Note: It may not look like it at first, but Ryou is in this chapter. Just don't skip over everything before that to see him!
Lines of Pain: Chapter 7
"M-Malik? D-did I ever m-mention that I r-really don't l-like m-m-motorcycles?" Yugi stuttered once they stopped in front of the mall. The Egyptian sighed and helped his friend scramble off of the motorbike.
"It wasn't that bad, Yugi-kun. We were only going ninety kilometers an hour or so."
"That's still r-really f-fast, Malik…"
"I'll slow down next time, okay?" Malik smiled reassuringly down at Yugi and started pulling him enthusiastically towards the building. "Come on, Yugi, let's get you some new clothes. I know this really good shop…."
"….This is the shop you were talking about?" Yugi asked incredulously once they reached the store. He had good reason to been skeptical; it looked more like a Goth nightclub than somewhere to get decent clothing. But Malik wasn't exactly thinking of getting Yugi 'decent' clothing.
"Yup, this is the place. Let's go."
Yugi pulled him back uncertainly. "Are we even old enough to go in there?"
"Sure, Merik and I come here all the time. Come on."
"But Merik looks about five years older that you," Yugi protested as he was pulled into the store. "And I look like I'm about ten…."
"No, you don't. Don't worry, Yugi-kun." Malik waved confidently to a man wearing sunglasses who was sitting behind the front desk as they passed. "Hi, Bran! (1) How are you today?"
"Croeso,(2) Ishtar," answered the man called Bran. Yugi was reminded strongly of Ryou; they both looked albino, though Bran was older and had a heavier British-sounding accent. Bran cocked his head slightly as he stared at them. "Merik-san's not with you today? Not exactly the safest thing to do, that is."
"Pah, you worry to much. I'm fine on my own," Malik said, moving slightly so he could see a flash of metal from under his shirt. "Merik's off at Bakura's for the day, probably trying get him in bed again or something. I'm not sure what else they do when they're together." Malik shrugged and began pulling Yugi further into the shop.
"Here now, who is this?" Bran asked to stop him, staring suspiciously at the small hikari.
Malik squeezed Yugi's hand reassuringly, answering "This is Yugi Mutou. He's my new boyfriend."
Bran had an odd look on his face as he lowered his sunglasses a bit, revealing tawny, owl-like eyes. "This is Mutou-san's grandson? There's strange, now. Another boy came in here earlier, looking for something for a 'Yugi'. Looked a lot like him, too." Bran pushed his glasses back up so they covered his eyes again and waved them off. "Go on, then."
Malik smiled and led Yugi to a back corner of the store where the clothes were held and began to look through a rack of pants; Yugi shifted nervously as he watched, feeling as though he was still being watched by the strange man at the desk.
"Malik…who was that?"
Malik answered with out looking back, "Oh, that was Bran; he works here during the day most of the time. He told me he's from Wales or something like that and he's taking night classes at the university. Looks a lot like Bakura, doesn't he?" Malik pulled out two pairs of tight-looking leather pants– one blood red, one black– and handed them to Yugi. "Go try those on."
Yugi blushed but he didn't move. "He, Bran, said that Yami came in here earlier, looking for something for me. What do think he might have been looking for?"
Malik shrugged and pulled out another pair of pants, khaki this time, though he looked more concerned than before. "I don't know, but I don't have a good feeling about it."
Yugi nodded, though he was sure Malik was hiding something, and walked uneasily off to the dressing rooms. When he came back wearing the red pants, Malik quickly had to control himself and keep from getting too aroused.
"Wow, Yugi, those look…um…those look really good on you," he commented nervously, highly aware that his pants seemed to be feeling tighter and tighter.
Yugi blushed and looked at the floor. "Thank. I thought it might, since Yami looks really hot in pants like these." His blush increased when he realized what he'd said. "A-anyway, both pairs are the same size, so they both fit."
Malik nodded silently, not trusting himself to speak, and walked slowly around him, regarding him carefully. Then he placed about fifteen shirts in Yugi's hands and pushed him off towards the dressing rooms again.
When they finally exited the store, Yugi had about ten new 'mix-n-match' type outfits, about two of which could even be considered as school appropriate, and he was wearing his favorite one, the red pants and a very tight black tank-top, plus several bangles and armbands. Malik was very proud of himself, because now Yugi didn't just look really attractive, he looked really, really hot, yet that meant he had to try even harder no to get a hard on, and it was becoming an increasingly difficult thing to do as they walked. But he knew perfectly well that Yugi would not appreciate it if he got taken in the mall's bathroom or something, especially right now.
Yugi suddenly grabbed Malik's hand and ran toward a K-mart outpost, muttering something about his clothing under his breath. Malik was unwillingly pulled all the way to the clothes section of the K-mart before Yugi stopped and let go.
"Yugi, why'd you come here? You all ready got clothes. Really good clothes," he added under his breath.
"We're going to get a couple of school uniforms while we're here. There's no way under the rule of Ra that I am going back to my house to get a clean one, and I have school tomorrow."
"Oh. Uh, why can't you just wear that?"
"Yeah, right. And I'll probably get raped on my way to or from or during school," Yugi muttered acidly. Malik felt as though a knife was stabbed through his heart; he had no clue Yugi was that sensitive. "Besides, here in Japan you have to wear a uniform at school, even if it looks really dorky."
"But you are going to keep wearing that, right?" Malik asked hopefully. Yugi shot him a very dirty look and began looking through the different school uniforms.
"Oy! Baka Pharaoh! Get down here!" Merik yelled as he pounded on the back door of the game shop. "Damnit Pharaoh, open this fucking door right now!"
He continued to pound on the door until a window opened on the second floor and a pale head poked out, stared bewilderedly down at them.
"Bakura?" Ryou whispered, just loud enough to be heard. "Merik? What are you doing here? Where's Yugi?"
"Yugi's on a date with Malik," Bakura answered. "Where's the Pharaoh?"
Ryou fidgeted slightly. "He's asleep. He…um…he had a rough night."
The two yamis sensed that he was hiding something, but there wasn't much they could do to get it out of him.
" Then can you come down here?" Bakura called.
The hikari glanced back into the room nervously. "Well, since he doesn't know any better, I guess so." His head disappeared into the house as the window closed, and a minute or so later, the back door opened and he stepped out into the sunshine and the yamis' waiting arms. They hugged and kissed him over and over, as though if they stopped he would disappear, until he finally pulled away laughing.
"You're going to love me to death, you guys," he giggled fondly. But he wasn't free for long as Bakura pulled him into a tight embrace.
""I missed you so much, Hikari! I told you this was a bad idea!" Bakura exclaimed. He abruptly pulled back and looked over Ryou carefully. "Are you all right? Did he do anything to you?"
Ryou kissed him reassuringly. "I'm fine, Yami-kun. It wasn't anything I haven't been through before, you know." He pulled away and latched onto Merik. "I haven't seen you in so long, Merik! But you didn't tell me why are you two here."
"We're here to rescue you silly. I went to your house today, and you weren't there, so I was worried about you. I've missed you a lot, little koi."
Ryou stared accusingly up at him. "So why haven't you come to see me in ages? I love you, Merik, and I was worried about you, too."
"Oh, that. I was trying to get Malik to join our little group, 'cause I like him and I really think you two would too, but he's in love with Yugi, so it's a hopeless case. But–" he quickly kissed Ryou and opened the door to the game shop– "that made me think of something I want to do. I'll see you two later. Love you." He blew kisses to both of them and closed the door as he stepped further into the shop.
Ryou stared back at his yami with worried eyes. "Now what?"
"Now we wait for a bit, and then we're going home, Bakura answered, staring raptly up at Yugi's bedroom window with a grin on his face. Merik briefly appeared in the window also grinning and waving, and, about a minute later, there was bloodcurdling scream that sounded like Yami from the room, followed by very loud cursing.
"What was that?" Ryou asked quietly, his voice barely heard over the yelling.
"I think Merik just gave Pharaoh the scarring of a lifetime," Bakura answered, still grinning like mad. He placed and chaste kiss on Ryou's lips and pulled him toward his motorcycle. "Come on, we should get out of here."
After Merik closed the back door to the game shop, he raced up the stairs that were nearby and straight down the hall to Yugi's bedroom. Oh, this would be fun. He smiled evilly when he saw that Yami was indeed sprawled out on the bed, fast asleep. Merik walked silently to the window, waved to Bakura and Ryou, and crept over to the bed; there, he climbed onto the bed and draped his body over the Pharaoh's. He began to run his fingers gently over Yami's chest, relishing the unconscious reactions his was causing in the spirit's body. The Pharaoh was a great deal more attractive than he'd expected, so what he was about to do would be extremely easy.
Yami woke up abruptly to find a warm, exotic tongue expertly exploring his mouth, and the lower half of his body was pinned beneath an equally warm, exotic body. So either Ryou was a hell of a lot more daring than he'd been given credit for, or this was someone else. It was that 'someone else' he didn't want to think of. He hesitantly opened his eyes and saw that it was not Ryou on top of him, but Merik! In complete horror, Yami shoved Merik off of him and screamed.
Merik watched as Yami screamed and began yelling obscenities, and he had to try his very hardest not to burst out laughing. Who could have though that being kissed would have that kind of effect on the fearless Pharaoh, who was a bigger whore than any of the other yamis? But after sometime, that shouting began to get on his nerves; something would have to be done to get him to shut up.
The platinum-haired yami got up from where he'd landed and crawled slowly onto the bed, which brought him closer to Yami's screams. Wow, it was a lot louder now. Great. Yami was so caught up with expressing his shock and fear and anger that he didn't notice Merik approaching until the taller yami caught his lips in another kiss. The spirit shot backward, colliding painfully into the wall, staring at Merik with complete anger and confusion.
"Gods, Merik, what the fuck are you doing?!" he exclaimed, trying to back further into the wall as the other yami advanced on him. The pure lust that showed plain in Merik's eyes was frightening.
"Actually, Pharaoh, that's exactly what I'd like to be doing right now," Merik answered as he stopped almost on top of the Pharaoh.
"You're insane. What the hell are you talking about?"
Merik leaned over and whispered lasciviously into his ear, "You are about to find out what it's like to be beaten and raped so harshly that you won't be able to move without pain for three days. To be at the absolute mercy of someone more sadistic, more ruthless, and ten times as clever at conceiving methods of torture than you'll ever be. My mercy."
Yami shuttered involuntarily as the other yami began to bite him harshly; Merik's voice was so beautiful and dangerous at once, and it held the unbreakable promise of extreme suffering as well as pleasure in the near future…but it was still Merik who was advancing on him, being completely dominant. Yami discreetly reached under his pillow and brought out the thing he'd bought for Yugi earlier that morning, making sure it remained hidden from view.
"And what could you possibly teach me that I haven't already learned?" he asked huskily. Merik smirked and grabbed the leather whip that the Pharaoh had been trying to hide from him.
"Everything," he answered, and he claimed Yami's lips again.
…I…N…S…E…R…T…L…E…M…O…N…T…H…A…T…C…A…N…N…O…T…B…E…P…O…S…T…E…D…O…N…F…F…N…E…T…
Merik collapsed, panting, onto Yami's bloodied and broken body and mercilessly pulled him into a very tight embrace, relishing the whimpers this caused. He was extremely aware that he was lusting for Yami's body, and he definitely wouldn't mind fucking the Pharaoh again but for the fact that he was still bleeding severely from what had just been done to him. The spirit fell into an uneasy sleep as the sun set outside the window, whimpering subconsciously anytime he moved at all. Merik smiled at his work, pulled Yami closer, and drifted off as well.
1) Bran is from The Dark is Rising series, but since that was written a while ago, I made him older here. He's about 23-25 in this.
2) I think this means "welcome" in Welsh. John Rowlands said it to Will in The Gray King and that seemed to be what it meant. That, or hello. Both fit here.