Yami Bakura rolled off the edge of the bed slowly so as not to disturb his female bedfellows as the cuddled together in the early hours of the morning. He'd let Ryou have uninterrupted time with them last night. He'd even let Ryou enjoy fellatio from Mai last night without interfering. Now, though, he had things to do and places to be, and he wasn't going to show these "friends" any mercy if they tried to stop him.

He didn't like the idea of Ryou having close friends at all. If Ryou had close friends, he'd have people wondering about his whereabouts and his plans, and that was the last thing he wanted. He needed freedom in order to operate the way he liked, which was why he'd encouraged Mr. Bakura's constant expiditions that separated him from his son. Family and friends would get in the thief's way, so he needed to plant a seed of doubt in Anzu's mind. Thief that he was, he knew exactly how best to do this.

He crept up to the dresser where Anzu's jewelry box sat. Thankfully, it wasn't a music box, so he could open it silently and rumage about for something valuable amongst the cheap plastics and metal alloys and cubic zirconia. He found a slim fourteen karat gold chain with a saltwater pearl pendant: a simple, modest piece of jewelry probably given to her by her parents when she was in her early teens. He pocketed the necklace with every intention of pawning it, then, overcome with a greedy curiosity, slunk his way to Anzu's parents' bedroom where her mother's jewelry box awaited his sticky fingers.

He left with a pair of diamond earrings and an emerald-encrusted hair-clip in addition to Anzu's necklace. Once downstairs, he began to look for his coat. When he finally found it in Mai's suitcase, he pulled it on and checked his inner pocket for his knife. Good, it was still there, along with the knife tip that had broken off in his victim the night before when he stabbed him. Wary of leaving behind such a distinctive piece of evidence, he'd dug around inside the wretched man's gut until found, thus bloodying his hands and forearms until he found the sharp triangle of metal. He needed to get a new knife.

Then he fled the Mazaki household, his blood-stained shirt left behind in Anzu's bathroom. It was the only thing he'd left behind. He returned to Ryou's house. He had errands to run, but not in broad daylight. He needed to wait until night arrived, when he would be in his element. So, with no reason to stick around, he returned to his soul-room and let his host wake atop the sheets of his own bed.

"How am I...? When did...?" Ryou was confused, helplessly so, but he figured there was only one reasonable explanation: the Spirit of the Millennium Ring. He stood, not surprised that he didn't feel the need to stretch. His body was already invigorated from the spirit's mild antics that morning. He shuffled out of his clothes with a droll expression and took a long, lazy shower.

He would have loved to wake up and have Mai and Anzu be the first people he saw. He'd always wondered what it was like to have the first thing you see in the morning be the face of your lover.

Thinking of last night as he stood beneath a steady flow of warm water aroused the teen more than he'd intended, but once he started thinking of Mai's mouth enveloping his member, her wet lips sealed to the base, the tightness of her throat—

Unable to shake the memory that filled his stomach with tightly coiled heat, Ryou seized his own member and squeezed. His moan echoed faintly in the small bathroom, and was quickly followed by an echo of cold, haughty laughter. Ryou opened his eyes to see the spirit leaning casually against the shower wall, arms crossed and lips curled in a faint smirk.

"You really do put on quite a show, Yadonushi." His gravelly voice was laced with disdain and sadistic pleasure as the youth's face turned a deep shade of scarlet.

"Get out," he whispered above the sound of water, frozen in place by those cold eyes glaring daggers into his soul.

"No." Bakura was unabashed about soaking in everything he could see of the teen.

"Don't look at me." Ryou covered himself with both hands, wanting nothing more than for the spirit to just go away.

"Do you think I care one bit about what you do or do not want?" Bakura hissed, pushing away from the wall and stepping closer to Ryou, who was too afraid to step back. The spirit stopped only when he was as close to Ryou as he could possibly get without actually touching him.

"I know you don't." The words were almost inaudible as they fell from the brown-eyed boy's lips.

"Try to remember that next time so you can save your breath." Bakura turned away in scorn and left the shower, his spirit wandering to do whatever it was he cared to do. Ryou never had any idea where he went when he wandered as a spirit. Before Bakura had gone very far, though, his host's voice stopped him, calling him back.

"Would it hurt you so much to be a little kind to me every now and then?"

Ryou was hidden from Bakura's eyes by the shower curtain, but he could tell by the pitch of his voice that he was upset, probably about to cry.

"It would not benefit me, so I see no reason to."

"I can't find him anywhere." Anzu sighed in defeat and sat beside Mai on her bed, looking glum. "He must have gone home already. Why would he leave so early?"

"He might have just been embarrassed," Mai suggested as she rubbed Anzu's shoulder reassuringly. "I'm sure he's fine."

"You don't really believe that, do you?" Anzu asked, watching as Mai's orchid eyes betrayed her true feelings.

"Neither of us know why he left, so we shouldn't jump to conclusions." Mai kissed Anzu's cheek and continued in a more cheerful voice. "Come on, let's have some breakfast. I make a killer omelet."