I'm reeeeeeally sorry about the amount of time it took to update this! It took me a while to figure out where I wanted this story to go, and even now I'm not too sure about it. But I didn't forget about it! That's what matters! Ahem… I should get to the story.

Ryou's entire body immediately went numb. He knew he had to be imagining things- Touzoku wasn't real. Marik had said it, and Ryou believed him. But he had heard it. The voice that had taken over his nightmares.

Marik noticed the haunted expression on Ryou's face. "Ry, are you all ri-"

Ryou let out a bloodcurdling scream in response. He grabbed at his hair with his hands, trying to stop his entire body from the violent shaking overtaking it.

"Ryou, are you okay-"

"No…" Ryou whispered pitifully. "Stop it…" Tears were streaming down his face, and although Marik had seen him cry several times before, this was on a level that not even he could handle. He tentatively put his arm around his lover, stroking his hair with his free hand.

"You're okay," he muttered softly into Ryou's ear. "You're okay, so please, calm down, alright, Ry?"

Ryou shook his head, still sobbing, and Marik decided that the only thing he could do was sit there with him, letting him cry. Just like he always had, before everything had taken a turn for the worst. He wanted to laugh at the irony of it all. His "help" had gotten them right back where they started. Had it really been so terrible to want to see him smile again?

They sat there like that for at least ten minutes before Ryou sniffed and looked up at Marik, who was still stroking his hair gently.

"Why?" he asked softly. "Why do you stay with me? When I'm like this, you could leave. Never look back. So why? Why do you stay?"

Marik tightened his grip around Ryou's small frame. "I could spend hours listing reasons. But I think I'll go with a much simpler answer." And he tilted Ryou's face toward him, bringing their faces closer until their lips connected. Ryou's mouth carried the sweet taste of vanilla, as it always had. Ryou was surprised at first, but quickly moved his body closer to Marik's, returning the kiss gently. Neither one of the two wanted to pull apart at that moment. Everything was resolved with that one, simple kiss.

Ryou was the first to pull away. "You didn't have to do that," he said quickly, catching his breath. "You could have just said something like, 'I love you.'"

Marik smiled. "But that would have been boring."

And then he saw it. The thing he had been waiting for for so long. It started off as only a twitch of the lip, but the smile on Ryou's face quickly turned into a grin.

"Wouldn't want you to get bored, Marik," he said seriously, causing both of them to go into a fit of hysterics.

This is what I've been wanting the whole time, Marik thought. Even if we had to go through hell to get here.

Xxx

And so the days passed, with each one a little bit better than the last. Ryou stopped breaking down quite as often, little by little, until the "attacks" (as they had come to be known as) rarely came at all.

So maybe that's why it seemed so sudden when it happened. It was a sunny day in mid May, and the two were on their favorite bench in the town park. They got some strange looks from passerby, but the two had learned to ignore them, instead choosing to sit in each other's arms.

"Do you ever think about him?" Marik asked that day, completely out of the blue. "Bakura, I mean." He hadn't mentioned the name with any malicious intent, only curiosity. But Ryou started shaking, and Marik knew that it had been a bad idea.

"Do you?" came the response. But it didn't sound normal in the least, coming from Ryou. The voice was ice cold, just like…

"No way," Marik whispered. "I'm sorry, I'll change the subject…" Because he knew. This wasn't the real Ryou. And he had only heard this voice one other time.

The person beside him continued on, as though Marik had said nothing. "I wonder if people who murder others think about the victims at all?"

"Stop…"

"Would it be guilt? Or satisfaction?"

"I SAID STOP IT!" The whole world paused, as Marik screamed. In a fit of adrenaline, he shoved Ryou as hard as he could off of the bench.

As soon as Marik came back to his senses, he glanced down at "Ryou." But it was the real Ryou again. His big brown eyes stared up into Marik's, the hurt evident in his expression.

"Marik… what are you…"

Marik's eyes widened as he realized what he had done. "Ryou, I'm sorr-"

The boy on the ground shook his head. "No, I'm sorry… I really was a burden to you all along, wasn't I…?"

"Ryou, wait, I-" but he knew it was pointless. Nobody would believe something like "You turned into someone completely different." Which was why Marik could only watch as his lover got up and ran away in tears.

XXX

Even if it's short, I'm glad I wrote this- I CAN MAYBE POSSIBLY SEE WHERE THIS STORY IS GOING! But- and you know what's coming next- you won't find out unless you review~!