Ryou slept in Kek's arms just as he'd always wanted. They'd taken naps together plenty of times, but it wasn't quite the same as hour after hour of their bodies pressed together for an entire night's worth of sleep.

Ryou wasn't sure what time it was. The Shadow Realm always felt like midnight, but his biological clock thought it was pre-dawn, four or five in the morning. Ryou kept his eyes shut and buried his face in between Kek's shoulder blades. Just a little while longer. He'd have to leave a spend the day recovering- he could feel the negative effects of the Shadow Realm draining the energy Kek had given him- but Kek felt so right pressed against Ryou that he couldn't force himself to let go.

Until another presence violated the sanctity of the moment. A dark, familiar presence that made Ryou's blood chill and the fine hairs stand up against his neck and arms. Ryou sat up and shook Kek's shoulder.

Kek burst into a sitting position with a start, eye wide and mouth hanging open.

"Get dressed," Kek said as he stumbled to his feet to do the same.

They were sticky and greasy from love-making. Dried come flaked on their bellies from Kek's orgasm, but they had no time to use the wet wipes Ryou kept stocked in Kek's backpack. Nor could they afford to eat or drink any of the food Kek had saved.

They dressed in a rush and ran through the darkness.

It was useless to run. Ryou felt Zorc's presence gliding beside them, toying with them, waiting…

He started to pull light into him to fight, but it wouldn't be enough. Anything else would be an easy nuisance to deal with, but this was Necrophades …

Ryou calculated odds. Finally he stopped running and pulled the backpack off of Kek's shoulders.

"Ryou? What are you-"

"No more dark magic. I promised, but there's one spell I can still do to save you."

"What are you talking about?"

"I can trade one mind, body, and soul for another. I didn't use it before because I wasn't willing to sacrifice someone else, but-"

Ryou stopped. The darkness was taking shape behind them. Ryou shuddered in fear and closed his eyes to steady himself.

"I am strong. Kek, I'm strong. Please believe me. I'll be okay, so don't feel bad."

Kek shook Ryou by the shoulders. "Just run, Ryou! Run! Get out of the shadows! Go home and leave me!"

"Kek. I love you."

Ryou pushed Kek, and Kek disappeared, sent to the physical world instead of Ryou. Behind him, the darkness started laughing.

Ryou put up a magical shield and turned to face him.

Kek crashed onto Ryou's bedroom floor, smearing the ash and salt creating the portal and thereby ending the spell. Kek scrambled to his feet, wanting to plunge back into the darkness so he could save Ryou, or at least die with him. But there was no portal, no way to get back. Kek started at the symbols on the floor, but he wasn't sure how to fix what he'd ruined.

"No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No!" Kek paced back and forth while tugging his spikes of hair and trying to think of something to do.

There was nothing he could do.

"No! No! No!"

There was nothing he could do.

He was helpless, like that day, only there was no one for him to kill, and he couldn't protect Ryou from Zorc like he'd protected Marik from his father.

Kek ran. He slammed Ryou's door open, sprinted down the stairs, and raced into the streets. Desperate, so desperate, to do something. With only old, dream-like memories of Battle City and the Ghouls, Kek ran to the only person that might be able to help Ryou, someone who always managed to save his friends even when Kek himself had once killed one.

Dawn rose behind Kek as he ran towards the Kame Game Shop. He hadn't seen natural light in over five years and the orange, and pink, and yellow of the sky made him think of how much he loved Ryou, so his feet dug harder against the gray concrete as he pushed himself faster to the home of his greatest enemy.

Kek crashed against the door. He felt his forehead smack the wood and a burst of stars exploded behind his eyelids, but pain could never stop Kek and he pounded against the door until the sides of his fists were bruised.

"Just a moment!" A startled voice called from inside.

With a click the door opened and Kek fell to his knees in tears, clawing at the front of Yugi's pajama top.

"Help him! Please! Help him! Gods, please do something."

He could tell Yugi was terrified. His purple eyes were enormous, and only shock kept Yugi from screaming.

"M-Marik?"

"No! Not anymore! It doesn't matter. I need help!"

"Help?"

"He traded places. He pushed me out of the Shadows to save me, but Yugi, he's still there. Ryou's still there fighting Zorc all by himself. I don't know what to do!"

He pulled so hard against Yugi's clothes that Yugi was forced to lean forward, but with Ryou's name, Yugi jerked back.

"Ryou? I-I don't understand."

"Quit being stupid!" Kek screamed, slamming both fists against the floor. "Ryou is in the Shadow Realm! Fighting Zorc! How do I save him?"

"I-I-I don't know." Yugi shook his head. "I don't know. I don't have the Puzzle, and the Pharaoh's gone."

"We have to do something!" Kek curled into a ball. He couldn't control his breathing as tears flooded his face. "I love him! Gods please don't let him die!"

"You? You're Kek?" Yugi asked as if he didn't believe his own words.

Kek nodded, his breaths were edging towards hyperventilation so he couldn't speak. He felt dizzy, but knew he couldn't pass out because the longer Ryou stayed in the darkness, the worse his chances were.

"Okay. Okay." Yugi let his hands fall into Kek's shoulders. "I think I understand now. Why Ryou's been so sick, and why he was so sad. You said he traded places with you?"

Kek couldn't breathe. His lungs were small and burning, and the world was spinning.

"Shhh, calm down, calm down," Yugi cooed. "We'll save him somehow, just - just give me a minute while I make a phone call-"

Yugi dashed out of the kitchen, leaving Kek alone to curl against the tiles and weep as he struggled to breathe . Everything spun away from him. He felt his chest fight for each breath and felt his nails clawing against the tiles below him, and felt tears so hot that he thought they were going to burn his last eye out of his skull.

Then a soft, warm blanket settled over his shoulders and a pair of hands stroked his hair. He managed to shove enough tears away from his good eye to see that Yugi was back.

"You can't help Ryou like this, so I need you to calm down," Yugi said in his own calm, but adamant voice.

It struck Kek at that moment how "Little Yugi" wasn't so little anymore. Not only was he taller, but his face had lost much of its doe-eyed softness. He wasn't even afraid of Kek anymore; he gave Kek a stern we have work to do look that made Kek sit up.

"Good." Yugi nodded, handing him a purple box with a straw. "Here. Drink this. You were in the Shadow Realm all this time, right? You're probably hungry. Do you want some food?"

Kek nodded, but didn't have to voice to ask for anything. He felt guilty somehow, allowing Yugi to feed him. He wasn't a friend, and didn't quite have to right to a meal.

"Okay. Finish drinking that and then go take a shower. Get yourself collected. I'll cook some food and wash your clothes. Someone from the museum is coming over that may be able to help." Yugi paused, weighing an important decision by the lines of his face. "Neither of you are going to be happy to see each other, but it's the best we can do. I need you to promise you won't do anything violent."

"Who is it?" Kek felt his face tighten as a quivering hand squeezed at his empty juice box.

"I'll tell you after you've eaten and calmed down." To end the argument before it began, Yugi got up and started to pull things out of his refrigerator. "The bathroom is down the hall. You should be able to find it. Just toss your clothes by the door and I'll collect them in a minute."

Kek stood up. He stared at the juice box, not really knowing what to do with it, but then a trash can caught his eye and he shuffled over to it and dropped the box. He glanced at Yugi who was making a point to ignore Kek as he cooked.

"Th-thank you."

"I'm doing this to save Ryou."

"Of course." Kek dropped his head and went to look for the bathroom.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Yugi shouted from the kitchen as Kek walked down the hall.

"You meant it exactly like that." Kek dug his nails into his palms and stripped right in the hallway. He didn't care about being naked, and no one was around to see him.

The hot water was a guilty blessing against Kek's skin. He'd been in cold and dark for so long that he'd forgotten how much Marik had liked hot water once they'd escaped the tomb. Kek sighed, letting the jet from the showerhead sting his face and running his palms over his tangled mess of hair. It was a guilty blessing because- as much as he enjoyed the moment and as much as his body yearned for it- it was hard to relish the hot water and steam knowing that Ryou was still trapped in that cold and dark.

Unless Zorc already-

No.

He couldn't allow himself to think like that. Kek had fought in the Shadows for five years without food before he met Zorc, and while Ryou wasn't in the best condition, he was better off than Kek had been. And Ryou was strong. And Ryou was clever. He'd had the Ring. Kek remembered from wearing it himself how much evil emanated from that one Item above all others. It had made the Rod feel like a toy in his hand, plastic instead of gold, harmless and innocent. And Ryou had worn it most of his life but never gave into that darkness.

Ryou was strong.

Ryou knew how to fight against Zorc.

Ryou was still alive. He'd find a way to escape and to survive.

Kek only needed a way to get to him. To save him. To make things right by putting Ryou back into the world where he belonged.

He scrubbed down his body and hair and dried himself. His clothes were gone, a folded bathrobe lay on the floor outside the bathroom instead. Kek put it on. It was too small for him, but covered him enough to be decent, so he made his way back to the kitchen.

Yugi poured tea into three cups. He looked up, seeing Kek, and nodded.

"Sorry it's small. Your clothes are in the dryer."

"Thank you," Kek muttered again, more out of year-long habit than any sincere gratitude.

"You keep saying thank you."

"It's polite." Kek snorted, sitting down where a single plate sat, assuming it was his.

"Did Ryou teach you?"

"It sure wasn't the Hellfire Fiends." Kek looked at the food, then at Yugi.

"Yes, that's yours." Yugi nodded, sitting down and taking his own cup in his hands. He stared at Kek while he ate.

"Can you not look at me? It's weird." Kek frowned, but he didn't stop eating.

"Sorry, it's just … weird, that you're sitting at my table."

Yugi had prepared a noodle dish filled with meat and vegetable scraps and doused in soy sauce. It wasn't as good as Ryou's cooking, but it was steaming with heat and glistening with pork fat, and Kek shovelled scoop after scoop into his mouth.

"I'm calm." Kek drank from his cup.

"I told him you seemed different. He didn't want to come, but, well I asked as a personal favor, so when you see him don't fight."

"Fuck." Kek gripped his chopsticks, snapping them before he could stop himself. "Fuck. Sorry, I didn't mean- is it Marik?" Kek asked.

He held the broken chopsticks. He wasn't doing a very good job pretending to be a normal person. It was his first meal at a table and he was already breaking things in anger, but the thought of Marik. Marik. He fucking hated his other half- the reason he was forced to spend the last five years in darkness- the reason he couldn't see out of half his face- and had Kek never been in the Shadows, Ryou wouldn't be there now.

"I mean, shouldn't he be back in Egypt? Why would he agree? Even for you? I know he sent me away, but trust me, he doesn't like you no matter how much he might have convinced himself after our battle."

Yugi scratched the side of his head. He looked nervous and it made the food toss around uncomfortably in Kek's belly.

"That's probably true. Marik doesn't really keep in touch, although he's always nice when we do talk," Yugi admitted. "But that's … not who I asked."

Kek frowned. He couldn't imagine who else Yugi would get to help them. Seto Kaiba? No, Kaiba would be useless. Then who?

"Then who-"

"Me," A quiet voice said from behind Kek. A stoic, soft, but strong voice that sometimes haunted Kek's nightmares.

He jerked to his feet and turned. Rishid stood in the doorway. Watching Kek, frowning at him, Kek could feel his condescending fucking judgment emanating from Rishid's stone-like gaze. He held out the largest piece of broken chopstick like a shiv.

"Kek! Don't!" Yugi screamed, spilling his tea across the table as he jumped to his feet as well. "He's here to help, remember? He's a tomb keeper. He's better at magic than I am. He's our best chance at saving Ryou."

"He would never help me! Not even as a favor to you!"

Kek's grip shook with repressed rage. He was trying so hard, so fucking hard that it wasn't fair! But it wasn't even Ishizu. It wasn't even Marik. It was him!

"That's why I let him in while you were in the shower," Yugi explained, holding out his hands as if that could stop Kek from attacking. "He wanted to see for himself if you were different or not."

"And I failed your little test, didn't I? It wouldn't matter how much I changed! I'll never been good enough for you! And you're right! I broke the chopsticks! And I want to stab you! I'm no fucking better than I was!"

His vision blurred, and he blinked, demanding himself not to cry. He needed to see. He couldn't plunge the broken stick into Rishid's carotid artery if his one eye was tear-blind.

"It's not fair! Ryou shouldn't be judged based on me!"

"You're right," Rishid said, his gaze still hard and cold on Kek. "That's why I came. That and to make sure you stay far away from Marik, so here's the deal. I'll help you save Ryou, and you go back into the darkness where you belong."

"That's exactly what I'm trying to do." Kek snarled and used the back of his wrist to rub against his eye. "We don't need a deal for that. I never asked to be- saved- but- Ryou-"

Kek marched away, going back into the dark hallway near the bathroom where he felt safer. Kek dropped to his knees and pounded his already bruised hands against the soft carpet. He sniffled, crying but doing so as quietly as possible and hoping that the others couldn't hear him in the kitchen.

"Kek?" Yugi's voice asked from the end of the hallway.

"Go away." He continued to sniff.

"Shouldn't we go? Show Rishid Ryou's apartment? That way you can figure out how to get back to the Shadow Realm." Yugi set Kek's clean and folded clothes beside him.

"Yeah." Kek rubbed his face against the carpet to dry his tears and tied his purple eye patch back around his head. "I'm getting up."

Kek slipped out of the bathrobe and shimmied into his boxers.

"Y-you can change in the bathroom." Yugi squeaked and turned his head away.

"Why?" Kek asked as he put on his pants.

"So you can have some privacy."

"I don't care who sees me." Kek slipped his black t-shirt over his head and shook out his spikes of hair.

"Okay, but, uh- it's indecent, so don't change in front of people next time?"

"What does it matter if I'm going right back into the Shadow Realm? Demons' aren't exactly bashful."

Kek walked back to the kitchen where Rishid stood and waited.

"Don't you have shoes?" Yugi asked.

"I lost those years ago." Kek started at his bare feet.

"But the pavement is cold, and-"

"You don't care," Kek snapped. "You just want me gone, so let's go. I've been through worse than cold feet."

Kek went outside and walked as fast as he could. He hadn't even noticed the chilled ground in his previous panic, but Yugi was right. It burned all the way through the soles of his feet as they walked back to Ryou's. Kek grit his teeth, refusing to show that it bothered him.

"I'm trying, okay?" Yugi frowned as they walked. "You're not making it easy to like you."

Kek laughed. Once his laughter was manic and gleeful, now he only sounded tired and bitter. They marched towards the morning sun. It was warm and real against Kek's face. Tears welled up in Kek's eye.

"Kek? Are you crying again?" Yugi's face betrayed his honest concern, and that somehow made everything hurt even more.

"The light hurts," Kek muttered.

That was half true. The light was overwhelming after five years of opaque black and inky violent. But it was also beautiful, and he wished that he was sitting on a hillside with Ryou as they enjoyed it together. He wished he was kissing in the sunshine with the light making Ryou's white hair glow.

It was so cruel that his first sunrise and his first sight of morning light as Kek instead of Marik's shadow was him marching straight back into the darkness with Yugi and Rishid escorting him like guards leading their prisoner down death row.

"What are you doing in Japan, anyway?" Kek asked out loud, trying to flee his own thoughts.

"Overseeing the transfer of a rare artifact currently on display at the museum. Ishizu was too busy to do it herself."

He almost asked how Marik was doing. It was a moment of stupid curiosity. He had, after all, been Marik once. Perhaps only the parts Marik didn't want, but he'd been him all the same. Kek swallowed the question, knowing it would cause trouble and Rishid wouldn't answer him regardless of his harmless intentions.

"How long?" Yugi asked.

"How long what?" Kek shifted his attention to Yugi, not minding the distraction.

"Have you and Ryou been dating?"

"About a year."

"How do you even go on a date in the Shadow Realm?"

"Picnics." Kek shrugged. "Movies on his laptop. Games. Sometimes we paint figurines." Kek smiled despite himself. "He always shows up with a suitcase of things and looking like he's ready for a vacation."

"Don't you get attacked? Isn't it dangerous?"

"Dangerous for me." Kek studied Yugi. "You have no idea how powerful Ryou is, do you? He can take down fiends that are eight-star cards and giggle because it's fun for him."

"Really? Ryou fights monsters that strong?"

"Don't you realize that if it was anyone else fighting Zorc they'd already be dead?" Kek glared at Yugi. "I'd be dead if it was me." Kek touched the purple cloth wrapped around his eye. "I'd be dead, and Ryou knew it and that's why I'm here instead of him."

"Sounds like the darkness turned on you," Rishid said in a quiet voice.

"Of course it did," Kek replied, his voice dry.

He wasn't about to let Rishid rub it in. He was fully aware that he'd been stupid to ever worship the darkness, in the same way Ryou had been stupid trying to use it to rescue Kek. The darkness always took everything and never gave anything in return except broken promises and lies- Kek knew that. He didn't need Rishid to tell him that. He'd learned it on his own the day he'd watched Zorc's tongue curl around his mangled eye before pulling it into his mouth.

"Can we walk faster? I don't want Ryou in the Shadows any longer." Kek sped up. He didn't care if they others kept pace or not.

They reached Ryou's apartment about five minutes later, door still open because Kek hadn't thought to close it. Kek wanted to look around, touch the plants and figurines, learn more about Ryou through his environment, but there was no time. He lead Yugi and Rishid to Ryou's bedroom and pointed to the salt and ash on the floor.

"He shoved me out of the Shadows, and I crashed against the floor and broke the seal." Kek frowned. "I don't recognize any of the symbols."

"I do, this is worse than I thought." Rishid shook his head the same way a disappointed mother might.

"What's wrong?" Yugi asked.

"This is Shadow Alchemy," Rishid answered. "The Millennium Tome disappeared during your Ceremonial Duel. We hoped it was coincidence." Rishid bent down and pull a heavy, leather-bound book sticking out from beneath Ryou's bed. Kek hadn't noticed it until Rishid grabbed it. "But it looks like Ryou stole it."

"No, Ryou wouldn't do that." Yugi shook his head. "Ryou's our friend, he- it was probably the Ring Spirit."

"Yugi, you had the Ring. You can't blame the Spirit for this. It was Ryou."

"Yeah, Ryou stole it." Kek flopped down on Ryou's bed. He hugged Ryou's pillow to his chest, enjoying Ryou's smell surrounding him. "He told me."

"But why?" Yugi stared at the book as if it, and not Ryou, had betrayed him.

"He wanted it." Kek snorted.

His sight felt heavy. He wasn't used to having his own body and the physical exhaustion felt strange compared the low ba he had to struggle with in the Shadow Realm.

"I suppose this explains why he consorted with you." Rishid opened the book, frowning at the symbols within. "Thieves and murderers are much the same."

Kek growled. "Don't go comparing Ryou to me because he swiped a spell book. He likes studying magic, but he wouldn't use it to ever hurt anyone." Kek's face dropped, thinking except himself, but he didn't say that part out loud. "Ryou started to consort with me because he rescued me! I was dying and he saved me, just like he saved me this morning- don't you dare compare us like he's a bad person."

Kek dropped down to his side, hugging the pillow closer to his chest.

"Well? Hurry up and open the damn portal back up so we can get this over with."

Rishid's mouth dropped. It was the only time Kek could ever remember seeing him anything less than 100% composed.

"It's not that simple," Rishid said. "It takes time to decipher the text. These spells were never meant to be used. To the best of my knowledge, there's only been one spell ever used."

"The one that made the Items," Kek muttered, more to himself than to either Rishid or Yugi. Ryou had told him about the Items.

"Yes."

"How long?" Kek swallowed. He felt sick again, dread pooling into his belly.

"I'll begin immediately." Rishid sat on the floor. He opened the book and flipped through it. Kek noticed his hands shook, but he wasn't sure if it was fear, or anger, or some other emotion that caused it.

"How long for you to find the right spell?" Kek demanded with a growl.

"I'm … not sure. Hopefully in a few days-"

"Days?" Kek jumped to his feet. "How is Ryou suppose to survive that long?"

"You did."

"But I wasn't fighting Zorc the entire five years!"

"Rishid, can I help?" Yugi asked, upset as well. "Is there anything either of us can do?"

"I need absolute concentration."

Yugi grabbed Kek's arm and tugged him. "Come on, we need to let him read the book."

"I'm not going anywhere! I'm staying right here until this asshole is done so I can go save Ryou."

"Ryou will be hungry, right? Let's make him some food."

"But I-"

"Rishid can't find the right spell if you're distracting him. Let's go, Kek."

With an aggravated snarl, Kek allowed himself to be lead out of Ryou's room and into the kitchen.