Chapter Ten:

Back Into Focus

Evening had gracefully bowed down to the ethereal blanket of night, sprinkling the moon-brightened darkness with crystal fragments commonly associated with the stars. Under this silent cover, a completely opposite couple sat at the bow of the Battle Ship, exchanging childhood tales and real life horror stories.

Currently, the slight, almost china doll like form known as Ryou was trying to get a look at Malik's back. "C'mon! I just want to look at it!"

The exotic Egyptian growled and lay down stubbornly. "I don't even look at it. No way in Hell am I letting you," he replied.

"It's just an inscription. I just want to see it for a second!" Ryou growled.

Malik's face was deadpan. "For all I know, the Pharaoh's potty training days are on my back. I know Bakura can read what's there and I'm not taking any chances."

"Ugh, fine! Then I'll sit on you." Ryou sat Indian-style on Malik's chest, crossing his arms and glaring down at the grinning Egyptian. "What's so funny."

"You're a hundred pound nothing shit! If you think sitting on me is going to achieve anything, you're dead wrong," Malik replied lightly.

"I am a hundred and fourteen pounds, for your information," Ryou stated haughtily. He leaned back against the older teenager's legs with a huff.

Malik folded his arms behind his head and asked, "How far do you think you're going to get in the finals?" he asked conversationally.

"If my yami has anything to do with it, all the way," Ryou replied in exasperation. "I'll just be glad to make it out of here with all my limbs," he added with a sideways look at his bandaged arm.

"Um yeah, sorry about that," Malik muttered sheepishly.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"I don't know. I guess I feel responsible for the tomb robber slicing your arm open."

Ryou raised an eyebrow. "Unless you used the Rod and made him do it, there's no reason to say you're sorry," the Brit replied.

Malik shrugged and sat up, dumping Ryou into his lap. His strange lilac eyes glittered when he noticed he and the sixteen-year-old were almost nose-to-nose. "Hey cutie. Cold?"

Ryou blushed bright red. "Um.. Uh... It's your fault?" he stuttered, biting his lip.

Malik laughed and pushed the red-faced duelist off his lap, perfectly comfortable with the whole situation. He got to his feet. "You're cute when you blush," he stated as an afterthought as he went to the railing.

Ryou's chocolate eyes were owlishly round. "Um..." was all he could manage. Did he really just say that? The Brit slowly found his voice again. "Thanks?"

Malik turned, nodding towards where he was standing. "Come here. You can see Alcatraz Tower now." He pointed to the looming structure in the distance.

Ryou climbed to his feet uncertainly, approaching the still smirking Egyptian. "You said that just to embarrass me, didn't you?"

"Actually, I meant it." Malik turned back towards the horizon.

"...Really?"

Malik simply nodded. "I don't care if you find it strange, but you're a pretty adorable kid."

Ryou snickered as he leaned against the railing, his eyes trained on Alcatraz Tower in the distance. "So, the psychotic Malik Ishtar does have feelings."

"'Psychotic'? It's more like devilishly cunning and painfully gorgeous," he corrected, running a mocha hued hand through his silken hair.

Ryou smiled shyly. "I... guess you're not that bad looking," he admitted, his blush turning darker. He again gnawed on his lower lip, tugging at the Millennium Ring. "I mean, um..."

Malik grinned and leaned down to capture the smaller teen's lips with his, drawing the delicate frame against his own. He repressed a chuckled when Ryou "eeped" before relaxing. He ran his tongue over the Brit's lips, savoring his spicy taste as he explored his mouth.

Ryou twined his fingers through Malik's hair, not content to be completely dominated as he pushed the Egyptian's tongue out of his way to gain access to his mouth, fearing his sweet honey taste would become an addiction. Wait! This... I- The British duelist hugged Malik tighter before breaking away. "I... We can't."

Malik looked hurt. "Why not?"

"Our yamis. They'd kill us if they ever found out we wanted to be together. That and I barely know you!" Ryou replied softly, feeling the need to hurl reason off the edge of the Battle Ship.

Malik sighed, his lips twitching up in a half smirk as he hung his head somewhat. "I guess you have a point." He turned to leave, but not before giving Ryou a simple kiss on the lips. "That doesn't mean I still don't love you."

Ryou sighed as he was jostled from his light slumber, soulful chocolate eyes slowly opening to look into his double's darker orbs. "What's wrong?"

Bakura leaned back on his haunches. "Nothing. You were just tossing and turning more then normal," the thief replied easily.

"Oh." Ryou sat up, yawning widely. "Any idea what time it is?"

"Nah. After you kicked the crap out of me, Yami decided it would be a good idea to stay with Yugi."

Ryou smirked, catching the way Bakura so informally addressed the Puzzle guardian. "The Pharaoh didn't have to leave the Puzzle. It's you I was trying to behead, not him."

Bakura shrugged. "That's what I said. Yami still insisted on leaving this Ra forsaken Item for a while anyway." Darkish eyes narrowed. "Hikari, why are you looking at me like that?"

Heh... I think someone's got a skeleton in his closet. Ryou played innocent. "Looking at you like what, yami?" He stretched and yawned again.

"Like you know something I don't know."

Ryou shrugged. "I was just musing how you're suddenly referring to Yami no Yugi like he's a friend and not your sworn enemy."

A dusty rose blush suddenly colored Bakura's pale cheeks. "I-I am?" The Egyptian rolled his eyes to cover for the sudden splurge of nervousness. "Feh. You're seeing things."

"Whatever you'd like to think." Ryou climbed to his feet and stretched out his sore limbs. He touched his lips subconsciously, a shy smile replacing his smirk when his mind drifted back to the memory he had accidentally dredged up in his sleep.

"Ryou..." Bakura looked at the soft-spoken Brit strangely. "You look a little dazed all of the sudden."

Ryou shrugged. "It's nothing," he murmured. I wonder why I had that dream? Guilty conscience? But, what do I have to be guilty for? The sixteen-year-old leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. Am I trying to tell myself something? Chocolate eyes turned to Bakura's. "Yami, can I ask you a question?"

"As long as you don't ask me about Ya-the Pharaoh, I'm just fine," the ancient replied.

"If I decided to let Yami no Yugi reanimate my body, you wouldn't be hurt that I went without you?" Ryou asked hesitantly.

Bakura looked taken aback. "No. I think it would increase our chances of getting the Ring back, actually." He cocked his head. "What makes you ask?"

Should I tell him? He'll probably just laugh. But then again, he did ask if I have feelings for Malik. A sigh. That would only make my life harder. "I was thinking a bit after I, uh, beat you up and I kind of have to agree with you. I just wanted to make sure you wouldn't be angry for me leaving."

Bakura sighed, resting his forehead against his knees. He was going to ask why on earth he would be mad at Ryou for striking out on his own for a while, but he already knew the answer.

He had known Ryou since the Brit was ten and for the first five years of their relationship, Bakura had been nothing short of abusive, a long since dormant instinct suddenly rearing up. In that time the snow haired thief had caused mental –and some physical- wounds so deep, they would never heal.

Despite the amendments made between yami and hikari, Bakura knew that part of Ryou would always fear his hair-trigger temper. Thus, the unsure question just posed to the former.

"Um, earth to tomb robber?"

Bakura looked up at Ryou, masking his frustration at himself. "Ryou, you do what you feel like you need to do. If you want to try and get the Ring back on your own, I won't hold you back."

Ryou brushed his bangs out his face. "Really?" The Brit broke out into a full smile and launched at his dark side in a deceptively powerful hug. "Arigatou Bakura! I won't let you down." He let go and darted off, probably to confer with Yami.

Bakura sat on the floor, slightly stunned. Six years and the Brit had never gotten that close to his dark side. Ryou seemed too happy to be able to go. Instincts honed over the millennia started to kick in. He's up to something. I know it.

* * * * *

"Hey Joey! We thought you'd never get here!" Duke called, looking up from his pinball game long enough to grin at the slightly downtrodden American.

"'We'?" Joey parroted in confusion. He had seen Tristan when he had come in, but no one other than that. "Who else is here?"

"Turns out Yugi and Yami decided to grace us with their presence," the dice enthusiast replied, smacking the right flipper button with a little more force then necessary. "They're in the back at the Skee-Ball."

Joey made a face and inexplicably started gnawing on his hand.

Duke's emerald eyes darted over to the blond's momentarily, his eyebrows knitting together. "Wheeler, please explain to me why you're munching on your fingers?"

"I swore that if Yugi ever played Skee-Ball, I'd chew my own hand off," Joey replied before sticking his pointer finger in his mouth.

The younger teenager smirked. "You know, animals, especially dogs, chew their limbs off to get out of traps," he mentioned conversationally, kicking the pinball machine when the words "Game Over" flashed in his face.

"Shaddup, Devlin," Joey growled, wiping his hand on his jeans. "I've gotta see this for myself." The seventeen-year-old grabbed Duke's necklace and dragged him to the back of the arcade to see Yugi and Yami trying to oust each other at Skee-Ball.

"Tolja so," Duke prodded, wanting to see Joey try to eat his hand off again, simply for the hilarity of the idiotic gesture.

Joey walked over to the Skee-Ball lanes and sat on the machine next to Yami. "How did you get Yug' to play? What's your secret?"

Yami tossed his ball up the lane, scoring a forty and winning his fifth match against Yugi. He spared the curious blond a grin. "I just asked him to show me how the game works and we've been playing since."

Yugi coughed, sounding suspiciously enough like he was covering a muttered "yeah right". "Did you and Mokuba find Kaiba?"

"Oh yeah. Creep went home after Bio," Joey replied. "It was pretty funny to see Mokuba try to kick the crap out of Seto."

Twin sets of amethyst eyes trained fastly on Joey at the slip of speech. "'Seto'? Since when do you called Kaiba by his first name?" Yugi questioned.

The American blanched. Crap, crap, crap. "It's been a long day, Yug'. I'm not thinkin' straight," he replied, trying to sounds casual.

Yami looked unconvinced as he looked around the back part of the arcade. "Aibou, what's that thing?" he asked, pointing to the air hockey table.

{{Shrimp, move over! I'm the master of this game!}} Bakura suddenly crowed. {{Just one game, midget.}}

{No, tomb robber. For all I know, you'll wind up implanting the puck into Yami's head,} Yugi replied patiently. He suddenly felt himself slipping away from his consciousness. {BAKURA!}

{{Thanks kid!}}

Yami sighed in exasperation when he caught the change between Yugi and Bakura, pinching the bridge of his nose. Joey and Duke are here. Don't say anything to blow our cover, he reminded himself. "So, would you want to teach me how this works?"

Bakura smirked, going over to the air hockey table. I could really have fun with the Pharaoh.

[Don't you dare,] Ryou warned, catching the errant thought easily. [Remember, you're Yugi, not you.]

[[I'm me in Yugi's body,]] Bakura shot back, popping a couple of coins into the slot. [[So technically, I am me... Just shorter.]]

Ryou sighed. [You're incorrigible.]

[[And you worry too much.]] Bakura retrieved the puck and placed it on the table. "Okay, listen sharply, Yami. The point of the game is to guard your goal." The thief pointed at the slot in the table. "I hit the puck with this and you try to block me. We go back and forth like that till someone's score reaches five."

"What happens then?" Yami asked, grabbing his shuttle.

"The game explodes." Bakura grinned when he saw Duke and Joey give him incredulous stares. "I'm only kidding. Whoever reaches five first wins."

"Sounds easy enough," Yami replied. "Your move, aibou."

Bakura grinned and shot the puck at Yami, shocked when the Pharaoh not only caught it, but sent it zipping back at his goal to score. The thief growled and placed the puck back on the table and hit it with enough force to chip Yami's shuttle when it hit.

Yami hit the puck back at Bakura, yelping when it sailed right back at him from the side to side into his goal without resistance. The former monarch scowled as he grabbed the puck, deciding he could get away with a little use of Shadow powers.

Bakura prepared himself for Yami's turn, positioned perfectly to block any attack. Unfortunately, he wasn't prepared when the puck in question ghosted through his hand. Chocolate and amethyst striped eyes narrowed angrily. "You cheated!"

"You tried to kill me!"

"I did not!"

"You hit that damn thing hard enough to break a finger!"

Bakura huffed. "I didn't you my Shadow magic and cheat!" Two can play at that game, Yami. The Egyptian grabbed the puck and placed it on the table.

Yami lashed his hand out to hit the little black circle, puzzled to no end when it slid away from his swing. The Puzzle Spirit tried to hit the puck again before it dawned on him that Bakura was manipulating it. "Stop that!"

Bakura giggled like a little girl as his opponent tried to hit the cursed puck again. "I'm not doing it!"

Duke tapped a finger against his cheek. "Is it me," he mused lightly, "or does it seem like Yugi's a little off in the head today?"

Joey shrugged, watching as the puck zipped around the table like a drunken bee on crack. "I'm wondering how in the hell Yug' can do that."

Yami growled, finally bashing the puck. Unfortunately, he hit it at an angle that sent it airborne...

...Straight into Bakura's head.

The former Pharaoh bit his lip, leaning against the table in the wake of impending peels of laughter as the puck fell from Bakura's face. "S-Sorry," he gasped.

The thief took a deep breath, rubbing the round red spot right in the middle of his forehead. "Pharaoh... I'm giving you to the count of one to run."

"Yeah, Yugi's off today," Joey muttered.

To Yami's credit, he managed to pull himself together before he burst a gut laughing. "I'm sorry, aibou. Are you okay?"

Bakura grumbled. "Let's just finish the game." Once the other Spirit was situated, Bakura smacked the puck as hard as he could again, manipulating it so it passed through Yami's hand and into his goal.

"Stop cheating!" the spike haired Egyptian growled. "You're not supposed to do that," he added with a twinge of warning.

Bakura shrugged, forcing a sweet smile onto his face. "I'm just making use of the Puzzle's powers, Yami. No need to be worried," he taunted in a sugary tone.

Yami sighed got the puck, shooting it towards Bakura's goal from the left. A grin spread over his lips when it made it past Bakura's waiting defense. But, his joy was short lived when the puck suddenly appeared at his goal. "Ba-Yugi! Shadow powers are only for emergency situations."

Bakura decided to pour on the charm. "But Yami, I'm only playing." He gave the former Pharaoh puppy dog eyes, somehow pulling it off. "You know that."

The former Pharaoh shook his head, muttering a not-so sweet obscenity in Egyptian as he got the puck. "I know, aibou. But, please don't do that again."

"Hey guys!"

The small group looked up to see that Tristan had finally decided to track them down.

"What's going on?" the needle haired brunet asked, watching in semi-amazement as the air hockey puck started zipping around the table again, this time of Yami's accord.

"Well, Yugi and Yami are playing air hockey. We think Yug's got some unsung mental problem," Joey replied.

"Yami tried to give him a concussion with the puck and Yugi's using his voodoo to make it go around the table like a drunkard," Duke elaborated. "So far, we've had one death threat from the Lollipop Guild."

Tristan raised an eyebrow at the last comment, but wisely decided to refrain from asking. His chocolate eyes followed the puck's dizzying pattern as Yami and Bakura warred for supremacy.

"I'll bet ten that this game ends with Yami going to the hospital," Joey stated.

"He's dead, smart guy," Duke shot back.

"Okay, if he were alive, I'd say Yugi puts the puck through his head," the blond amended.

"Fine. I say Yami puts the puck through Yugi's head," Duke replied. "And I'll see your ten and triple it."

"Ooohhh! Thirty. Care to make a contribution, Tristan?" Joey asked.

"Nah, I'm broke," he replied, pulling his pockets inside out to illustrate his point. "Duke, watch it!"

The ebony haired teenager ducked seconds before the puck whizzed over his head. His piercing emerald eyes slowly wandered over to Bakura and Yami, widening when he saw the former's shuttle to fly at the latter's head.

Yami yelped and ducked, throwing his own shuttle in retaliation.

Bakura sidestepped it, restraining himself from launching at the Puzzle guardian and throttling the nonexistent brains from his head. "That wasn't nice."

Yami sat up with a shrug. "You shouldn't have tried to fight me. I'm stronger."

Screw self-control! Bakura lunged at Yami, his eyes widening when the Pharaoh reared his foot up to catch the thief in the face with his boot. "Ugh. Damn it!"

Tristan, Duke, and Joey were in mortal shock when Yami pounced on "Yugi", successfully pinning the small teenager to the ground. "This... is wrong," the latter muttered.

"Yami dearest, get off of me," Bakura ordered shortly. "Otherwise, I'll remove your head from your shoulders."

Yami smirked. "Not until you promise not to kill me."

"Okay, I won't kill you. Ry-"

Yami smacked a hand over Bakura's mouth, thanking the gods he and Bakura were on the side of the hockey table opposite Duke, Joey, and Tristan. "Shut up, Bakura. We can't let them know, remember?"

The thief shrugged. "Ryou wants to return to his body anyway, so they're going to have to find out either way," he replied easily.

"He what? I thought he was opposed to leaving without you!" the once monarch hissed, leaning closer to Bakura. "You aren't pulling my leg, are you?"

"No I'm not." Bakura smirked, his cheeks coloring slightly. "A little closer and I'd swear you were trying to kiss me," he pointed out.

"Excuse me, are we interrupting anything important?" Duke asked, rounding the table with Joey and Tristan at his heels.

Yami got off of Bakura, fighting back a blush as he got up. "I think me and Yugi are going to go home- GAH!" The Puzzle guardian when down hard when said thief tackled him to the ground again, straddling his back.

"Say sorry."

"For what?"

"Trying to kill me with not only the puck, but your shuttle and fat ass."

Yami growled. "I'd say you're a good deal heavier then I am."

Bakura shrugged. "Cream puffs," he replied, as if those two words spoke volumes.

"Get off, ketsu."

Bakura replied in extensive Egyptian, drawing a gasp from the Pharaoh underneath him.

Yami tossed the thief off his back, amethyst eyes flashing as he grabbed Bakura's throat and started throttling him. "That was so uncalled for tomb robber!"

"Arg! Phara-oh... stop shak-ing me so... damn hard!" Bakura wrapped his hands around Yami's wrists, trying to pry his hands away from his throat. "Stoooppp itt!"

"I've never... You moron!" Yami hit the Ring Spirit's head against the ground. "I'm not going to stop shaking until you apologize."

Bakura growled and grabbed the Pharaoh's hair, pulling him down to his level before pushing his lips against Yami's. This effectively stopped the Egyptian's thrashing session.

"Oh dear God..." Tristan muttered.

Yami pulled away from Bakura, stunned into speechlessness. His amethyst eyes were wide as saucers as he touched his lips. He kissed me.

Bakura, being the more sensible one present, looked over the Pharaoh's shoulder to see the others staring at the two Spirits, on the verge of cardiac arrest by the looks of it. "Um Yami?"

"Yeah Bakura?"

THUD!

Bakura and Yami glanced over to see Tristan had fainted dead away before looking at each other guiltily, the thief slowly getting off the Pharaoh.

Joey was dead pale, as he hung onto Duke to stay upright. "Guys... I think you owe us an explanation..."

Aie, aie, aie! Gomen, minna-san! I hit a bitch of a writer's block and just managed to get rid of it. T)T Aaanyway, sorry if Yami and Bakura are a OOC. I'm kinda wrote it on the sugar high from Hell. ^)^U I'll try not to let it happen again. Unless everyone likes it; then I'm stock piling sugar for the rest of the book. ^_______^

Akuro: Arigatou! I truly hate it when people make Ry' out to be a complete and total chicken-wuss and 'Kura a malevolent, abusive bastard. [giggle] And, [glomps Malik] Maly torture is always a good thing. ^)^ So is placing threats over Seto's head. ^)^U

Animegirl; …..Grounded from E-mail tambien?! Loco, loco, loco; seriously, that sucks. -)- Hopefully things'll start to look up from now on. ^)^ But, Ryou's such a fun little bishie to torture, if you can't tell. And Mokuba…. [grin] I based him more on his Japanese character; makes life more interesting for Seto and Joey.

Borath: A nice bit of Yami n' Bakura for ya. ^)^U Sorry to report that I've already been damned to Hell; for the record, I currently reside in the lower, fifth level. I promise I won't let my attention slip so badly next time. Okie? Okie. ^)^

…..Ooohhh Evaru, dear….. The fuck did you disappear to? [taps foot] I'm gonna stop slicing up Marik in favor of hunting your negligent ass. X(

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Chapter Eleven Trailer:

There was a mixed reaction of gasps and yelps as those present turned to regard the Rod guardian. Duke, being the closest, made a quick get away to Yami's side while Joey and Tristan turned their text books in Marik's direction.

"What in the hell are you doing here?!" the former growled, his voice belying an underlying fear.

Marik shrugged, toying with the spears of the Millennium Ring idly. "I was wandering around the town and I happened to find myself here," he replied casually.

"I thought I destroyed you after our duel," Yami pointed out, moving forward to place himself between his friends and Ryou's would be murderer.

"That's the funny thing about magic. Once you learn how to use it, you can do the strangest things." Marik's dusty lilac eyes met the Pharaoh's amethyst ones squarely. "Things like disappear into thin air, for example."

Bakura stepped up next to Yami, fists clenched. "What do you want with us, bastard? Another bloodletting?" His striped eyes flashed dangerously.

Marik finally got to his feet, the Ring suddenly casting golden shadows across his face. "Not quite, tomb robber." A feral smirk crossed his lips as his stolen Item flashed, blindingly bright, before falling dormant once more. "It's too early."

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