Make Yourself
Chapter 02: Stellar
By: Shounen Squared

I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, any of its characters, or any of the songs throughout this little FANfic.

Ryou sat in the park, peacefully listening to joyous birds sing. He felt as if something was missing. Something wasn't right. But not knowing what that was, he decided to ignore the feeling. Setting down the small paintbrush he'd been using, the young teen sighed. Why had his parents been so hesitant to tell him what he'd forgotten? It was a simple inquiry, yet it was almost like they had something to hide. . .

Don't worry about it, Ryou. he thought, trying to reassure himself. At least that felt right: his name, Ryou Bakura. He couldn't remember anything, even when his kaa-san and tou-san tried to refresh his memory. He was a fine arts fanatic? A theatre fanatic? It was hard to believe when he didn't really seem to enjoy himself with these things. Perhaps these activities seemed so empty because Ryou himself felt empty as well.

He smiled and reminded himself not to be so depressive. Picking a pencil up, he concluded that it would be easier to think about how he felt by painting it. Quickly getting an idea, he began to sketch on the blank canvas. It revealed the right half of his face, with a fairly distressed look in his dark brown eyes. It was all he'd do today: it took artists years to complete a masterpiece, and this was no different. He would take his time so it would turn out better than any kid his age could do.

Detailing the shading and erasing extra lines, he became so absorbed in his work that he hadn't noticed the tall figure behind him. "It's quite good." Ryou's concentration was shattered by a deep, British enriched voice. "Oh, the drawing, I mean."

Bakura stared in wonder but tried to hide his surprise. Was this some freaky nightmare, or had Mr. and Mrs. Bakura actually created an art student graduate prodigy overnight? The old Ryou that he knew could barely draw for shit. What was going on with this talent? Though Bakura didn't exactly understand how this was possible, he couldn't deny that the work was quite lovely.

"Uh, thanks." answered the younger boy unenthusiastically. He obviously wasn't thrilled to have some critic bothering him. But as he turned to see the man's face, some kind of wave went through his mind. A familiar face? Maybe a friend? This could be his only chance to ask: if he didn't, he probably wouldn't ever see this guy again. "Um, hey. This will sound really dumb, but. . .do I know you from somewhere?"

"YES! YES!" Bakura yearned to scream from every rooftop and skyscraper in Domino City. But as he hastily remembered what the parents of his secret love had told him, he decided to be a little less direct with his nonexistent "plan." After he did some thorough research, he found out that Mr. and Mrs. Bakura told the truth about one thing: that he was a huge fan of the rock music group "The Sleep." The two liars had completely forgotten exactly how involved he was in the rock music industry. With a sly smile and thinking fast, he replied, "Well, kind of. You know that rock group, 'The Sleep'? I'm the lead singer. I probably look familiar because of that."

Bakura wasn't lying, either. Two years ago, The Sleep recorded their debut album, "The Rude Awakening." It was an instant hit, and it sky-rocketed their career. As a group, the band used to travel a lot, but now, during their third year in the music business, they were taking a year off to forget the stress. Pretty soon, that would be over, and they'd be on the road again.

He had to get Ryou back, and quick. If he didn't, he would likely never see him again; that wasn't something Bakura was willing to accept at all. He would not take no for an answer.

"Wow." answered Ryou, sounding more interested now. "Could I get your autograph?"

Before the car wreck, Ryou had had autographs from every member of The Sleep on his bedroom walls: dozens from Bakura, since they'd been boyfriends. But, of course, Mrs. Bakura hadn't failed to strip the walls of those autographs. The rock star knew damn well that his signatures were nothing but ash, not only burned in a fire of lies, but crumbled to illegible shreds of Ryou's mind. Knowing that he had no more autographs, he smiled and replied, "I think you definitely could." Snatching a blank sheet of paper from the teen's stash of art, he scribbled the name "Bakura Ryou" on it and handed it back to him. "There you go."

"Thanks a lot. It was a pleasure talking to you."

"Heh. I love my fans." Bakura fished into his jeans pocket and handed Ryou a blue ticket along with a card hanging by a necklace string. "Here's your key to our show on Friday night and a backstage pass. Come see me and my buds after the show."

Ryou looked back and forth between Bakura and the small slip of paper. "You will see me there."

"Good."

Ryou stood in the huge crowd. He couldn't specifically remember going to rock concerts, but there was some atmosphere about it that was so familiar. All of a sudden, having only about two centimeters between him and a million other people didn't bother him anymore. He plowed his way through, trying to get to the front as he could. . .

Bakura's hand twitched as he began to apply his stage make up. A small black dot appeared on his face due to his trembling fingers. "What the hell's wrong with you, Bakura? Chill out." demanded Marik, looking at him in the mirror while doing his own make up.

"This is the first time I've been able to perform in a while. And Ryou will be here! I have to make a good... 'first' impression." he replied to his bass guitarist.

"Oh, right. I forgot." smiled Yami, the keyboardist, pianist, and operator of synthesizers. "Well, just relax, alright? You two will be drilling again before you know it."

Bakura sighed. None of his friends really seemed to understand that he truly was deeply, madly in love with Ryou, and it wasn't just for the sex.

"So what's tonight's road map, Bakura?" asked Seto, the percussionist, quietly, applying his dark red mascara.

"We'll start off with 'Home', 'Bring Me to Life' and 'Whisper.' We're ending with 'Stellar' tonight, and that's my tribute to Ryou. It was our song before the accident. Anyway, you three can pick whatever you want before that."

Bakura and Marik happily walked out onto the stage from the left, while Yami and Seto came in from the right. Thousands of fans were cheering for the band. The lead vocalist picked up the microphone and began to request silence. "Hello, DOMINO! Have you missed us?"

The fans screamed unbearably loud, some jumping up and down, others shaking their fists in the air, all in response to Bakura.

"We're glad that we've gotten to stay home for a while. So, this concert is dedicated to our awesome city, Domino. And since our single's been so popular lately, that's how we're starting off tonight."

The opening guitar duet began to play in Bakura and Marik's hands. The vocalist's dark eyes scanned the audience, and located a certain white-haired boy.

He began to sing the words as the bass and percussion joined in. "Shine, lake of fire. . ."

Eventually, about an hour later, The Sleep arrived at the song they had been waiting to perform all night long: "Stellar."

Bakura took the microphone in his hands. "Thanks for being such an awesome audience tonight. We want to end this night with our version of the song 'Stellar' which was originally sung by Incubus."

The crowd roared like wild unruly animals.

"And I'm dedicating this song to someone I love very, very much. You may not know who you are, but I love you, and I always will."

As the quiet guitar opening began to play, Bakura closed his eyes briefly, then searched for Ryou in the enormous crowd.

There, in the third row from the front, he could see his boyfriend--er, ex-boyfriend--looking back at him intently.

From Ryou's point of view, he didn't understand why Bakura kept looking at him. The stare made him feel so warm inside, yet it caused him to shiver. He couldn't figure it out. Why was it making him feel the way he did? His eyes never left Bakura's. He was connecting with him-- someway, somehow.

And in the back of his mind, he was one hundred percent sure that some time in his past, before the car wreck, he had felt this way before. And it was definitely when he was thinking about Bakura, or when he was near him.

And despite his amnesia, he still knew the words to Stellar, and he sang them with his rock star idol.

Meet me in outer space.

We could spend the night... watch the earth come up.

I've grown tired of that place; won't you come with me?

We could start again...

How do you do it?

Make me feel like I do.

How do you do it?

It's better than I ever knew.

How do you do it?

Make me feel like I do.

Meet me in outer space!

I will hold you close, if you're afraid of heights

I need you to see this place: it might be the only way

That I can show you how

It feels to be inside of you...

How do you do it?

Make me feel like I do.

How do you do it?

It's better than I ever knew.

How do you do it?

Make me feel like I do...

You are Stellar...

After the concert, Ryou decided to make use of the backstage pass Bakura had given to him.

A security officer blocked his way. "No admittance, kid."

"No way! Bakura gave me a backstage pass."

"Not that excuse. That pass is fake. There were no backstage passes made for this concert."

A tall figure pushed him aside from behind. "No, dude, I gave him one. It's okay." Bakura's dark eyes met Ryou's once again, and the smaller teen got a deep, to-the-bone chill. "Thanks for showing up. You wanna come take a look around?"

"Sure, that would be great!" he smiled for the first time in a while. It was like the song. How did he do it? Was there something from the past that he didn't know about? There had to be. There was just simply no other explanation for this sensation that kept coming over him. And Bakura's muscular, sexy figure was starting to make Ryou want to giggle, which was very difficult to suppress.

Bakura linked his arm in Ryou's, and when Ryou gave him a questioning gaze, the vocalist laughed. "It's just an arm, man. Don't sue more for harassment or anything. It's just easy to get lost back here, and that would suck if you did, right?" Ryou nodded in response. It was meant to be rhetorical, but he felt obligated to answer this rock star's question, whether they were meant to be answered or not.

"So, anyway. This is our dressing room." He pointed to the door he stood in front of. It had a bright gold star with a special name plate reading: "THE SLEEP." He beamed proudly. "The entire stadium, this whole big arena, was built by our fans, friends and family. They pitched their money in and created this. Everything here is legal property of me, Marik, Yami, Seto, or our producer/manager. This is where we perform all of our in-town concerts, and we will for a long time. Eventually, things here will be moved and changed, and be re-customized for another band. But until then, we're having lots of fun. This is literally our second home. Marik's already gone to sleep here for the night."

"I hope you keep playing here. You four are awesome. Especially your voice. It's. . ." he paused, then smiled softly. "Stellar."

Bakura chuckled and grinned. "Why, thank you. I appreciate you accepting my offer to come. I hope to see you at my concerts as well." There was a brief paused, then the band member blinked a few times. "Oh, right. Sorry, I kind of dazed off. Anyway, I'll show you inside." He opened the door and held it open for Ryou, as if he was a young lady. "Welcome."

The fanatic stood a little past the doorway agape. He was just utterly amazed. After all, he'd never been inside a superstar's dressing room, and he had no idea what to expect.

It was a huge basic square-shaped room with a vanity table and large mirror in each corner which was arranged for each member of The Sleep. Along one wall, there was a saloon to prepare their hair before a show, apparently. Opposite of that wall, there was a long (rather comfy) sofa. Then, there was a door from each wall going off separately: one on the left, one on the right, and two on the back. He wasn't quite sure what those were for, but he would be sure to ask about it.

The singer was amused by Ryou's obvious shock. "Ha ha. . .you like?" One by one, he explained the contents of the room, including the doors, which he explained led off to some small bedrooms. "Like I said, Marik's asleep already, so stay kind of quiet. Anyway, I share a room with him, and then Yami sleeps on the left and Seto sleeps on the right.

After he showed his intrigued fan around the rest of backstage, he stopped. "Well, that's pretty much everything."

Ryou softly put his hands on Bakura's shoulders and turned him to face him.

The movement hit Bakura like a wave of electricity. It reminded him of those deep, passionate nights where Ryou would knock his lover to the floor and dominate him. And while Bakura knew the difference between now and then, the gesture reminded him too much of foreplay. Impulsively and with little control, he slung his left arm around the small boy's waist, and swung him around underneath him, leaning in to kiss him.

"Wh-what are. . ." stuttered Ryou.

Bakura's lips were oh so close to Ryou's, but realizing his mistake, he stopped himself. You can't do this, Bakura. Not yet. It'll ruin your entire plan. He immediately let go of the fan and turned away, blushing.

There was a long silence. He'd forgotten how patient Ryou was.

"G-gomen. I saw something in your teeth. I-I just wanted a closer look. Gomen."

"Hmmm? Oh, it's okay." he giggled despite his own embarrassment. "That tends to happen to me sometimes. It's alright."

Soon after, the two said their good-byes and walked their separate ways: Ryou to his car, Bakura to him room.

The second of the two almost jumped out of his skin when he heard a voice suddenly say, "I saw everything." with smug laughter. "You can't control your sexual desires at all, Bakura."

"It isn't sexual. I just miss being with him, and being able to express my love for him. I have to get him back."

"And you will. Relax. I know you will, and Seto, Marik and I plan to help you, too." he clapsed his own hand on Bakura's.

"Thanks, man. I appreciate it."

The two said their farewells, and the two split into their own rooms.

If you haven't noticed, I edited the chapter. It looks much neater now. So if you haven't noticed, then NOTICE, biatch, and appreciate my hard work :) haha, review, please.