Oh, where I got myself into. . . Bakura wants to TALK to Ryou?? What's going on? Random. . .

Bakura: She's insane. . . O.O

Ryou: No, she's not. She took her pharmaceuticals a moment ago.

Yami: Weird. . . pharmaceuticals to heal her insanity?

Seto: There are no pharmaceuticals in the whole world which could do that -.-

Yuugi: You're mean. She's just ill. . .

Voice: Thanks, Yuugi, Ryou ^-^ Well, anyways. I made cookies! *hands out marshmallow cookies*

To Lee Elven etc. ^^: UH. . . make him die? I can't make him die!! Oh well, maybe in the end. . . NO! Bad! *slaps her own hand* I can't make him die, because he's kinda important. . . he is! Believe me! Though I agree, he's just. . . ew. -.- What have I done. . .

To Fluffy: I guess Yami's now the person everybody just hates. . . poor Yami. He is 'supposed' to be mean! That's his job.

To GraveRobbers Aman: Oh well. . . thanks ^-^ And the house cleaning lady, I feel sorry for her too. But she simply was there. . . wrong time, wrong place. You're the only one worrying about her so far *g* and YAY of course I updated! It will be MORE fun, I promise! At least when Bakura and Ryou start off to their mission. . .

To snow-shadow-wolf: 3x better than a movie? You sure? Thank youuuu!! ^-^

To little-kat-girl: Maybe I should call me "Queen of Cliffies", ne? *lol* Mkay, I'm a bit evil with them. . . Anyways! Thanks for the soup ^-^

To RaineKitsune(): Uhm. . . you. . . sure? I was told that everybody calls Jou Katsuya because of his surname. . . Now I'm confused. Maybe someone could tell us? Please? I know, I LOVE cliffies *g*

To Molly-chan: *pats Molly-chan* Uhh, calm down, please. . . ;_; Anyways, thanks ^-^

To Lady Blue Eyes: Well, you may just have read the first chapter, but I'm thanking you anyways ^-^ Yeah, I made Mariku Malik's brother, because there are no sennen items and so there are no yamis and hikaris. . . *shrug*

**

Bakura's POV

Well, okay, it was unusual that I wanted to talk to Ryou. But everything flashed before my eyes when I saw Yami holding the kid close to him, teasing him, seducing, grinning. . . That was just like he took Kristin away from me. Like he took everyone I loved. By seducing and killing them.

Back there in the Shadow Realm, I already saw Ryou's lithe body rigid and pale, his beautiful face covered in blood, his lips turning into a sick shade of blue, clothes torn apart, eyes staring blankly. I had felt like throwing my life away for his, begging Yami to let him go and take me instead. But it was a fact that he didn't want me dead, he wanted me broken. Broken and on my knees. But there was still Anzu's body on my shoulders, and I had to take care of her, for she was one of my closest and dearest friends; though I never admitted it. I couldn't, and I wouldn't admit my love to anyone ever again. Yes, I was afraid.

You never believed maybe, but yes, I was afraid. I was terrified that Yami would kill Ryou just in front of my eyes. That he would kill in front of me again. I did care for this boy, not because he looked so much like me, not because Kaiba told me to protect him no matter what, not because he had been stalked and attacked. I did because he needed me, because he needed someone, anyone, for his life had been as painful as mine, and because. . . I liked him. He was around me though I pushed him away, in fact I barely ever talked to him, just told him how he had to hold this or that weapon. And he had been fighting Yami as well as he could. Anyone else who was around him fell for him immediately; I don't know if it was because of his looks, his purrs, or his gazes. I just knew that I hated him with every part of my body and soul.

I was walking a while, thinking about how to start. It was quite easy to talk to Ryou; when he was talking, and I was listening. Now we had to switch parts. I never had been a man of many words, I barely ever talked to Marik, and he was my best friend. I had talked to him about Ryou, though. He had nodded and listened, but I knew his thoughts had been somewhere else.

I could have talked to Isis, for she was really clever, if not even wise. I could have talked to Shizuka, for she had a relationship with Seto and was a girl, and I could've talked to Anzu, who knew Ryou quite well and he trusted her. In fact, I talked to neither of them. It seemed weak to me, and Yami could've listened. Well, okay, that was implausible, but it was an excuse to me.

Ryou's footsteps slowed down a little, and so I stopped. I knew nobody had followed us; now it was time to collect my courage and start talking. First, I cleared my throat. Then I was shocked how calm my voice was though I was yelling inside.

"You know, you should've told me you're going out." "But Anzu was with me!" I turned to him.

"It doesn't matter to me if Anzu was with you, it doesn't even matter if the whole bunch was with you; but it does matter that you went back to your house. They were waiting for that move."

"Oh yeah? Well, I maybe had asked you, but you were busy arranging your daggers!"

"That's no reason and none of your business anyway! Didn't I tell you he was dangerous?"

"No, actually you didn't! You told me nothing, you're not even talking to me!"

I sighed inwardly. This kid really was feisty; he reminded me of Anzu. She had this temper, too, when you were arguing with her; maybe she was a bad influence.

"In fact, he treated me much nicer in this few minutes than you have ever since I'm here."

This startled me, it really did. What did he know about my reasons? Why didn't he understand I was trying to protect him? My next action shocked me, though.

"Oh, you think so? Because he was seducing you? If that's what you want, then seduction you will get."

With that, I twined my arms around his small waist, pulled him close, and pressed my lips on his. Okay, I maybe was not as seductively as Yami might have been, and I was rude too. . . But hey, I could get used to this.

I scared him, I knew it. His body stiffened, startled. Did I mention before he tasted sweet? No, I couldn't have. I've never kissed him before. He tasted even sweeter when his soft lips parted slightly and his arms wrapped around my neck.

**

Ryou's POV

Okay, hell was freezing all over, I thought. I begged inwardly not to wake me up if that was a dream; did I provoke this? Slowly, my eyes closed, my arms wrapped around his neck, I felt his warm body against mine, his tongue on my bottom lip. . . Well, let's say, I felt like in heaven. My body took over, and I was quite glad about it. I hadn't kissed ever before, and maybe, just maybe, this first kiss of mine had been more romantic if it had taken place somewhere else, with other circumstances; but never with someone else.

Shivers went down my spine one by one as his tongue entered my mouth while I was pressed against a wall, massaging and stroking my own, and I ran a hand through his locks. As I thought it couldn't get much better without stripping off some clothes, he pulled away, and immediately I felt my lungs again, begging for oxygen. Did he know. . . ?

Anyways, I took a deep breath, not daring to open my eyes because they would only beg him to continue. His arms didn't leave my waist. I felt him leaning in again, his hair brushing against my cheek, but the soft yet passionate touch on my lips didn't came back. Instead, he began to whisper in my ear.

"Don't forget training in half an hour. Go changing."

I missed the sensation of his hot breath on my neck as soon as he pulled away and walked down the corridor, leaving me breathing heavy leaning against a wall. I brought a hand up to my lips; and then, just to make sure, I pinched my arm. But apart from a slight bruise nothing happened. And grinning I returned to my room, for I knew now that it hadn't been a dream.

Later, the training room. As Bakura told me I had changed, into a pair of loose pants and a t-shirt. I entered the room, and my jaw nearly dropped. I barely kept myself from drooling.

There were Marik and Bakura, shirtless, meaning, with BARE and very muscular chests, and backs, don't forget the backs, and they were fighting. Not with weapons, dear Ra, no. It looked like some kind of Martial Arts. Sweat glittered on their skin in the dim light which was set like it was the light of some candles. I didn't dare to interrupt. But they spotted me.

"The kid's here.", Marik grinned, stepping back from Bakura's attack, who turned to face me. Was there a hint of amusement in his eyes. . . ? "Then you can go now. Thanks again.", he addressed the Blonde. "Aw, but I wanted to see how-" "NOW", Bakura cut him off. Marik grinned even wider and walked towards the door, patting my shoulder as he passed me. "Good luck, kid."

I stood there, waiting, while Bakura grabbed a towel -no, don't do it- and wiped away the sweat. The light, though remained as it hat been. "Come here, kid." I slowly walked over. "My name's Ryou, you know.", I muttered slightly shy. He looked at me with an expression I didn't recognized, but his eyes seemed much softer than they had been before. "Then Ryou it shall be."

"I'm gonna show you some punches, and kicks, the whole Martial Art thing.", he explained, facing me. I mimicked his position, and nodded. I could barely even see his movement, but seconds later I was on the ground. "I guess we should try it again.", he just said, pulling me up, and showing me how to defend myself against his attack. I nodded as I grasped it, and he attacked again.

Once more, I found myself on my back; and I found him kneeling upon me. He held my wrists next to my head and I couldn't move my legs much either. I gulped.

"Well, that wasn't too bad. . . was it?", he said quietly. "N-No, it wasn't. . . too bad.", I responded, still staring into his eyes which were fixed on mine. How I wanted him to kiss me again, how I wanted him to take me then and there. . . but of course, he didn't. He let go of me after half a minute and pulled me up again.

We were training until it was nearly midnight and I was punched because I had to yawn. "I guess it's late. You should run off to bed now." I nodded and turned around; the dim light made shadows appear at the walls. They crumbled at the door and flickered over the ground. I didn't know why, but I was terrified. "Uh. . . Bakura?" "Yes, -Ryou?"

I noticed he hesitated calling me by my name, but I didn't care this time. "Could you walk me to my room?" "Don't tell me now you're afraid, kid.", he smirked. "Of course I'm not", I responded way too stubbornly. "Then why don't you go there by yourself?" "Because I want to be with you?"

. . . uh-oh. Now I spoke my thoughts out loud. Great. But he didn't laugh; he just cocked an eyebrow slightly, took my hand and went to the door with me. I blushed immediately. Intertwining his fingers with mine, I walked with him through those creepy corridors, and I knew that I would've freaked out if he weren't by my side. In front of my room, we stopped.

"Do I have to sleep with you in there?", he asked tauntingly. I shook my head. "No. . . That means, if you want to that bad, of course you can. . . " he let go of my hand and shoved me slightly towards the room. I sighed inwardly and opened the door, when I felt his breath once again at my ear. "We'll save this for later.", he whispered. Then he brushed his lips over my cheek, and frozen as I was, he was gone when I turned to look.

**

Well, uhm. . . review? *Puppy eyes*