Love me so Tender
Domino City Arc
A Chiba. kun and starrrrii story!

Last chapter of Love me so Tender? OH SAY IT ISN'T SO! D:

Thank you to the readers and the people who have stuck to the story so far! :) I never would have imagined that this story would get more than a thousand hits just for May! Seriously! It makes my heart well up with joy to see that you guys really took the time to read through it. You cannot imagine just how much I appreciate your views AND reviews! :3

I would like to dedicate this chapter to my wonderful reviewers: Partners-N-Crime, even though she has been busy for the past few weeks; Darth Mudkip, who makes me smile everytime I read the reviews; Regal Angel for giving me enough constructive criticism to edit the stories more... And make it more read-able for you guys; Kitsune Demon Girl for being really supportive; and of course, River Tear for leaving really awesome reviews. :) I love you guys! :3

I want to hear from you guys too! Drop a review and tell us what you think of the story! I also want to know if you want me to bold the conversation parts to make it easier to read? Or not? Please let me know! -getting really obsessed with formatting the story-

YGO is not ours, blah blah blah. We do own the plot though... Blah blah blah.

I guess that's it for this heart felt Author's Note. After this last chapter of the Domino City Arc... Well, let's just say that I finally said which arc comes next.

Enjoy!

Chapter 21: A Temporary Truce?

Soon enough, they were in their respective classrooms, getting ready for a rather long day ahead. Ryou twirled a pen in his head, looking at the board before looking at the view outside the window. He just could not believe that he was actually shaking- trembling even as he begged for Bakura not to leave. He shook his head lightly; his face flushed the moment he remembered what occurred simply hours ago. 'The Millennium Ring does not accept me as its owner. That's probably the reason why it started to hurt again. When I met up with you, I started to learn how to use it all over again but it hurts now because... You're not here anymore. You're not a part of my soul.'

The boy sighed, looking at his notes. Little notes on the subject matter were scattered on the otherwise blank paper it was simply done to keep Ryou preoccupied. He was fighting his senses not to suddenly leave his seat and simply snatch the item away from the boy next to him. He took a side glance at Yuugi, narrowing his eyes when he saw the familiar puzzle around his neck. It was so close- nearly at his grasp and yet, he just could not take it. It felt rather infuriating, knowing that he had to simply satisfy himself by waiting for Bakura's plan. In order to free Zorc Necrophades, they first had to open the door to the World of Memories- particularly, the memories of the pharaoh, right?

'Kura...' he thought playfully, trying to lift up his spirits even just for a little while. Messages of rather not-so innocent nature were immediately sent to the thief king- particularly, things that they could do when he reached home. It seems like the white-haired boy was doing a different type of planning after all.

Bakura listened with detached amusement when Ryou started speaking with him, and didn't respond right away. Where he was sitting down, he was smirking, and in the back of his mind (unbeknownst to Ryou) he was wondering just how much he could get away with right now. If he tried to say something similar, would he accidentally end up causing some sort of reaction? Even if he did, Bakura knew it wouldn't really be much of an accident. He laughed. Yadonushi, you're so mean, telling me all this while I still have to wait for you. I might not even be able to wait now...

He sent a few more words over the mind link, many of them being oddly dirty and suggestive. Bakura wondered just how Ryou would be reacting to all of this, but didn't bother asking. He was having fun, and this was the next best thing to actually doing what they were talking about anyway. Though he did wonder what was going on at the boy's school...

Yami looked at the marks on the boy that seemed to have multiplied even more. He gazed at his partner's neck as well, wondering as to what it would look like if he were to do such deed. The pharaoh gulped at the thought, hating himself for procuring such indecent images in his head. His desire for the boy was growing immensely and he did not even know how to satisfy his urge to do things to Yugi Mutou. He was a spirit, after all, and he could not exactly do much. A particular thought entered the pharaoh's mind. The suggestion was only passing by in his head; Suggestions that did not come from his partner nor did it come from his own thoughts. Rather, it came from a voice in the shadows. Now, the pharaoh knew that he should not trust the shadows for they may be looking out for their own benefit. Any failure in this elaborate game would mean death for him and his partner- something that Yami was not going to allow in the first place.

All he knew was that the Spirit of the Ring was back- but it seemed as if collecting the items was not its number one goal.

Once again, the suggestion surged through his head- a suggestion that was quite questionable but it was promising at the same time. 'Aibou, we can get to his other self. We can use Bakura as a proper leverage against the Spirit of the Ring. Do you remember the Battle City tournament before, right? If Bakura would be put in danger, the Spirit of the Ring jumps at the opportunity to protect his host. We can use this to our advantage and destroy him once and for all.'

Of course, he was concerned about Ryou as well but their safety came first. 'Or at least we can prove that the Spirit of the Ring is truly back. Aibou, we should do it as soon as possible. After school, bring the boy with you. We will not hurt him to the best of our abilities, Yuugi. We just need to know who- or what- we're dealing with here. We're keeping ourselves at a disadvantage when we stay in the dark like this.'

Inside the Millennium Puzzle, the dark lord was just smirking. His little pawn was being such a little deviant now, is he? This boy- this Ryou Bakura- was making his thief king weak. Weaknesses cannot be present if Bakura were to summon the dark lord perfectly. Bakura had a lot of tasks to do and collecting the Millennium Items was only the beginning of everything. Maybe, he could accomplish more than what he's planning by getting rid of this boy. First, he would be able to get rid of Bakura's distractions. Also, he was going to sever the relationship between the pharaoh and the most important thing for him. Weakening the pharaoh like that would make it easier for him to cloak the world in darkness. The dark lord was slowly getting excited over this. The boy had already served his purpose, providing the Millennium Items and momentary pleasure to the thief king but he was becoming more trouble than he was worth. It was time to get rid of the unwanted characters in the dark lord's plans and of course, Ryou Bakura was at the top of his list.

Meanwhile, Yuugi was listening to his Yami, glancing at him every now and then. He had noticed that the same look on the spirit's face from yesterday was back again, only this time it looked like he was actually trying to restrain himself. Yuugi couldn't help but blush, because he thought he recognized the look as being one he himself wore when thinking rather lewd things about his Yami. Before he could even ask what was wrong with his other self, said person began to speak to him. About, just as he had predicted, Bakura. Yuugi sighed quietly, hoping nobody noticed that he was zoning out again. He does seem a little preoccupied today. He isn't even taking notes like usual, and he keeps looking over here. I wonder why? But he looks really happy, too. I wonder if he and Marik are...The boy trailed off, blushing himself now. It wasn't proper to think about them like that! And besides, his Yami didn't seem to be on that track anyway.

I don't want to hurt Bakura-kun! He protested. Really, Yami's behavior was starting to shock him. Just the other day he had been sure the Spirit of the Ring was gone! But given what Marik had said, maybe that wasn't the case. And Kaiba seemed suspicious too, on top of that. He sighed internally and closed his eyes. All right, I'll ask him to come over after school. But you're taking over then, all right? I don't want anything to do with this plan if it puts Bakura-kun at risk! And at least tell him what you're going to do. Yuugi had a bad feeling about this, but he trusted his other self more than anyone else in the world. He doubted that the Pharaoh would let any harm come to one of his friends... but there was still that dark feeling in the back of his mind. He had changed, but Yuugi could never forget the time that his other self nearly killed Kaiba to win a game of Duel Monsters. He shuddered at the thought.

At the same time, Ryou was trying his best to control the urge to even brush against himself. 'Just one stroke would be enough,' he thought to himself, almost forgetting about the mind link even for just a second. In bed, his Yami would not usually talk this suggestive. He would not usually say these things that made his toes curl like this. That was probably what made the naughty messages work so much. He parted his lips to sigh a little. 'I want you right now- more than you even know,' he said through the mind link and just when he was about to say something that could partially push Bakura off the edge, the sound signifying the end of class resonated within the classroom.

After class had ended, just as Yuugi spotted Marik at the door, he stood up and walked over to Ryou with a smile on his face. "Bakura-kun!" He greeted happily. On the inside he kind of felt bad for deceiving his classmate. "After school today, do you want to come to the game shop? We got some new Monster World pieces in, and I know you like that game, so if you wanted to come look at them, feel free to!" That, at least, wasn't a lie. Hopefully Yami would tell Ryou what he was planning, and if the white-haired youth agreed to it, then everything would be okay. But if not... well, at least they could spend some time together. Kaiba had so rudely taken the boy away from him the other day, so they hadn't had the proper time to play any games at all.

Ryou's face was completely flushed when he stood up. There were new monster world items in the game shop? But, when the boy was there yesterday, he failed to notice anything new inside their shop- save for some board games and some cards. But, it would not harm him to go, right? Besides, Bakura wouldn't mind if he was going to the shop, right?

"Marik is welcome to come along too, of course!" He didn't ask his other self about Marik, but he hoped it would be okay for the Egyptian to come to. He had been the one to give them the hint about the Spirit of the Ring being back, and besides that, it really did look as if he and Ryou were an item. Yuugi didn't want to separate them, after all. As much as he didn't want to say it out loud, he found them a rather cute couple. The thought made him blush; what made him blush more, though, were the kinds of feelings he would get around those two acting all couple-like together. Sometimes he would imagine he and his Yami being that close... but he quickly dismissed those thoughts. It would be impossible outside of his dreams, anyway, considering that they shared a body. If his Yami did have his own body, well... that would be different. Yuugi frowned for a split second: something about that didn't sound right, or rather, it sounded a little bit odd. But he didn't know what he was really getting at with his own train of thought, so he left it alone for now. Something wasn't right, though, but he couldn't make the connection between the two ends.

'I'll be getting something after school, Kura. I'll be a little late,' he said through the link before nodding. He felt an arm drape loosely around his shoulder, blushing even more at the sudden contact with the tan boy. If only everyone knew as to why he felt this flustered, then maybe they would easily understand; however, from the point of view of the pharaoh, it seemed like it was a normal thing to do when you're with the person you loved. Soon enough, the bell rang for the last time that day, signifying the end of classes. By the end of the day, Ryou looked so tense and upbeat, causing him to panic slightly. "I'll meet you guys at the gates?" he stuttered, fixing his things at his designated locker. 'B-Bakura-sama... I-I just can't take it anymore. C-Can you please take over Marik even for just a second? I wish to receive a kiss' he requested, hoping that his plead would be answered soon.

The thief had been happy to hear what Ryou was saying and the little slip-up about only needing one stroke. He wondered if things were really that bad on the boy's end or if he was just saying stuff like that to tease him. He hadn't actually used Marik at all today, mainly because he just did not like the thought of using a body that wasn't Ryou's (and Marik had already been changed so that he wouldn't do anything risky to their plans), but he had been glad to take over it to have some sort of contact with his host.

The moment they were already by the gates of the school, a very faint mark of the eye of Horus appeared on the Egyptian's forehead. Soon enough, an arm was around Ryou's waist, tugging him closer before pulling him in a deep kiss. For Bakura, it certainly felt weird, kissing something that wasn't really there. He could feel it through Marik, but at the same time, he couldn't feel it at all.

The boy could not help but moan the moment he felt Marik's lips on his- not for the obvious reasons of course. It was mostly due to his pent-up adrenaline from talking to the thief king all day. Unfortunately for Ryou, he did not have the liberty to simply pull his pants down and let nature do its course. After a good few minutes, the pharaoh cleared his throat, signifying that he was feeling a little bit awkward from the actions done by the two boys- mostly because he wanted to do the same to Yuugi.

I'd rather not take over him next time, He said. Even though Bakura didn't mind it, and he had been glad to have an effect on Ryou from so far away, he was not pleased at all about having to wait even longer for Ryou. What are you picking up, anyway? I'm tired of waiting for you.He hadn't gotten a response, so the thief just had to find a way to occupy himself while he waited. Unfortunately, he knew all too well that if he got frustrated and impatient enough, things could become bad very fast. He had a tendency to be rather destructive when he was bored.

He did not even notice the mark on the Egyptian's forehead, simply looking at the soft skin of his partner. 'Aibou,' he said, almost seductively as he groaned a little. He was not even to catch himself there, simply clearing his throat again before looking away from the blushing boy. 'We should hurry back to the Game Shop. The faster- the better.'Ryou blinked a little the moment they reached the said game shop. What made him somewhat shocked was the fact that they did not go to the game table like they would usually.

The boy was led up towards Yuugi's room, causing Ryou to widen his eyes in shock. He had never been inside another person's room after all. He sat on the boy's bed, looking around for the miniature pieces that Yuugi was talking about. "Where are the monster world pieces, Yuugi?" he said innocently, tilting his head. Of course, Ryou did not notice that it was actually the pharaoh looking down at him and with Marik waiting downstairs for them; his guard was on the down low. "I know that the Spirit of the Ring is here. He would not let anything happen to his beloved host now, would he?" the pharaoh said, his voice sinister. With a little bit of Shadow Magic, he was able to make Marik faint- not really something that he would feel in the morning. By now, the pharaoh had shut off all communication with his partner- he had to do this after all. Yami placed a hand on Ryou's neck, eyes narrowing at the boy. "Come now, Thief. Come out and play."

The voice inside Yami's head was clearly pleased, causing the pharaoh to increase the pressure that he was putting on the white-haired boy's neck. Ryou choked, sending signals of worry and panic over to the thief king and yet he could not say anything. He was in a state of shock after all and every time he would actually have an idea of what he could say to the thief king, the pharaoh would only tighten the grip around his neck. His methods were crude but at the same time, it was not as messy as having a blade pressed against his neck, right. 'Can't... breathe!' he managed to squeak out through the mind link. When he felt as if he was about to lose his consciousness, the pharaoh would let go of him. This point would usually give Ryou a chance to get away from him but the moment he would take a deep breath, the process would repeat. The pharaoh managed to pin him down, maintaining that death grip around the boy's neck. The dark lord simply laughed at the sight of the pharaoh doing the job for him. Ryou was in a vicious cycle of getting strangled and let go and then strangled again. 'K-Kura..!'

Bakura was bored- really bored. Just before he could actually do anything remotely destructive, something jolted through the thief's mind. Or rather, he felt something get cut off. His mind link? No, he could still feel things coming from Ryou. Bakura grabbed the Millennium Rod quickly, testing it out only to find that Marik was out cold. He growled to himself, starting to panic a little bit, if only because he could tell something was happening to Ryou. Wake up, damn it!he screamed in his head, and oddly enough, Marik's eyes opened. Bakura hadn't realized that he could bring someone out of a somewhat-comatose state. He knew he could lift sleep with the Rod, but this? This was very good.

One quick look around told the thief that they were in the Game Shop. He didn't have any time to waste - apparently, Ryou couldn't breathe, and now he was calling out for his Yami. Don't worry. Stop panicking, I'm coming. Without even thinking about it, the thief took off running out of the house and to the game shop.

Ryou could feel as if he was slowly losing consciousness. He could feel that he was slipping into a deep sleep and who knows when he would wake up. The grips tightened more compared to the grip before that and eventually, the pharaoh was not letting go of Ryou already. The boy fidgeted around, his arms and legs flailing as he tried his best to push the weight off of him.

When he arrived there, the door was unsurprisingly locked. He quickly picked it, scoffing at how predictable the Pharaoh was (but really he wasn't if he was doing what Bakura thought). He quickly made his way up the stairs, where he heard noises coming from through Marik. Now he was hearing them for himself. Bakura stopped there, though, unsure of how to proceed. Something had to be wrong. But he couldn't wait anymore - the thief picked the lock and threw open the door. He was enraged by what he saw before him.

"Pharaoh..." he muttered, smirk forming on his lips despite his fury at the situation."I should have guessed. Let him go - it's me you want, isn't it?"

Soon enough, he felt a loud bang as the door flew open. He could have sworn he saw his own Yami standing by the doorway, but he was not entirely sure. "My… Bakura," he whispered before finally closing his eyes as he fell limp on the bed. He was still breathing though- ragged by it was still there. The pharaoh stood up and grabbed onto the Egyptian, eyes narrow as he stared at the smirking thief king. "Why are you here again? Did we not get rid of you? We already banished your soul in the Shadow Realm!" he exclaimed, glaring at the thief king. He did not know why but he was feeling rather triumphant.

Bakura took a step forward. He knew when he was being challenged, and he wasn't about to back down. Especially not to the damned Pharaoh. Instead of doing something sensible, he just laughed as if he felt sorry for the person in front of him. "The Shadow Realm? What are you talking about, Pharaoh? You should know by now that I can't be contained by that alone. When you're actually a part of the darkness." His eyes narrowed and his smirk only grew until he looked completely murderous. He felt like he should just get it over and done with and slit the Pharaoh's throat right here and now, but he knew he would have to hold back.

Yami held on the Millennium Puzzle before staring at the thief. The pharaoh's eyes were menacing as he looked as if he wanted to kill him. "When will you stop pestering Bakura? The poor boy is already tortured. From the looks of it, you were even taking him against his will!" he exclaimed. Unfortunately for Yami, his idea of what truly happened was totally the opposite.

From his point of view, Marik was being controlled by Bakura all along and that was the reason as to why the Egyptian said they were already going out. Yami thought that the spirit was actually faking everything. It was Battle City all over again! Possibly, the spirit had remnants of his soul within Marik and that was how the thief got back. He snarled at the thief before glaring at him once more. "Stop pestering the poor boy, Spirit! Can't you see that you have caused him great pain and suffering?"

He put a hand to the collar of his coat, pulling it down quickly and laughing madly as he revealed the marks that littered his neck. "Pestering him? Taking him against his will? Pharaoh, you truly are blinded by your own light. Do you think he'd be trying to mark me like this too if I was going against his will? You obviously didn't hear what he just said!" He took a few more steps forward, pulling his knife out of his pocket although he didn't do anything with it yet except flick it open. "Pain and suffering? You would know all about that, wouldn't you?"

He decided that his knife was unnecessary right now and put it away, but not before flashing it in Yuugi's direction. "I should slit your useless little vessel's throat right now. But it's just as you say... I can't do anything until all the details have been sorted out." He closed the knife, pushing the blade back into the handle by pressing the blunt edge against his leg. For the time being, Bakura turned to Ryou, kneeling next to him. He put a hand out to stroke his hair and brush it out of his eyes, checking to see if he was okay. Unconscious...he thought. With a growl, he moved to lift Ryou up, putting the boy's arms around his neck and hoisting him onto his back. He needed to have his hands mostly free, just in case the Pharaoh did something that would require Bakura to physically attack or restrain said spirit.

By now, the dark lord was utterly happy. The look on Yuugi's face as he stared at the pharaoh assaulting his friend like that? Absolutely priceless! He could not help but smirk as his gaze fell on the Millennium Puzzle. The thief would find it rather impossible to grab hold of the said item now that his disguise has been blown. He smirked, looking at Bakura as he watched what he was going to do. After all, it would be his decision as to what would happen to them now. As for the nuisance, the dark lord has more plans for him now that he has entered the realm of dreams. He could easily toy with the boy's mind in there; however, he could not do it without a Millennium Item on him. He could deal with the boy later but for now, he needed to attend to the more pressing matters at hand. He looked at the pharaoh before smirking lightly. It's about time for him to be cut off from his puppet strings and he should see the effect he had on the poor game-loving boy. The dark lord was quite pleased with what happened in the room.

Yami blinked once or twice the moment Zorc finally let go of his hold on the said pharaoh. 'Aibou... I'm sorry for hurting Bakura. But he's alright. You don't have to worry about him. He'll be fine,' he said through the link, feeling utterly devastated that he had done something this... evil to the boy. He let go of the thief king before walking towards the box that previously held the pieces of the Millennium Items. "I assume that you already have the six Millennium Items that you need in order to open the gates. I have the Three Egyptian God Cards that are needed to get there, and of course, the Millennium Puzzle," he muttered. He knew he was making a deal with the devil- or at least close to it- but he did not have much of a choice. His eyes narrowed down at the thief, "We can call a temporary truce and get there together. I know that you have your elaborate battle plan prepared but you cannot carry it out without your stage. Am I right?" he asked, wagging the cards in front of the thief king.

The thief growled. "Get a move on, Pharaoh. You know where to go, right? Or am I going to have to do all of this myself?" He didn't trust this person at all, so he wasn't going to let Yuugi out of his sight. Bakura made a small signal to Marik so that the Egyptian knew to follow him and keep an eye on Ryou in case something should happen. Said Egyptian nodded and came to Bakura's side, glaring at the Pharaoh as he moved. "I don't even have much use for him anymore," Bakura mumbled. He planned on just leaving Marik behind once he got to his home and retrieved the Millennium Items. Right now the tomb keeper was just an annoyance, one that Bakura really could do without right now.

Yuugi continued to watch what was going on from next to his own body. He had remained silent this whole time, horrified at what was going on before him. He had trusted his Yami; only to watch him nearly kill his friend... something had to be wrong! His other self wasn't like this! And Yuugi knew he would never have agreed to said spirit's plan if he had known this would be how it turned out. He was shocked by the fact that Bakura and Ryou had separate bodies (and kind of jealous despite how angry and scared he was over what his other self had done), but that couldn't compare at all to the hurt he felt at first being shoved in his soul room, then allowed out somehow just to watch what was going on.

He looked away sadly, and finally spoke up when the thief king had rolled his eyes and started going downstairs. We... should probably follow him... if we want to get rid of him and help Bakura-kun, I mean... in truth, Yuugi wasn't sure he wanted to go through with this at all anymore. If what the Spirit of the Ring had said just moments ago was true, about all this being what Ryou wanted... then why should they interfere? And if they did anyway, then who was to say that he and his own Yami would be together after all this? He didn't want to give his other self up yet. He never did, really. But in spite of his worries, he decided that he would just let fate play itself out. He closed his eyes and let his false form disappear, letting the Pharaoh take full command for now.

Ryou shifted a little in his sleep but made no further move after that. When sleep overcame him, he could not help but linger in the moment. He failed to sleep the night before, after all, so the opportunity of sleeping was there for the taking. They found themselves in front of the large stone slab. The glass door was immediately opened and the Millennium Items were placed in their respective slots. Yami held the cards in front of the large stone slab, creating a large flash of light. Soon enough, the four souls were pulled in the Memory World, leaving Marik behind. The Egyptian simply stared up at the Stone Slab, silently waiting for Bakura and Ryou to return. He had no doubt that the thief king could easily overcome these trials and the tomb keeper knew that the pharaoh would soon meet with his demise.

PREVIEW

Love me so Tender
Egypt Arc
A Chiba. kun and starrrrii story!

When his eyes opened, Bakura could not believe where he was. Everything looked so familiar, but at the same time, it was just so foreign and strange to him that he couldn't even fathom what was happening. But soon enough, he managed to get a grip on the situation. He was in ancient Egypt... and that wasn't all. When he looked down at his hands, they weren't the same small, soft ones he had when he had possessed his host's body, nor were they the ones he had come to get used to when he had gotten a body of his own. One of his hands moved up to touch his own face, underneath his right eye. Sure enough, there was some uneven skin there. A scar. Just like he remembered it.

He let out a short breath of air, just barely managing not to laugh hysterically. He was the Thief King again. It was only after a moment of crazed laughter that he finally realized that he wasn't alone. Nearby, there was a body lying on the sand. Bakura instantly recognized who it was, and without a word picked up his Yadonushi's body and carried it to the nearest building, which he soon discovered was an inn of some sort. He had told the person behind the small counter to keep the boy he was carrying out of the way of some of these people. When he had refused, Bakura had simply removed one of the gold trinkets he was wearing and offered it as payment. That had been the end of that.

For a while, Bakura had just lingered around and eaten his fill while waiting. He had gotten into a conversation with some of the other people staying here (obviously thieves as well, though none of them were nearly as successful as him if their appearance was anything to go off of), even going so far as to threaten a few of them and even pay a couple off to leave him alone. It wasn't hard for him to get what he wanted here, something he was thankful for. The less trouble, the better. At least until Ryou woke up, and then they could leave.

When he noticed said boy coming into the crowded room, everything fell silent. Bakura stood up and held out his hand, waiting for Ryou to take it. If this truly was from his memories, then everything seemed off. His Hikari shouldn't have been here, and he hadn't ever remembered any of these people. Still, the fact that they were here now... that couldn't be changed. "It's about time you woke up," he said, surprised at how his voice sounded somehow. It was as if he hadn't heard it in years, when really it hadn't been long at all. It was strange to think about. A quick glance around the room told Bakura quite clearly that some of the thieves around here were interested in Ryou... or rather, the things that he was wearing. Bakura couldn't quite explain all the jewelry, but he liked it. It was the kind of thing he would have gladly stolen from the tombs of the most respected Pharaoh's just for his Yadonushi. What he didn't like were the stares his Yadonushi were getting. He smirked and walked towards Ryou, putting an arm around the boy's waist before turning to the other patrons of the inn. "Any of you scum even think about touching him and your life will be over before you get the chance. Understood?"