Edited in 2016


Wasn't it just wonderful to sit down with a friend, calm down and have some coffee? Actual coffee, in a small coffee shop not far from the Kame Game Shop.

"Thanks for coming. Even if it's this early and all." Ryou pulled off a smile, directing it to Yuugi who was sitting opposite to him in the small table next to a window. Yuugi returned the smile hesitantly, looking tired, his hair was messier than usually.

"Of course I came when you sounded so... odd over the phone yesterday."

"I did? Oh. Well, I was just a bit..." What? He had been more than a bit out of it yesterday, but he wasn't completely sure why. It was as if something was nagging him in the back of his conscious mind. "I just wanted to... chat," Ryou gave as his half-assed reason for his behavior. It wasn't a right out lie but it wasn't the truth either, and it was a small miracle that the youth managed to lift the corner of his mouth into something he hoped to look like a smile.

Yuugi frowned for a second before his face brightened up again. "I was trying to do my homework when you called, actually, because I was thinking about spending most of the weekend with the gang. Hey, do you have any plans for the weekend? For today?"

"I might have..." Ryou was supposed to spend time with Mariku, if memory served him right. Though, they didn't have anything planned yet.

"If you don't have much to do, you can always hang out with us," Yuugi said with a smile.

"Thanks... But I should ask Mariku if... I... can..." Ryou grasped what he was saying during the last few words that left his mouth without him thinking them through. He looked down in his cup, frowning to himself and his own weird choice of words. It wasn't like he needed to ask permission to spend time with his friend and said friend's friends.

"Um, Ryou?"

Yuugi's words fell on deaf ears. Ryou knew for sure that he liked spending time with Yuugi. He wasn't so sure about his friends but they seemed alright, based on the short meeting with them. But he also knew that Mariku didn't like Yuugi, nor his friends, and now Ryou had to wonder if it would be safe, for Yuugi, to hang out with him.

"Ryou?"

"It's not his decision anyway," Ryou muttered under his breath. And wasn't it true that, in a way, Mariku had placed a claim on him in front of Yuugi already? Everything should be alright now.

"Ryou! Are you in there?" Yuugi waved a hand in front of Ryou's face, getting his attention.

"Ah... Sorry, I..." Ryou scratched the back of his head. "Were you, um, saying something?" he questioned, feeling awkward about having spaced out. He had come here to be with Yuugi but his thoughts were on someone else entirely.

Yuugi shook his head, sighing. "That's ok," he sent a worried frown at Ryou's way. "But... that person you're with, Mariku, he isn't... I mean, you're with him because you want to be and not... because..." Yuugi glanced between Ryou and his coffee cup before taking a deep breath and fully facing the other once again; eyes firm as if trying to see the answer from Ryou's reaction. "You're not forced into anything, are you?"

"No!" Ryou exclaimed, getting the attention of the few customers, which made him lower his voice and sink on his seat. "O-of course I'm not. W-Whatever makes you think that?"

"I meant no offense," Yuugi raised his palms into a calming gesture, "It was just a thought, and I'm sure that you would leave him if things started to get... weird. Not that I assume that they will but, you know." Hetook a drink of his coffee, but kept a close eye on Ryou while doing it.

Ryou frowned, following Yuugi's example and sipping his drink, turning his gaze to the window and the world outside. He had just wanted some company and a nice chat but instead he got an interrogation that didn't serve to ease his mind. And please; when weren't things "weird" with Mariku? Was it that bad if things got a bit on the weird side? It hadn't bothered him so far. But maybe, on some subconscious level, Ryou knew that he wouldn't leave Mariku even if things got a notch weirder than they were. Mariku wouldn't leave him or let him just walk out, that was for sure. His frown deepened at the thought of someone else being in control of his life, and he decided that the pressuring silence had gone on long enough.

"Enough about me, how are you?" Ryou asked, voice light even though his mind felt heavy. It was better if they didn't talk about him.

"Me? My life isn't nearly as interesting as yours is."

Ryou blinked. His life was interesting now? He guessed it was. "Yeah, interesting..." Ryou stirred the remaining liquid in his cup. Funny how his life had gone from the most boring and uninteresting thing, to the latest favorite topic of every conversation. "But you mentioned something about your friends and hanging out, so..." Ryou tried again, silently begging Yuugi to talk about himself.

"Oh, right." Yuugi took the hint and Ryou was grateful of that. "We're not doing anything special, they're coming over I think, and if you're not too busy with your lover, you can join us."

If Ryou had had coffee in his mouth, he would have choked on it because of Yuugi's choice of words. "Busy with..?"

"Yes, you know, like going on a date." The other gave Ryou a look. "What did you think I meant?"

"Nothing! We're not getting busy... I mean, being busy, maybe but... uh..." He needed to get out of here, out of this situation. "This weekend is... not good, maybe some other time." Ryou forced a polite smile and got up, searching his pockets for money. "Here, my share." He shoved some random coins to Yuugi and damned himself from having an imagination while preparing for his mad dash out of the coffee shop. "Nice talking to you bye!"

Yuugi was left sitting there when Ryou swiftly walked out the door and down the street. At least he managed not to run, but... since when had he fled from his problems? The thought almost made him go back, but the fresh, cool morning air! What a relief it was to just get out! Air!

Ryou stopped on his tracks. It was so relieving to get out; some of his problems were just blown away by the wind and by the fact that he no longer needed to deal with the situation.

To get out...

He gave a glance to the direction he had come from, contemplating on going back and spilling everything about what had been going on, about his Mariku, about... "Yes," Ryou nodded as a silent decision formed, but he couldn't carry it out now, not after just walking away from Yuugi like he had. There was someone he had to confront about it first; not to ask a permission to do it, but to inform of what he was going to do.

He was going to tell his dad and Yuugi about... everything. It was the course of action that felt right to him because it was wrong to keep the ones he cared about completely in the dark. They could endanger themselves by doing something stupid if they didn't know, and it ate him up inside. Though, he was sort of scared of how Mariku would react. The guy wasn't the most stable person on the planet and, yes, he still scared Ryou on so many levels; on all the levels that weren't insanely fascinated or attracted, at least.

Ryou began to walk again as he was starting to get weird looks from people passing by. He had found out where Mariku worked on weekend days and it was a lot closer than where he lived, and this was urgent, so that's where Ryou decided to make his way to. He would rather see the other face to face than to tell about his plans over the phone, and perhaps it would be safer to do in a public place.

xxx

Yuugi watched as his friend practically ran down the street, farther and father away from him, and then stopped suddenly. A couple of people passed by blocking his view and he turned his eyes on the money Ryou had thrown at him. It was enough to pay for Ryou's cup of coffee, but that wasn't what worried him.

There was just something in the way the other acted that got him on his toes; something had changed after... after... When had it been? Not long after they had met and not long before he had been introduced to this Mariku person.

Ryou might be in some sort of trouble and Yuugi had no idea how to help him. He had tried to get Ryou out with the gang but that hadn't worked. He didn't want to butt into Ryou's business too much; that would only drive the other further away. What should he do?

Maybe Anzu would know. She just seemed to know this kind of things about people. Must be some girl thing, woman's intuition perhaps. If he could somehow ask without giving away too many details, everything would probably work out for the better.

The thought of calling to Anzu always made his palms sweat, whether it was for advise or otherwise. It was silly, really. They had been friends for so long; he didn't need to be nervous! And yet... Yuugi shook his head in an attempt to put his own issues aside and went to pay for the drinks.

xxx

Upon arriving to work, Mariku knew that this wouldn't be his ordinary, boring day of having to care about the needs of some random grocery shopping people.

The pleasant, but unexpected, surprise flashed but couldn't otherwise be seen from his face. Mariku dismounted his motorcycle, starting his approach on Ryou, who was leaning lightly on the buildings wall, looking around. Mariku noticed the light frown the boy wore but wasn't expecting it to intensify when Ryou spotted him. There was something so determinate in the frown that it made Mariku rise an eyebrow in curiosity. Now, what could have brought this on?

"Good morning," Mariku greeted, mouth threatening to from into a smirk when Ryou's determination faltered ever so slightly. "What owes me this pleasure?"

"We need to talk," Ryou told, regathering almost all of his previous attitude.

Hmm... This seemed important. "We'll talk after work." And with that, Mariku turned to walk through the shop door but his arm was grabbed, making him stop and turn his eyes towards the paler teen, whose frown was nearly twisted into a glare.

"No. This is important, don't just walk away like that."

No? Don't? Mariku's usual uncaring look changed into that of suddenly built up anger, eyebrows arching, eyes narrowing and jaw tensing. Fear flashed in the brown depths staring back at him and the hold on his arm lightened.

"Do not give me orders, Ryou. I told you once before; don't tell me what I can't do," he reminded, voice so cold that it could have chilled a polar bear.

Ryou flinched, but his fearful expression turned into a sad one and his hold on Mariku's arm changed to a gentle touch. "...Please, couldn't I speak with you sooner?"

This took Mariku back. He had thought that Ryou would back away, run, hide, maybe yell, through a fit or cry, but instead Ryou gazed at him like that, touched him without malice and requested, not ordered... For a moment Mariku had not a clue what to do.

"Y-yes, well..." Did he just stutter? "That... I could..." Mariku had to pause. Less talking and more looking away from those goddamn eyes! He faced forward and carefully brushed Ryou's hand off of his arm because where the touch was calming, it was also distracting. "I have a short break; we could meet during it," Mariku informed, feeling more collected now that he had no contact to the boy, except for the feeling that the other was still there, looking at him and- Just being there!

"Okay," Ryou agreed, voice so cheery all of a sudden that Mariku glanced at him against his better judgment.

The boy had a small smile on his face, but it wasn't one of his usual, kind smiles. It was like he had just made a great discovery; something that amused him and relieved him at the same time, making him seem more relaxed.

"What?"

The blasted smile widened. "Oh nothing," was the lighthearted answer, accompanied by a hand wave that somehow magically landed on Mariku's chest and Ryou leaned in to give his lips a quick peck. Too quick if one asked him, but the look Ryou gave him afterwards could have melted an iceberg.

"I'm just glad that you're only human too."

Mariku blinked at the odd statement, not sure if he should be insulted by it, as Ryou let his hand slip away and backing off a few steps before turning to walk away.

As he stood there a few minutes, Mariku realized that this was not just an obsession anymore.

It was weakness. One weakness that could be mutual and gave the power to destroy with great ease. Damn Ryou for making him feel.

xxx

Even with the resent discovery of Mariku's humanity, Ryou was still on edge about this. It wasn't the reaction that worried him anymore. It was more a question of what, or how much, he would share about this situation with his father and Yuugi. He had thought that he would just tell everything, but now, when he had had time to think it through, he wasn't so sure.

Wouldn't it be a terrible shock to his friend and family to hear the whole truth? Ryou was starting to think that it would be better to edit it up a bit, for others' sake.

And maybe for their own.

Ryou was barely focusing on where he was going, too deep in thought. This was the direction the shop was..? He looked around and concluded that it had to be; his sense of direction couldn't be that bad. He had only walked around for a bit, while waiting for Mariku's break and, Ryou looked around, actually that building right ahead had to be it. At least it looked familiar so he decided to head towards it, walking in a quicker pace.

Sure enough, the person he had been waiting for stepped out, a paper cup in hand. Mariku spotted him from the corner of his eye and took a sip from his cup, turning his eyes ahead again. That glance and just the way the other held himself made a small alarm bell go off in Ryou's mind. He couldn't pin point the reason why, not exactly, and to the common eye the behavior wouldn't seem threatening, but there was something off that made Ryou slow his pace. This "common eye" hadn't spent as much time with Mariku as Ryou had, so what did it know anyway?

The boy soon reached the other, but before he could get a word out of his mouth, he was beaten to it.

"What was so important?"

The question was straight to the point, but that in itself didn't bother Ryou, not as much as the fact that Mariku wasn't looking at him. It made him feel uneasy how he was being ignored and it never spelled good when the other refused to look at him. And, besides, Ryou had the impression that Mariku liked looking at him.

"...Is there something wrong?" Ryou questioned. Maybe he had done or said something. Yes, that must be it; perhaps Mariku was upset because Ryou had managed to convince him to meet with him earlier than he had wanted to or-

"You didn't come all the way here just to ask that," was the statement Ryou received as an answer and he took it as a 'yes'.

"Well, no, I didn't but..." he trailed off with a sigh; this felt terribly like talking to a brick wall, or maybe volcano was a better metaphor. It was like talking to a volcano; one could never know if it was hearing you out but it could always erupt.

Ryou took a calming breath before opening his yap again. "The reason I... I want to tell my father and Yuugi about... this all." He almost used the word 'relationship', but changed his mind, none too sure if it counted as one and didn't think this was the right time to bring that matter up.

The cup that had been on its way to Mariku's lips, halted. "'This all'?," he echoed. "What a wonderful choice of words, Ryou. And why is it that you want to blow all up now? Maybe it's your way of saying that you wish to dump me?"

That stung. It hurt much worse than it should have, seeing how they weren't really... He wasn't really... in love with... "It's not like that at all!" Ryou surprised himself by yelling and clapped a hand over his mouth out of reflex. "I mean... that's not what I..," he mumbled from behind his hand. At least his exclamation had gotten Mariku's undivided attention.

"What do you think telling those people about everything would achieve?" Mariku asked, voice still cool, but eyes not as much so. "Your dear father would most likely try to lock me up for ever even glancing at you, and Yuugi would never leave you alone again, not to mention his little friends who would probably 'help you out' as well."

For some reason, Ryou found this funny. Not like 'hahaaa, that's so funny' kind of way, but more ' oh the sweet irony' sort of way. "And you assume that they won't without knowing? My father thinks that I have some sort of issues already and even offered to come back early, and as for Yuugi... He thinks that you're forcing me in this, even though you wouldn't have to because I want to be with you, but I was just worried about how much power you have over me and it's getting difficult to keep this from, you know, my dad and Yuugi mostly because I care about them and wouldn't want them to butt in when it's not good from them. And I was sort of worried that you would harm them, I'm sorry, but I guess I have trouble trusting you since you're not the most stable person and I'm not sure if I should when you're all confusing and I can't figure you out even though I try! You know I really felt bad last night and I think it was uncertainty so I called Yuugi and now I wish I had called you instead because now I made him worry again and that's not good, but I don't know how I feel or how you feel and what this is and-"

"Ryou."

He paused and refocused on Mariku, having been pacing and waving his hands as he ranted. He had gotten carried away there, but now he felt so much better. Mariku wore a smirk, but it had a softer quality to it that made Ryou's heart flutter for reasons unknown to him.

"You shouldn't go too long without breathing; I heard it's bad for you."

Heat rose to his cheeks as Ryou realized that he hadn't been breathing, first because of his ranting and then because of Mariku. He had started to feel a bit dizzy. "Sorry... I didn't mean to rant," Ryou apologized with a small smile.

"Don't apologize. Now I don't have to figure you out all by myself. I should have know that you were worried about that brat's and your father's safety..."

Ryou was quick to get out of the mine field. "I also know that you don't like them... I wish you could get along, but if you can't then... I think it would be better if they knew when to stay away..." Like how Ryou was learning what to do to prevent his volcano from starting to spit lava on the poor, unsuspecting mankind.

"Is that so... We should get together to talk about this matter, but now, I must get back to work." Mariku gulped from his cup and threw it away. "I'll come over after I get out of here," then he paused like he had just remembered something, "...if that's ok with you," Mariku added.

Ryou blinked, pleasantly surprised that his opinion was asked, and smiled softly. "I'll see you then."