Authoress' Note: As always, I apologize for any typos and offer my gratitude to my fantastic readers.
With considerable difficulty, Tea got one arm under the bleeding Ryou and half carried, half dragged him onto the sofa. He seemed to be on the brink of unconsciousness, but he had grabbed her hand and was holding onto it with a vice-like grip. Though the boy's skin was normally strangely pale, Tea could see that a ghastly pallor had spread across his body. She was starting to panic; she had never really had to administer first aid to anyone. Tea, as gently but forcefully as she could, disentangled her hand. She ran to the bathroom and snatched up some gauze and disinfectant. Tea sprinted back to the living room and bound her friend's wounds. "Ryou…..Ryou! Wake up! We have to get to the hospital!" she said, lightly slapping his cheek. He moaned lightly but did not stir. Tea looked frantically about the room and her eyes at last locked on the phone. But as she reached across Ryou to get it, he seized her arm again and said in a surprisingly strong voice, "No!" She looked sharply down at him, and he continued, weaker this time. "No, I-I really think if I just rest…..here." As he spoke, his eyelids drooped and he leaned further into the pillows. The girl stared at the sleeping boy for a moment, torn. Finally she made her decision. "He seems to be okay for now. I'll take him tomorrow if he really needs it." The incredible demands on both her mind and body had taken their toll on Tea, and she soon fell asleep, stretched out next to Ryou.
The spirit was enjoying himself more than he could possibly say. It had been all too easy to pose as his wretched little host and worm his way into Tea's house.
~~~~~Flashback~~~~~
Bakura was quickly growing tired of kicking cats and inanimate objects. He wanted to do something really entertaining. Suddenly, an idea dawned on him. "Let's see what the pharaoh was up to." The spirit of the Ring had honed his tracking skills by following moronic guards through the mazes designed to protect their master's tombs. "As if they could stop me." he thought indignantly. He picked up on Yami's path and followed it to a pleasant neighborhood. It struck him as familiar and Bakura wracked his memory to figure out why. A wanton smirk spread across his face as he realized where he was. "Maybe I'll pay Tea a visit." He could feel Ryou's fear emanating from the Ring and the perfect plan formed itself in his mind. Tea had no reason to fear Ryou. Bakura quickly popped in on the boy to engrave that tear-stained face into his memory. Now he searched for Tea's house. As he walked, Bakura stripped off the leather coat, stuffing it into a trashcan as he passed. Next came the bandages he had applied. He would rather have let his wounds bleed freely, but he couldn't send every single person who tried to help him to the Shadow Realm. He grimaced in distaste; the cuts had started to heal themselves. Stoically, he tore off the scabs and encouraged the lesions to hemorrhage. Bakura stopped in front of a nondescript house and quickly checked to see if anyone was watching. Satisfied that he was alone, the spirit bowed his head. When he brought it up again, his innocent eyes were filled with unshed tears. As Tea pulled him inside, he mentally congratulated himself.
~~~~~End Flashback~~~~~~
He looked down at the sleeping girl beside him, taking care not to stir too much. Her beauty was truly wasted on the pharaoh. Tea had been too exhausted to think about her position when she fell asleep, with the result that she was pressed rather closely against Bakura. Not that he was complaining. He had been content, for now, to simply lie with her, drinking in every aspect of her. The sunlight was beginning to creep in around the drawn blinds, and Bakura regretted the end of their night together. "We'll just have to repeat it, won't we?" he addressed the real Ryou. Several times during the night he had tried to regain control of his body, but each time he was defeated and weakened even further. Bakura grinned at Ryou's feeble protests, but a peaceful mask of sleep covered his features as he felt Tea begin to rouse herself.
Through a pleasant fog of sleepiness, Tea could feel a warm mass snuggled up against her. The sensation was familiar to her other half and she did not panic. Until, that is, she saw opened her eyes and stared into Ryou's sleeping face. She shrieked and accidentally propelled herself backwards onto the floor. Ryou sat bolt upright and looked around for the source of the noise. Tea, in a crumpled heap, finally recalled what he was doing there and rose to her feet with as much dignity as she could muster. "Oh Ra Ryou, I'm so sorry!" she hastily apologized, "How are you feeling?" The white-haired boy looked down at his gauze-swathed arms before replying, "I feel all right, I guess. But I don't really remember much of last night." Tea nodded, saying, "Yeah, you were in pretty bad shape." Ryou hoisted himself off the couch and Tea took a step back in surprise. He seemed so much taller than usual. While certainly not as short as Yugi, Ryou had always been diminutive. "Maybe he hunches." Tea thought and dismissed it. She realized that he had been talking and hurriedly backtracked to remember what they were discussing. "I can't thank you enough for what you did. I'll never forget it." Still trying to catch up, Tea just nodded. "I should be getting home now." Ryou said as he walked towards the door. He turned abruptly and took Tea by the shoulders. "Thank you again." he said, squeezing gently and smiling. She could only smile back weakly in return, and she slumped with relief when he finally shut the door behind him.
Yami had to summon his entire reserve of sangfroid to not jump when the telephone rang. Yugi had tried to teach him how to use it, of course, but the spirit was still tempted to send it to the Shadow Realm every time the loathsome instrument went off. He yanked Yugi out of the Puzzle and retreated to his soul room. The light one, struggling to hold in his amusement, picked up. "Um, hi Yugi. Is Yami there?" Tea's voice sounded off to the boy and it concerned him, but he said, "Yeah, just hold on while we switch." As he returned to labyrinth of the Puzzle, he gently prompted his doppelganger, "Yami, remember, you don't have to shout." The pharaoh, rather chagrined, pretended not to hear the comment and turned his attention to Tea. "Will you come over?" she asked. "I need to see you." Yami, felt uneasiness trickle down his spine at Tea's tone and he immediately replied, "I'll be there in twenty minutes."
Bakura laughed at Ryou's premature relief. He lounged easily inside the Ring, letting his host feel the consequences of a sleepless night. "You think I'm done with her? Idiot, I've hardly even begun." He could feel Ryou cringe, and he continued, "Thank you, by the way. I could never have done it without your beguiling little face." In a futile attempt to rid himself of the taunting voice, the vessel tore off the Ring and shoved it under a pile of boxers in a drawer. Then he threw himself down on the bed and slept.
As his feet pounded the pavement, Yami's mind contrived all manner of horrible situations that Tea could be in. But even as he was trying to think of a way to trounce a band of armed thugs, he knew Tea was not in any immediate danger. She had sounded, as Yugi would put it, "weirded out". This was, however, no less distressing to him. The spirit flew up the stairs onto Tea's porch and rang the doorbell, resisting the urge to indulge his nervous habit of fiddling with the Millennium Puzzle. The object of his desire pulled open the door and beckoned him inside. Yami instantly noticed that she was wearing the same clothes she had been in the previous day and that there were large dark circles under her eyes. "Tea, what….." his stomach clenched as he saw the blood that stained her white blouse. "Not mine." She smiled wanly. "That's why I needed to talk to you." Despite himself, Yami felt his heart quicken as Tea gently took his hand and led him the couch. She leaned into his chest as he spoke, and Yami had to force himself to concentrate on what she was saying. "And something just felt wrong about the entire thing. Have you noticed anything strange going on with Ryou since Duelist's Kingdom?" she finally finished. He shook his head. "No, but I'll keep an eye on him. Try not to be alone with him if you can avoid it. I don't want to take any chances." Tea smiled; his protective tone made her feel warm and secure. Acquiescing to the pull within her, she sat up and delicately placed a hand on Yami's cheek. Just before she leaned in and kissed him, Tea looked deeply into his ruby eyes and murmured, "I love you."