Greetings, oh loyal readers and reviewers. First of all, sorry for the delays in updating - I've had numerous assignments thrown at me, and if I don't finish them in the next two weeks I lose my job, so needless to say I've been a touch busy ^_^
Many congrats to Coolies, who was the 100th reviewer (despite being "gorunded" ^_^) *hands over award* I'm so proud! My first proper story and it got 100 reviews! Yay!
I would also like to take this opportunity to direct your attention to another story on fanfic.net. It's by a writer called WingedWolf, entitled Shadows of the Heart. I think this is a great story, and it has only thus far recieved 15-ish reviews, which simply isn't fair on the writer. So go on, go read it once you're done here! I beg it of you!
Thanks also to Hakusen for being the first person to submit real constructive criticism to any of my stories - this chapter is dedicated to Hakusen and Wingedwolf, hope you two enjoy!
Oh, and to the reviewer (who shall remain anonymous) who called me 'authoress'... maybe a quick peek at my profile is in order...
*~*~*~*~*~*
The four boys had decided to at least attempt to get some rest. They had, after all, lost track of how long they'd been in that room, but they realised it must have been a few hours. Yugi had curled up with Yami, and Ryou had curled up with Bakura. Well, that's what he kept telling himself. Who cared if his Yami didn't actually want to sleep in the same corner as him? They were together in spirit, and that was all that mattered.
"Yami," Yugi whispered in his Yami's ear. "Why does Bakura always treat Ryou like that? Doesn't he care about him? He is his Hikari, after all."
Yami smiled. "It's a pride thing. He's always seen himself as being strong, as being above everyone else. He's proud of who he is, and what he's achieved, even if he is only a tomb-rat."
Yugi's mouth gaped in surprise. "Yami!" he whispered in a horrified tone.
Yami chuckled. "It's true though. Anyway, he doesn't want to appear weak in front of Ryou, so he isolates him. He doesn't want to show friendship because he thinks it makes him look feeble, which is the worst thing he could see. You saw it earlier, he does care… he just doesn't like Ryou seeing."
Yugi nodded. "I see. So, he just sort of lets Ryou feel the caring, but without actually showing it?"
Yami looked surprised at this. "Well done, aibou. I have to admit, most people wouldn't have a chance of noticing –"
Yami was suddenly cut off by a loud, hysterical scream. Both Yami and Yugi jumped to their feet, startled, and looked round.
"Ryou?!" Yugi cried. "You ok?"
Ryou sat up and shook his head, clearing the sleep. "Huh? I didn't scream."
Yugi and Yami both looked at eachother. "Well, if it wasn't you or us…" Yugi began, but was cut off by a cackle from Yami. "Oh, this is great," he muttered, a large grin on his face. "Now let's see his pride in action."
Ryou ignored this, and looked for his Yami. "Bakura?" he asked, waiting for a reply. "Where are you?"
Ryou was answered by another shriek. He followed where the noise came from, and saw Bakura scrunched up on top of a sack of potatoes, visibly whiter than usual and shaking. "What's wrong?"
Bakura pointed one trembling finger toward the floor. "Ra… ra… ra…"
Ryou, Yugi and Yami followed Bakura's finger. Yugi's eyes opened wide in surprise. Ryou sighed. Yami gaped, his eyes opening wider in sheer delight.
"The great tomb-robber is scared of a RAT???" he crowed. "Oh, this is just too good!" Yami sat down and started laughing, not even attempting to stop himself. He still remembered the Spam incident.
"Be quiet Pharaoh no baka!" he roared, making sure he kept an eye on his rodent nemesis. "This isn't a laughing matter!"
Ryou sighed, and turned to Yugi. "Bakura's always had this weird fear of small furry creatures. Mice, rats, hamsters… oh, and squirrels are the worst."
At the mention of the word 'squirrel', Bakura had emitted a feeble 'eep' and turned a shade paler than he already was.
Yami managed to control his laughter for a few seconds. "Hey, you bakayaro no baka, why don't you just send it to the shadow realm? Or is a rat's soul too powerful for you?" he finished with a taunting sneer to his voice.
Bakura couldn't help whimpering at the thought. "Because if I go there one day…" he shrank back from the edge of his sack. "Then they'll be waiting for me…"
Yami gaped. He suddenly started tittering, a high-pitched titter that made Yugi and Ryou quite nervous. Not scared, but nervous.
As if in response to Yami's titters, the rat started squeaking. This was more than Bakura could take.
"ARGH!" he shrieked, and literally leapt into the air, over the rat and across the room. Landing in the opposite corner and backing up against the wall, he screamed "Get rid of it Ryou!"
Yami snorted. "Oh, right, he'll just pick it up and throw it out the window?"
Bakura glowered at Yami, taking his eyes off the rat for the first time. "DON'T taunt me Pharaoh! I can still hurt carrot-boy over there!" Bakura began to turn towards Yugi, but instead his eyes settled on where the rat was. 'Was' being the key word.
Bakura shrieked. "WHERE IS IT? WHERE'S IT GONE???"
Yami had already fallen on the floor by this point, tears stinging his eyes from laughing at Bakura's girly scream. "Oh, this is p… p… priceless!" he gasped. "The proud tomb-robber, desecrator of so many of my family's tombs, reduced to girly shrieking by a mere rodent!" Yami curled up so tight his spiked hair touched his knees, such was his laughter.
Yugi, in the meantime, was chasing the rat. "I think it went over here!" he cried.
"GET IT!"
"Here it is!"
"ARGH!"
"C'mere, you little –"
"KILL IT!"
Yami, by this point, had been reduced to quivering, not even able to draw enough breath to laugh properly. Ryou was trying to calm Bakura down – a losing battle – and Bakura had started throwing anything he could find at the rat, more often than not hitting Yugi instead. This only served to make Yami want to laugh harder. He had, it would seem, reached the limit of the human body's ability to laugh.
Yugi made a final desperate dive, and grabbed the rat by the tail. "Got it!" he yelled in triumph. He quickly jumped to his feet, holding the rat so it couldn't bite him, and hurried over to Ryou. "What do we do with it?"
He had, unfortunately, forgotten that Bakura was right next to Ryou, and he now had a rat almost in his face. Reacting purely on terror, Bakura reached out and punched the rat as hard as he could. It slammed into the opposite wall with a surprisingly loud thud, and dropped to the floor.
Ryou turned pale when he saw the angle of the rat's head – there was no way it could still be alive, at any rate. Yugi saw the same thing, and felt his legs begin to go from underneath him. Yami still cackled obscenely, laughing too hard to even see the rat.
Bakura, in the meantime, was staring at his hand. "I… touched it…" was the last thing he said before he slumped to the floor, out to the world.
*~*~*~*~*~*
There ya go people! Once again, I apologize for the delay, and again urge you to read Wingedwolf's story!
Please review, hope you enjoyed!
Many congrats to Coolies, who was the 100th reviewer (despite being "gorunded" ^_^) *hands over award* I'm so proud! My first proper story and it got 100 reviews! Yay!
I would also like to take this opportunity to direct your attention to another story on fanfic.net. It's by a writer called WingedWolf, entitled Shadows of the Heart. I think this is a great story, and it has only thus far recieved 15-ish reviews, which simply isn't fair on the writer. So go on, go read it once you're done here! I beg it of you!
Thanks also to Hakusen for being the first person to submit real constructive criticism to any of my stories - this chapter is dedicated to Hakusen and Wingedwolf, hope you two enjoy!
Oh, and to the reviewer (who shall remain anonymous) who called me 'authoress'... maybe a quick peek at my profile is in order...
*~*~*~*~*~*
The four boys had decided to at least attempt to get some rest. They had, after all, lost track of how long they'd been in that room, but they realised it must have been a few hours. Yugi had curled up with Yami, and Ryou had curled up with Bakura. Well, that's what he kept telling himself. Who cared if his Yami didn't actually want to sleep in the same corner as him? They were together in spirit, and that was all that mattered.
"Yami," Yugi whispered in his Yami's ear. "Why does Bakura always treat Ryou like that? Doesn't he care about him? He is his Hikari, after all."
Yami smiled. "It's a pride thing. He's always seen himself as being strong, as being above everyone else. He's proud of who he is, and what he's achieved, even if he is only a tomb-rat."
Yugi's mouth gaped in surprise. "Yami!" he whispered in a horrified tone.
Yami chuckled. "It's true though. Anyway, he doesn't want to appear weak in front of Ryou, so he isolates him. He doesn't want to show friendship because he thinks it makes him look feeble, which is the worst thing he could see. You saw it earlier, he does care… he just doesn't like Ryou seeing."
Yugi nodded. "I see. So, he just sort of lets Ryou feel the caring, but without actually showing it?"
Yami looked surprised at this. "Well done, aibou. I have to admit, most people wouldn't have a chance of noticing –"
Yami was suddenly cut off by a loud, hysterical scream. Both Yami and Yugi jumped to their feet, startled, and looked round.
"Ryou?!" Yugi cried. "You ok?"
Ryou sat up and shook his head, clearing the sleep. "Huh? I didn't scream."
Yugi and Yami both looked at eachother. "Well, if it wasn't you or us…" Yugi began, but was cut off by a cackle from Yami. "Oh, this is great," he muttered, a large grin on his face. "Now let's see his pride in action."
Ryou ignored this, and looked for his Yami. "Bakura?" he asked, waiting for a reply. "Where are you?"
Ryou was answered by another shriek. He followed where the noise came from, and saw Bakura scrunched up on top of a sack of potatoes, visibly whiter than usual and shaking. "What's wrong?"
Bakura pointed one trembling finger toward the floor. "Ra… ra… ra…"
Ryou, Yugi and Yami followed Bakura's finger. Yugi's eyes opened wide in surprise. Ryou sighed. Yami gaped, his eyes opening wider in sheer delight.
"The great tomb-robber is scared of a RAT???" he crowed. "Oh, this is just too good!" Yami sat down and started laughing, not even attempting to stop himself. He still remembered the Spam incident.
"Be quiet Pharaoh no baka!" he roared, making sure he kept an eye on his rodent nemesis. "This isn't a laughing matter!"
Ryou sighed, and turned to Yugi. "Bakura's always had this weird fear of small furry creatures. Mice, rats, hamsters… oh, and squirrels are the worst."
At the mention of the word 'squirrel', Bakura had emitted a feeble 'eep' and turned a shade paler than he already was.
Yami managed to control his laughter for a few seconds. "Hey, you bakayaro no baka, why don't you just send it to the shadow realm? Or is a rat's soul too powerful for you?" he finished with a taunting sneer to his voice.
Bakura couldn't help whimpering at the thought. "Because if I go there one day…" he shrank back from the edge of his sack. "Then they'll be waiting for me…"
Yami gaped. He suddenly started tittering, a high-pitched titter that made Yugi and Ryou quite nervous. Not scared, but nervous.
As if in response to Yami's titters, the rat started squeaking. This was more than Bakura could take.
"ARGH!" he shrieked, and literally leapt into the air, over the rat and across the room. Landing in the opposite corner and backing up against the wall, he screamed "Get rid of it Ryou!"
Yami snorted. "Oh, right, he'll just pick it up and throw it out the window?"
Bakura glowered at Yami, taking his eyes off the rat for the first time. "DON'T taunt me Pharaoh! I can still hurt carrot-boy over there!" Bakura began to turn towards Yugi, but instead his eyes settled on where the rat was. 'Was' being the key word.
Bakura shrieked. "WHERE IS IT? WHERE'S IT GONE???"
Yami had already fallen on the floor by this point, tears stinging his eyes from laughing at Bakura's girly scream. "Oh, this is p… p… priceless!" he gasped. "The proud tomb-robber, desecrator of so many of my family's tombs, reduced to girly shrieking by a mere rodent!" Yami curled up so tight his spiked hair touched his knees, such was his laughter.
Yugi, in the meantime, was chasing the rat. "I think it went over here!" he cried.
"GET IT!"
"Here it is!"
"ARGH!"
"C'mere, you little –"
"KILL IT!"
Yami, by this point, had been reduced to quivering, not even able to draw enough breath to laugh properly. Ryou was trying to calm Bakura down – a losing battle – and Bakura had started throwing anything he could find at the rat, more often than not hitting Yugi instead. This only served to make Yami want to laugh harder. He had, it would seem, reached the limit of the human body's ability to laugh.
Yugi made a final desperate dive, and grabbed the rat by the tail. "Got it!" he yelled in triumph. He quickly jumped to his feet, holding the rat so it couldn't bite him, and hurried over to Ryou. "What do we do with it?"
He had, unfortunately, forgotten that Bakura was right next to Ryou, and he now had a rat almost in his face. Reacting purely on terror, Bakura reached out and punched the rat as hard as he could. It slammed into the opposite wall with a surprisingly loud thud, and dropped to the floor.
Ryou turned pale when he saw the angle of the rat's head – there was no way it could still be alive, at any rate. Yugi saw the same thing, and felt his legs begin to go from underneath him. Yami still cackled obscenely, laughing too hard to even see the rat.
Bakura, in the meantime, was staring at his hand. "I… touched it…" was the last thing he said before he slumped to the floor, out to the world.
*~*~*~*~*~*
There ya go people! Once again, I apologize for the delay, and again urge you to read Wingedwolf's story!
Please review, hope you enjoyed!
