Come on guys, we don't want to be the last ones there."

When they arrived, they were a little disappointed, but not surprised to see that there was no one else at the party.

"Are we the only people here Bakura?" Even though he had already guessed they might be, Yugi still had to ask.

"I don't know if anyone else is coming," said Ryou, a little sadly. "Apart from the girls that follow me around, no one seems to like me all that much. I can't blame them after the other day."

"That's not true Bakura! Of course they like you. And apart from us, no one knows what you did to Miss Chono. They all think she got so uptight that she fainted," said Anzu.

Ryou's shoulders slumped. "But it hasn't just been Miss Chono. I'm sure they all still remember what happened to Mister Karita, the janitor and the shop keeper that caught me shoplifting."

"You were shoplifting?!" Jonouchi laughed. "That's awesome man! I never knew you..." He faltered when everyone gave him death glares.

"It wasn't me," said Ryou, sadly. "He made me do it. But some kids from school were there and saw what happened. It was humiliating."

Feeling sympathy for him, Anzu rubbed his shoulder. "I'm sure they don't think badly of you Ryou. Some of the kids might even think shoplifting is cool."

"Yeah, like kids in gangs," Jonouchi snickered.

Yugi grimaced at his friend. As much as he liked Jonouchi, he could be pretty tactless at times and had the capacity to make some pretty insensitive remarks. He cringed further at the next comment.

"Anyway, lets forget Miss Chono – she's a hag. What about some really cute chicks? Where are they? You did invite them, didn't you Bakura?"

Before Bakura could answer that he had not asked any of his 'fan girls', Anzu slapped Jonouchi for the second time that evening. "It is disrespectful to call women 'chicks' Jonouchi!" she scolded. "And anyway, don't I count? Or don't you think of me as female?"

"Ow! Geez Anzu! You certainly punch like a guy!" Jonouchi rubbed his head sheepishly. "Anyway, you're our friend... and besides, you're Yugi's chi... I mean... girl..frrr..." he trailed off when he saw Yugi and Anzu blushing and glaring furiously at him. "Yeah... Who wants a beer?"

Ryou tried to explain that it was not meant to be an alcoholic party but Jonouchi and Honda were not really listening.

"Where's your bottle opener?" Jonouchi didn't wait for Bakura to answer. He had already started rummaging about in the kitchen drawers until he found one.

"Anzu and I brought some snacks with us." Yugi handed Ryou the bag containing various party nibbles.

Ryo blushed. "Thank you, but you shouldn't have. I have been baking."

"Oh! Well, with those two around you can never have enough food." Anzu tutted, craning her neck to peer into the kitchen, where Jonouchi and Honda were already helping themselves to the food Ryou had prepared.

Yugi and Ryou both rolled their eyes when Jonouchi yelled from the kitchen with his mouth full. "Hey Kura, these are good!"

Honda found some glasses and poured some beer for everyone. Yugi was unsure but accepted it because he did not want to look sissy.

"Where is my beer?" Anzu enquired.

"Since there's no girl action, the beer is for the boys. There's some soft drinks in the fridge for girls and wimps," Jonouchi grinned.

"What's got into you lately? You have such a sexist attitude!" Anzu retorted, angrily.

"It's not that! It's just... the beer was expensive and I don't want to share it all out if you don't like drinking it!" He glared at Honda, who had suggested sharing.

"Who said I don't like it?!" Anzu grumbled.

"You can share mine Anzu," Yugi offered. The glass he had been given was a pint glass and he did not think he could manage all of it on his own anyway.

"It's alright Jonouchi. I am happy with lemonade," Ryou smiled, politely.

"We all clubbed together and bought you a present Ryou." Anzu handed him the neatly wrapped gift. It was quite large and Ryou beamed happily when he opened it to find a new board to add to his Monster World game. "How did you know I building an Egyptian themed board?" The fools have no idea that I will use it to destroy the Pharaoh, the spirit inside the ring cooed to himself.

Ryou went to put the new game board in his study, while the group of friends all made themselves comfortable with their plates of food.

Several minutes later Ryou returned and turned on his new television.

"Man, that's huge!" Jonouchi marvelled.

"We have one that size too," Honda boasted.

While they were all talking and comparing television sizes, Ryou pulled up the menu and chose the film he had downloaded. "I thought we could watch Zombie Killers Invade Tokyo! What do you think? It is a low budget horror made by an up and coming young film maker from Sapporo." Everyone was silent. "It's really good," he added.

"It's your birthday. We will watch whatever you want Bakura. Isn't that right guys?" Anzu did not want to watch the ghastly film but did not want to hurt his feelings.

There was some muttering and grumbling from Jonouchi and Honda but it was Yugi who had the final word. "Yes, we are happy to watch it Bakura."

They settled down as the rather dodgy looking introduction came up. The film was beyond bad, but it was full of overly explicit gory moments and such hilariously bad scene cuts, that were so unrealistic and stupid, that it made them all fall about with laughter.

They sat through three more terrible horror films, and by two in the morning everyone was starting to fall asleep so they decided to call it a night.

Bakura offered Anzu his bed, while he dossed down on the sleep mats, which he had laid out on the sitting room floor for the boys. "Thank you, but I'm quite happy to sleep on the floor with you guys." It would also be a good excuse to cuddle up with Yugi.

Knowing that it might end up as a sleepover, everyone had remembered their overnight bags. Everyone that is, except Jonouchi. "I forgot! Okay?!"

"How can you forget when I reminded you at four o'clock this afternoon you moron!" Honda chided.

"Well, I don't wear nothing in bed anyway!"

"Ugh! That's disgusting Jonouchi. You better not get your naked body near me!" Everyone screwed their faces up at Anzu's comment.

"I will keep my boxers on, alright!" In the end, Ryou lent him some pyjamas and found him a brand new toothbrush, that he kept as a spare.

After brushing their teeth and changing into their nightwear, They snuggled down on the two large foutons.

Anzu took one end of the futon, with Yugi next to her. Jonouchi lay down between Yugi and Honda, while Ryou settled down on the other end.

Yugi lay on his side facing Anzu and smiled to himself. It was nice being this close to her. She had her back to him and he could smell the delicate scent of the Mango and coconut shampoo she had used on her hair. He wanted to put his arms around her and press himself into her body but was too shy.

Ryou turned the light out, leaving the room in darkness. "Arghh... too dark!" Jonouchi shrieked, throwing his arms over Yugi and holding him far too tightly for comfort.

"J.. Jonou..." Yugi coughed. "... strangling... me!" Yugi's romantic thoughts about Anzu had been completely ruined.

Ryou leaped up and quickly flicked on the lamp back. When Honda saw that Jonouchi was practically laying on top of Yugi and had his arms wrapped so tightly around him he was almost crushing him, he started to laugh. "Quit trying to make out with Yugi you moron!"

"I'm not, dick head! It wasn't my idea to show scary horror films! I was suddenly freaked out!"

"If it helps, I will leave a night light on. It will create a very faint glow." Ryou went over to the wall socket and plugged in a small lamp. It was the sort of night light you would normally place in a child's room at night to stop them being afraid.

Everyone agreed that it was not too bright and that they would be fine with the night light, they settled back down.

::::::::::::

The Spirit of the Ring had stayed quietly inside his landlord tonight, but now it was time for some fun.

That idiot Jonouchi was getting on his nerves slightly more than usual and he had suddenly come up with a wickedly good idea.

Taking over his host, he made Ryo pluck a few loose hairs from Jonouchi's discarded sweatshirt and pick up one of his socks, before going into the kitchen. He gathered up some herbs and then tiptoed to his bedroom. On the way, he met Anzu, who was a light sleeper and had been woken up by the sound of him closing the cupboard door. For a moment he tensed, but then relaxed when she whispered that she was just going to the bathroom.

He quickly softened his features and gave her a timid smile. "I'm going to sleep in my own bed," he mouthed. "Honda keeps snoring and kicking me. I cant sleep." Thankfully, Anzu accepted his explanation and nodded. He was quite relieved that he would not have to harm the girl – she was quite cute, for a human.

Once in his room, he locked the door and sat down on the floor cross legged. He sprinkled a mixture of oak, thyme and devils claw onto the floor to form a triangle and sat in the middle of it. Taking a bowl, he mixed it with a small onyx crystal, some heather, myrrh and juniper. He set light to the contents and waited until it had a good flame. He then muttered some words in an ancient tongue and dropped Jonouchi's hair and sock onto the flame. There was a flash and a small tendril of magic floated upwards and formed a long thin line. It then headed for the gap under the door and sought out it's target.

The tendril entered Jonouchi through a nostril. It tickled his nose a little, making him sneeze and rub his nose, but he soon settled back down again.

::::::::::::

Yugi woke up to the warm soft feeling of Anzu's hair tickling under his chin. Yugi was on his back and Anzu had somehow ended up using his upper chest as a pillow. While still asleep, he had gently wrapped his arms around her. He could feel her softly breathing against him and it made him feel all fuzzy and warm inside. It would have been lovely to stay like this but he was desperate to go for a pee and could not move without waking her up. He glanced at his wrist watch and tried not to groan when he saw that it was still only six fifteen in the morning.

Unable to wait much longer, he tried to slide out but she mumbled and hugged her Yugi pillow tighter.

Not only did he need to pee, he was now starting to get an erection. Curse his sixteen year old hormones.

After several minutes of him gently trying to prise her arm from his waist, Anzu sighed and rolled off him, settling down on her side with her back to him.

He crawled to the end of the futon and dashed to the bathroom.

He was still desperate for a pee, but thanks to his erection it was too difficult and he had to wait for it to go down a bit. He was thankful that the Pharaoh was asleep inside the Puzzle and was not witnessing his embarrassing problem.

Bladder relieved, he washed his hands and took a drink of water, before tiptoeing back to the futon.

He did not notice anything different about Jonouchi as all he could see in the dingy light, was a tuft of straw blond hair sticking out from under the blankets.

He snuggled back down facing Anzu and got as close to spooning her as he could, without actually touching her.

After what felt like hours of trying to get back to sleep, he was finally dozing back off when he heard what he thought sounded like a woman shouting. Everyone was woken by it.

"What the fuck you doing man...?!" Jonouchi screamed, in a voice that was unnaturally high pitched.

Honda had been in a lovely sleep. In his dream, he was naked and being caressed by Miho, who was also naked. Her soft breasts rubbed against him and as he reached out to touch them, he was suddenly woken up by someone hitting him and swearing at him. He was horrified at what he thought he could feel. Was his dream that good that he could actually imagine he was holding real breasts?

"Quit trying to grope me ya pervert!" No one recognised the female voice and they were all confused by it.

Ryou appeared from his room and flicked on the light. Everyone took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the brightness.

Yugi's jaw dropped.

Honda gasped and held up his hands in an apologetic manner. He was so horrified by what he saw that he was rendered completely speechless.

"Oh my God!" Anzu gasped, hands pressed together over her face. "What has happened to you Jonouchi?!"

Trying not to panic, Ryou stood by the light switch and stared at the sight in front of him. Although his memory from during the night was patchy, he had some incline as to what might have happened. "Oh! No!" He finally gasped.

Jonouchi was still not sure why everyone was staring at him. He felt a bit dizzy, but that was usual when he woke up too quickly. "What's wrong guys?" At the sound, he slammed his hand over his mouth. That was not his voice. His hand felt small, soft and delicate.

Slowly removing his hand from his face, he looked down at himself. Two mounds appeared to be present on his chest. Instinctively, he cupped them in his hands, while his mouth hung open in shock and confusion.

Shaking like a leaf, he slid his hands down his body and under the waistband of his pyjama bottoms. What he found there made him scream. His penis and testicles were... gone, and had been replaced by... a vagina?!

He started to panic hysterically. "What the fuck has happened to me?!" There was a desperate pleading in his eyes as he looked between his horrified friends. "Help me guys?" He sounded so frightened and looked like he was about to cry.

None of them knew what to say or do. Everyone just stared, speechless, until Honda made a very crass suggestion.

"You can always grope yourself!"

"Why... you! That ain't funny..." Jonouchi's anger and confusion finally exploded. He needed to hit someone so he launched himself at Honda. But he had nowhere near the strength he would normally possess and Honda caught his fist with his hands, easily throwing Jonouchi onto his back and executing a wrestling hold to pin his friend down.

It was only when Honda felt the soft curves of Jonouchi's female body pressing against him, that he froze and did a double take. A twitch inside his pyjama trousers alerted him to the fact that his body was aroused by the soft female form in his grasp, and he almost let out a shriek as he released his friend and leapt backwards.

His behaviour did not go unnoticed by Jonouchi. "Argh! You freaking pervert!"

Blushing furiously, Honda attempted to apologise while burying his face in his hands with embarrassment.

Yugi wanted to console his friend and make everything okay, but did not know how to behave with his friend in that condition. He was scared to touch him. "I'm sure we will be able to find a cure Jonouchi," He said, unconvincingly.

Anzu attempted to make things a little better by putting her arm around Jonouchi's shoulders.

"Try not to worry Jonouchi. I will help you deal with your new... er.. body, while the guys try to find a cure."

Jonouchi gave her a forlorn look. "I'm screwed! My reputation will be ruined. I can't go home like this! I will be a laughing stock at school. What am I going to do?"

No one knew what to say. Desperate to help in any way she could, Anzu came up with the only solution she could think of. "You can stay at my house while we try to find a cure. My parents have never met you so I can tell them you are an exchange student from another school."

"But what about Me? Jonouchi can't just vanish!"

"It won't come to that," said Yugi. "We will work out what's going on, I promise." This had to be some sort of Shadow Game.

He felt the presence of his other Self materialise beside him.

"Strange, don't you think Aibou?"

Still self conscious about conversing with the Spirit of the Puzzle, even in front of his friends, Yugi spoke using his mind. "Other Me?"

"I sense residual Shadow Magic coming from Bakura's bedroom."

Yugi looked across at Bakura, who was standing quietly, looking very nervous. "Do you think the Millennium Ring might have something to do with it?"

"I do. Would you like me to take control and challenge him?" With a slight nod, Yugi gave control to the other Yugi. No one noticed the change.

"Bakura! What have you done to Jonouchi?" Everyone startled at the accusing tone in Yugi's deep baritone voice, and then noticed that the other Yugi had taken over.

"I.. I don't know what you mean! Why a.. are y y you accusing me Yugi?"" Ryou was stuttering nervously, adding to Yugi's suspicion. The Spirit of The Ring decided to keep quiet and let his host deal with the fallout of his actions. There was no point in drawing attention to himself right now.

Yugi got up and marched to Ryou's bedroom and threw open the door. The items had been cleared away but there was still a strong smell of burnt herbs, along with a scorch mark on the wooden floor, that had been poorly concealed by a rug. His friends followed him into Ryou's bedroom.

"Man! What is that smell?!" Honda frowned. "You haven't been smoking something weird, have you?" At Honda's suggestion, they all looked worryingly at Ryou.

"I am sorry. I sometimes smoke herbal tobacco. It calms my nerves." He hung his head in shame. He had no idea why he was lying like this. It was as if something, or someone, was compelling him.

Yami no Yugi snarled in disbelief and pulled back the rug to reveal the worst of the scorching. "You lie! I can sense Shadow Magic."

"I.. I had an accident and knocked the pipe over! Here, look! I'm telling the truth." He opened the wardrobe and pulled out the ornately decorated hubble-bubble pipe his father had bought at a bazaar in Cairo. However, as Yugi checked it, there was no evidence that it had been used.

He huffed in annoyance, and sensing his anger, Anzu placed her hand on his arm to calm him. "Yugi! It isn't magic. Ryou has a drug problem! We must help him."

"He is lying," Yami no Yugi almost snarled as he fixed his accusing glare on Ryou. The look was almost enough to cause Ryou's legs to collapse from under him.

"I'm so sorry!" He cried. "I couldn't help it. He made me do it!"

"Made you do what?!" Jonouchi shrieked, in a high pitched feminine voice. "Shit! My voice is terrible!" He grimaced at the sound and clasped his hands over his face in desperation.

"Yeah Bakura! What did ya do to my buddy?" Honda asked, accusingly.

"It was Him. I didn't want to." Ryou started crying. "I hate him! He is so cruel."

"It's okay Ryou." Anzu gave her friends a frown and stepped forward to place a comforting hand on the sobbing teens back. "What exactly did he make you do?"

Ryou's body suddenly stiffened and Anzu was certain she felt the vertebrae under her hand pop. Bakura stood upright and threw her aside.

"Get off me woman!" He spat, spitefully. Under his nightshirt, they could see the ring glowing. "I could kill you all now!" He snarled, viciously.

"Shit! He's wearing the Ring again!" Honda was not a coward but found himself fighting the instinct to cower and back away.

"C..can you f..feel that?!" Jonouchi stammered out at the immense feeling of static and power that was radiating off Bakura's chest. Yami no Yugi sensed an imminent attack.

"You filthy demon!" He spat. "How dare you hurt my friends!" He stepped forward to put himself between the possessed, white haired teen and his friends. The eye on his forehead started glowing and Anzu looked up at him fearfully, from where Bakura had shoved her to the floor.

There was genuine fear in her eyes as she pleaded for them to stop threatening each other.

But neither was listening to her as they bristled and snarled, like two lions fighting over a pride.

As the seconds ticked agonisingly by, Yugi's focus continued to remain on the demon in front of him. His friends watched in terror as he and Bakura were shrouded in black swirling shadows. Sparks of blinding white/gold magic flared away from their bodies, threatening to destroy the apartment.

Then just as suddenly, the Magic surrounding Bakura dissipated. For a moment, Yami no Yugi continued to be surrounded by his energy and showed no sign of backing down. "I should end you now.. vermin! But before I do, who are you?"

Bakura looked at him with an evil grin. "You are more powerful than I thought! That little vessel you inhabit must be stronger than he looks. Whereas mine is pathetic. I will not tell you who I am. But go ahead and kill me. I will not defend myself. But if you do, you will also be killing him."

"Don't try to bluff me, demon!" Yami no Yugi snarled.

"No! Yugi, please!" Anzu leaped up from the floor and ran to him. She might have been afraid by the shadows and flame that covered his form but she knew that Yugi would never hurt her. "Please?" She put her arms around him. He felt hot and tense. Every muscle in his body felt like it would explode. "Ryou is our friend. Whatever that thing inside the Ring made him do, it wasn't his fault. Ryou didn't mean to hurt Jonouchi."

As the shadows and flames slowly retreated back into the Puzzle, Yugi seemed to physically deflate. The golden eye on his forehead disappeared and he blinked in embarrassment at the anger he had just exhibited.

"It's okay Anzu," he breathed. "I will not harm him. But he is responsible for Jonouchi's condition and I demand he reverses it."

Bakura's shoulders rounded into a hunched position and he appeared to be laughing. They all looked at him with concern. But when he glanced up at Yugi and Anzu, the steely eyes cleared, returning to Ryou's hazel ones, and his hair softened and gently fell about his shoulders. He appeared to be trembling and perspiring from the assertion. "W.. what happened? D.. did he hurt you?"

Yami no Yugi also retreated and Anzu barely even noticed that Yugi was now back in control.

"It's okay Ryou, it's me, Yugi. I am not going to hurt you. Can you remember the spell that the Spirit of the Ring used to make Jonouchi into a woman?" Ryou shook his head.

"I'm sorry. All I remember, is getting up and going to the kitchen. I did not know why I was doing it, but I started gathering herbs and spices." He blushed. "I think I collected some of Jonouchi's hair and a sock. I don't know what happened after that. I woke up on my bedroom floor, surrounded by ash and smoke. I cleaned it away as best I could and got into my bed."

Anzu gasped. "I saw you!" All eyes were suddenly on her, making her blush. "I got up to use the bathroom and he came out of the kitchen." She paused to think. "You said that you couldn't sleep because Honda was kicking you and snoring in your ear. You were going to sleep in your own room."

"Oh!" Ryou looked embarrassed. "I sort of remember that. I don't know why I lied. It must have been him influencing me."

"Is there a spell that will reverse what He did to me?" Jonouchi pleaded.

Ryou bit his lip. "I can hear him in my head. He says that it's not reversible. It is a once only spell and it will probably wear off in a month or so."

"You mean I'm stuck like this?!" Jonouchi shrieked.

"Only for a month," Ryou muttered quietly.

Jonouchi let out a cry of despair, collapsed onto the bed and started weeping. Little high pitched rasps came from him, or rather, her.

None of his friends knew what they should do! This was so not the rough, tough, boisterous friend they all knew and loved.

I think that's enough for now.

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