Wow, it's been a while huh? Complicity is still a beast and now I have The Creature From The Deep to contend with as well, but no worries, Heart of Magic is still my personal pet project. It's kinda fun switching between all my different Ryous.

Does a character count as an OC if they do appear in the show but don't get named? Do Ryou's (and later Otogi's, I guess) fangirls ever get named?

Unbeta'd, throw kappas at me if you spot a mistake.

Sometime during the week before returning to school, Seto realizes that Anzu and Jounouchi are the only ones from Yugi's group who haven't gone home yet. The staff seem to have effortlessly adjusted to their presence without him realizing and he can't say he's noticed anything different either. So he's not really shocked when he finds a small cheque left at his desk one morning. The rent they're able to pay combined doesn't add up to even a fraction of what living at the Kaiba mansion would really cost, but it's enough to justify setting up a savings account for. He has no use for their money, but he might as well keep it safe for when they move out again, he decides. He doubts they'd accept him telling them not to bother. The idea of kicking them out never crosses his mind.

Jounouchi leaves for school before Seto does, riding some ramshackle bicycle that he must have found and restored himself judging by the dents. Anzu leaves even earlier, running to school in the track club uniform and neither of them seem to care about the torrential rain. They all arrive around the same time anyway, though they're significantly soggier than he is.

When he first sets foot in the classroom, he dreads a room of prying eyes and probing questions. It's bizarre that stepping into a boardroom filled with some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in Japan doesn't faze him for a second, but a classroom of dozy teenagers does. He would like to say that he doesn't care what they think of him, but he obviously must on some subconscious level, or he'd act more like when he duels at school rather than sitting at the back with an old philosophy book.

What he gets is a card with a hand drawn psychedelically colored Blue Eyes roaring 'Welcome Back!', signed by everyone along with a few well wishes towards Mokuba, but otherwise the day might as well be the same as any other. Evidently someone educated the class on being nosy while he was away. He slips the card into his satchel, between two heavy textbooks so it doesn't crease.

He notices that Ryou isn't in school sometime before third period. Ordinarily, Seto wouldn't have paid attention, but he's had a hard time defining what he thinks of as 'ordinary' for a while now. Yugi and the others glance back at the empty desk every so often, Yugi looking the most concerned. The others aren't panicking, at least not yet, so he doesn't let himself get sucked in by the worry emanating from Yugi.

Seto figures he's had to redirect the frustration from not dueling on a competitive level into aggressively caring for his friends, not that he didn't do that before. There's been a break in the tournament cycle, thanks to political pissing contests about which city gets to host the next tournament as well as non-duelists complaining about Battle City hijacking Domino City. He hasn't worn a Duel Disk for weeks and he still finds himself missing the weight on his arm.

He wonders how much the others know of what Ryou gets up to - presumably they know he dabbles in occult things and that these occult things are as real as the Millennium Items were, or they wouldn't have gone along with what he said without a hint of protest. But Ryou is definitely keeping things from them, because there's no way Jounouchi wouldn't fly around on his dragon all the time if he knew there was a way to summon them for real. Seto would be lying if he said the thought didn't appeal to him either.

Anzu and Honda vanish at lunch to pick up drinks for everyone, which apparently includes Seto now because Anzu asks what he wants (just water) and he chips in at the pile of spare change for the vending machine.

Yugi and Jounouchi have turned all their desks around and pushed them together with his, so he notices when Yugi's phone vibrates with a text. Yugi reads it and the tension he's been carrying all morning seems to vanish instantly, though he still doesn't look too happy. Jounouchi guesses why.

"Bakura's moving again?"

"Yeah; he said someone tried to get in the complex yesterday asking for him. The landlord wouldn't let him past the gate, you know how strict she is about visitors."

"Is he sure it's not just a guy his dad knows?"

Yugi shakes his head. "It doesn't matter who that guy was, Bakura doesn't trust the place anymore. He's got a house ready to go, but it's the other side of town. I think he was planning on not living in apartments anymore anyway."

Jounouchi sighs, folding his arms behind his head as he leans back in his seat. "I don't get why he just doesn't move in with one of us. I mean, obviously not Anzu and Kaiba and me, but Honda's place has a spare room and I know your grandpa and your mom wouldn't mind if he lived with you."

"I know, I wish he'd tell us too but it's a miracle he still lets me know where he lives now. If we push it he might not say anything next time. I don't want him to just disappear..." Yugi lets his head flop over his crossed arms on the desk, looking miserable. It matches the weather.

"He could move in with us. I wouldn't mind. "

Yugi and Jounouchi both jump at Seto's voice, like they have forgotten he is there. That's a first. "It's not like I don't have room," he continues. Then he lets a little glare slink into his face and Jounouchi has the decency to look at least a little bit abashed. "At least he'd have permission."

Yugi chuckles at his friend, though his smile soon fades. "I don't think it's taking up space that he's worried about. I know he's worried about people coming after him because of the other Bakura, and us too by proximity, but that can't be all there is to it..."

Anzu and Honda return, the conversation quickly becoming more lighthearted and turns to things like who has the grossest drink that day (Anzu, without a doubt. Aloe juice has bits, who wants that?). Though the cloud seems to lift for the most part, Yugi remains a little melancholy for the rest of the day.

Seto is awake at 3am again, only this time it's not because of a nightmare turned memory. Someone just barely passing for lower management on the ladder has decided to run off and start their own company, and has ran off with a decent chunk of average employees easily swayed by the passionate underdog rising up against the heartless corporate machine.

They'll be back begging to be rehired within a month, they always do. He still wants to double check that all their ID cards are deactivated and all their passwords changed, not to mention shuffle all the related departments to cover the loss - a lot of interns are going to earn themselves a lot of overtime. The last thing he needs is a pathetic attempt at espionage; cleaning up the failures is as big a chore as countering the successes, if not bigger.

His phone rings. The number is unfamiliar, but he has a hunch who it might be. There aren't many people who know his personal number.

"Good evening Seto!"

"It's more accurate to say morning, don't you think?"

"It is?" He hears Ryou shuffling like he's messing with his sleeve, then a sharp gasp.

"Oh no, did I wake you up? I completely lost track of the time, I'm sorry! I was just wondering how your first day back was..."

"You didn't, relax. It was fine. I've got paperwork up to my ears now though and if you haven't noticed, I'm pretty tall."

He can hear Ryou snort. "Never let anyone get away with saying you don't have a sense of humor, Seto."

"I don't."

He becomes aware of the sound of rushing water in the distance, too much to just be runoff in the drains. The rain is hammering over whatever is above Ryou's head.

"Ryou," he asks carefully, "Are you outside or something? Yugi mentioned you moved, does your new place have a balcony?"

He doesn't want to think about all the reasons Ryou could be out in the streets at this time of night, apparently by a raging river at that. He can't think of any that don't leave him twitching to call a car to go wherever Ryou is.

"I'm at the bus stop. There's a twenty four hour line around here, it should drop me off at the end of my street. It's a pity about the weather, but that's par for the course this time of year."

Oh. That works. Maybe he's let Yugi's jitters from school get to him after all. Jumping to the worst possible conclusion isn't something Seto usually does, as a rule.

"The one by the red bridge?"

"Indeed; you've been there?"

"I watched Yugi duel there once. He defeated a mime and for whatever reason, the guy had Osiris on him."

"That must've been quite the exciting duel!"

Kaiba chuckles a little to himself at the memory. "If I hadn't shown up, it wouldn't have been. What were you doing around there anyway?"

It takes Ryou far too long to answer and Seto has dealt with enough shady businessmen to spot a liar when he sees one.

"Nothing important."

It pisses him off, more than he thought it would, to hear Ryou so blatantly lie to him. He's not someone who needs to be coddled with false platitudes, especially not ones so obvious. If it's occult business Seto thinks he's already proven he can handle it. Anything else, well, he'll cross that bridge when he gets to it.

"It's three in the morning and raining. It must've been pretty damn important."

"It was at the time. Now it's over and it's not."

Oh, there it is. That slightly clipped tone that he had when Seto first called him, or when they'd spoken after his nightmare. He deems it Ryou's 'I'm too polite to say so myself, but kindly fuck off' voice and is quietly proud that his own variation sounds far more authoritative. He's a little surprised that Ryou even has such a voice, but then again living with someone like the Ring spirit for so long must have made him a master of passive-aggression for the sake of his own survival.

"You're going home?"

"I am."

"Call me back when you get there. I'm not done with you just yet."

"Alright."

As promised, Ryou does call about half an hour later and Seto lets out a breath he didn't realize he was holding when the now familiar number flashes on the screen. He accepts the call and doesn't give Ryou the chance to say anything.

"Your friends are worried about you."

"I know," Ryou murmurs. The Tone is gone, replaced by something Seto can't quite name. Ryou sighs and Seto can't help but join in. His chair creaks as he sits back in it.

"If you know, then stop doing whatever it is that you're doing."

Ryou sounds stern when he replies this time. "I can't."

Not won't. Can't. Implying he doesn't have a choice in the matter, or at least doesn't think he does. That makes things more difficult.

"I'm correct in assuming it's an occult thing?"

"You are, though it's more like occult things."

"Then let them know what's going on. Yugi's no stranger to magic and mysterious happenings right? At least get him involved."

"I don't want Yugi getting involved, much less the others. It's for the best; they've had enough to deal with when it comes to ghosts and demons already."

Seto bites back a harsh 'And you haven't?'. He's never liked dealing with martyrs, especially the ones that aren't just all talk for the sake of their egos. Yugi told him about what Ryou almost did to himself back when they first met, when he destroyed his own soul to protect them and it was only a quirk of RPG mechanics and shadow magic working together that allowed him to survive. Seto doesn't want to find out what Ryou would do to himself now.

Besides, he doesn't know Ryou well enough to say things like that. He also doesn't know if Ryou will take offense to him knowing about the spirit's actions from Yugi rather than from him. Seto knows he wouldn't want Yugi or the others telling anyone about the time Seto's heart shattered without his consent first.

Ryou seems to come to a decision.

"I'll tell you what's going on, but you have to promise you won't say a word about this to Yugi and the others."

"Fine."

"Promise me, I want your word."

He gets the distinct impression that Ryou has some sort of ritual drawn up on the other end of the line. "I won't tell them anything, I promise."

Ryou takes a deep breath, exhales, then another and the words tumble from him like a burst dam.

"When the Millennium Puzzle was first assembled, it sort of... I don't know how to explain it. It was like it scared off all the local supernatural phenomena in the surrounding area, and there was a LOT of local phenomena. Ghosts, demons, spirits, you name it and Domino had it. Atem's soul was very powerful in his own right, but the dark intelligence and the souls contained within the Puzzle itself were probably the main cause.

Originally, it only really affected wherever Yugi was, but once the other Items came into Domino, like my Ring or Malik's Rod, the effect began to expand until it enveloped the entire city. These phenomena were all displaced and angered, from the lowliest sprite all the way up to demigods, but they couldn't do anything about it.

Now though, the Items are gone. The intelligence within them, all the souls bound to the gold - poof! The moment the dark intelligence was destroyed, the Items cleansed of the trapped souls and Atem's spirit moved on, that effect vanished. As far as the displaced phenomena were concerned, Domino was now empty and they could move back in again, though they were still angry that they'd had to move in the first place.

New spirits and ghosts appear all the time however, ones that were born within the magic the older spirits couldn't take and therefore didn't mind it in the slightest, while wandering demigods searching for their own place to stay noticed all the free space before the older ones did and moved in, a lot of them to places where they shouldn't be. The phenomena who were originally displaced are now finding rivals and enemies where they once lived freely, and they will fight for their homes. On top of that, you've got some spirits just taking advantage of the chaos to cause trouble."

It's Seto's turn to take a while to respond, because that's a lot to take in at this hour. He mulls it over in his mind, trying to find the most efficient way to make it click.

"So in short, it's a spiritual clusterfuck and you're stuck playing the janitor."

Ryou laughs. "Pretty much!"

He's glad Ryou can find some humor in it, because he's struggling to. "That's a lot of work."

"It's fine; besides, I'm not doing this all by myself. You know those girls who follow me around at school all the time?"

There's something in Ryou's voice that suggests he has no idea why they do that and Seto wonders how Ryou can know so much about things most people don't believe even exist and yet be so ignorant about himself. Seto's not blind and he wagers the rest of the class isn't either. He's seen Yugi staring at Ryou more than once, especially during PE and he vaguely remembers Malik doing the same back in Egypt, though the look of the latter seemed a little more weighted.

"I'm aware of them."

"They've been helping me out - once you know what to look for, finding things out of the ordinary is easy. Like tonight, Yumi spotted a kappa attacking the supports of that bridge while she was out for dinner with her family. It's harder than you'd think to find a store open at this hour that sells fresh cucumbers, but I managed to bribe him into leaving the bridge and that river alone eventually. That's why I was out so late - I had to give him directions to a river that wasn't built up and the closest is a long way away from Domino. It was tough work convincing him."

Seto struggles to remember which one of Ryou's little gaggle of admirers Yumi is (big lips and a horrifically unflattering bowl cut come to mind), because it's better than thinking about Ryou politely evicting a goddamn kappa and he's not quite ready to believe that all these mythical creatures aren't mythical in the slightest just yet. His discomfort is entirely arbitrary, he knows it, but he just can't help it. He shouldn't have this much trouble accepting that things like kappa exist when he was possessed by a ghost.

He decides to change the subject and it seems that Ryou is happy to join him, not missing a beat despite the abruptness.

"You weren't in school because you were moving, right? Yugi mentioned it."

"Yeah. It's not as big as that apartment was, but it's an actual house so I don't have to worry so much about my neighbors or anyone below and above me anymore. It's nice, not too far from school if I take a few side roads."

"I take it I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Hopefully. Good night, Seto."

"'Night."

Yugi is wrong, Seto decides as he hangs up. Pushing Ryou is exactly the right thing to do, because he's learned more about him in a single conversation than he wagers Yugi has in all the time they've known each other. Though it's probably not intentional, Yugi doesn't seem to think that Ryou is strong enough to handle confrontation, like he'll shatter at the slightest touch. But, if he was so easily broken, he probably wouldn't have been chosen by the Ring in the first place. He wouldn't have survived under the weight of someone so vicious if he wasn't a little vicious himself.

Then again, Ryou doesn't seem to have much faith in Yugi and the others either. He's being too considerate and it's looping back into selfishness. Seto's sure that Yugi and the others won't like finding out that Ryou trusts those random fan girls of his with the spiritual side of his life more than he does them, even if it's not about trust from Ryou's point of view. He wants to protect them and they want to protect him, but neither is prepared to let the other do it.

Forget the spiritual war, the real clusterfuck is and always has been friendship. It's not quite as vindicating a thought as he would like.

They're all idiots, Seto decides, but he doesn't want to get involved in the messy tangle of their mutual misconceptions. That's something they'll have to work out for themselves.