Chapter One
The day was ending for most people, but mine was just beginning. I chose to walk to the meeting place rather than drive. The cool night air felt good, and that was rare.
Not much has been feeling good lately.
Everyone seems on edge, and I'm not sure why. Maybe they will lighten up tonight.
Or, maybe just Ryou.
Marik is always telling me to forget about Ryou, but I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon. Sooner or later Ryou's got to realize he feels the same way for me that I feel for him. I mean look at who he's with now. Yugi doesn't even look like a vampire.
Well, Ryou doesn't either, but I'm probably stronger than Yugi anyway. But whenever I try to challenge Yugi for Ryou, I'm always interrupted. I know they do it on purpose, and Yugi pretends not to have heard a thing. He's scared.
Oh well, I'll find a way.
Bakura reached the club a little after dark. He walked in to find everyone at the usually table in their usual spots. It was a small round table off to the side a little ways. He took a seat between Yugi and Marik.
He glanced around, and noticed no one was talking. Obviously they were still in an off mood.
"What's up with all of you?" Bakura ordered a drink, and waited for a response.
When no one else spoke, Ryou spoke up. "Don't worry about it Bakura." He attempted a smile.
"Yeah, Bakura don't worry about it. It's too important for your tiny brain to comprehend." Marik laughed.
"Oh so they now tell you everything?"
"Well, no, I just wanted to act like all of them. I actually have no clue what's going on"
Bakura now joined in the laughter, and slowly all the others did as the two youngest fought. Everyone started laughing except Yugi. He seemed deep in thought.
"Yugi loosen up a bit and have some fun!" Ryou pleaded.
Yugi slowly drifted out of his thoughts and looked at Ryou. He smiled and kissed the seemingly innocent one softly. "Alright, alright, I'll try"
"Good" Ryou smiled one of his brightest smiles and turned back to the banter.
Bakura was happy to have lightened the mood a bit, when he noticed Yugi walking off.
Now was the perfect time to flirt with Ryou.
Suddenly a burst of yelling and tables flipping grabbed everyone's attention.
Two young men stood in the middle of the forming circle glaring at each other.
"Would you like to say that again Dino-boy?" The growled words were emitted from an average height vampire. His long black hair was pulled into a pony tail, and his emerald green eyes shone with hatred and anger.
"I don't need to. You know what's going to happen. You won't fight me over it either because your line is too weak." This vampire was short, and dressed in street clothes. His hair was mostly hidden by a hat.
Although neither boy was moving, Bakura could feel the air shifting around them. Their faces also kept making different expressions of pain and triumph, even though they were no longer talking out loud.
"That's it!" The green eyed boy lost his reserve and lunged at his opponent.
The crowd ran without hesitation out the door. Those who didn't understand followed their smarter comrades.
Bakura, Ryou, Malik, and Marik stayed and watched. Yugi was no where to be seen.
For a reason unknown to everyone, including Bakura, he stood up and walked over too were the two were fighting. The pleas of his friends to stop fell upon deaf ears.
Tables, drinks, chairs, and everything else in the two vampires path was demolished.
Soon Bakura would be in that path.
"Stop fighting! You are giving me a headache!" He regretted the words as soon as they fell out of his mouth.
They stopped. They looked. They glared.
Bakura really hadn't been afraid of them, he had just not wanted to get in the middle. Two fighting vampires were extremely dangerous.
Now he was afraid. These two emitted power like he had never felt before.
"Wait!" Ryou ran in between the two vampires and Bakura. "He doesn't know! He's young!" Ryou pleaded.
"Well then, he'll know after tonight won't he?"
"No!" Ryou stood his ground, amazing Bakura.
The vampire with green eyes took a breath of air, and Bakura could feel the energy welling up in his hands. He was going to attack Ryou!
Bakura frantically tried to think of something to do as he felt the energy growing.
"I wouldn't throw that Duke."
The group turned towards the voice.
Yugi leaned casually against a wall. "I don't think you would be happy with the final result."
Duke laughed, but Bakura saw the other vampire leave. "Oh? Why is that Yugi? You think you are stronger than me? Are you going to make the same stupid mistake that Rex did and tell me that your line is stronger? Look at these two here!"
Yugi's eyes flashed and suddenly he was standing right before Duke somehow managing to make the other cower even though Duke was taller. "/You/ think that you are /stronger than me!" He demanded, his eyes cold and narrow.
Duke's cocky grin was wiped from his face. He stammered and stumbled as he felt vast and seemingly endless amount of power surround him.
Then the power was gone.
Bakura could feel Duke's power again, but now it seemed small and insignificant compared to what just happened.
Yugi turned to face Ryou and Bakura. He looked the same as he always did.
"Are you both okay?" Even though he said both, it was obvious the question was directed at Ryou.
They nodded and he smiled.
He turned back to Duke who was still shaking in fear.
"You're lucky, I won't kill you tonight, but since earlier you seemed so intent on teaching a lesson….." His voice trailed off as Duke's face contorted with pain, and he screamed.
Yugi walked away as Duke passed out. "Lesson over." He had never touched him.
Ryou turned away from the body with fear written on his face. "You shouldn't have done that!"
"It needed to be done! I was afraid something like this would happen! It was stupid of Bakura to try to stop them, but they also couldn't be allowed to continue their fight much longer."
"What if someone takes it as a challenge?"
"It would make my day." Yugi's voice was laced with anger and sarcasm as he grabbed his jacket and walked out the door.
Ryou looked grief stricken for a split second before he took off after his lover.
Bakura left out the exit on the opposite side of the club, leaving Malik and Marik alone.
He needed to think.
The night had gotten colder since he was last out. It felt good against his sweaty skin though.
Bakura leaned up against a nearby brick wall and pulled out a cigarette. He breathed in deeply, just trying to relax a minute.
"that's bad for you" The voice was coated with sarcasm as a figure stepped out of the
shadows.
Bakura ignored him, and took another breath. By now his eyes had adjusted, and he recognized the figure as the vampire Duke had been fighting with earlier. "What do you want?" He finally asked.
"Nothing much. It just seems to me that you never got your lesson taught. You saw the powers of the elders, but you have to be on the receiving end to really understand."
"What in the heck are you talking about?" The young vampire growled.
"My names Rex, not that you are even powerful enough to realize you should be afraid." Rex laughed cruelly, and abruptly closed his eyes in concentration.
Bakura could feel the some of the power in the air like he had before.
Suddenly Rex's eyes flew open. The young vampire barely had time to register how they glowed red, before a bright light emitted from the palm of the other's hand, blinding him.
All went black.
Bakura felt groggy as he woke up. Vampires aren't supposed to feel groggy, something as small as that could cause death. That was the first of several things with the same end result.
Next the abnormally pale vampire felt pain. His wounds should have healed by now.
He remembered the fight, and knew that usually when that kind of thing happened, he woke up at Malik and Marik's house. Ryou usually found him, but never took him to the house he shared with Yugi.
Finally, he was able to open his eyes. The first thing he noticed was the fact that he was not at Marik's house.
The next thing was the shadow staring at him. Yugi.
Yugi had saved his butt again. Just what he needed. Bakura growled softly.
"That's the kind of thanks I get?" Smooth, dark, deep, and lightly accented, the voice was certainly not Yugi's.
His eyes widened with shock.
"Now honestly, after I saved you from dying, you should really thank me young one." His rescuer's sultry voice washed over him as the figure walked closer.
Bakura realized why he had made the mistake he did. The figure before him had hair like Yugi. Hair doesn't make a person though.
Slim, trimmed, and muscular described the creature before him. Bakura soon found himself staring at full lips, that were currently drawn into a smirk, showing sharp white teeth. Finally Bakura's own chocolate eyes met a pair of startling crimson ones. They sparkled with amusement. The vampire realized that the other was silently laughing at him.
Well, he was gawking slightly. Wide eyes, dropped jaw, and was that drool at the corner of his mouth?
Bakura hastily shook his head of all the thoughts that had been running through his head.
Then he found that caused pain. He groaned.
"Well that is what you get for picking a fight with an elder."
"I didn't start it!" Bakura argued back immediately.
The Yugi-look-alike laughed. A deep rumbling chuckle. "Well that does not really matter. What matters is the fact that you are hurt, and need to be healed."
"No, I'll be fine." He attempted to struggle to his feet ignoring the pain only to collapse back onto the couch.
He heard a soft chuckle from above. He looked up to see the other vampire laughing at him. "It sure seems you will be." He sniggered sarcastically.
"I don't understand" Bakura uncharacteristically whined. "I should have healed by now. Vampires are supposed to heal almost instantaneously."
"And you would have if it was a normal injury. But it wasn't as bad as it could have been."
"How is it not just a normal injury?"
"He hit you with a blast of energy, therefore it damaged your aura. Really now, this is elementary stuff. Even the newest of fledglings should be taught about power. What line are you from anyway?"
"I don't know what you mean"
The ruby eyed vampire raised his eyebrows into an amused expression. "You don't even know what line you are from?"
Bakura growled softly, he was beginning to get annoyed at the other vampire. "I don't know what you mean by line."
"Line, lineage, ummm…. Who changed you? If nothing else you should know that."
"Of course I know that! Ryou."
The amused expression abruptly changed to one of surprise, but then slid back into the easy smirk. "I see…. That's odd"
"Why?"
The other vampire dismissed the question with a wave of his hand. "You are of the Wolf line. Known for their strong minds and…" He paused for a second to look straight into Bakura's chocolate colored eyes. "Some say unique, but I believe beautiful looks." Once again he paused, but this time he looked away. "They are also possibly the strongest group of vampires around. Definitely one of the top two strongest."
"ummm.. Okay what does that have to do with anything?"
The smirk turned into a small smile. "Just trying to impress you." He turned and walked off towards
"Somehow I doubt that." The vampire muttered.
Bakura now took the time to observe his surroundings. With the vibrant colors of his host distracting him before, he hadn't noticed how color blind he felt. The carpet of the living room in was a plush black. The walls were white but for abstract designs that had been painted onto them in black. The furniture was a combination of black and white leather. Bakura vaguely noticed that the one bit of color in the room were the green petals and stem on a white rose in a black vase. With his white hair and black clothing, Bakura blended right in.
When the other vampire returned he was carrying a small bowl filled with something that smelled of eucalyptus and mint. It left a peaceful aroma around the room.
"Remove your shirt." The baritone voice commanded.
"What?"
The ruby eyes closed as their owner sighed. "I need to heal the wounds on your chest. Take off your shirt."
Bakura immediately gasped as the cool air around him hit his bare chest. Just as he was beginning to get used to it, he gasped again as warm hands began to apply the healing mixture. Softly, with firm yet gentle strokes, the vampire rubbing the solution ran his hands over the wounds. Bakura had to bite back a moan.
He must have looked pained, because soon he heard a soft questioning voice from above.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
The other didn't look convinced. "Are you sure? If the mixture hurts, it is not correct, and I shall need to redo it."
"I'm OKAY!"
"If you say so" Although he still did not appear to be certain, he began to apply the rest of the healing serum. Bakura soon found himself holding in more moans. He looked up to see his host smirking, as if he realized the problem.
"My back happens to be a tender spot!" Bakura cried in his own defense.
"I will remember that."
"Don't you even…." Bakura drawled off. "I don't even know your name"
"Are you changing the subject?"
"I should at least know the name of whoever I'm talking to when something like /that/ comes up!"
"You may call me Yami."
"Why hello Yami, I'm Bakura." He greeted sarcastically.
Suddenly there was a soft knock on the door behind them.
The owner of the apartment stood up with a rather puzzled look on his face. "What in the world is that?"
"the door"
"Yeah, but I wasn't expecting anyone." Was the soft muffled reply.
Ordinarily when a vampire gets an unexpected visitor they are instantly put on alert because it could be a threat on their life. Yami however, calmly opened the door. Then Yami and the visitor, who Bakura didn't get a chance to see, stepped outside to converse.
"Yami, Yugi wanted to talk to you."
"You came all the way here to tell me that?"
Ryou stared down at his feet, shifting nervously. "No, I have slight problem." He admitted. "A fledgling I am rather fond of has disappeared"
"Ryou, you are fond of all your fledglings and much else besides."
The younger vampire flushed. "Yeah, but he is on his way to becoming powerful, but he is still young. I'm afraid of all these rumors, and that someone killed him for his power!"
Yami growled loudly, effectively knocking Ryou out of his panic. "No one would dare touch a Wolf!" He calmed down a bit. "You should not even know that Pegasus has been doing that. Yugi tells you far too much."
"Well can you at least help me find him?"
"I do not see any reason not to, but tell me something. Why did you not ask Yugi for help?"
"Yugi isn't too fond of Bakura" Ryou admitted, looking ashamed.
"Would this fledgling of yours just happen to look like you?"
The white haired demon looked up, his interest caught. "Yes, he sort of does. In the same distorted way you and Yugi look alike."
"Go back to Yugi, Ryou and do not worry about it." Yami turned to go back inside.
"Yami please! I don't know what to do!"
"I just told you what to do." The tanned vampire cast a glance at Ryou just as the other was about to lose all reserve. He sighed. Vampires are not supposed to have feelings or care, but it is the job of the older more powerful, to look out for the younger ones in their line. "Ryou, your lost fledgling just happens to be in my apartment. I'll take care of him."
Ryou looked astounded and utterly amazed. "Really? Ummm… thanks."
Yami shrugged. "He fits my décor. Now was there actually anything Yugi needed me to know?"
Ryou flushed again while shaking his head no. He quickly bowed, showing his respect, and left.
Yami sighed as he reentered his apartment and saw his new 'décor.' Bakura was slamming the remote on the coffee table attempting to turn the television.
Although he hadn't been active in the world in awhile, Yugi had refreshed him on how to use all the technology his newly furnished apartment.
He casually leaned over the couch, reaching around Bakura's shoulders to push the appropriate buttons. He felt the younger vampire stiffen underneath him, but paid it no attention as he slowly withdrew, effectively leaving the other's still bare skin tingling.
"Really its not that hard of a contraption." Yami walked out of the room wearing his trade mark smirk, leaving a flushed Bakura behind.
TBC
This is more of two chapters rolled into one, but I like the way it goes together. Thank you for reading, and please tell me what you think!