A Christmas present from me to you!

Disclaimers: Darkangel302 doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or the songs 'Who Knows' by Avril Lavigne or 'The Ring' or 'Ringu'…

I'm Just a Kid

Chapter 4

Ryou pulled the bright red T-shirt over his head only to find that the sleeves went down past his elbows, and the shirt down to mid-thigh. He sighed heavily, Kaiba's clothes were way too big for him.

Mokuba had left for school about an hour ago, leaving Ryou to watch the big-screen TV alone since Kaiba hadn't come downstairs since their little incident in the kitchen. But when he did come down about 9:30 he had a pair of black cargo pants and a red T-shirt with the Kaiba Corp. logo on the front in his hands, asking Ryou if he wanted to change out of his clothes from yesterday. Unfortunately, they don't fit. He sighed once again, finding out the cargo pants were more baggy than they should be.

Actually, as Ryou brushed out his hair, he thought it was odd that Kaiba would even wear this kind of clothing. The Kaiba Corp. thing wasn't a big surprise, but black cargo pants? Sounds more like something Malik would buy.

A couple minutes later, Ryou slowly crept downstairs, bare feet silent as he went across the deep blue carpet to the living room. All he could see was the back of Kaiba's head at first, looking down at something in his hands. Curious as ever, Ryou silently walked over to him, leaning on the back of the couch to see Kaiba playing a Gameboy SP, frantically pressing and buttons on both sides. Ryou had to choke back a laugh.

"What are you doing?" he finally asked, but Kaiba didn't look up or even falter.

"What's it look like?"

"Don't you have some other (more advanced) video games that are hooked up to a big screen TV or something?" he asked, smiling in a smart-alike way.

"Yes, down the hall." Once again, Kaiba didn't look up form the small hand-held game.

"Then why aren't you playing that?" Ryou asked; now on his knees, his arms crossed over the back of the couch, resting his cheek against his arm. Why are you playing at all, you always seem so busy with your company or something . . .

"Because I'm playing this." Ryou couldn't hold back his laughter any longer, though he tried, it just came out as giggling.

"I believe the last time I heard that was from a first year middle-schooler." He said with a smile. Kaiba was being very quiet, and kept trying to play the game, a very challenging one it seemed. Ryou waited for about 5 minutes, and still Kaiba hadn't said anything. "What, no backlash?"

"I think of a come-back once I beat this level," he said quickly, and Ryou didn't think he could hold it in any longer. He buried his face in his arms, trying to muffle his laughter that was threatening to explode. Kaiba was acting like such a . . . child! Like his little brother even, and for some strange reason Ryou found it extremely funny.

Some odd robotic beeping sounds came from the hand-held game and Ryou heard Kaiba growl, "Crap, I died." He flicked off the game and threw it onto the coffee table in front of him. "And I almost won too." The way he said, made Ryou (who still had his face buried in his arms) picture Kaiba almost pouting. And he couldn't hold it in any longer.

Kaiba looked back at Ryou who had started to shake, his face still buried in his arms.

/yeah yeah

yeahy-yeah yeah

yeahy-yeah yeah/

"Uh, are you okay?" Kaiba asked, cocking an eyebrow at the teen. For a moment he thought he was crying again, but now he wasn't so sure. And as if on cue Ryou burst out laughing and fell to the floor in complete hysterics.

"You . . . are . . .such . . a . . ." he couldn't even finish he sentence he was laughing so hard, and Kaiba didn't even know what was so funny. And the sad thing was the Ryou didn't either, the way Kaiba had been acting just set him off for some reason. And this was kind-of odd, Ryou was always the quiet invisible one in school; which is probably why Kaiba was looking at him like he was crazy.

Then, the most unexpected thing happened.

Kaiba smiled, and it seemed to Ryou like it was something that just… seemed to fit. Like he always smiled, but Ryou had never seen Kaiba like this before. And yet…. he couldn't even describe it; just like in the kitchen this morning, everything seemed so natural. The way Kaiba was acting, his smile, even right now with him on the floor and Kaiba looking at him over the back of the couch.

"I'm such a what?" he asked, still smiling, flashing off perfect white teeth. It was a true smile, not one of mockery; he seemed more of a normal, more calm, Joey than anything. And he smiled with sure confidence, like he wasn't afraid to hide himself from Ryou, like he did with everyone else. His usually icy blue eyes seemed to have melted, and he dropped his mask that made him seem more like a machine than a human being. Ryou smiled back, he wanted to see more of this side of Kaiba; he liked it a lot.

/ Why do you look so familiar?

I could swear that I have seen your face before

I think I like that you seem sincere

I think I'd like to get to know you a little bit more/

"Well?" Kaiba was waiting for an answer, while Ryou just kept staring at him, no longer laughing.

".. such.. a….. You are… so …. immature!" Ryou said before his words were once again drowned out by his laughter. Kaiba had this weird look on his face, a cross between amusement and surprise.

"E-Excuse me," he said, his voice breaking up while he was trying to hold back his own laughter. "Who's the one rolling on the floor laughing in complete hysterics Mr. Bakura?" Okay, this time he used mockery, but it was out of fun. "At least I don't have my own fan club."

"Oh, I beg to differ," Ryou cut him off. "I believe I saw a group of girls following you in the library a couple of days ago. Whispering to each other something along the lines of 'do you have a pen?' and 'I wonder if he'll sign in lipstick?'" he said, making his voice high-pitched to imitate a girl's voice.

"Really?" Kaiba asked; Ryou nodded, feeling more laughter crawling up his throat. But he wasn't the only one, something else unexpected happened. The smile was overwhelming enough, but Kaiba then started to laugh.

It started out as just snickering, but soon turned into rich deep-toned laughter. Something Ryou had never heard before, and nothing he could have ever imagined, I mean… it was Kaiba! His laughter died a little as he shook his head, "Actually that's nothing compared to what happened last week."

Ryou smiled and got up off the floor, jumping over the couch and sitting next to Kaiba. The two spent the whole morning laughing and talking; about school at first, like the weird things girls had done around them. But as the minutes passed quickly, they soon went to their families and home life. Kaiba had gone on and on about some of the stupid or funny things Mokuba had done. And Ryou would talk about some of the things he remembered about his little sister, and the other times would be about when Malik had visited him about 9 months before.

He remembered it very clearly; mostly because when Malik was around Bakura hadn't beaten him. He had even started to act nice around him, and Malik had stayed for 4 months! Life with both Malik and Marik and Bakura in the same house had been the best, especially since Bakura had apologized for beating him about one month after Malik arrived, Marik had decided to come out about five weeks after that.

But then everything went down hill 5 months ago. Odion got in a terrible accident, so Malik and Marik left for Egypt straight away, without telling Bakura.Ryou was there when they left, sohe knew. Bakura had gone out that night, he seemed really depressed that Malik had left. Unfortunately, he went drinking, and came home drunker than he ever had before. That was when the beatings had started again; the first month it was only when he got drunk, but after that it became routine. They hadn't heard of Malik, Marik, or Odion since then.

Ryou had thought about telling Kaiba this, but he didn't; he kept talking and laughing about how it was when they were here, and when Bakura cared about him.

"I will never ever give them achohol again," Ryou said as he shook his head. "Destruction, chaos, loss of money and sleep is the only thing that will come out of it."

Kaiba blinked. "Sounds like my office when Mokuba's on sugar high." Ryou laughed again.

"So you're saying you sleep in your office?"

"Only on Saturday," Kaiba sighed. "Mokuba's up at the crack of dawn making as much noise as possible. If only he would wake up that early on school days."

/I think there's something more

Life's worth living for/

The two were quiet a moment, till Ryou popped the question that would bring Kaiba into a hyper-active-kid mode. "What kind of video games do you have?" A crazy Joey-like grin suddenly crossed Kaiba's features, one that seemed out of place on his face. Ryou didn't even have time to blink before Kaiba grabbed his wrist and dragged him down the hall into a room with a big screen TV and hundreds of games and gaming systems.

/Who knows what could happen

Do what you do just keep on laughing

One thing's true

There's always a brand new day…

I'm gonna live today like it's my last day/

12:38 p.m.

"You cheated!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

Ryou nudged Kaiba hard, making him miss a turn on the racing game and giving Ryou time to speed up, pressing buttons frantically. Kaiba growled and pushed Ryou over, letting him have the lead.

"Hey!" Ryou then pushed Kaiba over as best he could, grabbing his own control and trying to stop himself from crashing. There was a screeching sound and explosion on the screen as Kaiba's car crashed into a wall bordering the track.

"See, you do cheat!" Kaiba exclaimed. "You made me die."

"You pushed me first," Ryou complained childishly. Frowning, Kaiba pondered over if he should do what he did whenever Mokuba acted like that. Screw it, he then did something that sent Ryou into shock. Growling, Kaiba tackled him to the ground; causing Ryou to lose his control and make his car crash.

/yeah Yeah yeahy-yeah yeah

yeahy-yeah yeah/

1:26 p.m.

"I won!" Ryou exclaimed.

"Again?" Kaiba sighed, he wasn't use to losing at video games. He thew his controller to the ground before falling backwards on the ground.

"Yeah, I'm tired of video games too," Ryou said, seeming to read Kaiba's actions. Kaiba growled slightly.

"I really hate that." Ryou smiled innocently.

"Hate what? When I can tell what your thinking?" Ryou said this with play-mockery. It wasn't that far into the afternoon and the two felt like they had always been friends. So many odd things had happened, and things seemed to move so fast when they had done really nothing at all.

Kaiba growled again, and grabbed Ryou around the waist; hoping to pin him down to the floor, he really hated that last time he tackled him. But Ryou suddenly shrieked when Kaiba grabbed him around the waist, but it was a shriek of laughter. Kaiba smirked. "Hmm, is someone ticklish?"

Ryou tried to get up, hoping to make a break for the door. But Kaiba pulled him down, succeeding in pinning him. "Don't you dare," he said, so quiet he was almost whispering. Kaiba smirked again, and proceeded to torture Ryou, running his fingers on either side of Ryou's waist. Ryou frantically tried to push Kaiba off of him, but was failing due to his laughter. "K-Kaiba! Please s-stop!" And yet Kaiba didn't stop, but continued until Ryou was laughing so hard he could barley breathe. Kaiba then rolled over; leaving the two laughing and gasping for breath on the floor of the Kaibas' game room.

/How do you always have an opinion

and how do you always find the best way to compromise

We don't need to have a reason

We don't need anything we're just wasting time/

The two finally calmed down, lying silently on the ground watching the ceiling reflect colors off the TV screen. Ryou watched the flashing colors of light, thinking back to his question he had this morning. He finally had an solution. This was probably the most fun he had had done in a long time, and the day wasn't even over yet.

Ryou turned his head over to look at Kaiba to see him lying with his arms behind his head, eyes closed. Ryou smiled sheepishly, he had learned so much about him, and yet he still seemed like such a mystery.

"You know what?"

Ryou blinked, the question had startled him. Kaiba still had his eyes closed, but the smile was back. Ryou still couldn't believe that Kaiba was smiling, and that he was away from his yami, and he felt like he finally had a friend. Maybe even more. He was just so scared he would close his eyes and only open them to find himself back in his room and none of this had ever happened. It was almost too good to be true, and yet it seemed so normal. He sighed, smiling again, resting his head on one arm; still facing Kaiba. "What?"

"We'd be doing math if we were in school right now." Ryou smiled at that, they had had all sorts of conversations that started out this way.

"I bet Tormishii-sensi had a pop quiz today too," Ryou added. "She had been talking about it yesterday." Suddenly an idea popped into his head, what were they doing still at Kaiba's house? He sat up so fast that Kaiba opened his eyes to see what he was up to. "Let's go somewhere."

"What?" Kaiba asked, sitting up as well. "Where?"

"I don't know. The park, the arcade," Ryou told him. "Everyone's at school so it won't be so crowded anywhere."

Kaiba gave him a weird look. "I thought you were staying home sick form, school today."

"May I remind you that this was your idea. Besides, I want to go outside really bad." Kaiba just looked away. "We could go to the park, it's supposed to be really nice out." Kaiba turned back to Ryou giving him a 'do I have to?' look. But Ryou had one of his own…

… puppy dog eyes.

/I think there's something more

Life 's worth living for

Who knows what could happen

Do what you do just keep on laughing

One thing's true

There's always a brand new day/

Indeed it was a beautiful day outside; warm with a slight breeze. Kaiba's glare lightened as he looked around the park as he stepped out of the limo. It was really green; a sidewalk started around it, between really tall trees, and he could barley make out a what must be very large fountain across the park.

Ryou stepped up next to him, brown eyes full of excitement and wonder, Kaiba didn't nesscerialy blame him for making him come. It was really nice. The two walked around the park a couple of times, continuing to talk. The trees gave them shade, and streams of sunlight poured in streaks through the leaves, lighting up designs on the sidewalk. On their last time, the two stopped by the fountain Kaiba had seen.

It really was large, water that shot into the air misted the cobblestone pool below it. Ryou sat on the short wall, running his fingers through the water. "This is one of my favorite places to go, especially at night." He said, his voice was quiet.

"One of?" Kaiba asked, sitting down next to Ryou. "Where else do you like to go."

"I'd show you, but there are probably a lot of kids there right now, I always go at night," Ryou said, his voice was till really quiet, like he was scared someone nearby might hear him. "I only have two favorites, here and the playground of the Elementary school near my complex. The one on 123rd and Piers Street." Kaiba nodded, that was the school Mokuba had gone to.

"Why at night?"

"It's quiet, no one's there," he shrugged, still running his fingers through the water, not taking his eyes of the surface. "I always liked to go walking at night." Kaiba couldn't take his eyes off of the white-haired teen, he seemed so sad. Kaiba sighed, wishing that he knew what was wrong, what was making him so depressed and who was beating him up so badly. He had learned so much about him, but Ryou still seemed like a mystery. Kaiba was about to say something when he was interrupted by a protest from Ryou's stomach. Kaiba smiled as the white-haired teen's face turned slightly pink.

"How about something to eat?" Ryou laughed nervously, nodding. Shaking his head, Kaiba stood up and the two walked out of the park and into town.

/Who knows what could happen

Do what you do just keep on laughing

One thing's true

There's always a brand new day…

I'm gonna live today like it's my last day/

3:03 p.m.

Walking out of burger world, Ryou silently sipped his milkshake; a tinge of red still on his cheeks. Kaiba couldn't stop snickering.

"Come on, you have to admit, it was really funny." Ryou's face turned even more red as Kaiba tried to keep himself under control.

"Y-You know, I've never done anything like that, even with Yugi-tachi," Ryou said quietly as the two leaned against the side of the building, waiting for Kaiba's limo.

"That's a good thing," Kaiba pointed out, still smiling and snickering. "You play really mean during a french-fry war."

"You started it!" Ryou suddenly said, the same way he had done earlier that day in the game room. Though a smile tugged at his own lips, it had been really fun. They would have gotten kicked out, if it hadn't been for a bunch of middle-schoolers that decided to do the same thing.

The two were once again silent, wondering what to do next. "Domino High will be getting out soon so…" Kaiba trailed off. The two stood there, leaning against the wall, watching the cars go by and Ryou sipping the rest of his milkshake.

"I want to see a movie," Ryou said.

"I told you to stop doing that," Kaiba sighed. "It's really annoying."

Ryou looked confused. "What'd I do?"

"Read my mind," Kaiba said with a smile. It was like he had gotten so use to it that he couldn't stop, even in public. "But there's really nothing in theaters right now…"

"Let's go back to your house, you probably have a lot of movies," Ryou suggested.

"Sure, if only the limo would get here we could-" Kaiba shut up as he heard all too familiar voices coming their way. Ryou and Kaiba looked around the corner to see Yugi-tachi walking their way. "Shit," Kaiba hissed.

"We've got to hide," Ryou said, looking around. There was a small nook on the wall behind the door; if the gang was going into Burger World, he and Kaiba could hide there. But if they were walking past, then they would have to hold still and pray to whatever god was listening that no one would look back. Only problem was it was a very small space.

The voices were getting louder. No time to think about that, Ryou grabbed Kaiba by the wrist and pulled him towards the other side of the door. Kaiba seemed to catch the drift, "There's not enough room, you go and I'll just-"

"It's just going to be tight. Now come one, they're coming." Ryou pulled him into the nook behind the door, and it was really tight.

"This is ridiculous-" Kaiba was cut off as Ryou's hand went over his mouth. Yugi-tachi was so close that the two could make out what they were saying.

"Com'n Yuge, I'm starved!" A New York accent exclaimed.

"But Joey," A voice that could be none other that Yugi complained, "Grandpa wants me at the store as soon as possible."

The two held their breath, hoping to god the gang would go inside for just a brief moment. Or at least one of them was praying, Kaiba had other things to think about. The space was so tight, Ryou had his head turned so he could see out and make out the back of Joey's head, but only because he had his head rested on Kaiba's chest. Yeah, that small. It was miracle they bother even fit in there, the god's must have favored them today. At least, Ryou hoped.

Kaiba was hoping too, he had this weird feeling in coming up in his throat and his stomach. He didn't know what it was, and he knew he should be worrying about Yugi and the mutt finding them. But all he could think about was how close he and Ryou were. And the feeling in his stomach had risen to his chest and was starting to spread. He could hear his heart-beat in his ears and his breathing seemed really loud. He tried to focus on what the Yugi was saying.

"Joey, we can eat at my house," Yugi said, and Joey sighed in defeat.

"You owe me Yugi."

Ryou gulped, and looked as if the world was coming to an end. He buried his face in Kaiba's chest, hiding his face; Kaiba turned slightly, hiding Ryou in his trench coat, his white hair would defiantly attract their attention. The two held their breath as quick footsteps raced past them. Ryou had his eyes closed tight, hiding himself in Kaiba's chest. And Kaiba got that weird feeling again, but shook it off and tried to focus on the feet that should be running past them.

But the street was so busy, there were another group of middle-schoolers coming up around the corner and the street was really loud with all the cars going past. Kaiba couldn't make out if the four had gone or if they were standing there staring at them. "Are they gone?" Ryou whispered.

Taking a deep breath, Kaiba looked over his shoulder, no one was there. "Yes." He felt Ryou sigh in relief and relax against him. The feeling was climbing up again, this time starting in his chest. He tensed up and couldn't take his eyes off of Ryou, who had his own eyes closed, his breathing back to normal.

"Kaiba?" He felt his breath catch up in his throat again.

"Y-Yeah." Great, now he was stuttering. Ryou looked up at him, chocolate-brown eyes no longer hidden under white bangs, his eyes are really pretty. Kaiba blinked. W-Wait, I did not just think that, I'm not gay… I'm not.

"Could you… uh…. move?" Ryou asked, Kaiba wouldn't stop looking at him. What's wrong with him? And yet, Ryou couldn't stop looking at Kaiba either. But he was almost positive Kaiba nearly blushed before he stepped out of the nook behind the door.

/So you go and make it happen

Do your best just keep on laughing

I'm telling you

There's always a brand new day/

The ride home was quiet, but as soon as the two entered the living room where yet another big screen TV was the two started to act like nothing had happened. Nothing had happened, right?

"So what do you want to watch?" Kaiba asked as Ryou sat down on the big red couch.

"Oh, uh…. what do you have?"

"Everything," Kaiba laughed. Good, Ryou thought to himself, he's laughing again. And smiling….

"Uh.. I don't really care actually." Kaiba rummaged through a closet that Ryou didn't even want to look into, afraid he could go nuts at what he saw. Probably hundreds of movies.

"How about 'The Ring?'" he asked. Ryou's face paled.

"You mean 'Ringu?'"

"No, 'The Ring' is the American version," Kaiba said, holding the DVD in his hands; and seeing the look on Ryou's face he added, "it's not as scary as 'Ringu.'"

"O-Okay."

/Who knows what could happen

Do what you do just keep on laughing

One thing's true

There's always a brand new day…

I'm gonna live today like it's my last day/

"I hate you Kaiba," Ryou whined. It wasn't as scary as 'Ringu', but it was still a horror movie, and would still scare the living daylights out of him. Ryou had a very firm grip on Kaiba's arm, holding as a child would hold a teddy bear, while watching the TV screen with wide eyes.

"Nothing new," Kaiba said, but his words held no emotion, making Ryou regret what he had said. He leaned against Kaiba's shoulder, wondering how he did it. How could he stand having so many people hate him. And yet he seemed so happy. It was really sad in Ryou's eyes.

"Don't look." Ryou hid his face in Kaiba's arm, silently thanking Kaiba for telling him when not to watch. The audio of the movie wasn't very comforting either, leaving Ryou's imagination to run wild. "Okay you can look now." It was the end of the movie, thankfully. Ryou turned towards the screen just as the scene flashes to whats-his-name with his face all-

"AHHHH!" Ryou screamed and hid his face again, only right into Kaiba's chest instead of his arm. "That was not funny Kaiba," he snapped.

The movie soon ended, but Ryou hadn't trusted himself to look up. The image of that guys face wouldn't go away. And it wasn't until Kaiba spoke that he realized what he had been doing.

"You know, I wouldn't turn the movie off if I could get up." Ryou suddenly realized he had his face buried in Kaiba's chest, and he was half in his lap. Ryou scrambled up and off of him, red tinting his cheeks.

"I-I'm sorry, I-I-I didn't know I w-was…"

"It's okay," Kaiba said as he got up to take the DVD out of the player. He looked over his shoulder to see Ryou still staring at him, the white-haired teen's face became a darker shade of red as he looked down, hugging his knees to his chest and burring his face in them. "And you don't have to try so hard, I can see you're blushing, don't try to hide it," he said smiling. He put the movie away. "You look cute like that."

Ryou felt his breath catch, d-did I just hear him say….

And Kaiba had frozen, not looking away from the closet where he just put the movie back, in his own state of shock. "Did I say that out loud?" Ryou couldn't do anything, or say anything. But nodded slightly, forgetting Kaiba couldn't see him. But the brunette knew.

And this time it was Kaiba's turn to have a red tint cross his own features.

TBC….

Evil cliffy! XD Okay, nice and short 'cause I gotta go. Off to Colorado! Please review and thankx to all of my reviewers that I don't have time to respond to!

Later!

-DA

p.s. Merry Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate) and Happy New Year!

p.s.s. Review please, I know the chapter sucked but please still review!