Disclaimer: All fan-base are not belong to us.

A/N: Yu-Gi-Oh! The only card game officially endorsed by yaoi.

The sun glistened off the white tips of the waves as the unattended duelists crowded onto the main deck for a refreshing venture in the sun free of card-related worries. Since last night, all the duel structures had been removed and replaced with the waterslides and other such attractions that had been there before the tournament started. Dressed in appropriate attire, the teens dashed into the giant wading pool in the center of the deck and proceeded to splash around loudly while the older duelists retained their composure as they stretched across the sun-bathing chairs and relaxed to the sound of the sea. Marik, Bakura, and Melvin, however, had found something more entertaining to do than join Ryou in the pool with his protagonist friends.

"We'll catch up to you later, Ryou," Melvin assured as he left his lover to his innocent games.

"What are you guys doing?" he called back suspiciously.

"Don't worry about it, Mini Kitty," Marik replied, suppressing a cheeky grin, "We're not planning anything dangerous; just looking for an outlet before the games begin." They hurried away before Ryou could object further.

"And now to cause some mischief," Bakura grinned as he worked the lock to one of the other duelist's bedrooms. The door clicked open and the three boys scurried into the room before they could be caught. Bakura immediately went to the bathroom and pulled open a tube of lipstick sitting on the counter. He drew an incredibly graphic picture of Kaiba 'riding' a Blues Eyes White Dragon, then signed it with Yugi's name.

Marik came into the room to admire his work, but Melvin didn't think so highly of it. "Is that all you got? I'm surprised, Bakura; I thought you were a lot more devious."

"I'm just warming up. Let's see what you've got."

"I'm making a water bed," Melvin replied as he filled the bathtub up with cold water.

Bakura cackled. "Allow me to assist you." He pulled a suitcase from the closet and dumped the contents into the bathtub.

"This is ingenious!" Marik proclaimed, "Now the colors will bleed and his clothes will be ruined!"

"Let's lay an egg, Bakura," Melvin suggested, bundling up the soaking clothes and wrapping them into a big, sopping wet ball. He chunked the ball across the room where they landed in the middle of the queen-size bed. "And now let's make the nest." They took the bed sheets and pillows and bunched them up into a ring around the soggy clothes. The three stood back and admired their handy work, then headed out the door.

They proceeded down the hall and rounded the corner, but were stopped in their tracks by an unexpected arrival. Ryou stood with his hands on his hips in front of Yugi and Yami's room. The three boys masked their guilty faces with innocent smiles, but could not fool Ryou. Ryou, however, could fool them, and pulled a room key out of his pocket with a devilish smile. He unlocked the door and led the group into their rivals' room.

"What do you guys usually do in here?" Ryou asked.

"Everything," they replied in unison. Bakura pulled out the lipstick from earlier and went straight to the bathroom to try his hand at yaoi. Melvin pulled out the suitcase and dumped the contents on the floor.

"So many possibilities, so little time," he sighed.

Ryou grabbed up the underwear and hopped up on the bed. "I used to do this to my sister." He hung the garments on the fan blades, then went to the light switch and rigged it so that when Yugi flipped on the lights, the fan would come on full blast as well.

"Ryou, I'm surprised," Melvin grinned, "I didn't know you could be so devious."

"Don't underestimate me. I'm the king of deception. It's just that no one is able to tell."

"That's my boyfriend," Melvin bragged to Marik.

Marik took the socks and several shirts and lay them on the bed. Then he pulled a tube of super glue out of his pocket and quickly set to work gluing a pair of socks to the breasts of each of the shirts so that they appeared to have saggy boobies. [A/N: Don't you love my choice of diction?]

Ryou suppressed a giggle as he took needle and thread to another shirt, in effect doing the same thing as Marik in a much more tedious manner. He held the finished product up for Melvin to see. "Doesn't it look fantastic?"

"You're a regular Vera Wang, Ryou," Melvin agreed.

"If you ladies are done sewing, we should get out of here before the owners come back," Bakura suggested, helping the lot of them to their feet. The four boys took off into the hall and back to the water rides to enjoy the rest of the cruise before the battles.

When they arrived on deck, Marik, Melvin, and Bakura went immediately for the tallest, fastest, most dangerous ride on the ship: the Tentacle Monster. Marik and Bakura jostled over who would go up the ladder first, but Bakura shoved Marik on his butt and shot up the ladder like a spider monkey, Marik following closely. Ryou stood at the base and looked up with sheer terror splattered across his face. Melvin nudged him, "What's the matter, Ryou? Are you afraid of heights?"

"I'm more afraid of dying than anything," he answered in a small voice.

"Nonsense! No one's ever died riding the Tentacle Monster before. At least not because of the ride itself," Melvin reassured with an evil gleam in his eyes.

"It's just… I'm not really a fan of Tentacle Monsters. They're too hard-core for me."

"You are getting on this slide if it's the last thing you do," Bakura declared as he reemerged from the water the slide ran into.

"No thank you," Ryou protested, but Bakura pushed him up the stairs and blocked the way back down, so the three of them climbed to the top and stood on the rickety platform at the mouth of the slide. Ryou gulped, turned toward Melvin for encouragement.

Melvin smiled and stepped in front of him. "I'll go first, just so you know you'll be safe." He sat down and pushed himself into the roaring rapids of the Tentacle Monster. He cackled madly the whole way down until he submerged with a splash in the pool at the bottom. He threw his drenched hair out of his eyes and yelled up to the platform, "Come on down. I'm still alive."

There was a momentary pause, then Melvin watched as the tiny blob that looked like Ryou swooshed down the monstrous slide. Everything seemed to be going normal until a blood-curdling scream echoed from the ride, and seconds later, a limp body plunged into the water. Melvin dove in and drug his lover ashore as the duelists on the floor crowded around them. He smoothed the hair off of Ryou's face and sighed in relief when he noticed he was conscious. "Ryou, what happened? We heard you scream."

"My… my toe. It got caught on a crack in the slide… I think it's broken."

"A stubbed toe? Is that really why we're all crowded around him like he got shot?" Kaiba sneered. Melvin turned around and punched him in the crotch, and he doubled over in agony.

"Seto, that's insensitive," Kisara chastised, kneeling down beside her brother and taking his hand. "It's going to be alright, Ryou. We'll get you to the infirmary as soon as possible."

Melvin pushed his arms under Ryou's body and carefully lifted him. "I've got you. No need to worry about walking."

"The infirmary is this way," Kisara said, and led the entire procession of Ryou's friends there. Kaiba remained on his side on the deck, his teeth clenched in pain.

…

"It's just a sprain," the doctor diagnosed, "It should stop hurting by the morning."

"Will I be able to duel?" Ryou squeaked.

The doctor smiled. "Yes, but to make sure, you should stay off your feet, or at least this foot. Don't put too much pressure on it or it will take longer to heal. You should be more worried about sunburn – with your pale complexion, you're twice as likely to get it as your tan friend here."

"Thanks, doc," Melvin said, picking Ryou up and carrying him out of the room. The others had all dispersed except for Kisara. "Where do you want to go, Ryou?"

"I think I need a nap," Ryou replied. He turned his head and smiled at his sister, "Thank you for sticking up for me. You didn't have to do that."

Kisara stroked his forehead. "I'm your big sister. I have to protect you. I love you, Ryou, even if it seems like I'm hard on you sometimes."

Ryou closed his eyes. "I'm sorry for screaming at you. You caught me off guard, is all. I mean, you should have told me what you were doing from the beginning instead of lying to me. I would have understood."

Kisara averted her eyes. "I was ashamed of what you might think of me if you'd known. I want you to respect me as your responsible, big sister. I just didn't want to confuse you."

"Kisara, I understand. You're in love. It happens. You don't have to hide who you are from me. I might not want all the details, but I want to know that you are happy, and if Kaiba makes you happy, I don't care what you do with him."

"Ryou, you're the sweetest little brother a girl could have. I'm sorry I didn't trust you. I should keep you in my life rather than hide it from you."

Ryou nodded. He lay in Melvin's arms quietly for a moment as the three of them walked into the elevator. Finally, Ryou spoke. "There's something I need to tell you, Kisara. A confession, if you will." He took a deep breath. "Melvin and I are dating. We've been friends for some time, and he protects me from bad people and makes me feel better when I'm upset. He's sweet and he loves me, and I love him too."

Kisara smiled at him. "I know. I can see it in the way you look at each other. You'll be good for each other, I know it. I'm happy that you found someone who makes you happy, brother." She turned her attention to Melvin, "But if you ever hurt him, I'll make sure you pay with your limbs and favorite appendage."

Melvin chuckled. "I will never hurt Ryou, I promise." The elevator doors opened, and Melvin stepped out with Ryou in tow.

Kisara waved, saying, "I'll see you two at lunch. I'm going to make sure Seto isn't permanently injured." The doors closed and Melvin continued to their room.

"I like your sister," Melvin confessed, "She can be forceful when she needs to be."

Ryou smirked. "Yes, my sister is very flexible. She can be sweet, but she can also be cruel. I think that's why she's been such an effective older sister."

Melvin pushed open the room door and carried Ryou inside, shutting the door with his foot before walking across the room and laying Ryou down on the bed. He hopped over him and landed on the other side of the bed with a bounce, stretching himself out and getting comfortable. "Would you like to change out of your wet clothes before taking your nap, or would you rather soak your sheets?"

"I'll change. Can you hand me my pajama pants?"

"Of course, beautiful Ryou." He crossed the room and took their two pairs of pants out of the drawer. When he turned around to hand over the bottoms, Ryou was completely naked. He covered his eyes reflexively, and turned around again. "Sorry. You should have warned me."

"Warned you? I did it on purpose. I thought you… you know. I thought you might want to… fool around."

Melvin uncovered his eyes. "Fool around? But I thought you wanted to take it slow?"

"We will take it slow. But we have to start somewhere. Don't you want to… start?"

Melvin turned to face Ryou. He took in his white, naked body, lingering on a particular spot. "I… I've never… I don't know what to do."

"Then we're in the same boat." Ryou patted the bed beside him, giving him an encouraging smile. "Just relax, lay back, and be with me for a while without anything hiding us from each other. That's all I want, at least for today. As you said, tournaments are for serious injury, not serious romance."

Melvin looked down at the clothes in his hands, then decidedly dropped them and pulled off his swim trunks. He crawled onto the bed and laid on his back next to Ryou. "This is the first time I've exposed myself to anyone. It feels strange, but in a good way." He gazed up at the ceiling awkwardly, just as Ryou was doing. They lay in silence for a moment. Then simultaneously, they reached out and took each other's hands. They glanced at each other and shared a brief smile before gluing their eyes back to the ceiling.

"This isn't what I expected," Ryou said, "I thought it would be a lot more romantic."

"You forget we're both virgins. There's no way we would have gone right into being comfortable naked with each other. Marik said it takes time."

"Hmm. Bakura doesn't seem like the sort of person who would wait for his boyfriend to get comfortable before jumping into bed with him."

"Bakura isn't. But Marik needed time, and since Bakura loves him so much – no matter how vehemently he denies it – he was willing to give Marik the time."

"I never knew that," Ryou said, "I just assumed they hit it off immediately and that they'd been intimate since the beginning."

"That's because you never talked to Marik about it. Bakura wouldn't tell you because he has too much pride. Marik, however, doesn't care about looking macho. He also tells me everything, and I mean everything."

Ryou giggled. "That sounds like a conversation I'm glad I'm not a part of."

Melvin chuckled, "Yes, it was a bit much for Marik to tell his six-year-old brother, but mentally I'm the same age he is."

Ryou chuckled. "I think I prefer just talking to you in the nude. It's a lot less pressure than… doing other nude things. Taking it slow is fun."

Melvin nodded. "We'll do couple things someday, Ryou. Rushing is never good for the relationship. Any children's show will prove it to you."

They lay in silence for a while, content to bask in each other's company. Then Ryou sighed. "I suppose we should get dressed for lunch. And we should tell Bakura and Marik that our feud with Kisara is over. We wouldn't want them doing something foolish to set her off again."

"Right. By the way, Kisara does have her own room outside of Kaiba's, right?"

"I think so. Why?"

"Oh, no reason. But if she asks, I was with you all day and I never left your side, understand?"

Ryou rolled his eyes. "I'll claim you, but I'm not lying for Bakura."

"I wouldn't ask you to."

A/N: I know I'm a horrible tease. But would you love me any other way?