AN: Sorry for the delay everyone ! I'm on a roooollll! Yay. The problem is, after this, I'm lost...ooh I can think of how to make this such a sweet shonen ai...but I not sure….I can also make a sweet non-yaoi. (I'm kinda nervous…I've never written shonen ai.

Disclaimer: Todos los personajes, nombres, etc. relacionados con Yu-Gi-Oh! no me pertenezen...le pertenezen a el genio Kazuki Takahashi-sensei...I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! (did anyone actually think I did?)

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"Now, Ryou," Yami began, "our explanation."

"Alright, but I still don't really understand what you mean by 'explanation'." Perhaps this was what Ryou was waiting for; maybe that's why things felt odd.

"Now then; I am Yugi's Yami. We look alike not because we are related, but because I am actually Yugi's 'dark side'. Now, don't be alarmed by 'dark side', or 'yami', I don't mean evil; just darkness; darkness that everybody has in them. Yugi is the light side, also something everybody had. Only it just so happens that we are separate beings, separate spirits, separate minds you could say. And the reason we are separate, is because of this:"

Yugi handed Yami the Millennium Puzzle, the smooth edges gleaming on the bright living room lights. Ryou looked at the puzzle and then at his ring. and the resemblances struck him instantly. It was as though the two items were part of the same set, like a matching teacup and saucer. Yugi noted that Ryou seemed pensive while looking back and forth at the two items and figured that Ryou was catching on very quickly. That was good; it meant it would take Ryou little time to re-learn everything about his past.

Meanwhile, several things were bothering Ryou. Clearly these two pendants, or puzzles, or whatever they were, were related. Also, he had been told that bullies beat him up and he had gone and collapsed at his house...but then, how had he been taken to the hospital. Surely he wouldn't have gotten hurt if he was alone, so he must have been...but also if he was alone, how did his friends enter his house and find that he was hurt. Unless someone had been at his house when he got there, and had warned the others of his injury...

Knocking these thoughts from Ryou's immediate attention, Yugi continued what Yami had been saying, "Yes, that's right Ryou, your pendant, called the Millennium Ring, is of the same 'set' as ours is. There are seven of these items, and as hard as it may be to believe, they contain powerful magic; Yami here is living proof of that..Well..sort of living. Yami here is the spirit of an Egyptian pharaoh whose name we recently found out to be Atemu. The puzzle is the o--only--ooonlly oone with an uhh..."

"The only one with a spirit like me. None of the other items incorporated something like this. We have umm how should it be said...acquaintances with everyone who has any of these Millennium Items..." Hours passed, and still they had more and more to say, and Ryou as if by some subconscious force, believed everything. The magic, the monsters from the cards, the shadow realm, it all felt like a second nature for him, like something to be expected to exist. Finally, just as the sun peeked its orange surface over the horizon, they decided to stop.

"And sooooo, make sure you watch out for Karita-sensei the coach, he's a real jack-ass. And this is AFTER he's calmed down, hehe, ever since you..."

"JONOUCHI!" Anzu yelled, "Umm, I mean, I-I think we've bothered Ryou enough for one day, so---"

"So whaaaat? Tomorrow--er, today's Saturday so he can sleep once we leave, all day if he wants to."

Ryou had noticed the interruption; "Wait, what was Jonouchi going to say that I did?"

Yami interjected, "Actually, I think Anzu is right..this is enough for one day."

Yugi agreed, "We'll call you later, and for sure we'll go to school with you on Monday; luckily, there's only two weeks left of school, so during the summer we can really help you, ok?" Ryou pouted, but decided not to press the matter further..for now. Instead he silently agreed, and received a hug from each one of them, from some more apprehensively than from others. Shizuka had turned red when she quickly hugged him and let go, and Honda had loudly asked why Ryou got to hug Shizuka and he didn't, only to be smacked by Jono over the top of the head.

As they all made their way out of Ryou's house, putting their shoes on and leaving the slippers neatly in a row next to the door, with Ryou at the very back of the line, next to Yami and Yugi. "Remember if you need anything just ask." Yami said.

"That's right, and your phone book is on your coffee table right there, yeah, the black one. Be sure to call if you need our help." Yugi agreed.

After final goodbyes, the house suddenly felt lonely and distant; like something foreign to Ryou altogether. The sun still hadn't risen very far, so Ryou decided he needed to sleep to take it all in. Who knew, perhaps he would see his angel in his dreams again.

The instant he turned off the lights, everything around him collapsed. A violent shiver ran down his spine and suddenly his eyes were playing tricks on him. He thought he saw blood stains on his carpet, although none had been there when the lights were on. He got a horrible feeling of being watched and...as he felt one of the 'stains' he realized he was only imagining things, and then the stains were gone. But suddenly, a sharp pain struck him as if from the inside, and he collapsed to the ground. He felt his consciousness slipping, and fought it, but it seemed like there was nothing he could do. Flashes of wounds, bruises, pain in general seemed to occupy his mind. He saw a flash of a dark silhouette, with hair like his and a wicked smile that seemed to glow in the dark; the final image that ran vaguely through his head was that of seeing his angel, he seemed to be crying. Ryou reached his hand out to him, but before he felt whether the image of the angel that looked so much like him was really there, everything went black.

Bakura had felt, as Ryou turned off the lights, the terrible memories that threatened to strike Ryou down, and indeed did, in a way. As soon as Bakura felt Ryou's consciousness slipping, he left his soul room. His hikari had pure fear in his eyes and for a brief moment, Bakura was sure that Ryou knew everything. However, just as quickly as it had come, the expression left Ryou's soft features, to be replaced by a desperate look of confusion, and his hand reached out to Bakura. Before it reached him, it began to fall, but in an instant, Bakura grasped it before it hit the ground and felt the cold of Ryou's usually warm skin. As he cradled his hikari in his arms, his tears began to fall again, twice in the same day after millennia without an ounce of this emotion. He stayed like that for a long time, and only after the sun had changed from orange to a soft yellow hue did he carefully lift Ryou into his arms and place him on the couch. The last thing he needed was Ryou waking up to wonder how he had gotten upstairs.

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AN: Oh, no! This is as far as I've written, I dunno where it's going from here... . what do I do! (I seriously dunno where it's going from here) This is when I reeeally need suggestions. I'll post more as soon as I can. Reviews inspire posting and give updates fuel/speed...just like the stinking $3.50 dollar a gallon gasoline does for cars. shakes fist angrily As always, thanks for reading, and R&R.