Heh heh, so very bad me for saying that this was going to be a quick update. I had this chapter at six pages and then I just kept adding and adding and I was never happy with it and so now, it is well over twice that long. But, hopefully it still makes sense. Anyways, thank you to:
Abunai(), Starlit Hope, Kami Beverly, Tetral2(), major-rocket-fan, soul_of_vision
Silver Saire -I'm so happy this fic made you like darkshipping!
TaleneIsMyYami -Woohoo, another converted shounen-ai fan!
Lyn/Lin -Yes, Bakura is damn hot
fatlazicat -loved the long review
DreamingChild -thanks for setting me straight
Borath -You're point about the 'I love you' scene was something I hadn't thought about before, glad you saw that as original. I actually just wrote it as I thought it would happen, without thinking about it at all really.
chip() -what did Ryou say? Well, since Bakura doesn't know yet, I don't know. Sorry, I'm being mean.
Okay, well, here's the next chapter. It changes moods quite a bit and it's very long so hope it's not too awkward to get through and remember to please leave a review!!
Chapter 17
One of Those Days
"I can't believe we're doing this!"
"I can't believe that you're the one who thought of it!"
"But what if we're seen?"
"I already took care of that."
"Are you sure?"
"Oh, stop being paranoid. You know you're having fun."
"Okay, I admit it. I just don't want us to be caught. Could you imagine what he'd do to us?"
"Yeah, I know exactly what he'd do to me, but you on the other hand…"
"No, I think he'd do the same thing to me as well."
"Well, he'll never know it was us, so there's no need to worry. You ready?"
"Yeah …go!"
"Ra, I wish I could be there to see the look on his face when he sees this!"
"I know, that would be great!"
"Oi! You missed a spot here on the head."
"Oh, right, I'll get it."
"Yami, stop getting it all over me!"
"It was an accident, really it was."
"I know you're lying- Ah! Not in my hair!"
"Fine, I'll stop… just until we get done with our first priority."
"You're impossible."
"I know."
"We're done! Isn't it beautiful?" We both gaze proudly at what has got to be our best work yet. After staring for a moment, neither of us can contain our laughter any longer and we fall to the ground in hysterics.
"I bet Kaiba will just love his Blue Eyes Pink Dragon!" Yami says aloud after regaining the ability to speak.
"You know he will. I wonder if Kaiba Land is even open on Sundays. Because it would make it even better if he wasn't able to repaint the statue before customers started to come."
"That would be great. You just better hope that you disabled each and every camera."
"I told you I found them all. They were all in plain sight, so it wasn't that hard."
"I just wish we had a bit of daylight so we could take a picture."
"Yeah, well it would have been really hard to pull this off during the day. Speaking of which, the sun is due to rise soon, we should get back home."
We run back to Yami's house, figuring that Yugi will be asleep and that his grandpa is still in Egypt, so we get to be alone for at least a couple hours. That, and it's a lot closer than my house.
"We have to be really quiet because I never told Yugi that I was leaving and I'd rather not alert him to my absence." Yami tells me in a hushed voice while unlocking the door slowly. We put the leftover paint and brushes in the storeroom, where hopefully no one will find them.
"But then how do we get this paint out of my hair?" It wouldn't be so bad if the paint was black, but pink! Definitely not a good color on me.
"Figure something out." I glare at Yami, reminding him that it was all his doing in the first place. "We'll figure something out." That's better.
We walk into the dark house and carefully make our way to the kitchen to try and wash some of the paint out. "Yami, it's not coming out."
"We got some of it off. The rest will come out after a few showers… hopefully."
"Hopefully!" My poor hair! I didn't want to have to cut it.
"Shh!! Do you want to wake up Yugi?" Of course I don't want Yugi to see me like this.
"But… but my hair…" Tomb Robbers should not be associated with pink.
"You could dye all of your hair pink." Yami suggests playfully.
"What, so it would match the edge of your hair?"
"My hair is not pink, it's red!" Heh, he'll pay for putting paint in my hair, as well as on my clothes.
"Now who's the one that's going to wake up Yugi?" I tease, poking him in the side.
"Fine, I'm not helping you get the rest of that paint out of your hair." He takes a couple steps away and turns his back to me, but I can still see the side of his face and his little smirk.
"Fine, it's practically gone anyway."
"Fine." I let a few moments of silence pass.
"Fine." I close the distance between us and immediately scoop him up in my arms, continuing on into the living room.
"What do you think you're doing? Put me down!" He flails about, attempting to force me to let him go, but that's not going to happen.
"No." He sighs loudly when he realizes he has no chance of getting out of my grasp.
I sit down lengthwise on the couch with Yami in my lap. "Come on, I just wanted to get a couple hours of sleep before Yugi woke up. We can worry about the paint later."
"Now that you mention it, I am kind of tired." Yami grabs a blanket from the other end of the couch and lays it over us. He then drapes his arms over my shoulders and leans up to kiss me. He pours the leftover adrenaline from our earlier adventure into the kiss, but it soon fades. Exhausted eyes meet my own, making me feel a bit guilty, considering I'm the one that hasn't been letting him sleep much these past few nights.
"I thought you were tired." I tell him, knowing the answer of course, while brushing his bangs away from his face.
"I am... I just couldn't help myself." He responds dreamily, eyes half-lidded already.
"Then go to sleep, my love, while you still have the chance." Yami rests his head against my chest as I gather him closer against me, wrapping my arms and the blanket tightly around his upper body. He instantly relaxes, molding his body against my own and his breathing slows. I bet he's asleep by now. I guess I should go to sleep as well.
~~~~~~~
Nmm, I can tell there's daylight in the room now, but something's not right. Maybe I should open my eyes. Yami is still sleeping soundly in my arms, but I can sense there is someone else in the room. It's probably just Yugi. Stop being paranoid.
I catch a slight movement out of the corner of my eye and reflexively tighten my hold on Yami. I sharpen my glare towards the unwelcome presence, even before I can confirm that it is Yugi.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." My eyes go wide in surprise and my entire body freezes as Yugi's grandfather comes around the corner carrying a suitcase. He whispers his apology to me and smiles warmly, but I have practically turned into a deer caught in the headlights, preventing me from responding, while Yami is still blissfully sleeping, totally oblivious to the entire situation. Lucky bastard.
"Sorry to catch you by surprise, I know I'm back a week early. It was all very last minute. Anyway, is Yugi at home? I have some things from Egypt I brought back for him." I'm confused. He doesn't seem to be at all wondering why I am curled up with Yami on the couch. But it has been about three months, maybe Yami has told him about us by now.
Magically regaining use of my voice, I come up with the most eloquent reply possible. "Uhh… yeah. He's sleeping." Wow.
"Good, I'll just keep unpacking and wait until he wakes up." And with that, he carries his remaining luggage up the stairs to his room. I follow his retreating form, eyes still huge from the peculiar situation.
That was certainly odd. "What are you staring at?" A soft voice comes from next to me, breaking the stunned silence. I shift over to see Yami's confused, crimson eyes peering up at me.
"Did you ever tell your grandfather about us?"
"Jii-chan? No, I was actually hoping to tell him soon. Why?"
"Because he just came home and saw us together, but acted as if it was nothing out of the ordinary." Yami smiles and lays his head back down against my chest.
"That somehow doesn't surprise me. He's a lot more perceptive than you might think." He mumbles quietly, drifting off back to sleep in the process.
Not the reaction I was expecting, but I guess that's good. As long as nothing happens to put any stress on Yami, I don't care.
Glancing over at the clock on the wall, I notice that it is already eleven o'clock. I'm rather surprised that Yugi isn't up and about yet, it's not like he stayed up late last night or anything, at least not to my knowledge. I'm sure Ryou will be wondering where I am pretty soon anyway, so we should probably get up, but I just don't have the heart to move Yami from such a comfortable position. And besides, he still looked incredibly tired.
I hear a very happy, but muted 'Jii-chan!!' from upstairs, Yugi must've been awake after all. I should really call Ryou. Not wanting to disturb Yami, I ever so carefully slide out from under him. He unconsciously complains a bit, causing me to hold my breath, but I manage to gently lower him down to the couch without waking him.
I let out my held breath and stand up straight. Whew… got a little dizzy there. Must be dehydrated or something. I head over to the phone in the other room and dial home. Hm… got the answering machine. I wonder where Ryou is. He never goes anywhere without letting me know about it. I guess he could be headed over here, that's probably it.
I walk back through the living room to check on Yami. Good, he's still sleeping. I go up the stairs to Yugi's room, and knock softly on the door. I have to wait several seconds before I hear his response, allowing me to enter his room.
"Hey, do you know where Ryou is? I called and got the machine." Yugi is standing in front of his bed, almost rigidly. He shifts his weight nervously, what does he have to be nervous about though?
"Uhh… no. Maybe you called while he was in the shower or something. I know he'll be over in a while though, because we're meeting everyone for lunch and a movie today." Yugi rushes through his sentences, almost in a panic. If I didn't know better, I'd think he was lying, but there's nothing for him to lie about.
"Oh… okay…" Deciding not to further Yugi's unusual behavior, I leave his room, closing the door behind me. I can just tell, this is going to be one of those days that I wish never happened, except for the whole painting that Blue Eyes statue pink thing this morning. That was a stroke of genius. Wish I'd thought of it.
I go back downstairs, seeing that Yami is still sleeping soundly. I should probably wake him up, considering there will be guests soon. Ryou better get here first, because it's going to look very odd if I'm here without him when the others start to come. Or maybe I can convince Yami to run off somewhere with me before I am forced to lose my temper again.
Kneeling by the side of the couch, I softly shake Yami's shoulder, trying to wake him. This isn't working; he's never this heavy of a sleeper. Besides, we got a good six hours of sleep, he shouldn't be that tired. "Yami… Yami, wake up!"
"Nnn… I'm awake, I'm awake... What is it?" He sits up, rubbing the side of his head.
"Yugi's having people come over soon, I figured you'd want to be up before that."
"Oh, right, I think he told me about that."
"Well, are you going with them?"
"Yeah, I thought I should, since I haven't been spending a lot of time with them lately."
I put on my best attempt at a pout. "So you're going to leave me all alone today."
"No, of course not, you're coming with us." Damn, I should never have asked.
The phone suddenly rings, diverting both our attentions. "I should go get that."
Yami gets up to answer the phone and after a short wait, returns to the room. "That was Ryou. He said that he was on his way over here. I asked him to bring you a change of clothes, because I figured you wouldn't want to be around the others while wearing clothes stained with pink paint."
That's odd though, I wonder why Ryou didn't answer the phone when I called earlier. "I don't want to be around them at all, especially with pink hair."
"There's only one little patch of paint left and it's on the underside of your hair anyway. I'm sure if you just pulled your hair back it would hide it perfectly."
"Pull my hair back? I think that I would look strange like that."
"Have you ever tried it?"
"No."
"Then you have no idea if you'll actually look weird. It's either that or everyone sees your pink hair, including Kaiba and I'm sure he'll be able to make the connection."
"Fine, you win again…" I roll my eyes in mock annoyance. Yami starts to say something, but a knock at the door cuts him off. Both Yami and I freeze, but the instant I focus my attention on who's at the door, I pick up the familiar signal from the other Ring.
"It's Ryou." I say with mild astonishment.
"Really, how did he get here so fast?" We run over to open the door for him.
"Hi!" Ryou exclaims once he sees our faces. He looks rather flustered and his face is kind of red, what is going on with him?
"How did you get over here so fast and why is your hair messed up?" My questions come out a little harsh, without them meaning to sound that way. I couldn't help it, I don't like to not know what is going on with my hikari.
Ryou's eyes get a little bigger, but he puts on his typical smile. "I ran over here, that's all. I brought you your clothes." He takes off his backpack and hands it to me. We all walk back inside the house, Ryou trailing behind us.
"What happened to your clothes anyway?" I turn around to answer his question, but the instant I do, he steps close to me, grabbing at my hair. "And your hair! Where did all this pink paint come from?"
"Well, we decided to do a bit of redecorating… at Kaiba's expense." Yami and I both start laughing.
"What did you do this time?"
"Let's just say that Kaiba is now the proud owner of a brand new, never-before-seen Duel Monster, a Blue Eyes Pink Dragon." Yami explains, while laughing even harder.
"That's so mean! What if you are caught?"
"I know you think it's funny too, so don't even try to hide it. And we won't get caught; I took care of all the cameras."
"Yeah, that is pretty clever, but it's still mean." Ryou finally lets out a small giggle. "Now, go and change before everyone else gets here."
I follow Ryou's advice and head up to Yami's room to get into some different clothes. There's a soft knock at the door. Opening it, I find Yami standing at the door. "Here, you can use this to tie back your hair." He says, holding up some string. "We don't have any normal hair ties, so this'll have to do."
Yami leads me over to the mirror and proceeds to tie back my hair himself. "You know, I can do this myself."
"Sure you can." I watch as he gathers my hair back, not liking at all how I am beginning to look. "So, do you want me to tie the string in a cute, little bow for you?"
"Don't you even dare." Yami laughs as he ties a couple loose knots with the string.
"See, you look so pretty now." He teases me with a higher than normal voice.
"I look stupid."
"Come on, no you don't. See, your little antennae still stick up." He pokes at my hair, invoking one of my death glares. "Anyways, you go downstairs first, since we can't go down together now. Yugi just informed me that almost everyone has shown up."
"Great." I crack the door, making sure that no one is around before I walk out. Moving about the house discretely, avoiding being noticed by most of the others, and those who do notice, fortunately don't approach me. Surveying the situation, I note that the only people not here yet are Kaiba and Malik. Seeing Ryou move into the kitchen, I follow him, hoping that he is alone.
I walk in and he instantly turns to greet me, smiling as usual. "I like what you've done with your hair."
"You're just saying that, but at least it hides the pink paint. Anyways, how long is this thing going to last today?"
"Well, there's lunch and then a movie, so a few hours I guess. Don't worry, everything is within walking distance, so you won't have to be stuck in a car with anyone. And everyone should be quiet during the movie. You can make it through today! Besides we will get to spend some time together at least." He looks back at me almost longingly.
"Yeah, sorry about that. It's not like I do it on purpose."
"No, it's my fault too and I know that you need to have your own life as well. You're such an important part of me that I just don't want us to grow apart." Ra, he is so damn loving and kind… how did I ever end up with a hikari like him?
"Trust me, that will never happen." I ruffle his hair playfully a bit and he slowly wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me close. His normally cheerful face practically seems sad as he moves to rest his head under my chin, clinging to me desperately, but hesitantly at the same time.
"There's something I want to tell you." His breath lightly drifting past the bare skin of my neck, causing me to shiver slightly. "I-"
"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt. I didn't see anything!" I turn quickly just in time to see Anzu's retreating form rush out of the kitchen.
"What was that all about?" I ask aloud, more to myself other than to anyone in particular. Ryou takes a step away from me and starts giggling.
"She probably figured that since she saw us so close that we were a couple or something. You know how girls are, they will run wild with one little hint at an already plausible idea. I'm sure she's told Mai and Shizuka about it by now too."
I sigh loudly, knowing that he is probably right. Well, I figure that it's better than them getting the idea that me and Yami are together. "You are much too good for me." I pause, taking in the meaning of those words, smiling even more towards Ryou. "You'd have to send a few people to the Shadow Realm before I could ever even consider the possibility, and besides, Yami beat you to it."
Ryou laughs and heads back into the living room to be with his friends, taking my hand and towing me behind him. Wait, wasn't he about to tell me something? Ah well, it must not have been important then.
I look over to where Yami is standing and he arches an eyebrow at me. I suppose the entire room assumes that Ryou and I are in some sort of a relationship, everyone who doesn't know the truth of course. Ryou brings us to the people around Yugi who are talking about the next Duel Monsters tournament, which consists of Yami, Jounouchi, and Honda. I'm sure Yami will want to go to it, unfortunately.
Ryou, let go of my hand. You're making things worse than they already are. I can't stand to hear the girls over there make those high pitched noises anymore.
What, are you trying to hold on to your appearance of being straight? Or do you want to give them the illusion that you are available? Ryou teases in between his comments to the others.
Of course not. I really don't care about what they think of me. I just don't want to hear them calling me cute anymore.
But you are cute!
Don't start.
Fine, fine. You know I was just teasing. It is pretty funny to give them the wrong idea though.
You, teasing people? It thought that you were above that sort of thing, Ryou.
Ryou giggles and everyone around us stops mid-sentence, staring at Ryou's odd behavior. He doesn't care though and instead of letting go of my hand, he wraps his arms around my waist, causing everyone to shift their gaze to me. I roll my eyes when I see Yami smirk though. He's enjoying my torture as much as Ryou is.
Are you trying to make Yami jealous? Because somehow I don't think that it's working.
Heh, no... I'm just having some fun. And you need to learn to lighten up around other people. Will this tormenting never end? I swear everyone just likes to pick on me.
Luckily, the doorbell rings and Ryou instantly releases his hold on me. "I'll go get that for you, Yugi!" Ryou tells him as he runs past us to go answer the door. What's got him so excited?
Everyone resumes their conversation, but I have no interest in participating so I easily space out.
After who knows how much later, a figure moving rapidly around the corner catches my attention, breaking me out of my daze. My eyes focus on the approaching form and I recognize it as Kaiba, and holy shit does he look pissed off!
He breaks through the group, grabbing both Yami and I by our shirts violently, catching everyone in the room totally by surprise. Neither of us have time to protest as he drags us into the hall, away from the view of the others, slamming us hard against the wall. "I've come to expect this sort of behavior from you, but Yami… isn't this a little beneath you?" He growls out in a low voice, his face inches from our own. Hm, Kaiba can actually look pretty threatening when he wants to.
"W-What are you talking about Kaiba?" Yami asks shakily, apparently a little more startled than me about the situation.
"You know what I'm talking about! Your childish little prank you decided to play this morning." He bites out, still managing to keep his voice under control while tightening his grip on each of our shirts.
"You have no proof." I snarl back, hitting Kaiba's arm away.
"You were sloppy. You didn't get the camera in the eye of the statue." What?!? Dammit, I didn't think that he would have one hidden like that.
"Come on Kaiba, it was just a harmless joke."
"I'm beginning to think that this dumb ass here is having a bad influence on you. I've noticed a definite change in your personality lately and I can't say that I approve." Wait, did he just call me a dumb ass? That bastard, he's going to get a taste of what the Shadow Realm is really like!
"I don't need your approval for anything I do with my life, Kaiba!" Yami growls back before I could say anything myself.
"What is going on over here?" Ryou runs around the corner, interrupting our argument. "You're lucky I managed to keep everyone back for now, but their curiosity will win out in seconds."
Kaiba stands up, smoothing out his ruffled clothes, regaining his composure but with his fury still seeping through. "You need to learn to control your yami, Ryou."
Okay, I've had enough. I start gathering my Shadow Magic, but before I get very far, Ryou puts a hand on my shoulder, breaking my concentration. Now it's his turn to be angry, but I guess I can't blame him. "Don't."
Ryou, looking very annoyed, takes Kaiba by the wrist, leading him into another room. What does he expect to be able to do? It would have been so much easier to just send him to the Shadow Realm. Both Yami and I watch as Ryou disappears with Kaiba, still slightly stunned about the entire incident.
"What's going on you guys?!?" Anzu questions, coming around the corner with Jounouchi and Yugi behind her.
"Nothing." Real smooth Yami.
"Why did Kaiba look so angry?" Jounouchi asks, looking straight at me, as if it naturally has to be my fault. If I could only tell them the truth, just to see the dog's expression when he hears that his precious idol has become more like me. But no, it is certainly not my place to do that.
"Why do you people always feel the need to stick your noses in everyone's business?" I grumble back, not wanting to give him a straight answer.
"It is my business when it involves my friends, but of course you wouldn't understand that, would you?" The loser dog barks back, obviously trying to provoke me, but I'm not going to fall for it. Maybe he will.
"Clueless as usual I see, make inu."
"I am not a loser." Jounouchi growls out lowly, almost inaudibly. Heh, guess I hit a nerve. Kaiba must still call him that every now and again.
"So, you don't deny being a dog then?" That got him. He clenches his fists, preparing to attack me, though he can't expect to actually be able to hit me. I glance over at Yami, and only now, do I realize that I may have gone a little far with Jounouchi's little dog complex. Yami looks rather angry with me, but he should know by now that I can't help it and besides, I did tone it down a little, didn't I?
"Jounouchi, stop it! Just don't listen to him, you know he's only trying to provoke you." Yami steps in between us, with his back to me. Aw, you're being no fun, Yami, I would've thoroughly enjoyed beating the crap out of him. One day…
Yami ushers everyone out of the hall and back into the room with the others, while I wait for Ryou to reemerge with Kaiba, hopefully not still out to kill me and Yami. I do feel a bit bad about Ryou feeling the obligation to play the peacemaker, but that's his choice after all. He probably just didn't want my solution to the problem to be the only one.
I sigh loudly and lean back against the wall with my arms crossed. Why do Yami and Ryou always have to take everyone else's side? Jounouchi and the rest didn't even stop to consider why Kaiba was so mad at Yami as well. They only saw fit to put all the blame on me. But I guess it's simply proper though. Who would believe me if I told them the truth? Nevertheless, that's fine with me, I am content to remain the outcast of this idiotic little group and I don't have any desire to make Yami one as well.
Sensing movement, I turn my head up to see Ryou and Kaiba walking towards me. Kaiba narrows his eyes and scowls at me. "You don't deserve a hikari like Ryou." He states simply. What the hell was that all about? I was expecting something totally different from him, mainly a death threat.
Ignore him. He's still mad. Just please try not to cause anymore trouble today. Ryou tells me quickly through our link as they pass. As they walk away, I see that Ryou is leading Kaiba with his hand on the small of his back. Hm, that's odd. I always thought that Kaiba was the sort that didn't want anyone to touch him.
Okay, I'm just staying here until someone tells me it's time to go. I let myself slide down the wall, into a sitting position, already tired of being around so many people. I don't know if I can put up with lunch and a movie, but I need to. I allow my forehead to fall to my knees, trying to gather any of my available patience. This is all such a pointless act.
"Come on, Bakura, it's time to go." Ryou informs me, outstretching his hand when I finally decide to look up at him. I take it, pulling myself upright slowly. I follow him to the door where everyone else is waiting and after slipping on my shoes, we head out.
Why are you making me do this? I ask Ryou who is walking beside me towards the back of the group. Everyone else has paired off into other various little groups to talk.
I'm not making you do anything. If you really wanted to, you could've stayed home. I just wanted to spend a little time with you.
We could've spent time together at home alone or with Yami and Yugi.
You need to stop being so antisocial.
Why?
You know, Jounouchi and Anzu and everyone else want to be friends with you, even though it may not seem like it. You should try being nice to them for a change.
Nobody wants to be friends with someone like me. And you want me to be nice?!? Feh, you should know by now that I am not that sort of person. Ryou sighs loudly next to me as we walk along.
See, there you go again, purposefully distancing yourself from others. And you can be nice when you want to be. You're nice to me. Besides, you can still be yourself and be friends with someone.
With you it is totally different.
Are you saying that I'm not you're friend?
Of course that's not what I meant. Stop twisting my words. Having too many people around me is annoying. I don't need to have a lot of friends, they would just get in the way. Having you and Yami is enough for me.
What about Yugi? I roll my eyes, already long fed up with this line of conversation.
Fine, Yugi counts too.
Well, you can't isolate yourself to three people for your entire life.
Why not? I don't really need anyone anyway. In the end, it is pointless.
So, you don't need me or Yami? Okay, now I'm getting frustrated.
Why do you feel it's necessary to always annoy me with such trivial things as friendship? I have no desire to become dependent on people like that.
I just don't want to see you so depressed all the time when you're not in your own little world with Yami, like you were all the time before you two got together. Have I really been that way when Yami's not around?
I am not depressed. And we do not have our own little world. It only seems that way because we can't be open about our relationship around everyone. So just stop all of this Ryou, you don't need to worry about me.
I can't help but worry about you-
Just stop, Ryou.
Why won't you let anyone help you?
I said stop.
No, somebody needs to stop you from being so damn stubborn!
"Stop it!!" I accidentally yell aloud, my anger overcoming my control. Everyone turns around to look at us, but all I can see is the pain I've once again caused someone I care about.
Ryou looks up at me, obviously hurt, the same hurt I used to see a couple years ago. His total silence tears at my heart even more as he walks away from me, joining Yugi at his side. They continue on, causing everyone to follow without another word. Yami's gaze lingers longest on me, his face full of worry and concern. I can see he wants to talk to me, but that would give us away, so he merely turns around with the rest of them, beginning his conversation anew with Jounouchi.
"What happened?" A soft voice comes from beside me. I jump a bit, slightly startled, and turn to see Malik at my side. How did he get there without me noticing?
I start trailing the others once again, attempting to ignore his presence, but he keeps up with me. "Is that really any of your business?"
"I was just curious. I haven't seen you yell at him like that in a long time, that's all." He replies calmly.
I sigh loudly, not at all in the mood for anymore arguing. "If you really want to know, Ryou was trying to get me to be someone that I am not."
"Are you sure that's what he was trying to do?"
"How would you know?"
"I know a lot more than you might think. Besides, I think I know you pretty well too. We did share the same body once, as you might remember."
"That was a long time ago and we were both different people then, especially you."
"Ah, but there are still some things that haven't changed, that need to be considered."
"I really have no idea what you are talking about, so just leave me alone."
"So be it. But remember, Ryou can see things about you, you yourself might not yet. And he's not the only one." He adds, with a finger up in the air as if he is lecturing me.
I look ahead and realize that everyone is going inside a restaurant. Guess this is where we are eating, never been here before. Going inside, we are seated after a couple waitresses push some tables together for us. It seems like a decent enough place and not too crowded.
All of the others take their seats and I survey the tables to see which one is left empty, hoping that it's not next to Anzu. Rather surprised, I see that the only chair open is beside Yami and across from Ryou, at the end so I'm not next to anyone else. He must have done that on purpose and apparently he is willing to risk the suspicion for me to sit beside him.
I take the seat without saying a word to anyone or even looking at Yami. We're all crammed around the tables pretty close together, so I have to fight the automatic impulse to wrap my arm around Yami or something like that.
Feeling as if my head weighs a ton, I am forced to prop it up with my hands. Everyone around me is being so talkative and loud, my head is just going to explode. Today started off so well, where did it all go wrong? I can't help but think that I have turned into a worthless pile of shit, because I'm sure that that is how everyone else sees me at the moment. I'm so tired of all of this, of dealing with these people, of hurting those I have no desire to, of… just everything.
Almost causing me to jump, a hand gently slides its way onto my knee, hidden underneath the table. Thankful, I bring my own hand down to rest on top of Yami's, locking our fingers together and clinging to them as a stable ground.
The waitress comes to take our orders and not being hungry at all, I just order a drink. No one is talking to me and Ryou is simply listening to another conversation, so I figure I need to say something. I have to make the first move. I'm sorry.
No response from Ryou, not even a turn in my direction. He's not blocking me, so I know he can hear my words. Damn it.
Are you listening to me?
A turn in my direction. Apparently he is.
I really am.
I don't care. What? When did an apology ever not matter? Especially a rare one coming from me.
Ra, are you really that mad at me for yelling at you?
I'm not mad at you.
Then what do you want?
I don't want anything. This is about what you want.
Yugi starts talking to Ryou, ending our conversation for us. Yami takes his hand from my grasp when his food arrives. It would be pretty odd for him to eat his entire meal with one hand always under the table. Nothing much else happens the entire time, except for the occasional evil glare from Kaiba directed towards me, which I guess isn't surprising. He's bound to be angry about that for a while.
I have totally blocked everything else around me out, only changing my appearance to idly take a sip of my drink. Nobody bothers me since I have been isolated down here at the end of the table. I sit and vaguely contemplate Ryou's last words, having nothing better to do.
What I want? What do I want? Why is everyone being so damn cryptic lately? First Ryou, then Malik, I swear I'm the only sane one around here and that's not saying much for the others. I don't understand any of this and my head hurts way too much to be worrying about it now. I'm sure after a good night's sleep, I will have forgotten about all of this.
The others start to get up, guess it must be time to go to the movie. I really hope we aren't going to see some sappy romance movie or I might just have to go on a killing rampage. But the majority of our group is guys, so there's a little hope in that.
I push myself up slowly from the table, following the rest back outside. I'm amazed that everyone is leaving me alone to the extent that they have been, but that's fine by me.
We head off in practically the opposite direction of the movie theatre. Where the hell are we going? I thought we were seeing a movie after lunch. I move up to Ryou's side after a few minutes, deciding not to interrupt his conversation with Yugi by asking him through our link. Once I match their pace though, they stop anyway, both looking at me questioningly. "Um, where are we going? You said we were seeing a movie." I ask Ryou.
"We are. We're going to Kaiba's house to watch one." Kaiba's house?!? Well, I'm sure he has enough technology to create a better tv and sound system than any movie theatre could offer. I glance around, trying to actually find where Kaiba is. Ah, there he is, talking to Yami. I'm sure he is just trying to smooth things over with him, no need for myself to be involved.
"This'll be interesting, then." I wonder if Kaiba will have one of his security guards watching me the entire time.
"You'll have fun. Kaiba's house is really nice, just don't steal anything." Ryou says with a little laugh.
"I'm sure Kaiba doesn't have the sort of things I would be interested in stealing anyway."
"And no more pranks. We don't want Yami getting in trouble." Yugi adds in a hushed voice, with a mischievous grin on his face. Figured he'd find out by now.
"Yami? So, it's okay if I get in trouble."
"Of course it is, everyone expects it from you." He narrows his eyes slightly and raises an eyebrow. "Besides, a Pharaoh has to keep a certain standard image about him, while a lowly Tomb Robber doesn't care about such things, ne?" He adds, a smirk pulling at one side of his mouth. Damn little brat is purposefully trying to provoke me. Might as well take the bait, I'm bored anyway.
"Conniving little imp!" I yell, taking off after an already gone Yugi. I see him dart around to Yami's side, but he's not going to get away that easily. Running circles around him and Kaiba, Yami can't help but laugh, while Kaiba looks incredibly annoyed. Finally swinging around Yami, I catch Yugi in a headlock and give him a rather painful noogie, making sure to use my knuckles.
"Ow!! Bakura, that hurts!"
"It's supposed to." Deciding he's received enough punishment, but knowing he certainly hasn't learned his lesson, I release him from the headlock. He stands for a moment, rubbing his head and glaring up at me.
"I'll get you back for that!"
"Sure you will, small fry." With that, he bounds back to Yami's side, who is only a couple feet away, still standing with Kaiba.
"Why is your hikari so damn annoying, Pharaoh?" I ask Yami, knowing full well that everyone else is intently watching all that is transacting.
"He's not annoying, he just likes you." His choice of responses is somewhat startling and I pause for a moment, trying to think of some response the others would expect from me.
"Che, you better hope he doesn't end up in the Shadow Realm." Good enough performance for the onlookers. That's all we needed. Everyone turns their attention back to walking, a few still with smiles on their faces. I take my place at Ryou's side and I behave, or rather Yugi behaves for the rest of the trek to Kaiba's house.
Kaiba leads us past the gates to his ridiculously large house and then through the front door. I expected there to be a ton of security guards around the place, but I can't seem to find any. We weave our way through a couple of rooms and finally into what appears to be the living room. I wonder where Mokuba is, since he wasn't at lunch with us. Guess it's none of my business though.
They start rearranging the furniture a bit to focus around the oversized flat screen tv on the wall. I notice Anzu rifling through Kaiba's movie collection while nobody else is paying attention. While everyone is making themselves comfortable I sit down on an empty couch, behind the rest.
"What about this one guys? I've never seen it before." Anzu addresses the entire group as she holds up a dvd case that I can't quite make out the cover to.
"Aw, come on. That's such an old movie! Pick a different one." Jounouchi whines back to her.
"I haven't seen that either and I've heard it's supposed to be pretty good." Yugi adds his support to Anzu.
"Fine, whatever you guys want." Jounouchi concedes and plops down on a couch. I can't believe Kaiba isn't putting his own say in. Where is he anyway? Looking around, I finally find him towards the back of the room, with Ryou… what the hell are they whispering about back there? Ryou is standing really close to Kaiba as well and nobody else seems to notice this. I will certainly have to ask him about this later.
Anzu has put in the movie and everyone has found a place to sit. Ryou grins to me as he joins me on the couch, Malik slipping in on the other side of him. Anzu unfortunately decides to sit directly in front of me.
I lean back, preparing for two hours of boredom, unless Anzu miraculously chose a blood filled, horrific movie about a psychopathic killer, but I somehow doubt that. The title comes up, hmm… Jurassic Park, don't think I've ever heard of this movie. It's obviously American and the Japanese dub isn't all that good. Dubs are rarely ever good though. Neh, dinosaurs aren't all that interesting to me.
It's only about half an hour into the movie and I'm about ready to fall asleep. Glancing to the next couch over, I see Yami has already beat me to it. His head is lulled forward a bit, apparently he doesn't consider the movie to be worthwhile as well.
This movie isn't even that scary, but apparently Anzu thinks it is. It would be so funny to see these raptors actually get a hold of these kids and rip them to shreds. And the little boy is so damn annoying. This scene has actually held my attention for the longest though, seeing the raptor stalk these kids through the kitchen, while every once in a while tapping its claw against the floor. Heh, even from behind I can see how tense Anzu is with fear. I can't believe she can consider this scary.
The raptor taps its claw again and on impulse, I lean forward and tap Anzu on the shoulder twice. Woah, big mistake!! I never knew she could scream that loud or jump that high! She swings around and tries to give me a nasty look to cover up her terrified expression, but all I can do is laugh. Of course, this has gained everyone else's attention, including the sleeping Yami, as well, but to my surprise, they all start laughing too.
"That was so mean, Bakura!!" Anzu informs me, as if I didn't already know. I still can't stop laughing though; the look on her face was priceless!
"That was awesome! Except for the fact that the ringing in my ears won't go away. Wish I'd thought of that!" Jounouchi tells me with a big smile on his face, while facing backwards on the same couch as Anzu. He puts his hand up in the air, but what to do doesn't dawn on me for a few moments. Then without thinking, I give him a high five and attempt to get my laughter back under control so everyone can watch the movie in peace.
See, I was right.
Yes, yes. Everyone's always right except for me.
Finally the movie ends and everyone is getting up to stretch and move to a different room. I watch as Ryou sets off in Kaiba's direction once again. Wanting to talk to him before he goes, I stand up quickly to catch him, but suddenly the room starts to spin and then flashes almost completely white. Expecting to hit the floor, I am confused when that moment never comes. Instead, there is an arm supporting me from the waist.
"Are you okay?" Once my eyes come back fully in focus, I am startled to find Malik staring at me, concerned and worried.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I guess I should've eaten lunch today." Malik waits a few seconds and then leaves me to stand on my own. Good thing nobody else noticed that or my head would hurt even more right now from Ryou and Yami fussing over me.
"As long as you're sure." He eyes me suspiciously and then walks away, joining the others. Okay, I think it is about time to go home. Maybe I can get Yami to cook me something later.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Today was much too long and now, though it is only about nine at night, I just want to go to sleep. But Yami is being rather talkative at the moment, going on and on about this new tournament. Apparently, he really wants to have yet another duel against Kaiba. Ra, the way he goes on about him I'd swear he had a thing for him, but of course I know that isn't true.
"Are you listening to me?" Yami asks me in the middle of one of his other sentences.
"Yes, unfortunately." He gives me a rather dissatisfied look. "Sorry, it's just that you can't expect me to get too excited about Kaiba and his amazing dueling strategies. I'm not obsessed with the game like you are."
"I'm not obsessed and Kaiba happens to be a very worthy adversary."
"Well, with the way you talk about him I'm wondering if I shouldn't be jealous." I tease him, inching closer to where he is sitting on his bed.
"Maybe you should be." He teases back, moving gradually away from me.
"Yami, is there something you need to tell me?" I ask him, down on all fours about to pounce on him. He laughs and backs himself against the wall.
"Alright, I confess." He raises the back of his hand to his forehead and feigns a total breakdown into distress. "I'm really in love with Kaiba! I just couldn't help but succumb to his charm."
"That wasn't a very convincing confession!" I try to jump and grab him, but he manages to roll off the bed and dash out the door, laughing all the way. "No, I can't let you have me! Not when my heart truly belongs to another!" He yells on the way out.
Of course, I swiftly catch up to him and by the time we get into the living room he is only a few feet ahead of me. With a small burst of speed, I reach forward and wrap my arms around his waist from behind, ending his escape attempt.
"You know, you're not a very good actor. I wasn't persuaded at all." Yami laughs while I nip at his neck.
"You guys, be quiet! Yugi is trying to sleep." Ryou forces out in a loud, but hushed voice. I look over to see that indeed, Yugi is sleeping with his head on Ryou's lap.
"Sleeping? It's not that late." I reply back quietly.
"You looked pretty tired yourself a few minutes ago." Yami says, elbowing me softly in the side. "Anyways, I'm going to go make a little something for us to eat and if you behave and don't wake up Yugi, it just might involve strawberries."
"I'll be good." I tell him as I let my arms fall from his waist and he heads towards the kitchen.
"Fine, as long as you're not that way later." And he disappears into the kitchen.
"You two are ridiculous." Ryou mutters, breaking me out of my rather hentai thoughts. I turn my attention back to Ryou, who is not even looking at me. I watch as he runs his hands idly through Yugi's hair. Such a familiar act, it seems strange to see him do that. Actually, it's almost disconcerting.
"What are you doing?" I ask, getting Ryou's attention.
"What? You mean playing with Yugi's hair? I like to mess with it, it's so odd and it just amuses me how it always manages to keep its shape." He calmly replies with a lingering smile on his face as he stares down at Yugi. Okay, I knew they were close, but this close?
Wait, he was trying to tell me something earlier today. Was this it? That he and Yugi are… together, he did make it seem like he was worried to tell me after all. I shake my head, trying to rid myself of the thought. "No, no… that'd just be too weird."
"What would be too weird?"
"I just thought that you two were a little closer than normal, so…"
"You thought we were a couple? I see you've turned into Anzu." Ryou teases evenly.
"What!"
"Shh!! Even Yami told you not to wake him up." Yugi stirs, but luckily does not wake.
"I am nothing like her. Anyways, I just thought it was unusual to see you two like that." I say, taking care to lower my voice once again.
"Yugi is my best friend. And besides, it's not me and Yugi, it's me and Malik."
"You and Malik what?"
"We're the ones that are together."
"Oh… wait a minute, what?!? You and Malik!?!?!"
"I was trying to tell you earlier today about it, before we were interrupted." Okay, calm down. You should be happy for him, don't raise your voice. At least it's not someone like Jounouchi or Honda.
"How long has this been going on?! And why didn't you tell me about it before you started seeing each other?!?" Mouth not listening to brain here!!
"A few weeks, I guess it'll be a month soon. And we didn't want anyone to know until we were really secure about it. You and Yugi are the only people who know now." I take a deep breath, a very deep breath and regain my control.
"So, it's serious then?"
"Yeah."
"And you're happy?"
"Of course."
"Okay…then that is all that matters. This is just going to be something that I have to get used to." I tell him, holding a hand to the side of my head.
Yugi shifts a couple times and finally sits up, rubbing at his eyes. "What is going on?"
"Nothing, just go back to sleep." I tell him, my headache starting to get even bigger. He stares at me for a moment, still with that dreamy look in his eyes and then slumps back down to sleep.
I sigh loudly, moving my hand to my forehead. "My head hurts. Tell Yami that I'll be upstairs."
I head back to Yami's room to maybe go lay down or something. Ra, I knew today was going to be one of those days.
To be continued-
Whew, finally done. So maybe this chapter got a little out of hand. If it seems kinda jumbled, it's because I'm actually trying to set up some plot for future chapters. Please tell me if something just doesn't make sense at all, besides those little things people said that Bakura doesn't quite understand yet. Oh, and so, after much deliberation, I decided to pair Ryou with Malik, mainly because of plot development. It will work to my advantage later… hopefully. Sorry to all those who voted for Yugi. I've actually planned out most of the rest of the story, even the ending, which is rare for me. Well, I must be going now, so please leave a review, even if you hated the chapter and tell me what to improve on! Thanks!