Muse's Notes
Greetings, readers. This time it's Leanna delivering the notes to you as part of our attempt to defy ff.net's new rule against script formatting in author's notes.
When we left our victims, Ryou's father had broken his leg and had to return home early from a dig. Ryou hadn't exactly told him yet that he was gay, let alone dating Malik. Well, that little problem solved itself when Yohmei got off the plane to find the two making out. Now the boys have to deal with the aftermath...
Before we get to that, let's answer our reviews!
Redconvoy: Oh, don't worry. You'll see his reaction very soon...
Lin-Chan: I know, poor guy. But surprises like this tend to pop up when you're away most of the time...
Angelbird12241: Your wish is our command.
Tramontana Keeper: Yep! Not exactly what he expected, now was it?
Optimistic girl94: Of course I'm gonna write more!
LittleDarkOne: I know! I just love this pairing! hands you Ryou and Malik plushies
Amarin Rose: Hmm, now that sounds tempting... And I loved "Not What You Think," by the way!
Maruken: Don't worry, we're working on updates!
Now enter the disclaimer...
DISCLAIMER: Do you honestly believe a girl like Peacenikky could own something like Yu-Gi-Oh!? She's far too scatterbrained to pull something like that off! Not to mention her drawing sucks... And she doesn't own Sailor Moon, either.
"How... When... Who... What... HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!" Yohmei thundered. All three males were back at Ryou's apartment, and the younger boys sat on the couch while the older one continued his rant. Ryou's head was bowed in embarrassment, but Malik simply leaned against the boy's shoulder, halfway tuning Yohmei out. The blonde had a faint half-smirk as he idly pictured the older man pacing and then tripping over his crutches.
"Easy. Your son is gay, and I'm dating him. You do know that usually entails physical attraction, right?" Malik piped up with flippant calm. Ryou's head shot up in shock at his boyfriend's attitude.
"Malik..." he hissed, detecting the waves of murderous rage coming from his father. The blonde didn't take the hint.
"Don't worry, we haven't officially slept together." Malik added, rolling his eyes. "...Yet." Malik blinked before smiling. "Hey, look! Your dad's turning red!"
"Get. Out." Yohmei said simply and dangerously. Ryou shot a glare at Malik as the boy shrugged, kissed Ryou on the cheek, and got up.
"I'll call you later. Nice meeting you, Bakura-san!" he said cheerfully as he left.
Ryou groaned as his father turned to face him. "He's really nice, honestly! He's just a little..." Ryou trailed off, searching for the best word.
"Insane? Perverted? Oversexed?" Yohmei suggested, frowning. "I don't like him at all, Ryou."
"I'd say... unique."
"Ryou, he was molesting you in broad daylight!" Yohmei added vehemently.
"You can't exactly molest someone who's willing..." Ryou said meekly. Yohmei groaned and hung his head.
"I knew leaving you alone for so long was a bad idea..."
"Dad, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm gay. I can't change that." The ocean-haired man reached over and touched his son's shoulder reassuringly
"You could never disappoint me, Ryou. Besides, evidence shows that homosexuality was widely accepted in ancient Greece and Rome. And I'd be an idiot to think being gay is something that'll keep you from doing great things. But I really wish you'd told me this sooner." Yohmei sighed, rolling his eyes heavenward. "I really, really wish you'd told me sooner..."
Ryou gulped, immediately feeling like he had just messed up. "What's wrong?" he asked meekly.
Yohmei sighed, sitting back down, propping his foot up on a fluffy pillow nearby. The older man looked like he had just been told he was being sent to a month long boot camp, all the while being chained to his son's darker half. "Well, with my leg like this, getting around isn't going to be easy for a while. So I called up your aunt and uncle." Yohmei paused to gauge Ryou's reaction. He didn't need to wait long.
"You didn't..." Ryou moaned. He knew full how being near his relatives would be a waking nightmare. His aunt Noriko and his uncle Sachitobe lived in Nagasaki, and the boy hadn't seen either them or their son Satoshi since recently after his mother and sister's funeral. It wasn't something the boy was too broken up about, since his uncle had never approved of his younger brother marrying a woman from England, his aunt was constantly trying to set Ryou up with some flighty slut or other, and Satoshi was a wickedly perverted brat who seemed to enjoy tormenting his "half-breed" cousin.
Ryou might have been able to put up with it, except for one thing. All three of them were quite firm in a certain subject. Traditionally minded was the polite way of putting it. Homophobic was the more accurate term.
"How long will they be staying?" Ryou asked weakly, mentally estimating how long he could avoid his relatives and get away with it. Yohmei looked at his son with sympathy.
"Three weeks, a month at the longest. Sachitobe and Noriko will stay in the spare room, and Satoshi will be staying--"
"Don't say it..." Ryou moaned.
"Afraid so. He'll be staying on a futon in your room. I know it's gonna be tough, so if you suddenly get a lot of invitations to sleepovers, I'll understand."
Ryou smiled, touched that his father was being so cool about the whole thing.
"...Just not with Malik."
"Dad!"
---
"Flight 293 from Nagasaki is now arriving at Gate Seven. Flight 293 from Nagasaki is now arriving at Gate Seven."
It had been a week since Ryou and Yohmei's conversation, and now the two sat in an airport lounge identical to the one Ryou and Malik had been making out in a week ago. The silver-haired boy still fidgeted nervously, but his father stood by the end of one row of seats, being unable to get in a comfortable sitting position with his cast and crutches. Ryou sighed, tensing up as the door leading from the plane slid open and the first passengers began to file out.
'Businessman... teenage divorce kid... frat boy...' he idly listed in his mind, running a hand through his hair and yawning softly. After a minute or two, the boy fought back a groan when he saw a middle-aged man with a few lines of gray shot through his dark blue hair step into the lounge. A thin, delicate woman with short, jet-black hair and too much makeup soon followed him. Last of all was a boy Ryou's age who seemed too far involved in his MP3 player to be paying much attention to his surroundings. Even at first glance, you might be able to tell he was someone who used his looks to charm and disarm others with his lightly tousled black hair, brown eyes, and a body that had more muscle than Ryou's. 'Okay Ryou, welcome to Hell. Let's see how long you can last.' The pale boy thought as he put a plastic smile on his face and stood up to greet his relatives. "Aunt Noriko! Uncle Sachitobe! It's great to see you!" he greeted them with false cheer before squeaking softly as Noriko crushed him in a hug.
"Oh, look how you've grown! And those puppy dog eyes! You must be quite the lady-killer!" she chattered. Ryou gave his father a pleading glance, but it was no use. Sachitobe was already teasing his brother about his accident and cast, and Yohmei had an expression that bled tension and the wish to bean the older man over the head with one of his crutches.
Ryou mentally sighed and looked at Satoshi, who was watching the slightly shorter boy with a "well, won't this be amusing" smirk. "Good to see you again, Ryou." Satoshi said cheerfully, throwing an arm around Ryou's shoulders as soon as he was free from Noriko's hug.
"Yeah, likewise..." Ryou muttered warily as Sachitobe called the others over to head for the baggage claim. Ryou sighed and trudged along, not looking forward to the next few weeks at all.
---
'Think of spending time at the planetarium with Malik. Think of spending time at the planetarium with Malik. Think of spending time at the planetarium with Malik.' Ryou chanted in his head over and over to drown out the thought of his surroundings during the bus ride back to his apartment. Yohmei was keeping up a polite conversation, but he too looked like he'd rather be elsewhere. Satoshi was once again listening to his music, but he kept throwing Ryou wicked smirks that caused the boy to edge back toward the wall. The strategy failed with Satoshi pulled off his headphones and stood next to Ryou, leaning casually against the wall.
"So what have you been up to?" Satoshi asked innocently. "You still into that stupid board game?" Ryou glared at his cousin.
"First of all, Monster World isn't a board game. It's a tabletop RPG. Second, it's not stupid. Third, yes, I still enjoy playing it, so I would appreciate it if you didn't insult it!" True, Ryou still enjoyed playing Monster World, but he hadn't really had a chance to find other players in a while, mainly because Yugi and the others were still wary of being turned into dolls despite Ryou's assurance that Bakura wouldn't try the same trick twice. Malik wasn't much help in the matter either. In fact, he found the idea hilarious. 'Maybe I could make an exception in Satoshi's case and let him play...' he thought idly.
Well, well, is that an evil thought I just heard?Bakura teased from within Ryou' mind.
The boy glared at his chest where the Sennen Ring was hidden beneath his shirt. "Oh, shut up." He hissed under his breath.
Satoshi looked up with a start. "Excuse me? Did you just tell me to shut up?" he growled dangerously, leaning in toward Ryou. The pale boy laughed nervously and shook his head.
"No, of course not! Why would I do that?" he quickly insisted, taking another step away from his cousin.
Satoshi glowered. "Yeah, right." He muttered, looking ready to do some damage if it weren't for all the witnesses on the crowded bus. Ryou gulped and rode in an awkward silence for the rest of the way to the bus stop. With some difficulty, the five Bakuras got off the bus, toting luggage and overhead bags toward the apartment complex down the street. From there it was a short elevator ride and hike to Ryou's apartment.
Yohmei guided Sachitobe and Noriko to the modest guest room off the hall. Normally it was used to house boxes of artifacts that needed temporary storage, but now it had been cleaned out, dusted, washed, and freshened up. Ryou sighed and directed Satoshi to his own room, which merely had to be straightened up and rearranged a bit to accommodate a futon mattress and pillow.
Satoshi plopped his duffle bag on the ground and sprawled out on Ryou's bed, looking quite comfortable. Ryou took a deep breath to calm the twitch that threatened to form in his eye and looked the other boy square in the eye. "Now listen up. I don't care if you're my guest or not. I know you too well, so politeness can just go out the window when you're concerned. This is my room. You are not to touch ANYTHING without asking me first, got that?" The fact that he was being so aggressive shocked Ryou, but being faced with the raven-haired boy drove him to break from his usual character. Satoshi smirked, sitting up with one arm draped casually over his knee.
"What would make you think I'd do something like that?" he asked, staring at Ryou innocently.
"You tried to melt Amane's Sailor Moon dolls with a magnifying glass and a candle." Ryou stated, not blinking.
"I was eleven!"
"And I have no reason to believe you'd act differently this time." Ryou said calmly.
"Yeah, whatever." Satoshi shrugged and got up, wandering over to Ryou's desk and picking up a framed photograph. It had been taken shortly after the Battle City finals. Ryou was still supposed to be confined to bed, but Anzu had insisted he be in the picture as well. Maybe it was all the painkillers in his system, maybe it was Malik's arm wrapped snugly around his waist, but somehow he had managed to stay standing long enough for Rishid to take the picture. The other duelists and guests, save for Kaiba, were also in the shot.
Satoshi was paying particular attention to Mai and Isis, who were both looking relieved that the ordeal was over. The teenager's focus seemed to rest a little below their faces, however. "Hey, who are these babes?" he asked. Ryou rolled his eyes.
"Those girls would be Kujaku Mai and Ishtar Isis. And don't bother, since Mai would laugh and/or slap you and Isis would beat you over the head with whatever's handy." Ryou said, though Satoshi seemed to be ignoring him.
Ryou's attempt to snatch the photo out of his hand and lock it in a drawer was interrupted by the chime of the doorbell. Yohmei hobbled over and opened the door, revealing the one person who was sure to make the situation far more difficult.
Malik leaned against the doorframe, dressed as nicely as he could be—meaning a shirt that actually covered his midriff if he didn't stretch more than five centimeters in any direction and some rather elegant jewelry covering his arms. His expression was just as slightly insane as ever as he spoke loudly enough for the others to hear him, "Hey, Bakura-san! Can Ryou- chan come out and play?"
Deputy Muse's Notes
Hey-hey! Rebecca here! It's my turn now to talk to you! You can expect a lot more updates to come now that Peacenikky's summer vacation has started. Who knows, with enough prodding/death threats, she just might pick up Sands again!
There's not much else to say, aside from the fact that Peacenikky's also hyper because of Ryou's first appearance in the manga just arrived.
Ryou here. Just putting in my two cents. They left the 'u' out of my name. WHY DID THEY DO THAT?! And apparently I'm in denial over Amane's death. Not fun...
Rebecca again... We're signing off now, so peace, love, and marshmallow bunnies! Bye!
