A/N: Eep. Please, I need a beta reader. Any volunteers?

Heh, I got the "squaring two" idea from the book Ender's shadow by Orson Scott Card. It actually works really well! If you can remember to do it while in a fit of rage. Lovely book. I don't own it though.

Re-written 11-18-03. See authors note at the bottom.

***

~Ryou's POV~

Sitting on my bed, I sighed, clinging to what courage I could muster. I was going to tell him. I was going to tell him.

The room faded as I entered my soul room…

Then came into brilliant focus as I returned to my body. I couldn't do it. I just couldn't. Everything would be easier if I kept it secret. I could survive, I could move on. I could, and I would.

Did I mention I'm a terrible liar?

Admitting defeat, I let the room lose it's definition once again, as my mind relinquished control of my body, slipping into Bakura's soul room.

The first thing I noticed was the complete absence of his normal aura. Normally, it permeated the small space to the point I was swimming in it, but tonight, it was gone. Small traces could be detected clinging to his bed's sheets and the corners of the room, but they were growing cold, losing their potent essence.

Suddenly, the void was filled with the uniquely essential Bakura-ness. I spun around, to find him poking his head through the soul room door. Our eyes met for a brief second, before I broke the contact, blushing at being caught snooping around his soul-space.

Breaking my own trance, I remembered my purpose. I was here, and so was he. The only thing missing was the words I had come to say. Yet the silence that filled the air was tense, and I was hesitant to break it. Like releasing a stretched rubber band. Who knows what the release of tautness would lead to?

Before I could utter a word, Bakura closed the gap between us, his mouth closing over mine.

~Bakura's POV~

You'd think, as the reincarnation of a man whose life relied on quick decision that I'd have gotten out of the habit of indecisiveness. Yet I'd spent the past hour in suspended contemplation, pacing my soul room as thoughts chased their way through my conscience.

Since when was the King of Thieves a coward? A select part of my mind accused, the rhetorical question hitting a sensitive nerve.

I'm no longer the King of Thieves, I retorted, half wondering since when I'd developed a split personality. I am Ryou Bakura no Yami.

Yet the former allegation still plagued me. I was being a coward, King of Thieves or not. Yet a wise man once said, "those who flee and run away live to fight another day," my cowardice reasoned. Besides, there would always be, "later". Yes, I'd tell him later.

Later arrived with a jolt as I felt my Hikari begin to enter the Millenium Ring. Burying my doubts, I ran across the hall, into his soul room.

Another wise man once said, "There's no time like the present". Taking the present, as well as my future in hand, I opened his soul room door, ready to spill my heart's offerings at the feet of my Hikari.

My absent Hikari.

Ryou's soul room was empty. A small trace of aura lingered where his soul had once stood, but it was fading fast. He was gone.

I growled, half out of frustration, half out of relief. Frustration because I didn't get the chance to tell him. Relief because I didn't get the chance to tell him. I lingered in Ryou's soul-space, longingly gazing at the cloud of aura that was all that remained of Ryou's former presence. Closing my eyes, I stepped forward into it, engulfed by the warmth that was his soul's paw print.

My reverie was broken as our mind link quivered once again, Ryou entering our shared soul-space once again. Yet this time, he was going into my room.

What he'd be doing in there, I had no idea. Luckily, I had no time for ideas at the moment. All that mattered was that I got my ass out of his room and over to Ryou.

Poking my head in, I glimpsed his back, before he spun around quickly, trademark white hair tossed back by the action. He appeared mildly disheveled, a blush hovering on the corners of his cheeks as he spotted me. His eyes met mine for a moment, then his blush deepened.

What was with teenagers and their blushing? Blood seemed to rush quite quickly at that age, forever fleeing either to the face, or other, more private areas at a moment's notice.

This was my chance. I was going to be mature for once in my life and tell the truth. This was an important moment. Pity that tendency I have to be led around by my dick.

Without thinking, I shortened the gap between us, until the only distance lay between our toes. The rest of my body was pressed tightly against his. The most noticeable part being my mouth.

I can be quite eloquent when I want to be. In my time, I've convinced rival thief lords to kill each other, and on numerous occasions have talked my way out of the Pharaoh's dungeon.

This most definitely wasn't one of those times.

~Ryou's POV~

I involuntarily gasped, as Bakura's spirit essence filled the atmosphere. After all, we weren't' technically touching. The feeling was merely an exchange of emotion conveyed by our souls. I didn't feel his mouth on me, as I had in my dreams. That, after all, was impossible. I merely felt his desire engulf my senses.

That being said, I was very confused. I stepped back, out of his tangible-emotion range. His fingers reached up towards me delicately, questioning filling his eyes. I knew my reactions well enough to know my eyes most likely held the same puzzled expression.

Determined to fulfill my purpose, I made sure I was the first one to speak.

"What was that for?"

~Bakura's POV~

"What was that for?" he asked. The way he said it, it sounded more like an accusation than a question.

"For being so goddamn gorgeous," came my eloquent reply. Ouch. That didn't sound right. I was used to speaking in terms of lust, not love, but pillow talk would get me nowhere.

His eyes flashed angrily at my reply, his fists clenching as his jaw tightened. Stupid Bakura!

"Is that it?" He answered. "Because you like the way I look?" Another accusation. Now my temper began to get the better of me. I began slowly squaring two in my mind, trying to get my mind off my injured pride. '2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64,' it went, desperately trying to free me from my ego's clutch.

"Does it matter?" Wow. I didn't lose my silver-tongue in all those years of being trapped in the Millennium Ring. No… not at all.

'128, 256, 512…'

"Of course it matters!" he said, disbelief bordering on fury filling his voice. "It matters because…because you can kiss someone even if you don't love them," As if horrified by his own words, his hands moved to cover his mouth. Yet fury filled his eyes once again, and he threw them down.

'1024, 2048, 4096…'

"It matters because you're using me. You enjoy it, don't you?" His accusations hurt more then if he had slapped me in the face. His voice trembled with hatred, trembling with a stubbornness I would have otherwise found hilarious, had I not been at the receiving end of it.

'8192, 16384, 32768…'

"…enjoying seeing me live out my fantasies, relishing the pain I feel…" He had it all wrong. 'No, no, Ryou, it's not at all like that,' I wanted to say. Yet despite my knowledge of his misunderstanding, I felt myself growing angry at his distrust of me. How could he automatically assume I hated him so? Everything would be alright once I cleared things up. I'd just let him vent, then we'd work it out.

"… because it's obvious that we can truly never be together like that."

What the fuck.

I snapped. He hadn't been talking about love after all. "Be together" he'd said. He thought I had been gloating about our lack of separate bodies? All he really had wanted was sex. I understood now. Perfectly.

No wonder he'd been angry about the kiss. "You can kiss someone even if you don't love them," he'd said. He was saying he didn't love me, but he still thought we could by physical, because kissing and whatnot could be done, even if you didn't love someone. And now he was frustrated because our separate bodies limited our physical contact to none.

Ignoring the urge to convey my wounded feelings, I put on my best smirk and acted like his words hadn't affected me at all.

"Oh, I see now. Thanks for clearing that up," I said, crossing my arms over my chest in a manner than expressed the finality of the statement. I moved to the side, presenting him with the doorframe. "If you'll excuse me, I have evil to plot," I said with what I hoped was a convincing growl.

"But… Yami and Yugi worked it out," he began. Stubborn boy.

He must have been referring to Yami's "separation" from his host. The ritual has almost cast his soul into oblivion, yet he had survived, his reward being a lifetime of physical contact with his beloved Hikari.

That proved it. Ryou wanted somebody, not someone, to be with. Perfect.

"I am not the Pharaoh. It's not my fault if he's foolish enough to keep company with mortals."

Ryou seemed on the verge of tears. 'Try that on your next boyfriend, see if that gets you laid' I wanted to say, but refrained from it. Mostly because it might work. The thought of Ryou having a boyfriend was too much to bear on top of all this.

My Hikari nodded, his image slowly fading.

"Good riddance," I said, and slammed my soul room door.

***

A/N: Eep! Please don't hurt me. I hate being threatened. I'll make everything better, really!

I'm surprised no one understood the, "pop-cultural thingie" I talked about in the last chapter. I was referring to the movie that just came out, "Love, actually". Sorry that no one got it.

Before you review (because you know you want to!) please read the, "In regards to reviews" portion of my bio. Not that I don't enjoy mindless praise, mind you. It just won't help me at all in the long run. Or the short run. Why am I talking about running?

*Big authors rant*: Thank you so much VampssAmby10210 for giving me some negative-feedback. When I read the story again, I said to myself, "Self, Bakura is OOC." So I rewrote the end of the chapter. I may have only succeeded in making it worse, but I tried. Bakura seems more likely to jump to conclusions and lose him temper than to chicken out over something that important.

Thanks everyone else who reviewed as well.

Oh, and whoever gets the 120th review gets a small part in my story. The 120th review being the review after Mavelus's. I'll find a way to put you in my story! It'll only be brief, but you're still in there. I'll contact you if you won, or if I have no way of contacting you, I'll move on to the next person. The more helpful the review is, the larger the part you get! Or if you don't want a part…well, that's ok too.

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