Aaahh! Finally, an update! It seemed like the world just didn't want me to finish this chapter, with all the things that got in my way. Oh, and as sort of a general notice, never buy an HP laptop! They suck and it was a big reason why it took me so long to get this chapter done. Anyways, enough of my angry ranting….
Thank you so very, very much to Sugar Moe, Yoko no Tenchii, Only-A-Minor-Threat, DJ Silence Yuy, XabunaiX, cute-little-Yugi, Reading Girl, trinn, Rima, Nenshou Kaen (yay, Bakura plushie!), Chibi Nao-chan, Mrpointyhorns, Yami's Chan, major-rocket-fan, Konniwa, Meagan, Beama Casey, Aramis-chan, LynLin, Kewie, Dragontiger, Kiharu-sama, Silver Mirror, Marjon, YamiMisao, Silvershadowfire, and strawberries and napkins.
I really want to say that I'm glad you all reviewed the last chapter and kept up with my fic, even though it took me so long to update. I always feel really bad about taking so long to update these last few times, but I didn't want to just rush a chapter either and of course… my damn real life always gets in the way. Thank you also to a few of my reviewers who have always shown me a lot of support. I hope you all like this next chapter.
Chapter 27
Fair Play
"Let's go back."
Yami practically grimaces at the statement, but he quickly adopts his classic dueler's façade. "Right. We should probably get back before they start making up their own conclusions about us. Although, I think our hikaris will try to stop that."
We start heading back at a brisk pace, as fast as the thick forest brush will allow. "How do you want to do this?"
"I don't know. I haven't really had a chance to figure something out." I glance over at him, a little bit worried. Usually, it doesn't take him too long to plan out some sort of strategy for anything, but from his expression, I can tell he's still frantically grasping for some sort of solution.
"Do you want to stop then?"
"No, we should keep going." We begin to near the campsite and I can see the glow of a newly lit campfire. And I can hear voices.
Yami stops short of the clearing before anyone notices us and releases my hand. "Let me go first. Just let me find out what has already been said."
I nod in compliance and watch him go. I scan the area and notice Malik standing off by himself a small distance from the others, so I take the opportunity to quietly make my way to his side. He silently nods, acknowledging my presence. From here I can see and hear everything that is going on and no one looks to be very happy with the situation. Everyone is focused on Yami's sudden appearance, so I am not noticed. Kaiba and Mokuba are currently sitting outside of their tent, as if spectators at some sporting event. Jounouchi, Honda, and Anzu are practically interrogating Ryou and Yugi. Yugi actually looks like he might kill someone. That would certainly be something to witness firsthand.
There is a weighted silence as Yami approaches the small group. He opens his mouth to say something, but Anzu beats him to it. "Why didn't you tell us? I thought friends told each other everything."
Of the three, I think she looks the most hurt. Figures, considering her personality type. Jounouchi has apparently come out of his state of shock and appears to simply be angry now. Honda doesn't seem to be as affected as the other two, but is probably just reacting to their emotions. Well, at least they've stopped badgering Yugi and Ryou for the time being.
I watch as Ryou puts a hand on Yugi's shoulder, who still looks rather frustrated. I reach out to Ryou through our link, causing him to startle a bit and turn his attention towards me.
Are you alright? They weren't being too hard on you, were they? Do I need to kick someone's ass?
Ryou smiles softly, but the considerable amount of distress hidden underneath that smile is still evident. No, I'm fine. But why aren't you over here with Yami?
He didn't want me to be, for now, I guess. They're not planning on lynching me are they?
No… I think they are just angry that they were left out of the loop for so long.
That's to be expected.
I turn back to assess Yami's situation. His confident mask has yet to falter, but I wonder how long he can last. "I didn't tell you because I was uncertain about what manner of response there would be."
"But you told others? Why not us?" Honda counters, somewhat restrained sounding.
"The only ones who knew, knew out of necessity. Except for one, which was an accident." Yami tells them, keeping his voice level and his arms crossed in front of him.
Jounouchi takes a small step forward. "And letting your best friends know was not a necessity!"
Yami stands firm. "I had no idea how you would react. It was a new and uncertain experience for me at first and I was unsure how to handle the normal process of things. I wanted to introduce the idea of our relationship very slowly, but I couldn't figure out a way to accomplish that effectively."
"Don't you trust us Yami? I can't believe you've been keeping this from us for so long! It's not like we were going to end up hating you for something like this, even though it is Bakura we're talking about." Someone needs to die… 'Even though it is Bakura,' what the hell? I start walking towards the group, intending to defend myself after that last comment from Anzu, but Malik quickly takes hold of my wrist.
"Don't." Malik says with more determination than I've seen from him in a long time. I back down for the time being, figuring Malik just doesn't want me making things more complicated.
"See, this is what I meant. I knew you wouldn't be able to accept this for what it is." Yami says, raising his voice slightly.
Anzu looks surprised. I don't think Yami has ever been mad at Anzu before, but if she keeps going down the same path, it's going to happen sooner rather than later. "I'm sorry. It just seems so… odd for you to be with him."
"Yeah, are you sure he's not manipulating you or anything? We know what Bakura has done in the past." Jounouchi adds in, causing me to reflexively pull against Malik's hold on my wrist. I wonder what he'd think if he knew exactly how much manipulating Yami does.
"You can be assured that that is certainly not the case." Yami says forcefully. "Besides, you all seemed to be getting along with him lately… at least a little more than before. Why does the fact that I'm in a relationship with him change things?"
"Of course it changes things!" Anzu almost shouts. "It's you that's in the relationship with him. It's a little surprising."
"Yeah. I mean, we all have to ask, why Bakura? You two have always hated each other. Isn't there someone better suited to you?" Honda asks, immediately eliciting another attempt by me to free myself from Malik's hold. This is really starting to make me angry.
"Guys, don't you think that's a little mean?"
"Come on Anzu, I know you think there has got to be something weird going on too. Or are you just jealous because Yami picked someone like Bakura over you?" Honda argues back. This is getting out of hand. Yami takes a cautious step backwards.
"How can you say that? I'm happy as long as Yami's happy. I just want to be sure he actually is."
"I am." Yami says, but the others are too caught up in their own argument to notice.
"Stop trying to bully her, Honda!" Jounouchi yells, taking up a position in front of Anzu. This is getting ridiculous.
"You all need to stop!" Yugi tries to yell over them with his little voice. Of course, they continue to argue like idiots. This is ending now. Sorry Malik, I'm not going to let you stop me this time.
I start heading towards the group and Malik takes hold of my wrist with both hands, trying to keep me back, but I just keep on walking. "Bakura!"
The noise created by dragging Malik behind me catches everyone's attention. Anzu, Honda, and Jounouchi notice my glare of death and take a step back in fear. Yami moves towards me, probably intending to intervene if I try to hit anyone.
"Will you three dumbasses just shut the hell up and listen to what Yami has to say?" I tell them in a low, threatening growl, while wrenching my hand free from Malik. All three are still frozen out of shock and dread.
"Sorry." Each of them says without breaking my eye contact.
"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to him." I say as condescendingly as possible, nodding in Yami's direction and then pointing at Yugi and Ryou. "And them."
They all look somewhat ashamed and finally do as I say. Yami sighs deeply, bringing a hand to his forehead. Once everyone's attention is back on Yami, he lets his hand drop and is ready to speak once again.
"Okay... Bakura is not manipulating me or doing anything of the sort, so you have no need to worry about defending me against such a thing." The three nod slowly. "I do trust you all, but I was afraid that this sort of thing would happen when I told you. Hence the reason why I kept putting it off for so long."
"But-" Anzu tries to interject, but Yami quickly cuts her off.
"Let me finish… Also, I feel I should be offended by the fact that you have basically been saying that Bakura is not good enough for me." Him? What about me? "I alone choose who I want to be with and that just happens to be Bakura."
I love being talked about as if I'm not here. Oh well. "So, there is nothing weird going on and I am happy."
Yami stops, waiting for some sort of reaction or the next person to say something. Anzu is the first to speak up.
"As long as you're happy… then I guess that it's okay."
"You guess?" I ask her, raising my eyebrow.
"I wasn't trying to say that I thought you were a bad person, Bakura… but, it just seems very odd to think of Yami with you." She explains to me.
"But I am a bad person." I tell her, laughing manically much to her horror. I stop abruptly and glare straight at her. "Except when it concerns Yami."
Everyone turns and stares at me skeptically. I look over at Ryou, while smirking mischievously, and he just rolls his eyes. What? I was just trying to be funny.
"Yami, is this what he's like all the time?" Honda asks hesitantly.
Yami sighs loudly and grabs my arm, pulling me to his side. "Yes… Unfortunately."
His expression is basically telling me to behave, but without warning, it shifts into something a little more frightening. "Actually, he's usually as docile and obedient as a Pharaoh's slave."
I practically face fault, along with everyone else. "Ra Yami, you're worse than I am."
"You're the one who started it." He throws back without hesitation.
"I never said anything about you."
"You were the one who had to make things worse."
"I was just trying to lighten the mood."
"Oh yes, Bakura. It was very effective." Yami says, his words practically spelling out sarcasm.
"You're the one who's so damned sadistic."
"You know I can't help myself. It's too easy when it comes to you."
"Fine. Have them think whatever you want; they're your friends. Just leave a little of my dignity, okay? Just a bit… Please?" I ask cynically, raising my hand and showing him exactly how much of my dignity to spare.
Out of nowhere comes laughing. Both Yami and I turn to see Jounouchi who is holding his sides and laughing rather enthusiastically. After about a minute, he manages to catch his breath and exhales one last time to settle himself. "Ah… you two are funny… I think I'll go back to bed now."
He then promptly returns to his tent, leaving the rest of us utterly lost as to what has just occurred.
"Well, that was, um… not what I had expected." Yami states while still staring at Jounouchi's tent along with the rest of us.
Honda shrugs. "I guess that's the end of that, then." He follows Jounouchi's example and enters the tent as well.
Anzu waits until Honda disappears and turns back to the both of us, still looking somewhat distraught. Saying nothing, she approaches Yami and softly hugs him. Then, she quickly hurries back into her tent.
"She's still not happy with the situation." Yami says slowly.
"Well… don't worry. I don't think she is the type to hold a grudge against a friend for very long. Everything just needs to sink in a little bit."
Kaiba, Mokuba, Ryou, Malik, and Yugi all approach where we are standing. "Are you two going to be alright?" Ryou asks.
"Of course we are." I walk over to Yugi and put an arm around his shoulder. "And to make things even better, Yugi is going to switch tents with me for tonight."
Yugi looks up at me with this expression that's filled with disdain, but lets me have my way despite his disapproval. "…I'll go and get my things."
Malik suddenly appears as if an idea has just hit him right smack in the side of his head. "Ah! I can't wait to tell everyone back in town."
"Malik… You don't need to make some public spectacle out of all this." I tell him.
"But, it would be fun." Malik says while trying to pout.
"Come on, let's go back to bed." Ryou says as he takes hold of Malik's arm and pulls him towards their tent. Yugi emerges from his former tent, carrying his sleeping bag, and follows Ryou and Malik, glaring at me as he passes by.
We turn and wait for a reaction from Kaiba, who is still standing by us with Mokuba. "You…" He points directly at me. "… are an idiot." Oh. Thanks.
"And you…" He moves to Yami and sighs loudly. "You, I still don't understand."
With that, he takes Mokuba by the hand and they walk back to their tent. I don't even know what to think of that sort of reaction. I guess I don't even completely understand Yami. But I suppose that always leaves room for surprises.
There is a loud rustle and I turn just in time to see my things violently thrown out onto the ground outside my former tent. Heh heh, I must have really pissed off Yugi.
"I'm tired. Let's go to sleep." Yami tells me in a flat voice. I go and gather my things, joining him in the tent afterwards. We unzip our sleeping bags, spreading them out to form a makeshift bed for the two of us. Once underneath one of the sleeping bags, Yami instantly snuggles up close to me. I put an arm around him and bury my face in his hair.
"You know that tomorrow, everything will be the same and nothing will have changed between you and your friends. They don't really care about the fact that you are with me. They only care that you are happy." I tell him in a quiet voice, hoping to calm any last doubts he has about the entire incident that just occurred. I receive no response though.
"Yami, you are way too stubborn about dwelling on things that don't matter. Just don't think about it and go to sleep." Still no response.
"Yami…" I push away from him a bit to be able to look at his face. I'm amazed to find him already asleep… or maybe he's just become really good at faking he's asleep. Either way, I am rather tired too and should go to sleep myself. I pull him close to me once again and close my eyes.
----------------------------------------------
"Time to wake up, you two!" Gods, what is going on? There's a terribly bright light everywhere except for a dark figure I can't yet make out.
"Bakura, I can't breathe…" Says a strangled voice beside me. I realize that after becoming startled, I may have tightened my grip on Yami a little too much.
"Ah, sorry about that." I let go of him and sit up, allowing my eyes to adjust to the higher magnitude of light. Slowly, Jounouchi's features become visible. What a wonderful way to start my day…
"I hate you, Jounouchi." I tell him plainly, as I get up and shove him from the zippered entrance to our tent.
"Love the hair this morning, Bakura." He throws back at me. Dammit, I can't help what my stupid hair looks like after I've slept on it.
"You do not want to start something with me this early in the morning, dog." I tell him, not at all in the mood to deal with his ridiculous pestering. Before Jounouchi can say anything else, Kaiba appears beside us looking his usual annoyed self. Though, I'm sure that I have him beat in that category at the moment.
"You and the dog need to get over here before your breakfast is eaten by the others." He says in a somewhat perturbed manner. I can't tell if he is in a worse mood than normal though.
Jounouchi shrugs and follows Kaiba back to where all the others are.
Yami finally comes out of the tent after composing himself a bit and we walk over to join everyone else. It will be very interesting to see how this day goes.
"You're finally awake!" Anzu says, greeting us as we approach. How can she be this damn happy, this early in the morning? It's just not human.
I sit down next to Ryou and take a sandwich and some other random things to eat. He greets me as he usually does with a soft smile and I proceed to finish my breakfast. Yami has seated himself next to Yugi and he has a semi-distracted air about him, so I assume he is talking with Yugi through their own link. Everyone else is behaving as they normally would though. I don't think anyone is even forcing himself to fake the appearance of normalcy just for Yami's sake. It's as it always has been.
"So, what does everyone want to do today?" Anzu asks in an inquisitively cheerful tone that about bursts my eardrums. I hope she doesn't expect a response from me, not that I couldn't think of a few particularly interesting things to do involving knives and explosives and such.
"Well, we could always go hiking." Yugi suggests tentatively.
"I think there's a lake off of one of these trails too, so we could go swimming!" Mokuba adds. Gods, please let us not go swimming.
"I've heard that there are some beautiful fields of flowers around the base of this mountain." Anzu suggests. Someone shoot me now… please.
"Flowers? Come on, Anzu, no one wants to do that." For once, I have to admit that I am grateful to Jounouchi.
Anzu makes an unsatisfied face. "Fine, what do you want to do then?"
"Um, we could always play some sort of game…" Jounouchi suggests.
"Yeah, like Capture the Flag!" Honda says, finishing Jounouchi's sentence. I have not heard of this game, but it can't be as bad as hiking up some mountain.
"A game sounds fine to me." Yami tells them all. Figures. Of course he would be interested in any sort of game.
"Does everyone want to do that?" Anzu asks. There are a few 'sures' and 'yeahs' and some nodding heads, but no objections. I guess I have no real reason to shoot down the idea.
"Okay, then it's settled. After we all finish eating, we'll set up to play. Has everyone played Capture the Flag before?" She asks. Yami, Malik, me, and Kaiba all shake our heads.
"Don't worry; I'll explain the rules to you guys!" Jounouchi says enthusiastically. "It's really easy."
He takes us aside and then spends the next twenty minutes going through the objectives and rules of the game. I could really care less, since I don't need rules in the first place. Yami and Kaiba seem to be mentally taking notes though. I don't know how they can make sense of Jounouchi's terribly random way of presenting the information. It seems that Malik has even tuned out already.
He finally stops carrying on and I sit up out of my bored slump. "So, did everyone get all of that?"
"Yeah, yeah, let's just get this over with." I tell him, standing from where I had been sitting. I walk several steps away from them and stretch my arms upward. The others disperse back into the main group.
"So, this actually requires some running?" I ask Yami unexcitedly, who has stood and is approaching me. Maybe hiking would have been easier.
"Yes, but it shouldn't be too bad… even for those of us who are not in the best of shape." He comments.
"Hey, I'm in-shape!"
"I know…" He smirks and comes a little closer to me. I catch him by wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him against me, much to his surprise. A slight panic appears in his eyes and he looks briefly, but nervously, over to where the rest of his friends are. But they don't seem to really be paying any attention to us.
"You know what I just remembered?" I ask with a soft, sly voice.
"What would that be?" He knows I have something sinister in mind and puts a hand on my chest as if he's going to push me away any moment.
"Our little bet we still have left unresolved." His eyes widen ever so slightly, but he quickly covers any sort of reaction up.
"I figured that you had forgotten about it." Yami says nonchalantly, but I know he's bluffing.
"Well, I hadn't. So, now is as good as time as any, especially since it shouldn't be too much of a surprise to anyone now."
"Fine, if that's what you want." He says calmly.
"Then do it."
"Do what?" Now he's just stalling.
"Kiss me, in front of all of your friends." I break eye contact for a fraction of a second to make sure that at least one person can see us.
"Okay, then I will."
"Go ahead." He pauses for a moment. Then with some measure of determination, he swiftly pushes up on his toes to give me a short kiss on the lips.
Heh… he's not going to get away with that.
I tighten my arm around his waist and lean down into him to continue the kiss. He protests slightly by pushing his hand against my chest a little harder, but that's not going to deter me. I easily deepen the kiss, making every one of my movements as long and drawn out as possible, keeping the sensuality of the scene at a maximum. Figure I might as well give everyone a good show to embarrass Yami as much as possible.
Before I am forced to jump him in front of everyone, I let him go. He steps back a bit, but I still have my arm around him loosely. From his face, I can see that he is not too happy with me at the moment. But he is actually blushing, so I can't help myself and start to laugh.
"Bastard." He says and punches me in the shoulder. I laugh harder.
"I know you liked it." I tell him while smiling devilishly. "Besides, I could have made it a lot worse. I was being nice."
"No, you were being your usual, terrible self." His anger is practically gone now, but a tinge of blush still remains.
"But that's what you love about me."
"Yeah… but do something like that again and what will happen to you will pale in comparison." Ah, now that was a real threat. Haven't heard one of those from him in a while.
I pull him close once again so that I can whisper in his ear. "You know how much it turns me on when you become so composed and so intense at the same time."
"I know." He reaches down and hooks a finger around a belt loop on my jeans, tugging slightly on it. "And I'll show you exactly how intense I can be the next time we are alone."
I smile deviously and let him go. "Is that a promise?"
He smiles in much the same manner as he starts to walk away from me, back to the tent. Suddenly remembering what started the exchange, I look around to see if we caught anyone's attention. Rather disappointed, I find that no one seems to have noticed or if they did, they are not paying any attention now. All of the others are just going about their regular business. Damn. Oh well, at least I still managed to embarrass Yami.
Looking around briefly, I find Ryou sitting by himself behind his tent, reading a book. He smiles to me as I sit down beside him.
"Not too thrilled about playing this game either?" I ask him.
"No, I think it will be fun. I was just getting in some quiet time before all of the excitement." He sighs and closes his book, setting it beside him on the ground. Then, he moves closer and leans his head on my shoulder.
"And do you have any idea how tired I am?" Ryou says in a soft, but exhausted voice. "Last night was bad enough, but Yugi in our tent made it worse. He doesn't snore loudly, but it is enough to keep me awake."
I run my hand over his hair gently. "I didn't mean for that to happen. I only wanted to be alone with Yami after such a crucial event. Though, it didn't seem like it really affected him too much afterwards. Maybe he was simply relieved that it was finally over and done with. I don't know."
"I think you're probably right. You just worry too much."
"I do not." I tell him a tad forcefully.
There is a small laugh from him. "Yes you do. It may not have always been directed towards the most appropriate things, but you have always worried too much about things. You just have to truly learn to let things happen as they happen."
There is a comfortable silence as I contemplate his words. I turn slightly to see his face, finding that his eyes closed. He must really be tired. I wonder if he is already asleep.
I saw what you did to poor Yami. I hear softly through our link. Guess that answers my question. And so did most everyone else.
Really?
You wanted them to see?
Yeah, well, Yami and I had this bet from some time ago…
I probably shouldn't ask.
It was just a way to embarrass him, that's all. Nothing too bad.
You're so mean.
He likes it. Besides, he's just as mean to me.
You two have such an odd relationship. If I were you, I would still hold back a bit, so the others can get used to the idea of the two of you being together. I thought Anzu was going to about pass out when she saw you kissing Yami. I'm not sure if it was out of shock though…
Heh heh, that's great. Did we startle anyone else?
Well, Kaiba almost completely ignored you, Jounouchi did a rather amusing double take and quickly walked away while blushing, and Honda just stopped, considered the situation silently, and then left.
Aw, that's not too entertaining…
I think maybe you're looking at it the wrong way. But, then again, that is nothing new for you either.
The sound of approaching footsteps distracts my attention from my internal conversation with Ryou. I watch as Malik comes around the side of the tent.
"Ah, so here you are!" He exclaims, causing Ryou to open his eyes and lift his head off of my shoulder.
Malik pauses for a moment and adopts a less carefree appearance. "My, aren't we being close? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were cheating on me, Ryou."
Ryou starts to say something, but I cut him off by wrapping my arms protectively around him. "There's no use hiding it anymore Ryou. He's mine now Malik, as he always has been!"
Malik grins, happy that I am willing to play along. Might as well, I'm kind of bored anyway and it has been a while. Malik carries on dramatically, as only he can. "How could you Bakura! What about Yami?"
"What about me?" Comes a very cynical voice from around the tent. Yami then appears, only to see me clutching onto Ryou as if Malik is going to hurt him.
"Bakura is cheating on you." Malik plainly tells Yami.
"Don't say that!" Ryou exclaims as he stands up quickly, breaking free of my grasp.
I stand up beside him. "It's alright Ryou. It's time he knew."
Ryou looks very nervous and uncomfortable. It's almost as entertaining to torture Ryou, as it is Yami.
Yami looks from me to Malik and then to Ryou, shakes his head and rolls his eyes. "You two need to start coming up with more plausible scenarios."
Malik and I look to each other, somewhat confused as to Yami's meaning. "I mean really… Bakura? Cheating on me? Who else would be willing to put up with him besides me?"
There is a stunned silence; one that Ryou is the first to break. "Yami, don't you think that's a little harsh?"
"No." Yami states firmly. Luckily, Ryou is in front of me, so he cannot see me briefly lose my composure. I can't believe Yami is going along with this one.
"Bakura can be disagreeable at times, but it's not like he's a constant menace." Poor Ryou is practically pleading to Yami.
"No, I am convinced that I am the only one suited to deal with his personality type." Yami tells him in a strictly analytical tone.
"I can deal with him perfectly fine and had been long before you came along." Getting almost defensive, Ryou edges a little towards Yami.
"Somehow, I think you are only including select time periods." Yami says haughtily. Ryou's expression practically does a one-eighty.
"Yami, how could you be so cruel as to bring up what is already long in the past!" Ryou cries out, severely startling everyone involved in the little performance. "I thought that you certainly had more of a heart than that."
With that last mumbled sentence, Ryou buries his face in his hands and starts to softly cry. Yami, Malik, and I stare in absolute bewildered silence. I didn't think that he would ever take our joking around this seriously. I can't even remember the last time I made him cry.
Yami is the first to move, stepping up to Ryou from where he had been standing. "Ryou, we were just joking…" A muffled sob comes from Ryou. "I didn't mean anything by it. We were just playing around. Really."
I move around beside Yami and by this time Malik has gone to Ryou's side as well, resting a hand on his back.
"Ryou, we were just messing with you, so don't cry." I tell him, trying to do anything to make him stop. It's obvious that Yami feels horrible about the situation, but has no idea how to really handle it.
"Ryou…" I say softly. Abruptly, Ryou drops his hands from his face to reveal the complete lack of tears in his eyes. He smiles wide and deviously, causing each of our jaws to drop clear to the ground.
He reaches forwards and pokes Yami on his forehead. "Gotcha."
"Gods, Yami… He's a better actor than all of us put together." I say after I finally find my voice.
"That was evil Ryou, especially coming from someone like you." Yami tells him, only to elicit another enthusiastic smile from Ryou.
"I just figured that I would add some more drama to the scene." He says in his cute little innocent voice.
We all pause when we hear footsteps by the tent. Anzu comes into view. "Hey! There you guys are." She stops, looking puzzled for a moment. "Did I interrupt something?"
"Ah, no. We were just talking." Yami quickly says.
"Okay." She says skeptically. "Well, we are going to start the game soon, so you guys should get out here."
She begins to walk away and we all mindlessly follow her. Once we are out in a small clearing a small distance from the campsite, everyone else slowly appears and gathers together. As the last people join the group, Anzu steps out, in front of us.
"So, who wants to be team captain?" She asks.
"I do." Kaiba declares.
"I would like to be." Yami says at almost the same time. And then there is nothing more said.
"Alright, I guess that takes care of that." Anzu says. "You two come out here so you can pick the people for your teams."
They do as she says, spacing themselves out a bit and taking up much the same arms-crossed, determined to win no matter what the game, sort of stance. It's amazing how physically different the two look, but still have such similar mannerisms.
"Okay, we'll decide who picks first by a coin toss. Yami, you call it in the air." She says in a manner much too official considering the situation. She steps between the two of them, reaching for something in her pocket and eventually producing a coin. She flips the coin high in the air and Yami calls it.
"Tails."
Anzu catches the coin, rests it on the top of her other hand, and then uncovers the coin.
"Heads." She says with some degree of surprise. Ah, it's been a while since I've seen Yami lose at anything, even if it was just a coin toss. Heh, I guess the "Heart of the Coin" was not on his side. I mentally smack myself… that was just bad.
"Kaiba, you get to pick first." She tells him and then walks over to join the rest of us. Yami looks less than happy about the situation. Of course, he's not exactly used to losing, so it's under-
"Bakura."
"What?" I wasn't paying enough attention to notice who had said my name.
"Go, you're on Kaiba's team." Anzu says from beside me, as she gives me a shove in his direction. I give Kaiba a questioning glance as I come to stand in his general vicinity. Yami, on the other hand, glares intensely at Kaiba, but only for a fraction of a second.
"Jounouchi." Yami declares as his first choice. Again, practically the same interaction occurs between Yami and Kaiba, except reversed.
"Malik." Kaiba states as his next pick. It's rather amusing to watch as each one tries to pick apart the other's reasoning and strategy.
"Honda."
"Yugi." I don't think it will ever cease to amaze me how much Kaiba and Yami scowl at each other.
"Mokuba."
"Ryou."
"Anzu." Thankfully, she didn't end up on my team. The teams would have had to end up being uneven if I had been forced to cooperate with her.
"Now, everyone. Here are your own makeshift flags, since we don't have anything really proper for this." She hands us long strips of what appears to be an old towel.
"Man, why aren't there more girls here?" Jounouchi questions aloud, apparently to no one in particular. "If there were, I could put my flag like this."
He turns around and puts one end of his flag in the back pocket of his jeans. Everyone sweat-drops, except for Honda, who actually laughs.
"That's exactly why you don't have more friends that are girls, Jounouchi." Anzu tells him in an exasperated tone.
"Make sure to move your flag back to the appropriate place, dog. No one wants to have to grab your ass." Kaiba says dryly.
"You know you want to Kaiba!" Jounouchi taunts, obviously trying to provoke Kaiba into an argument. "Not like you'll even be able to get near me anyway."
Kaiba doesn't bother to dignify Jounouchi's comments with a response and simply crosses his arms once again. I notice Jounouchi and Yami mutter something to each other, but I can't make it out.
"Anyway…" Anzu emphasizes, trying to get back to the point. She holds up two large pieces of cloth that appear to be pillowcases. I wonder whose she stole. "These will be the team flags. You have twenty minutes to hide them, but they must still be in plain sight."
She hands one to Yami and Kaiba. We separate into our respective teams on either side of the clearing. Anzu explains the boundaries and then she tells us to go hide our flags. Our team follows Kaiba as he dashes into the woods at a fairly quick pace. After a few minutes, he stops at a rather large tree. "Ryou, can you climb about halfway up this tree and tie the flag to one of the branches?"
"Okay." Ryou takes the flag from Kaiba and beings to make his way up the tree.
"Bakura, do you have your deck with you?" Kaiba asks.
"My Duel Monsters deck?" I ask, rather surprised by the question. "No. We're on a camping trip, so I saw no use for them." Kaiba looks a bit frustrated, but I could care less. Yami didn't even bring his cards on this trip and I am certainly less attached to my cards than he is.
"I guess we'll have to use one of mine then." Kaiba reaches in a pocket and produces his deck.
"Do you always carry those with you?" I ask derisively, knowing that if he brought them here of all places, he probably does. Kaiba narrows his eyes slightly, but decides to refrain from answering. Shit, that means he wants me to do something.
"What do you want me to do?" Malik and Yugi come close, curious about the answer as well.
"You can use your power to make the monsters materialize without a holographic projector, can't you? I've seen you do it before."
"Yeah, but why do you want me to do that out here?"
"We can guard our flag with one of my monsters." He simply states. Malik snorts as he tries to keep his laughter in.
"Isn't that going a little far for such a stupid game?" I tell him, trying not to laugh myself. Does he always have to take everything so seriously?
"I don't think that doing that is very fair." Yugi says with some apprehension.
"Who cares about fair, Yugi? Here, give me a card and I'll do it." I say, holding a hand out to Kaiba. I guess there's no harm in adding in a little surprise for the other team.
He takes the first card off of the top of his deck and puts it in my hand. I turn it over to see which monster it is. "A Blue Eyes! Kaiba, don't you think that's a bit of an overkill? Besides, this is much too big for me to sustain for any sort of extended time period."
"Fine. What about this one?" He holds up the Blade Knight.
"That, I can do." I take the card from him. "It'll take a minute because it's been a while since I've done this."
Concentrating my power into the card, it begins to softly glow and finally, several feet in front of me, the monster appears as a sort of apparition. After fulfilling my role, as Kaiba sees it, he immediately takes control, addressing the monster himself. I suppose that's fine, considering that his monster probably wouldn't listen to me in the first place.
"You will conceal yourself until someone other than the people here approaches this area. Guard this tree from intruders, but there is no need to kill them." Kaiba says in a clear tone. Signifying that he is finished, Kaiba nods, and the Blade Knight disappears. I put the card in my pocket so that I can sustain its energy.
"I expect that card to be undamaged when you return it to me at the end of the game." Kaiba is way too obsessed with his cards.
"Yeah, yeah." I say, waving him off as I begin to head back towards the clearing. I wonder what Yami did with his team's flag.
Our teams meet back up after the twenty-minute restriction and then Anzu officially begins the game. First, Kaiba directs us all to a dense area of the woods.
"Okay, this is where we will have the jail. Ryou, you will be the guard. Malik you will stay with Yugi a little ways back from the dividing line to catch anyone who tries to get into our territory. Bakura and I will be on the offensive. Does everyone have that?"
"Kaiba, in the end, just promise me you will remember that this is just a game of Capture the Flag and that you won't do anything drastic. I mean, the Duel Monster guarding our flag is bad enough…" Yugi says, obviously going through each one of the things that could possibly go wrong in this sort of situation. Somehow, I don't think that Kaiba is going to listen to him at all. But… somehow, I don't really care.
"Yugi, you need to learn how to think bigger every once in a while." Kaiba tells him. Yugi merely sighs, signaling that he has come to the conclusion that it is not worth wasting any more energy on an already lost battle.
Kaiba waits to see if there are any other objections from the team and nods when he receives none. "Okay. Let's go then."
We all begin to walk in our assigned directions. I turn to find that Kaiba has already disappeared. I sigh loudly to myself, wondering if Yami's team is having as much fun as we are. I suppose I should at least make an effort.
Walking at a fast pace towards the other team's side, I quickly detect rather clumsy movement through the woods. Ducking around a tree, I watch as Anzu comes through, completely oblivious to my presence. She stops to look around for our flag, hastily walking around in the area. Yugi and Malik are not doing a very good job of watching our border.
Stealthily, I walk up behind a patch of tall undergrowth that she is near and crouch down until I am ready to pounce. Still having yet to notice me as she stumbles loudly around, I watch as she passes the end of the bushes and I silently spring forward.
Instantly, I cover her mouth with my hand, muffling a surprised scream and pull her backwards towards me. Remembering the rules of the game, I grab her flag from its place hanging at her waist. I let her go and she turns around to face me, her eyes wide with horror.
"My God, Bakura! You shouldn't come up behind someone like that in a game like this. I thought I was going to be kidnapped or killed!" What? I don't see what her problem is.
"Well, you didn't have to worry about being killed. I don't have any of my knives with me at the moment." I tell her in an overly reassuring matter, just for fun.
She stares back at me, not knowing if I am serious or not. Breaking the silence, I walk behind her and give her a shove towards our jail. "Come on. You can go say hi to Ryou."
"How does Yami even manage to put up with you?" She asks a little bitterly, probably about being caught so early in the game.
"Ah, well, it's more like we really just put up with each other."
"That doesn't make any sense." She stops and turns around, startling me a bit.
"Why not?" Why is it so hard for her to envision a relationship between Yami and me? Maybe she is bitter about Yami choosing me over her. She needs to keep walking so I can get rid of her at the jail.
"It just seems like you two have a less than typical relationship." She says timidly.
"So? Besides, exactly what aspect of Yami or me is typical?" I tell her, more than ask.
She's a bit taken aback by my statement and starts to walk again. "I suppose you are right." She stays silent for a few moments and then speaks up again. "Are you happy with him?"
Almost tripping in astonishment, I manage to regain my balance in time to form a coherent response. "Of course I am! What kind of question is that, anyway? Ra, you worry way too much for one person."
She makes a sound in agreement and continues walking on forward in silence without any more questions to pester me.
I drop her off shortly afterwards with a smug smile, feeling that I have at least contributed a little to this ridiculous game. "Here's one of them."
Ryou smiles as I set off for my original destination once again. I weave throughout the woods, putting a minimal amount of effort into the entire procedure. The others must be keeping to the other side or either they are taking some roundabout way of getting into our territory.
I cross the dividing line into Yami's territory. I'm sure Kaiba is already somewhere over here, unless he was distracted by catching someone on our side as well. Though, I wonder if he would even bother with that. Oh well, I should really just try to end this stupid game.
Wondering aimlessly around the woods, I try to decide where Yami would hide his flag. But, it's not like I am terribly familiar with this part of the woods, or any of it for that matter, so I really have no idea.
Ah! I spot Yami to my left, heading away from me. He is only casually walking though. I wonder if he wasn't really into the game as much as I thought he was.
I use almost the same tactics to creep up behind Yami without having him notice. It takes longer than it did with Anzu though. Yami is much more aware of his surroundings and I have to take my time getting close to him. Little by little I get closer and closer behind him remaining as silent as possible. I pause, watching as he appears suspicious, probably wondering if someone is close by. Before he can become any more conscious of my presence, I jump from my hiding place behind a tree, tackling him from the front which causes us both to fall in a small clearing of tall grass.
"Bakura!" He gasps in astonishment. I smirk triumphantly as I reach down and take his flag. Yami's expression suddenly becomes puzzled.
"Bakura, you do know that you can't take my flag if you are in my territory." My smile drops quickly from my face as Yami reaches up and swipes my own flag. Damn. Maybe I should have paid better attention to the rules.
"Well, you still can't bring me back to your jail if you can't get up to do it." I promptly wrap my arms around his torso and practically lay on top of him.
"This isn't being fair…" He whines, knowing that he can't really escape the situation.
"I don't remember anything about this sort of thing in the rules. Besides, this is a nice alternative to having to run around trying to find some piece of cloth." I say, resting my head on his upper body. With my ear against his chest, I can hear his heart racing from my sudden action. It's amazing how well he always controls his breathing and facial expressions to cover up the fact that he was scared, even if this is just a game of Capture the Flag.
"Bakura…" He chides.
I groan loudly in disapproval, sliding my arms from underneath him and crawling up his body a little ways so that I can fold my arms under his head, making it so that we are almost nose to nose. "Just let other people do the work… They can get by without us. Besides, it's not like your team can win anyway."
"And why is that?" Yami asks a tad suspiciously.
"Because there's a Duel Monster guarding our flag." I say, answering with an attempted innocent smirk.
Yami rolls his eyes, that being the extent of his somewhat less than satisfactory reaction. "I suppose that was your doing?"
"It was Kaiba's idea."
"Ah, you're so funny you know." He sighs and gently closes his eyes. I rest my head back down onto him, immersing myself in the sound of the soft wind making its way through the tall grass around us. This stupid trip wasn't so bad after all. I wonder how long Yami will allow me to keep him here.
"Tired?" I ask quietly, trying not to disturb the tranquil atmosphere that has developed around us.
"No, not really."
"Then what is it? It's certainly not like you to duck out of any sort of game for an extended period of time. And you didn't even seem to care about the fact that you are going to lose."
"I guess I just wasn't in the mood."
"You're lying." I tell him flatly and lift my head up once again so I can see his face.
"No, I'm not." He says while he finally opening his eyes back up. "It's just… I think that finally telling them about us has released a great deal of stress from the back of my mind and the relief from that is finally catching up with me. Since it is so quiet here, let's just stay like this for a while, okay?"
"That's perfectly fine by me." I say, staring back into his deep red eyes. He slides his hands up to either side of my face and responds with an equally intense gaze. There's nothing more for him to worry about, nothing looming in the back of his mind… and it's as if he doesn't know what to do anymore. When I really think about it, since we've been together, he's never been without some sort of fear or apprehension concerning some aspect of our lives. And now, there is nothing left… nothing left but total freedom. Maybe now, I can finally be allowed to see all of what goes on inside that head of his.
He lifts his head slightly, touching his nose to mine and then lightly kisses me. Even though the action was brief, the emotions that linger behind are intense, but reassuring in a way that leaves me breathless.
He rests his head back on my arms, letting his hands fall to my shoulders. Before he closes his eyes once again, Yami smiles briefly, in a manner that I had not expected from him. A smile that says 'I love you' in countless unspoken ways, a smile that leaves my eyes wide in astonishment, and it was certainly a smile I had never imagined ever actually witnessing.
Once again, a comfortable, soft silence falls over us, though I am still slightly gaping from the recent display of unhindered emotion. Regaining my composure, I lay my head back down, burying my face into his neck and closing my eyes. The first person to disturb us will surely die.
Taking a couple long deep breaths, I bask in the calming effects of the smells the wind brings from the grass mixed with Yami's own scent. I could almost fall asleep right now, if it weren't for the fact that I want to relish in every moment of such a rare experience for the two of us. Maybe since they all know about our relationship now, when they figure out where we are, I can just tell them to go away instead of having to worry about appearances.
Losing complete track of time, I immerse myself in the subtle sensations caused by everything around me. I know this won't last forever, but it seems like it already has.
A piercingly high-pitched scream suddenly jolts us both back to reality. We both sit up and think about the possibilities of what could have happened. Realization visibly hits both of us at the same time.
"Anzu must have run into your stupid Duel Monster by your flag." Yami states with a certain amount of aggravation.
I smile and stand, pulling Yami up with me. "It's not mine. And it's not like it's going to hurt her or anything."
Yami gives me one of those 'That's not the point,' sort of expressions and begins to drag me in the direction of the scream. "Let's go. I'm sure Anzu lecturing you on the principles of fair play will be punishment enough."
"But what about Kaiba? This isn't fair…" I protest as we run through the woods.
"Life isn't fair, Bakura. Haven't you figured that out by now?" He says, locking eyes with me as we run, time seeming to slow as he briefly flashes that smile at me once again. "But, it's not all that bad, is it?"
He turns away and dashes ahead when my strides slightly falter, taking in the meaning of his words. No, life isn't all that bad anymore, now that I think about it.
To be continued (one last time!)-
Heh, heh, bad cliché ending… oh well, it's not that corny is it? Is it?
My gods! I can't believe it took my sixteen pages to finish this chapter… It wasn't supposed to be this long. Hopefully it didn't put any of you to sleep. I was just trying to tie up some last little unresolved issues. Let me know if you liked it and there will be one more short chapter as sort of an epilogue.