FLY WITH ME
Chapter 2: Evolution of Feelings
By Amphitrite II
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Notes: Next chapter here, have been working on it for a while. Got a load of reviews for the first chapter; am quite proud. ^^ Apparently, people like my writing style. I didn't even know I had a writing style. XD Neh, don't worry. Just kidding. I'm not that stupid.
…I hope. -_-; Anyway, I owe this chapter's inspiration to Borath's 'For Both of Us'. Enjoy, minna!
Last Revision: June 15, 2009
Post-Revision Notes: On with the revised version! I'm honored that this seems to be a Darkshipping favorite.
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It had been two weeks since Yami had confessed his – unexpected was an understatement – feelings for Bakura. Since that fateful day, those previously nonexistent feelings had begun evolving into feelings of real attraction. Soon, those same feelings would blossom into feelings of real love.
During those two weeks, Yami had begun to notice odd little details about the abrasive thief: such as how he was ambidextrous and refused to use chopsticks to eat; his nervous tendency to run his pale right hand through his messy white locks restlessly; his habit of fiddling with the Millennium Ring's cord when he was in thought -- which was actually a lot of the time, to Yami's surprise. All this Yami learned just by watching Bakura from inside the Millennium Puzzle. It was amazing what one could discover when propelled by boredom.
Once, Yami had paused from "spying" to ask himself why he was blatantly observing Bakura's backside. Sitting on the throne in his soul room, he had pondered the question for countless hours without finding a satisfying answer.
Despite what everyone else believed, the two had pretty much given up on being mortal enemies. After all, Yami had asked the gods to give Bakura another chance to live. The pair still exhibited mutual dislike at social functions they were forced by their hosts to attend, but the hatred that had fueled their feud had faded away.
In fact, after being granted a second chance by the Pharaoh, Bakura had unexpectedly developed an indescribable affinity to the Pharaoh, the man he had formerly loathed.
The aforementioned Thief King sat on the floor of Ryou's house with a deck of playing cards, practicing his shuffling skills. The way that he normally shuffled his deck bent his cards so that most of the cards in his deck now had a crooked crease down the middle that annoyed him. Hating having to duel with damaged cards, he was attempting to teach himself how to shuffle the way that Yami did. During Battle City, Bakura had noticed that Yami's cards were never bent, due to his superior shuffling skills.
He had almost got the hang of it. Just a few more tries…
"Spirit? I'm home!" Ryou called as he stepped into the house. A few seconds later, the white-haired boy appeared in the doorway of his room. He sat down cross-legged in front of Bakura and tilted his head to the side as his dark half gathered the cards up into a stack for the hundredth time. "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Bakura replied gruffly, not in the mood to chat.
Ryou shrugged. "I don't know. That's why I'm asking."
Irritated, Bakura rolled his eyes. "Leave me alone." Frowning, Ryou obediently got up and left his bedroom to go make something to eat.
Ryou sat at his desk, trying his best to stay on task so that he could get his math homework over with. Sighing, he gazed at the framed picture of his passed sister that sat on his desk. His eyes slowly switched over to the photograph of Yuugi that sat next to it. His small frown slowly curved into a smile. Yuugi always cheered him up. Maybe he should call him.
Seconds after the thought passed through Ryou's head, his phone began ringing. "Hello, you've reached the Bakura residence. May I ask who's speaking?"
The person on the other line laughed. "Do you always have to be so formal, Ryou?"
Ryou instantly brightened when he recognized the friendly voice. "Yuugi! I was just about to call you!"
"Why?" Yuugi wondered curiously. Ryou shrugged, even though he knew the other couldn't see it.
"I don't know," he clarified. "Can't I call my boyfriend when I want to?"
Yuugi grinned; Ryou could hear it in his voice. "Of course you can!"
"So why did you call?"
"Well…I wanted to talk to you!" Yuugi chirped. Ryou flopped onto the bed, laying on his stomach with his legs in the air.
"So…"
Yuugi was quiet for a moment. Then, abruptly, "Don't you think that Yami and Bakura would look cute together?"
Ryou was left speechless at Yuugi's random outburst for two reasons. "Did I just hear you correctly? Where in the world did that come from?" he asked incredulously.
Yuugi laughed again. "I was just wondering. I mean, Yami's kinda lonely, you know? Bakura too."
"Why the spirit, then, of all people? Why not someone like…Anzu? She's single," he pointed out with raised eyebrows.
"Anzu's a girl," Yuugi said, as if it were the most obvious thing on the planet. Which it was.
Ryou's eyebrows rose. "…And your point is?"
"Ryou, Yami is gay."
"Oh, right. Sorry, I had forgotten about that," Ryou replied, realizing his mistake. Yuugi giggled. "Well, there's still Jounouchi."
"Kaiba would slaughter me if I tried to get Jounouchi and Yami together. Those two aren't "officially" in a relationship yet, but they might as well be."
"Who, Yami and Jounouchi?"
"No! Kaiba and Jounouchi!" Yuugi exclaimed.
"Oh. Sorry." Ryou grinned cheekily. "Well, I suppose our spirits might look somewhat appealing together – although I have a feeling that they might look more scary than cute. But I am definitely not playing matchmaker for them!"
Yuugi's pout was nearly audible through the line. "How did you know I was going to ask?"
Ryou rolled his eyes playfully. "Yuugi, you always want to play matchmaker. And it always turns out to be a complete and utter disaster. Don't you remember Kaiba and Anzu?"
"How was I supposed to know that Kaiba was gay and liked Jounouchi? Anyway, didn't you see how cute Yami and Bakura looked together at the Cafe that day?"
"No, I didn't. I was too busy paying attention to you."
"Aww, that's so sweet of you, Ryou."
Ryou pretended to sniffle. "And you were too busy looking at the Spirit and Yami! I feel so offended," he said sadly as he faked a breakdown. A knock came at the door.
"Are you okay, Ryou? Why the hell are you crying?" Bakura demanded loudly, banging on the wooden door.
Ryou and Yuugi both burst into peals laughter. Between his laughs, Ryou managed to call back, "I'm okay, Spirit! Not crying!"
On the other side of the door, Bakura rolled his eyes in exasperation. He walked away, muttering, "Idiot."
Bakura opened his eyes blearily. He was lying on the sofa and had apparently fallen asleep while watching television. Ryou had generously turned the television off and laid a blanket on him. Sitting up, he rubbed his eyes and decided spontaneously to take a walk.
He glanced at the clock, which informed him that it was quarter past three in the morning. He shrugged – the more obscure the time, the fewer stupid mortals wandering around and pissing him off. He slipped into his boots and grabbed the house keys, strolling out the front door and making sure to lock it securely. Slipping the keys into his pocket, he headed towards the park.
When he arrived, he wandered around aimlessly for a bit before taking a seat on the swingset. For the hundredth time in the past weeks, his memories of that day at the brightly-colored Cafe once again flooded his head. He thought carefully about what Yami had said to him, analyzing each sentence he could recall the Pharaoh saying. But out of all the words that had been exchanged between the two ancient spirits on that day, seven in particular haunted him:
"I just wish that it was me."
But if Yami hadn't meant it, then why had he said it?
But deep down in Bakura's heart, he held the tiniest grain of hope that Yami had meant what he said. One doesn't ordinarily go around blurting out anything that personal without meaning it to someone who one despises.
But just as Yami believed that Bakura still hated him, Bakura was unaware that Yami harbored zero resentment towards him. He merely assumed that after all of their fighting in the past – especially when they had faced each other in the Millennium RPG – there was no way that Yami could ever forgive him for all the evil things that he had done to selfishly further his own goals.
Startled back to reality, Bakura heard the swing next to him squeak as somebody sat down on the neighboring swing. Out of curiosity, he turned his head to look at the stranger. Who else would be out and about at this hour?
Why, right beside him sat the object of his affections.
Notes: Whee! Second chapter finally finished. This fic is fun to write. Seems more light-hearted and less angsty than most of my works. For now. I have no idea about later. Well, actually, I do have an idea, but it'll take a while to build up.
Remember, review, or there'll be no third chapter! ^_^ And that's not an empty threat! Thanks for reading, minna-san!