Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh… well… do dreams count? ::gets hit over the head by a mysterious hand:: Okay! Never mind…
Well, I tried to get this out pretty much on time as I usually do. I was a few days late (than what I said in my bio). About that…
NOTE: FOR ANY UPDATES OR EXPECTED DUE DATES OF FOLLOWING CHAPTERS PLEASE CHECK MY BIO PAGE. MOST UPDATES WILL BE NO LONGER THAN A WEEK.
Author Excuses: Anyhow, the reason being (a couple days late) was that I was, indeed, grounded for the duration of Wednesday. But due to my insanely annoying begging, my mom grounded me for four more days . Thus, I had to finish today (Sunday) instead. I really should stop arguing with my mom so much…
Author Appreciation to Readers: I'd like to say how happy I was to pass the 1,000 hit mark (1,136 hits!!) and also in receiving thirty-four reviews. Thank you everyone who has been reading and please don't stop!! n.n Really, though, I'm a very happy author.
Small Author Rambling: Wow… I just noticed that the titles of each of my chapters all begin with 'Con' of some sort… Consumed, Consolation, Confusion, Conspiracy… yikes! Well… guess I'll stay with the pattern O.o
Not too much to say this time around! Here's the key (if forgotten):
"Spoken words"
'Thinking'
Hikari to Yami
Yami to Hikari
With that aside, here's chapter five fresh out of the oven! n.n'
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Title: Ai No Ejiki
(Victim of Love)
Author: Suki No Hikari
Rating: PG-13 (you should know why by now!)
Recap: Bakura realized what he had done and snapped out of his small trance. "Nothing, weakling. I didn't say anything," he growled and Ryou shrugged. Right now Ryou wished more than ever that he could glimpse into Bakura's eyes; he could always tell what he was thinking just by looking at them. Something told Ryou that Bakura was hiding some issues deep within himself and that Ryou was finally starting to uncover them. Perhaps an angel really was shining down on Bakura, why else would he become so open?
Ryou smiled to himself. 'Well, I guess a couple good things came out of being blind after all.'
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Chapter Five : Concern
After at least ten minutes of waiting for the tri-haired duo, the two finally returned to the table, earning a skeptical look from the former tomb robber. As they sat down, Ryou glanced up, realizing they were back.
"What took you guys so long?" Ryou wondered. Yugi shrugged, not like Ryou could see it anyway, and muttered a 'nothing'. Ryou then remembered he had already tried to forget the possibilities. "So we're all done with our ice cream then? Do you want to start heading back?" Ryou suggested.
Yami and Yugi gave each other nervous glances. "Umm… actually, I think Yami wants another hot fudge sundae!" Yugi told them quickly. Yami sighed deeply, not really wanting another one, but knowing he must keep up the little charade. Bakura narrowed his eyes.
"Sure doesn't look like he wants another one," Bakura muttered suspiciously. Yami glared.
"How would you know, baka Tomb Robber?"
"Well you just huffed like you didn't want one, idiot Pharaoh!"
"Why do you care if I huffed or not? When did you start becoming so observant anyways?"
"Why does it matter? It's obvious you're up to something!"
"What makes you think that?! Just bec-"
"STOP ALREADY!" Yugi shouted, breaking up the argument. "Can you two ever have a civil conversation… ever?!" The two taller teens looked incredulous at the thought and even Ryou was shaking his head no.
"Face it, Yugi, as long as those two have the ability to talk, they'll fight with each other," Ryou, smiling, told the small teen. Bakura gave Ryou an indignant look and crossed his arms over his chest, making a 'humph' sound. After a couple minutes more of waiting, Yami received his new ice cream sundae. Ryou and Yugi were in a conversation about duel monsters while Bakura was relaxing with his eyes closed.
"When was the last time you played, anyway?" Yugi put his elbows on the table, anticipating the answer.
"Umm… I stopped when I moved. I really didn't have anyone to play it with anymore. Bakura never liked playing with me because I lost so easily. So I guess like two years? I don't know, really," Ryou replied truthfully. Yugi shrugged.
"Well, the next time I come in town, I'll bring my cards and we can have a friendly duel, okay?" Yugi suggested with a smile. Ryou laughed and agreed willingly. He was about to say something else, but was interrupted by singing. Ryou furrowed his eyebrows… who was singing?
"Have a happy, happy engagement! May your marriage be filled with laughter and fun as well as bundles of love!" The voice sang out. Bakura searched for the owner of the squeaky voice, feeling as if he wanted to punch this guy. Or girl.
He was interrupted when, all of a sudden, a waitress came up in front of the four teens' table with a small ice cream cake. It had light blue frosting letters saying, "Good Luck with Your Marriage!" Meanwhile, the singing kept going; the lyrics filled with nothing more than nonsense. Bakura felt like he was going to puke. But his great sense of confusion overwhelmed that feeling, thankfully. Yugi and Yami appeared just as shocked as well.
"Congratulations, Bakura and Ryou on your engagement," the waitress said politely and Bakura, coughing, nearly fainted. Needless to say, both teens turned a very bright red. Yami and Yugi shared a high five under the table, unseen by Bakura and Ryou. They were too busy gawking.
"We're not engaged woman!" Bakura yelled angrily, shooting daggers at the waitress.
She just giggled and said, "Aww. Don't worry, this restaurant isn't judgmental about that kind of stuff."
Bakura growled. "About what kind of stuff?!"
The waitress leaned in. "Oh, you know, homosexual marriages. It's okay, we support you!"
Bakura blushed harder. "I'M NOT GETTING A HOMOSEXUAL MARRIAGE WOMAN!" The waitress backed off a little bit and laughed again.
"Aww, how cute. Denial isn't the answer, though! Who cares about being homosexual? If other people can't handle it, then that's their problem! No need to say you aren't getting married! Plus, you might hurt your fiancé's feelings, saying things like that." With that, she scurried off along with another waiter who had apparently been doing the singing. Bakura started getting up to go after them and strangle either one, or both. He became stalled, however, by a small pale hand touching his own.
"Please, don't Bakura," Ryou pleaded softly. Bakura glanced at his small hikari, cheeks tinted pink. He avoided the urge to hug the angel and glared instead.
"Why not?! Those idiots thought they could make a fool of me!" Bakura protested. Yami coughed.
"Don't you think you're making a big deal out of this, tomb robber? Wouldn't it be wise to find out who pulled this prank?" Yami suggested, knowing very well who did.
Bakura glared at the other teen, and Yugi, sensing the rise of tension, spoke up. "How about we just forget this happened and eat the cake, okay?"
Ryou mumbled an agreement and Bakura sat back sulking, mumbling a 'whatever'. Without any other arguments, the two tri-haired teens started eating the cake. Ryou's thoughts were somewhere else, however.
'Who would have thought that… Bakura… and… me? I mean… Bakura and I… I mean, gah! Forget it, school's over now.' Ryou frowned slightly. 'Who cares, right? Just because that someone thought that we were engaged is no reason to get all… flustered about it. Why do I care? I hate my yami. Right?' Ryou exhaled softly. 'But… I wonder what Bakura's thinking right now. I wish I knew... but ever since he completely severed the mind link…' Ryou sighed deeply and his gaze dropped to his lap. Or the blur he assumed was his lap.
"Do you want that stupid food, weakling?" came a gruff voice, waking Ryou out of his trance. He looked to the right of him and tried to see Bakura. 'What does he mean by that? What food…oh. Wait a second…! He's offering me cake? What the…?' Ryou was, to say the least, stunned… and he just realized that he was probably gaping like an idiot.
"Um, sure," Ryou responded softly and gave Bakura a small smile. Bakura felt the tiniest bit of heat rise to his cheeks, but he tried to suppress it. The two tri-haired teens shared knowing looks. He took a fork and gently cut into the slowly melting cake.
"Open," Bakura muttered curtly and Ryou obeyed, feeling some cake fall onto his tongue. He smiled at the good taste and swallowed before opening again.
"Aw, how precious. Bakura is feeding his hikari," Yami exclaimed, smirking. Yugi elbowed him in the rib cage. Yami glared.
What was that for??
Don't provoke him! It'll ruin their moment!
Yami realized his mistake and was lucky to see that Bakura had ignored him. That, or he became too engrossed in what he was already doing that he hadn't paid attention to the other yami.
How much did you pay those two workers anyway? They even… sang! Yami noted this with much annoyance.
Well, it worked, didn't it? So it doesn't matter how much I paid them. Good thing they had extra cakes in storage, however. Otherwise it might have been a bit spurious.
Yami furrowed his eyebrows. A bit… what?
Yugi just rolled his eyes and giggled softly, turning his attention back to the other yami and hikari. Ryou opened his mouth again, Bakura giving the appearance of a mother feeding her child. Yugi snickered at the mental image.
Ryou consumed another piece and smiled brightly. "Thanks so much Bakura." The yami grunted and fed the white-haired teen another piece.
On the way home…
Yugi, Yami, Ryou and Bakura came within meters of the house, Bakura leading his hikari. Ryou frowned, thinking the clouds had covered up the sun since his vision had darkened a bit and he was no longer warm. Well, all except for his hand that was enclosed within Bakura's, which made Ryou blush once more. Yami and Yugi stopped at the porch and Bakura turned Ryou around to face them.
"Are you incapable of walking any further or something?" Bakura growled.
Yugi sighed. "Well, we should probably get going."
Ryou's eyes went large. "Already?! But you've only been here for a few hours! I thought you guys were going to stay longer. I don't mean to be selfish but, it's just… I haven't seen you two in so long… and I hated being lonely…" He trailed off, eyes getting watery.
What happened next was purely because of the weather… or the alignment of the stars… or a blue moon! Well, that's what Bakura decided to think of it of. Because the shocked gasp Ryou produced when Bakura had dared to squeeze his hand reassuringly was enough to make the former tomb robber's heart race. Ryou flicked his unclear gaze up to Bakura in utmost shock. A tint of pink ran over the yami's cheeks and the two tri-haired teens smiled consciously.
"I'm sorry, Ryou but we should seriously be going. I told my grandpa we'd be back by eight o' clock tonight and it's roughly a three hour drive home. Plus, it appears that there's a storm coming," Yugi mentioned, looking at the dark sky to the west. Ryou's furrowed his eyebrows and tried to hide the great amount of fear rising in him.
"Oh, I- I didn't see that," Ryou told them quietly.
Yugi laughed. "Well, if you did it would be a medical miracle, don't you think?" Ryou blushed from embarrassment and nodded. He suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around him, encircling him in a hug. He broke his hand contact with Bakura to hug Yugi back.
"Stay safe," Ryou mumbled and Yugi smiled.
"You too. Don't go off getting married either. For all me and Yami know, that little prank at the ice cream parlor might have been true."
(AN: I'm aware that I used improper grammar but I think 'Yami and I' in normal speech might have sounded awkward. Most people still don't use that and it's one of my pet peeves… -.-)
Ryou laughed, breaking the hug, and looked at Bakura. "I had no idea. Yami, is there something you haven't told me?"
Bakura, who had been previously tuning out the conversation, created an extremely intelligent, "huh?" Ryou shook his head in surrender. "Never mind, never mind." Bakura frowned and presented his hikari with a questioning look.
"Well, I guess we should be heading off," Yugi stated hesitantly. Ryou nodded glumly and put on a fake smile.
"It was great to see you guys again. Don't be afraid to visit!" Ryou yelled as he heard Yami and Yugi begin to retreat to their car.
Yugi started to wave goodbye but then grasped the fact that Ryou couldn't see it anyway. "Well, I'm waving goodbye now! You better wave back!" Ryou laughed at Yugi's statement and waved to where he heard the car starting. Bakura saw Yami poke his head out of the window and give him a menacing glare.
"Remember tomb robber! I'm watching you!" Yami shouted threateningly and Bakura glared right back, having an urge to shout an obscenity at him. Resisting the urge, he watched the two drive off, headed east, away from the looming ominous clouds.
A half hour later…
After Bakura and Ryou had returned inside the house, the taller teen had promptly gone upstairs (to do what, Ryou didn't know) while the smaller of the two sat down listening to television. It had become darker in the past hour, even though it was only about six o'clock. From the faint drumming on the window behind the couch, Ryou guessed it was raining outside. He couldn't really tell what channel he was on most of the time, so he had settled for a news station. Ryou didn't let anyone know, especially Bakura, but he had a distinct disliking for storms. Hoping that the clouds Yugi was talking about were just for rain, Ryou sighed deeply and tried to put that off his mind.
The big news story was about some sort of killer that had escaped from jail up near Tokyo about two weeks ago. "This man is highly dangerous. The best thing you can do is to stay indoors after dark until he is caught. I repeat, this man is highly dangerous. Recent sightings have been near Nanko, Mikazuki and Kozuki among other cities in the western Hyogo Prefecture. If you live in this area, we advise you to take extreme precaution. We believe he is getting help from other suspects and he is using a Ford pickup as a method of transportation. Please stay tuned for more information. Right now there is impending news from the weather desk."
Ryou's heart started to race at the news story. Mikazuki wasn't too far from where he was currently living, a city called Shingu, located in western Hyogo. Ryou panicked. Along with storms, the second most frightening things for him were murderers. Well, not murderers in general, but the possibility of one coming into your house and killing you, not even letting you have a chance to blink. Ryou whimpered softly. 'As long as I stay inside, I'll be fine.'
(AN: This took me a lot of researching but if you want to see a map of the Hyogo Prefecture, go to http:www.sabine.ca/map-hyogo.html. I apologize if any of this is incorrect! Please don't flame me for it because I DON'T LIVE IN JAPAN! Nor have I ever been there! .)
As he continued to listen to the weather forecast, his fears were increased. "As you can see from this Doppler radar, there is a large storm system heading northwest towards cities of Kamigori, Tatsuno, and Aioi. It will be near Shingu within the next ten minutes, the worst of the storm advancing on the outskirts of the city. There has been a severe thunderstorm warning set in effect for Kamigori, Aioi, and Shingu. Shingu is also under a tornado watch at this point in time as well. Tornados are highly dangerous. Get to a basement or an enclosed room with no windows, such as a bathroom. If you are outdoors, get into a small ditch, crouch down and put your hands over your head. Take excessive precautions. Now back to our normally scheduled news."
Ryou turned off the television and took a couple deep breaths. 'Okay. It's fine. I'm not in the direct path of the storm and tornados are rare around this area. So, I'm safe, right?' Ryou shuddered. 'But… the last time I was in a thunderstorm this bad… Dad was still alive and he comforted me. Now… I have no one… and I can't see a thing!' The white-haired teen pulled his knees up to his stomach, scooting farther back into the couch. 'It's okay. I'll be fine.' Ryou closed his eyes and tried to block out all his thoughts.
About five minutes later, the first sign of thunder began to rumble. Since Ryou could barely see when there was lightening, he didn't have the ability to count the seconds to see how far away the storm was. All of a sudden, he faintly made out a very bright flash of lightening. Knowing very well that it meant a considerable thunder was going to come after it, Ryou clasped his hands over his ears quickly. For a while nothing really happened until a loud crack pierced the silence. Ryou, who hadn't expected it to be that deafening or that sudden, let out a painful scream.
Bakura, who had been currently resting in his bed (thinking of ways to further torment the mortals of the 21st century), sprung up at the thunder, heart racing and trying to suppress the shock he had received. Soon after, he heard a scared scream, immediately recognizing it as Ryou's. The next thing he knew, he had started running downstairs. He stopped, noticing what he had just done. 'Why did I…' Bakura shook his head. 'I… I just felt the need to protect my hikari, didn't I?' Bakura frowned. 'Oh shit. I'm officially becoming the Pharaoh. Ra, what did I do to deserve this?'
Bakura snapped out of his thought process when he heard a soft whimper coming from the living room. He turned the corner, eyes wide at what he saw. Ryou was curled up into a tiny ball, tears streaming down his cheeks. 'So? I don't care. I'll just go back upstairs.' Suddenly, another boom sounded throughout the house and Bakura jumped. 'What the hell is happening?' Ryou began to sob harder as Bakura noticed he no longer had control of his body, and he started moving towards the couch.
"Ryou?" Apparently he had no control over his mouth either. Ryou's head snapped up and looked in Bakura's general area.
"B-Bakura? Is t-that you?" Ryou's voice cracked and Bakura's shell began to chip away. Bakura, not answering, instead sat on the couch next to the hikari. Ryou, feeling the presence, reached out a hand and touched Bakura's arm lightly.
Bakura flicked him away, growling. "Don't touch me, weakling!" Ryou shook his head stubbornly and made contact with Bakura's arm once again. Bakura snarled and shook the intruding hand off for the second time. Tears began to flow freely down Ryou's cheeks as he reached out one more time.
"P-Please Bakura…" Sobs broke most of the coherent speech but Ryou continued. "Just for t-tonight… I… I don't want to be alone… I'm really s-scared…" He broke out into uncontrollable trembling and Bakura's expression softened.
'This isn't happening! I'm not going soft!' Bakura thought to himself. 'He's just so… helpless. Why don't I beat him? He's being weak… why can't I bring myself to hit him? I don't care about what that damn Pharaoh said… I can't stand weakness!' Bakura's fist rose slowly as he started to pull it back, ready to strike. He was within inches of his hikari's face when Ryou let out a pleading whimper. Bakura stopped and realized he couldn't hit him. His fist dropped slowly and he regarded the smaller teen.
Before Bakura even had a clear train of thought, he brought his arms down and wrapped them around the angel. Ryou let out a soft gasp but relaxed slowly as the seconds went by. 'This is STUPID! Why did I just do that?' Bakura thought doubtfully. But when Ryou's head fell softly upon his own chest, he instinctively pulled him closer, trying as best as he could to control his body. 'I don't care. It's only for one night and…it feels so…' Bakura stopped himself before even thinking those betraying words. He. Was. Not. Soft. NOT! 'N' plus 'O' equals NO! He was interrupted once again by an earsplitting crash.
"What the hell is going on?!" Bakura growled softly and hugged Ryou tighter, feeling strangely calmed by being so close to his hikari.
Ryou hiccupped and lifted his head from Bakura's damp shirt. "It's a th-thunderstorm…"
"A what?!" Bakura muttered, thoroughly confused. He had never been through something like this in Egypt.
"You… you didn't have a body before so you were always in y-your soul room when there were thunder…" Ryou exhaled deeply, calming himself. "… thunderstorms." Ryou let out a shaky breath. Bakura sensed that his hikari was having difficulty speaking due to his sobbing, so he resisted from asking any more questions. They would have to wait until later.
Unexpectedly, a siren started to sound nearby, very loudly in fact. Ryou tensed up and jolted out of Bakura's embrace, eyes filled with horror.
"Hikari… what's that sound?" Bakura requested uncertainly, afraid to know the answer. Ryou looked positively horrified.
"Bakura… we have to get to the basement," Ryou told his yami, voice deathly severe.
"But wh-"
"NOW!" Ryou shouted and Bakura, reacting quickly, seized Ryou's hand, leading him off the couch and to the basement as fast as he could.
That made my heart race just writing that! I hate those kinds of situations! ::shudder:: They scare the hell out of me! Aww… but wasn't a confused-not-able-to-control-his-body Bakura so kawaii?!
Bakura: Woman! YOU KEEP MAKING ME A FREAKING IDIOT!
Suki-chan: I know =n.n= Muahahaha… NOW! Quickly do the thank you's so I can post this! Oh and I missed two reviewers for chapter three when I posted chapter four thank you's so I'm going to post those too! Sorry!
Bakura: ::Growls::
Ones that I missed for chapter three reviewers:
Maedhros – I felt soooo bad when I totally missed your review and didn't reply last chapter because of what you said! So I'm replying now! Thanks so much for the review and I'm sorry I missed you!! Forgive me??
Lady-Wicca666 – Thanks so much for review! I'm so sorry I missed you! I felt awful! But thanks so much anyway! I hope you like my updates… they aren't too slow are they? (this is also for chapter four n.n) THANKS FOR BOTH REVIEWS! It keeps me writing!
Dark Magic 856 – I want a Ryou plushie!!! I will huggle it and name it Squishy! Or Ryou 'cause that would kind of make sense… lol. Your review put a smile on my face! Thanks so much!
Saffron-Starlight – Arigatou gozaimasu! Lol, but thanks! I'm glad you thought it was cute n.n
Carmen5-Nemrac – Aww thanks! I think I'll get used to it… maybe O.o I'm such a slow learner half the time u.u But thanks so very much for the review! ::glomps:: Yay! Me so very happy!
snow-shadow-wolf – Yay!! Someone appreciates my sometimes-lacking humor abilities! ::glomps:: Your reviews are definitely the most helpful to me and I look forward to getting them each time I update! Thank you so much for sticking with this story!
Enjeru – I hoped I updated soon enough! I was a teeny bit behind ::is ashamed:: BUT! I got it out nonetheless, right? Also, thank you SO SO much for putting me on your favorite authors list! That REALLY made my day!
Misori Chan – MY CLONE! I loved your review! Yes, I've been misled by all the other Bakura and Ryou fics where they make Bakura beat Ryou u.u ::very ashamed:: but I will have to fix it in my oncoming fictions, ne? Thanks so much for your help (and your piccies! ::cuddles them::) Yay! ::is unbearably happy::
Russle – I know! The whole hot fudge sundae image just goes with Yami, doesn't it? See! We connected O.o ::ohhh psychic waves:: Lol, but thanks SO much for your review! Yes, Bakura thinks an awful lot in this story, sadly. That SO doesn't suit him, ne? Bakura thinking?! ::triple gasp:: Lol but thanks again! I LOVE YOUR REVIEWS!! XD ::extreme happiness::
Suki-chan: Thanks to all of you so very much! You guys are what keep me inspired! I don't have too much to say so keep reading! And check my bio for updates for the next chapter!! n.n YAY!
3 Suki-chan 3
P.S. HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!! n.n