Disclaimer: Kazuki Takahashi is not my name. I own nothing except my own twisted imagination. -pouts-
What was it that Marik had done to Malik? Ryou's hands clenched on the sheets as he tried not to look at the door. He wasn't going to get up until he had made up his mind. If Bakura had hurt Malik – or even let that woman hurt him – there wasn't any reason for Ryou to get up. He couldn't love someone that would hurt his friends, but he couldn't help loving Bakura, and he needed to sort that out before he did anything else. He had to know how he was going to act before he got up, so he wouldn't get flustered and blurt it out. It would be awful if Bakura knew how he felt. The vampire couldn't possibly feel the same way about him. He was a child compared with Bakura after all.
Ryou scolded himself. He had to think this through. Bakura wouldn't hurt Malik, he liked him. He didn't object when Marik hurt him, but Marik and Bakura were best friends; so he wouldn't object to anything Marik did. The answer was simple then. Bakura wouldn't bring in some strange lady to hurt Malik if he wasn't happy about Marik hurting him. He wasn't that kind of person.
Yawning, Ryou slid out of bed. Why was it that he always felt more tired after he got up than before-hand? It wasn't fair. Swiping at the hair that fell in front of his face, Ryou stumbled into the bathroom and started the shower going. He'd feel better once he had washed up.
Half an hour later Ryou stepped out of the shower, skin red from the heat of the water, and reached for a towel. A new outfit was lying on top of the toilet seat waiting for him and, as always, Ryou blushed at the thought of Bakura coming into the room while he was having a shower to leave it there. It wasn't that he minded having Bakura come in, it was just that he couldn't help thinking about what else Bakura could have done – if he felt the same way Ryou did.
This morning ritual always reminded him of his first day as Bakura's slave. After spending so long tied up on the floor he'd made himself disgustingly filthy. Bakura hadn't seemed to mind when he was showing Ryou around, but he'd learned since that Bakura was very good at showing people only what he wanted them to see. Anyway, after feeding Ryou, Bakura had washed him. Ryou hadn't actually seen what his vampiric master looked like. He'd been too preoccupied with his own situation at the time to think of seeing someone else in the same state. He cursed himself for it now. It would have been wonderful if he had a better idea of what, exactly, to fantasize about than simply seeing Bakura in tight clothing. And speaking of tight clothing... Ryou groaned. He couldn't leave the room in this state.
Before he could think twice about it, Ryou turned the shower on as cold as it would go and stepped quickly under it. Now if he could just keep his thoughts on the right track, he should be fine. A quick rub-down with the towel, and Ryou scrambled into his clothes and smiled, ready to face the day.
"Late again, Ryou?" Bakura asked him teasingly as he came out into the main room. "I swear, if you spent any more time in the bathroom you'd never come out."
Ryou flushed. "Sorry." He quickly stepped over to kneel by Bakura's chair, hoping that breakfast had been kept for him.
Bakura handed him a plate with a shrug, before turning and calling into the other room. "Malik, breakfast's ready."
Ryou looked up eagerly. He really wanted to see Malik again and make sure he was alright. When Malik had spoken to him last night he'd been so scared. He hadn't seemed like Malik anymore. He really hoped that Malik was feeling more himself now – that whatever Bakura and that woman had done with him had worked.