I hadn't originally planned to continue this (it was supposed to be a one-shot yaoi fic) but since people want me to continue, and I want to find out what happens next as well, I'm continuing. ^_^o No yaoi in this chapter, though, sorry.

~

Yugi was exceedingly confused by Bakura's actions, yet he couldn't help worrying when he saw the pained expression on the white-haired boy's face.

"Bakura-kun, SOMETHING is wrong...Please tell me," Yugi pressed, feeling that Ryou's pain would be eased if he spoke about it.

"Come inside," sighed Ryou, knowing that Yugi would probably be unsafe if he remained standing there. Yugi followed his friend inside, instinctively turning towards Ryou's bedroom, where they normally sat.

"No! Not in there," Ryou blushed, fearing that some signs of his earlier activity would still be visible. He didn't want to frighten Yugi, and he also didn't want to have to explain all the details of what had taken place.

"Well, okay," Yugi responded, still not sure exactly what was going on. He followed the taller boy into the kitchen, then seated himself at the table while Ryou set a kettle of water on the stove to boil, wanting to provide some semblance of hospitality towards his friend. Sighing, he accompanied Yugi to the table.

"Yugi, you and your Millennium Puzzle are possibly in grave danger," Ryou intoned, still floundering for an explanation.

"Nothing new there," Yugi responded, trying to be cheerful. He forced a smile onto his face, trying to assure the other boy that he was used to threats.

"Yugi, you don't understand," Ryou responded, his voice growing even more urgent. "Yugi, notice how I'm not wearing my Millennium Ring."

"I thought you wore it under your shirt sometimes."

"Well, not now." Ryou was too worried to be amused. "Yugi, I'm not going to bother you with all the details, but, basically, my darker half has gained a body of his own - a weak, shadow-bound body, but a body nonetheless. He...hurt me, and now he is after you! He wants your Puzzle. He already has the Ring, and now he's got Pegasus's Eye as well. Each Millennium item he gains increases his power! With your Puzzle, he will be well on his way towards his goal of world domination. I'm frightened," Ryou added, his voice breaking slightly on the last syllable.

Yugi frowned. "I think this is something for the other me to handle," he decided. He closed his eyes, probably mentally communicating with his Yami. His Millennium Puzzle shone with energy as his body quickly melted into the shape of his older, slightly taller form. Ryou silently cursed Yugi, jealousy bubbling within him. Yugi and his Yami were teammates, partners. Why couldn't HIS other self be like that?

Yami Yugi smiled, the familiar confident look marking his features. "Do not worry, Bakura. Your darker half cannot harm me physically, and I have no doubt that I can defeat him in a Shadow Game. I did once before, you remember."

"Only because I betrayed him," Ryou responded, sounding a bit wistful.


"Betrayed him...?" Yami Yugi shot him a questioning look. "What you did saved the souls of my friends, as well as yourself."

"Yes, but ever since then, he has never stopped reminding me of my betrayal. Never stopped punishing me...and today..." Ryou looked at the ground, flushing in shame and embarassment. True, Yami Bakura had punished him, but he couldn't deny that there had been at least a sliver of enjoyment in it for him. Probably more than that.

"Bakura..." Yami's eyes probed him, and he blushed deeper. The older incarnation of Yugi was more perceptive than the younger, and he knew he would have a harder time hiding this morning's experiences from him.

"Bakura, I think I know what your Yami did to you, as well as why you did not tell my partner."

"It's not my fault!" Ryou cried defensively. The tea water boiled madly behind them, forgotten.

"I know that, Bakura. I'm not blaming you. I only wish you did not have to suffer like that."

"Don't pity me..." Ryou sniffed slightly, trying to resist the building pressure behind his eyes. "Just worry about yourself, and your lighter half. He wants the Puzzle, and he will stop at nothing to get it. I already told him...I won't let him hurt Yugi. If he tries, he'll have to kill me first!" Ryou's eyes shone with a defiant light.

Yami sighed. "I hope it doesn't come to that," he responded. "It hopefully will not. Yet even if I defeat him in a Shadow Game, a portion of him will undoubtedly survive within the Millennium Ring. Indeed, I sense his presence even within my own Puzzle."

"What?" Ryou cried, alarmed. "In your Puzzle? But, how?"

"You must not remember. It is a pity that you experience such incidences of amnesia when your other half takes over, but such is the nature of the Millennium Items. When Yugi was forced into dueling the possessed Bandit Keith, your Yami was there, watching. I was able to notice all this from my vantage point within the Puzzle, though I was unable to contact Yugi to warn him. Our connection was very weak, since he was not wearing the Puzzle around his neck. I have no memory of what happened after Bandit Keith shattered the puzzle, until Yugi was able to put it back together. Yet when I regained consciousness, I felt your Yami's essence, quietly pulsing within the Puzzle. I do not know exactly what happened, yet I sense that even if his physical body is destroyed, he will not be."

"Agh, why?" Ryou's voice sounded strained, and his rare emotional outburst caused Yami to start in surprise. "Why must this affect us? Why can't Yugi and I be normal Duelists? I only wish my greatest problem was losing Duels! I sometimes feel like nobody understands what we go through, with our Millennium Items. Some who own Items have been corrupted by them, but Yugi and I still try to fight for good. But it's so hard...even Yugi doesn't understand what I go through! You're kind to him, you want the best for him, you try to defend him. My darker half wants nothing more to torment me, to bring me to the edge of death and back again! You were once a great pharaoh. He was nothing more than a tomb robber. He probably even stole some of the treasures dedicated to you after your death."

"Yet you care for him, despite all his failings, is that not correct?" Yami stood and busied himself with pouring the tea, turning his back to the white-haired boy. A tear slid down Ryou's face as he considered a response.

"Yes, and that is what makes everything so horrible. It would be easier, so much easier, if I could just work on destroying him. I want to destroy him, yet I also want to protect him! I hate him, yet I love him. We shared a body for so long that I got used to his presence, and now I feel empty without it. He abuses me, yet I relish the torment." Ryou turned to Yami, his large brown eyes brimming with moisture. "You know, I could never tell any of this to Yugi. He wouldn't understand. The boy is innocent, and I fear that I will corrupt him by speaking of such things."

"It's okay, Bakura." Yami handed him a steaming mug of tea, which he sipped gingerly. "We all have our own challenges in life."

"The other boys think I'm weird, or too withdrawn. When I try to speak I'm just mocked half the time. They don't understand what I go through...what we go through."

"Do you know where your darker half disappeared to?" Yami tried to change the subject, hoping that doing so would lift the other boy's depression slightly.

"No..." Ryou answered sadly. "I heard the door slam while I was talking to Yugi, but I don't know where he went. He might even still be in the house. He has Pegasus' Millennium Eye now, and although I don't think he's installed it in himself, he might be able to still read minds with it. He might know what I'm saying right now." Ryou suddenly blushed. "What if he knows everything I just said about him?"

"He probably already did. Your Yami is a strange creature. I sometimes doubt his sanity. He wants world domination, but what would he do with the power once he obtained it?"

"He speaks of wanting to destroy this plane, and force the Shadow Realm to consume everything. He wants to live in a world of darkness."

"Yes, but why? Doing so would kill almost everyone. Why would he want a realm if he was the only one to inhabit it? What power would that be?"

"I don't know," Ryou responded. "I just know that he wants the Puzzle. He'll kill Yugi if he has to. What if he sneaks into Yugi's room one day while he's asleep, and just murders him in cold blood? I'm scared. I don't want him to do that, yet I know he would have no qualms about doing so."

"I will do everything in my power to prevent that from happening," Yami responded gravely. "Yet even if it does, he will still have to deal with me. Even if I cannot take on Yugi's physical body, I can still maneuver myself within the Shadow Realm, and I shall fight him to the death."

Ryou suddenly cried out, causing Yami to turn towards him in alarm. The other blushed slightly, placing his arm behind his head in embarrassment. "I burned my tongue on the tea," he admitted shamefully.

Yami shook his head and sighed, hiding a slight smile.

"Fear not, Bakura. Even if he does have two Millennium Items, he is not invincible. We cannot destroy him completely, but we can try to defeat his physical form. It will be much more difficult for him to exist without it."

Ryou nodded and sipped his tea. The steaming liquid coursed through his body, warming him. Yami's words were comforting, and he began to relax slightly.

"AAAAUUUUUUGHHHHHHH!"

A scream suddenly resounded through the house, causing the mug to slip from Ryou's hand. Scalding liquid splashed all over his front. Yami tensed.

"What...was that?" Ryou asked, not really expecting a response. Yami sprang to his feet and left the kitchen, with Ryou trailing along behind him.

In the hallway lay Yami Bakura, his face contorted with pain. He moaned again, causing Ryou to shiver. The white carpet he lay on had become tinged with reddish-brown. Yami Bakura's face was splashed with blood, and his silvery-white hair had turned a sickly brownish color.

"What..."

"The Millennium Eye!" cried Yami Yugi. "He tried to use it..."

Ryou forced his eyes to the gruesome sight, and saw that the blood was indeed flowing from his dark half's left eyesocket. "Did it work?" he asked, to nobody in particular. Yami Bakura cried out again as a fresh pulse of blood began flowing from his eye.

"I don't know!" Yami's face was pale and determined as he watched the bloody sight. He heard Yugi's voice within his mind wondering what was going on, but he didn't answer the boy.

"This certainly complicates things..."