Disclaimer: Look! A piggy! ... ... ... What was the question?
A/N: I'm baaaack! Run away! ... Or not. (sigh) I have nothing much to say for myself, I guess, except for wow. It took over a month too get this out T.T Gomen! I blame it on PSATs, chronic laziness and lack of sugar. (looks over shoulder apprehensively) Evil PSATs, evil, they're out to get meeeeeee...
Okay, I feel better now. Maybe. Twitch. Er... Oh, yes, and I'd just like to apologize in advance; this is one of the chapters I'm having to edit a lemon out of O.O The horror... So, I hope it's not to terribly sucky. I suggest going to my profile and getting the addy for the full version on Media Miner instead. You see, for some reason, this place won't let me post site names in the stories either O.o Oh no, they're on to us! Enjoy ;)
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Chapter Three: Eyes of Ice and Eyes of an Angel
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Most of the rest of the ride passed in silence. Ryou had the limo driver pull over about a block from his house so that Bakura could return to the ring in the privacy of a small grove of trees, then the hikari walked home alone.
He got there just in time for dinner. After what he had found out that afternoon he was feeling generally depressed, but nevertheless he made it through dinner without his dad noticing anything. After that he diligently tortured his way through his homework, coming to the conclusion that he ought to try to do some of it at Kaiba's from now on, then decided to just go to bed because he didn't have anything better to do.
It was after he had gotten into the shower that he felt a familiar tingling that made him smile and really mean it for the first time since he got home. And moment later he felt a pair of strong arms wrap around him from behind and pull him close.
"To what do I owe this pleasure?" he inquired, smiling.
Bakura chuckled. "I was bored," he said simply, releasing him after a few moments and proceeding to massage shampoo into his hair. (A/N: I'll bet that would take a while, when your hair comes down to your butt...). Then, with his hands still buried in foam, he pulled his light close again for a long, lingering kiss.
After a while they had to break apart because of simple lack of air, but they continued to hold on to each other. "Ryou?" Bakura asked quietly, once they got their breath back.
"Hmm?" he said distractedly, just reviling in being held by his koi.
"May I make love to you?"
Well, that was certainly enough to break him out of his trance. He was sure it wasn't really the best time, but he couldn't help but snicker. "Why so formal all of the sudden?"
"Well..." Bakura winced. "Ug; this sounds pretty stupid... But I just... I want you to understand that I love you, and that I'd never make you do anything you don't want to do. The last thing in the world that I want to do is hurt you."
Ryou smiled sadly. His yami was just as shaken by all this as he was, he reflected. He looked up, meeting Bakura's eyes. "I know," he said simply. "I love you too, and I know you would never hurt me. I guess what I'm really trying to say is-" here his voice seemed to develop a teasing tone, for some odd reason - "of course you may make love to me..."
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"You know, I think we ought to do this more often," Bakura commented, once they had gotten their breath back.
Ryou giggled. "If we did this any more often then we already do, I'd have to drop out of school."
"Such a pity..."
"Ryou! Are you all right in there?"
Needless to say, both yami and hikari jumped about a mile. Ryou laughed nervously. "Um, yeah, I'm fine dad. Er, why?"
"I thought I heard a scream!"
"Oh, uh, I slipped and fell. I'm such a klutz... eh heh... But I'm fine, really!"
There was a moment of silence. "Oh, well all right then. Hey, you should be getting to bed soon; you have school tomorrow."
Ryou swore quietly; it was so easy to forget about things like that when engaged in... certain activities. He just hoped no one asked him how he got a limp tomorrow; that was always so embarrassing... "Um, okay. G'night!"
Of course, as soon as he was out of hearing range, they both burst into a fit of laughter.
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Later that night, after they had dried off and snuck back to the bedroom, Ryou lay awake watching his yami drifting into sleep. "Aishitaru." Apparently Bakura was already asleep because he didn't say anything, but Ryou knew he knew so it didn't matter. He smiled, beginning to fall asleep himself.
"Aishitaru you too," someone else said.
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During school the next day several people did indeed ask him about his limp, but after being together with Bakura for over a year he had quite a nice stock of replies. Only his close friends - Yugi, Jou, Honda, Anzu and Mai - knew what really happened, without even having to ask, and it amused them to no end. They stopped teasing him pretty quickly, though, when Ryou commented on how fashionable Yugi's turtleneck was.
After school let out Ryou made use of the same handy alleyway from the day before, and then he and Bakura set off in the direction of Kaiba's mansion. They were able to keep Mokuba quieter today, because Ryou had made a smart move and brought his dueling deck. The younger Kaiba seemed to be taking after his older brother because he was able to beat the hikari several times, although he couldn't defeat Bakura. After they got bored of dueling, Bakura played Kingdom Heart with the black-haired boy while Ryou did his homework.
There was the sound of the front door opening and shutting, and Ryou's head snapped up. There was no way Kaiba was back already... Only apparently there was, because they could already hear Mokuba shouting 'Seto-kun!' from the entryway.
When Ryou and Bakura walked in, they found Mokuba hugging his older sibling in a death grip and telling him about every single thing that happened to him that day. Kaiba spared a curt nod for the babysitters, but he didn't seem very interested in talking to them.
"-and, and, Seto-kun, can I ask you something?" Mokuba finished, panting.
Kaiba raised an eyebrow. "'May.' And, you may certainly ask, though after that I don't guarantee anything."
"Seto-kun, can Ryou and Bakura stay for dinner?" Think puppy-dog eyes.
Kaiba rolled his eyes. "'May,' Mokuba."
"Then they can?" he squeaked.
"Now I remember why I thought a babysitter for you would be a good thing; I give up. And..." He paused to glare over his brother's head at Bakura. "I never said that. Absolutely not."
"Aw, onii-san! Please?"
Kaiba carefully avoided looking him in the eyes. "No."
"Come on, just this once?" he begged. "Not as my babysitters; just as my friends. You don't even have to eat with us!"
Ryou chuckled. "Really, Kaiba; even you can't say no to a face like that," he said gently. "I promise we'll try not to annoy you."
Kaiba sighed. Unfortunately, that Ryou was right. "Okay, fine. They can stay; I'll even eat with you. But I certainly hope you don't expect me to hold any conversations." With a final glare at Bakura, he swept into the dining room.
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For all his money, dinner at Kaiba's wasn't anything fancy. The food was good but simple, and the one servant that made it joined them at the table. She mostly kept to herself, but every once in a while she would join in on the conversation Ryou and Mokuba were having. Bakura and Kaiba, however, were silent.
'He really is an... intriguing person,' Bakura reflected, carefully pretending not to be staring at the CEO across the table. 'What I found out yesterday would certainly explain why he acts so cold. I wonder whatever happened to that old man of his, anyway... His eyes are pretty interesting too...' He didn't even notice as his thoughts drifted away from, well, reasonable things, and towards the other's physical features. The spirit realized with some surprise that he had never really taken a close look at Kaiba before; the man did tend to avoid all of Yugi's group like the plague, after all. The most striking thing about his face, Bakura concluded, was his eyes. Those blue eyes that were... that were... that were looking back at him.
"What are you staring at?" Kaiba demanded gruffly.
Beet red, Bakura reflected, is not an appropriate term. Beets are sort of purple, when you get down to it. He thanked the powers that be for giving him long hair to hide behind. "Nothing."
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A/N: (snicker) Naughty Kura-kun, drooling over Kaiba like that... Well, I guess after making you wait all this time, this chapter was pretty sucky. It was sort of just a vessel for a lemon... Which I had to take out anyway... Kind of like artichokes are just vessels for lemon butter sauce... ... ... Okay, was that so weird that it wasn't even funny? I can't tell; not enough sugar... Well, even if you'd rather read the version with the lemon (even though it's kind of crappy even that way), R&R?