When Hollyhocks Grow Among Roses

V-chan! If you read this, gomen nasai about the DK fic! I'm trying~! T_T

Anime-Child: Person-eating house shoes?! **starts typing furiously** I love chatting with you~! -^_^-

Ex-Angel, Dice, and Bakura: It gives Yami no Bakura an ego... Ryou is his property, and the 'king's property', so he is the king. And also, he calls himself ore-sama, which is saying 'I' as if you were higher than others. Also, the king of thieves. Yeah, he's a lil egotistical bishounen, ain't he?

Yo: Am continuing~! **and continues typing**

My Name is Cheese: Yes, very out of character. But... the mind wanders... and I'm not exactly other certain authors that are about 50x better than me. **gets whapped by signs that say 'have self-esteem!'**

Redrose2310: You ask, I/we deliver! -^_^-

Achika-chan: The meaning of the cards varies with the person- it's just how you interpret them. And if you start reading, don't ignore them for long amounts of time. They gain personalities and pull pranks... -_-

Fani90: I hope to keep on, neh?

Erfaciel: Hee hee... I love portraying Seto as a hopeless romantic... he seems like he could be poetic if he tried...

Unintentional Nightmare: I know... almost no one writes them... T_T But there are wonderful ones out there and I thank all of the writers of S/R.

Evee: Hee... S/R is cute... **eyes narrow** In Love with An Angel. Want updates... moo.

Millennium Elf: Am updating~! ^^

I will note that I don't know where this is going. So... blah. Moo. Caw, caw! **gets whapped** Camels go moo and Shadii knows it! **gets whapped** My spelling of Shadii fluxuates often...

Chapter 2-

It was Sunday and Ryou's heart was racing. He'd say something tomorrow- only hint at his conclusions, lest he make himself look like a fool. Yes, everything would be perfect.

Over the past night, he had decided that there was the possibility that it wasn't whom he thought it was, and to not really think or hope it was. The plan for tomorrow was to subtly interrogate a potential. If no, then it would be Otogi-kun's turn.

Standing, he dusted off any dirt that may have accumulated on his pants from his sit at the park bench. On the way home, maybe he'd stop to rent a video or two... to try and get his mind off of things.

Hm, that was a pretty flower garden. Yes, his mind was so perfectly at ease that he could stop and smell the roses, for these were in fact roses in the flower garden. And other little pretty random flowers... like hollyhocks... was someone trying to tell him something? If so, well, there'd have to be physical backing because... well, he didn't feel like thinking right now!

"Bakura-kun?" A voice asked behind him.

Ryou wheeled around and, seeing he was staring into the person's chest, tilted his head upwards to stare into the blue eyes of Kaiba Seto.

"K-Kaiba-kun!" Ryou flushed. "K-konnichiwa."

"Konnichiwa." He answered wit the utter confidence that made his seem so egotistical.

Who is he to be so confident?! Ryou thought. I'm standing here, nervous as hell! And there he is, acting like he's about to do the easiest thing of his life!

Baka yadonushi. Yami no Bakura drawled from the Sennen Ring.

"Bakura-kun?" Seto asked.

"H-hai?"

He looked at his watch. "Would you like to go for lunch?"

Ryou would have replied that he had already had some nice ramen from a cart, but that would have been terribly rude... and a lie. And his mouth seemed to be terribly against reason at this point of time. "Hai. Arigato..."

Please nowhere really formal! Please nowhere that I would have to sell all of my possessions just to have an appetizer!

Luck held as they walked to the street, where Seto opened up his driver's seat and got in, waiting for Ryou to do the same. Now Ryou was standing there, wondering two things: how to open the door without possibly chipping the paint, and why Kaiba-kun had gone to the park for what seemed like the purpose of picking him up. There must have been other reasons. Maybe he stopped to be safe while making a phone call! Yeah!

Denial, yadonushi.

He didn't comment, lest a certain Ring spirit decide to put mortal harm on his body.

They passed through the fancier part of town slowly until gaining way into the more casual suburbia of Domino.

"So, why are you inviting me to lunch?" Ryou broke the silence, ripping his eyes away from the not-so-interesting scenery outside. The fancy car was getting stares from the passersby, and he felt that he too was an object of their staring.

Seto shrugged before sighing. "Because... I don't know." His eyes darted to the floor in the most out-of-character way. What!? There was a rose petal on the floor- it must have fallen off... he quickly hid it under his shoe and dragged it under the chair. Ryou looked at him strangely.

"Well, thank you for the invitation."

"You've already thanked me." Seto replied.

"Oh!" Ryou answered, a little flustered. "Gomen..."

Seto was silent. "It's alright."

There was another bout of silence until they stopped in front of a casual restaurant, but still one of those that are pretty pricey for average-income people. Seto parked and got out, waiting for Ryou to join him before continuing on his way.

They got a seat pretty quickly (Ryou thought he saw Seto pay of the waiter...), and both sat down and ordered their drinks. Ryou had his iced tea while Seto had coffee.

What to order? Ryou started thinking absentmindedly. Something cheap... after finding out I was gay, tou-san always said to order something cheaper than the other person when going on a... He stopped suddenly, flushing, not wanting to finish that sentence. Date? Wait a second, no. This is not a date, he just asked me to lunch as a friend. So what if the pretty flowers were from him, he hasn't said anything about them, so let us just assume. He's just a-

He's just a friend? We hardly know each other, so how does this constitute anything? I feel as if I'm just one of his business partners. Oh Kami-sama don't let this be like any fanfiction on the Internet.

He took another careful sip of his tea, as if the cup was threatening to bite him or something. Then again, you never know. Stranger things have happened... including dying a couple of times... which is never fun, as one would guess.

"Kaiba-kun, is there anything you wanted to talk to me about?" Ryou asked suddenly, after their orders had been taken.

Seto was silent, as if ignoring the question. Finally, he spoke. "Yesterday was your birthday, was it not?"

"Yes..."

"So why not take you out to lunch?"

The directness of the answer startled Ryou. He tried forming coherent and, if possible, witty replies, but all he got was along the lines of: "Oh... well, why? Why treat me to this when you don't treat Yuugi-tachi half as nice?"

Seto gave a small shrug. "You seemed lonely." He answered, looking straight into his eyes.

Ryou's face reddened. Now was one of those times he wanted to hide under a rock, but it was kind of hard to do when there were no rocks around.

I need some way to find out if he sent those flowers! How? I can't ask directly, so... how to handle this?

"Hey, do you know of any really good florists in the city?"

"Hm? Why?" Seto raised an eyebrow.

Ryou sat back a little. "Well, someone sent me some very beautiful flowers for my birthday, and I want to find out who."

"Did it not come with a signed name?"

"No." Ryou shook his head.

Either he's clueless for the first time ever or just pretending. I'm hoping for either answer in a different way... why is this so confusing?! Maybe I've just gone insane.

"Well..." Seto thought for a moment. "I don't usually mess with flowers, so I have no information for you."

Ryou swore he felt an eyebrow twitch. "Kaiba-kun." He stood up, forcing the chair back. "Did you send the flowers?"

Seto's eyes were wide as that question left his lips. Slowly, he lowered his head slightly, though still held it proudly, and nodded slightly. "Yes."

Ryou felt his heat drop. Nervousness started to come up in his stomach. "Well, I... I don't feel the same. I-I need to go now." He started walking, and no one tried to stop him.

Seto's eyes lifted to watch the walking form, not trying to stop him. That would only make things worse. "Bakura Ryou... aishiteru."

Ryou hugged his legs up to his chest when he got home, lying on his side and snuggling into his sheets.

He hadn't wanted to react like that... he didn't want to have run out like he did. But now he didn't know what to feel.

Kami-sama, I hate him! How could he toss this onto me? And why, last night, did I actually accept it for those few moments? I don't love him, too bad if he loves me.

Ryou raised his head to see the little stuffed white tiger at the foot of his bed. Seto's tiger.

Sitting up, he took the tiger in his hands. He both felt the urge to scream at it and throw it against the wall and to cuddle it while explaining all of his problems to it. He really did want to throw it against the wall, but what had the tiger done to him? It was the one who gave him the tiger that was at fault, not the poor stuffed animal. So in the end, he curled back up, cuddling the soft form to his chest and crying.

"What did I do?" He asked the tiger that had no name. "If only you could talk, then you could tell me what the hell he was thinking." The tiger just stared up at him, as if answering. In a way, he was answering as plush dolls do.

Often before, Ryou had wondered what it was about stuffed animals that made children and adults confess all of their life's problems to them. But now he knew. Stuffed animals looked life-like enough for one to relate to, and their eyes always held contact with yours, as if they were quietly paying attention and waiting for you to cry on their... shoulders? And best of all, their replies were whatever your subconscious wanted.

Do stuffed animals ever get tired of listening to a person's problems?

Ryou let his tears fall on the tiger's head, soaking the soft fur. If only he had this animal when his sister died... and when his parents got their divorce. And when Yami no Bakura first came and all of Ryou's friends started avoiding him. Ryou had thought he had gone insane because he couldn't remember anything that happened, and suddenly, someone he cared for would be in a coma. That was a summary of his life right there, a descent into insanity through pain with no one's shoulders to cry on.

'I'll listen to you.' The tiger seemed to say. 'Tell me everything. I won't judge you.'

All the pain seemed to lift away as he told his life's story to the silent listening form in his arms.

Ryou went with his story like a five-year-old would, but it was just longer. He told his tiger of Amane, his deceased little sister, of the time when he first got the Ring and swore he was insane, of how he was alone almost all his life. He spoke of his parent's divorce and how he had almost never seen his mother since. His father as well, seeing as he was always gone on trips. And he talked of all the things that happened with Yuugi-tachi, while mentioning that he wasn't necessarily unhappy with all of that, for he finally had friends who could stand and deal with his... problem. Heck, one had nearly the same problem as he did!

Finally, there was the problem that started two days ago with the cards and flowers, and the tiger itself.

"That's the problem with Kaiba-kun, he's a jerk and an idiot when it comes it common sense. He thinks he can just come and say whatever he wants to me and expect me to accept. What if I don't want to? Ok, I will admit I pushed him, and if I hadn't, it probably would have ended better. What why did he give the flowers to me in the first place? I know I wouldn't have you if he didn't but still! I have enough stress as it is, he's just adding to it. I can't believe I tried to make myself love him, the insensitive... jerk!"

Maybe he's trying to relieve you from the stress. A voice said softly.

"Huh? Well, he sure had a funny way of showing affection." Ryou mumbled, still talking to the tiger.

The tiger seemed to roll his eyes.

"Would you like a name?" Ryou asked the tiger finally. The tiger seemed very indifferent. "Well, what about Shuuichi? I like that name, do you?" The tiger seemed to nod. "Shuuichi it is." Ryou smiled and closed his eyes, praying for impossible restful sleep. Random thoughts started running through his head.

You smell... you smell like something familiar... no, someone? Maybe? Seto.

The chapter is short and it sucks! Mwahah!

Notes:

Ryou had a sister named Amane who died.

Ryou's parents divorced.

All this info was fed to me from PM-chan. Now I must both get stared on chapter 3, write the last chapter of Doragon no Kokoro to FINALLY finish up the trilogy, and write on my Dragon Knights fic. Ja ne!

Wildwolf: Just know that we're not dead~!