Make Yourself
Chapter 03: Congratulations
By: Shounen Squared

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

As Bakura's watch alarm beeped annoyingly, it signified that it was noon. He looked up at the sky with a smirk, leaning against a metal streetlight pole. Heat bore down on him, but it hardly was a bother to him. He did not really care as long as he saw the person he was meeting up with today.

He saw a familiar face and tilted his black sunglasses slightly, the sun creating a bright glare on the lenses. Bakura really hoped that the approaching Ryou would recognize him with his hair in a thick, messy ponytail and wearing sunglasses.

Before the rock star could even say a simple "hello", he was nearly suffocated with a tight, tight hug around the neck. He flinched slightly, not used to the feeling of being touched, but soon melted into it.

Dear god, Bakura, have a little self control! his conscience had to scream at the older teen, as he had been close to reaching for Ryou's vulnerable ass. However, he did allow himself to respond to the embrace with his left arm, lightly hugging him back. "God damn, you're affectionate." he laughed when Ryou pulled away with embarassment. "Don't worry, it's nothing to be embarassed about. I get that all the time from my fans."

That's why it's so embarassing, Bakura-sam, the fan thought, a bit dismayed.

"So," he said slowly. "Where are we going? It's your choice."

Ryou was pleased with Bakura's good manners, but admitted to himself that he hated picking places to go to. "I don't know, Bakura-sama. Wherever you want to go."

Bakura laughed again and winked at his nervous admirer. "Heh, you make it sound like I'm some chick. And don't add the damn '-sama'. I'm not a god or anything."

"Yes you are, Bakura-s--Bakura." Ryou corrected himself. "But if you really want me to, fine, I'll just call you Bakura."

Ryou sat at the small red table, elbows propped on it and gazing intently into Bakura's dark chocolate eyes (which were now visible due to him removing his sunglasses). He was so crazed for Bakura and his talent that it even freaked himself out. Everyone has their weaknesses, I suppose. Even something as simple as listening to Bakura talk was so intriguing to Ryou.

". . .fangirls flock around me so much that I have to wear these dumb disguises to avoid getting bombarded by them. Once I had to dye my hair pink for the day, cut it up to my shoulders, and wear sheets and pads to make myself look fat."

"Whoa, that's heavy." said Ryou, chuckling at the image of the rock star to have pink hair and a chubby, flabby body. He certainly knew his body was quite refined. "So that's why you're disguised now?"

"Yup," the older replied with a wistful sigh. "the career has so many sacrifices and compromises to make, but in the end, it's really very rewarding. Besides, our group isn't quite as hot as it used to be, so the fans don't bother me as often.

"Congratulations on winning the contest, by the way." he remarked, changing subjects. He was referring to the radio contest that Ryou had won for guessing the correct song being played without lyrics. The prize was a day to spend with any member of The Sleep, and it was apparent who he'd chosen. "I really wouldn't have had it any other way. I've been fascinated about getting to know you better as it is." Bakura tried his best to make up stuff about just getting to know Ryou and have Ryou believe him. He was not always the best liar. But the adoring fanboy seemed to be taking it all in and not even questioning him for a moment.

A waitress came by their table and placed two sundaes on it. One for each teen. She eyed Bakura for a few moments, then hastily turned her head and strode off. She even appeared to be shaking. "That was a fangirl, I'll bet." said Ryou, giggling childishly.

"You'd win that bet. Let's try to eat these things soon so we can get the hell out of here fast."

The light hum and buzz of people talking in the restaurant steadily grew louder and louder, yet in a more whispery way. People were looking at each other and exchanging hissing questions. Bakura became a bit paler as the restaurant slowly lifted up into an uproar. He glared at the waitress, for he was positive she was the one who blabbed his identity to everyone.

He ended up realizing that they would not be finishing up their ice cream today, that was for sure.

Being experienced and knowing what was going on, he immediately stood up and gently grabbed Ryou by the wrist. "C'mon, let's go," he whispered in his ear. "If I wait any longer, I'll be a trophy in some obsessor's house. Let's get out of here."

Ryou did not dare disobey his idol, so he quickly stood up himself and rushed out the transparent door, a bell ringing as they exited.

"Walk faster, Ryou," Bakura said with a raised tone, seeing a huge group of people leave the restaurant shortly after they did. Both men could hear and sense Bakura's nervousness in his voice and movements.

The faster the two boys walked, the faster the crowd walked. They were just on the borderline of a run. "Holy crap! Is this legal, Bakura?" muttered Ryou so no one else would hear him.

"Technically, no, but no action is ever taken." he replied, obviously more focused on escaping the fans, all of which were wild female teeny-boppers. He took a sharp right into a back alley, where he hoped the fans would be dumb enough to lose him.

Unfortunately, they were not.

How do I get rid of these psychos? Especially backed into an alley, completely surrounded. And with Ryou here. . . he stopped his thought. The girls were fans of him, and the best possible way he could think of getting them to give up on him was simple. Show them his gay side. Okay, okay. I have an excuse to kiss him this time. Calmly, he turned back to face the teenage girls, who were shrieking excitedly and trying their hardest to get to Bakura. "Go away, you stupid fucking sluts!" he screamed out at the top of his lungs, breaking the uproar of girly screams. His shout pierced through the noise and created silence.

"Go away." he said in a softer, more mellow tone. "I do not want to see you. Beat it. I want to be alone with my Yo-chan. We just want to be alone. Right, koibito?" He pinned Ryou against the brick wall with both hands on either side of his body, and he quickly sweeped in, joining his own lips with his.

Ryou was shocked at the action, but definitely did not complain. Despite his atheism, he still was thanking every god in question that could be out there. Aphrodite, Hathor, and God were a few. He had always been too shy to put this kind of move on Bakura, but right now he knew that he desperately needed him to play and act along.

If this was "acting", then Ryou was a pretty skilled "actor". He slung his arms around Bakura's neck and held him closer, kissing him back fiercely. Deep down he was a bit afraid of going overboard and making him mad, but he was going on instinct that Bakura did not mind.

Bakura continued to kiss Ryou, unleashing his passion for him with absolutely no restrictions. There were shocked gasps from fans in the background, and more whispering. The star smirked at heart, not only satisfied with lip-locking with Ryou, but also that he was able to baffle and astound all those women who had thought they knew him so well. Within a few seconds, he heard frequent "click"s and could see bright flashes, even though his eyes were closed. Dear god, were they seriously taking pictures?

Suddenly, reporters wearing derby hats ran up to flock around Bakura, practically sticking microphones in the two boys' faces as they kissed each other. They were slammed with many questions at once.

"Bakura, are you experimenting with a boy-on-boy relationship, or are you really gay?"

"How long have you been with 'Yo-chan'? Is he a long-term friend?"

"Do you really love Ryou, or are you just experimenting?"

"Is this Ryou a celebrity as well?"

However, the two completely ignored the questions and continued their kiss, stopping only for air, then resuming once again.

A tall tan-skinned figure with spiky blonde hair roughly shoved past the crowd. Marik stared incredulously at Bakura's displayed actions, not yet catching onto the plan he had set. He quickly shrugged it off, however, and gave death glares to the fans and crazed reporters. "Didn't you hear him? Get the hell out of here, stalkers! Yea, that's right, go home and watch some MTV, now! Beat it!" He continued to pierce eyes with his cold glare, and finally using force by shoving away the crowd. Which was pretty easy for him to do since he was extremely strong.

As the last person remaining turned the corner and vanished, Bakura watching from the corner of his eye. When they were gone, the older finally broke away from the kiss and held up Ryou, who was breathless, against the wall. Marik turned around and kicked Bakura in the head, causing him to practically fall over.

"Hey!" the white haired singer shouted in protest. "What the hell was that for!"

"What the hell was that for?" demanded Marik, pointing to Ryou. "Are you crazy? You have no control, you're about to ruin your entire--" He was about to finish the sentence with "plan", but Bakura did not want him blabbing out the word. He did not want Ryou to start asking questions. It was too early.

Bakura interrupted before Marik could finish. "--reputation? Nahhh. You know how much girls love gay guys, anyway. They'll be ecstatic."

Marik eyed him suspiciously. It was apparent that he hadn't yet caught on to Bakura's shadiness. Boy, he really is the slow one, thought the lead singer.

Bakura was attacked with yet another hug courtesy of Ryou. He smiled and gladly returned it, but then sighed with a hint of disappointment. He did not want Ryou to go home yet. He wanted to hang out with him some more. "I wish we could have gone and done some more stuff, man. You really seem to be a cool guy and all. Hell, you didn't even mind me kissing you! Sorry about that, by the way. Especially with my tongue and everything. Gomen nasai, I was just trying to make it look believable."

Ryou laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. "Ah heh, yea. Anything to help you. Well, I'm sorry to leave kind of early on our hangout deal, but I promised my parents I'd be home by mid-afternoon curfew."

Parents.

Parents. Parents.

The word echoed so fully and repetetively in Bakura's mind that he'd barely heard the rest of the sentence. After "parents", the only word he could think of was, Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. He tried his best to keep a relaxed expression and not to freak out.

Ryou hugged him one more time. But Bakura was too stunned to hug him back, or even move. The innocent fan was in too much bliss to even realize Bakura's sudden fear and stiffness. Just as he was walking toward his front door to go inside, Bakura reached forward and softly grabbed his shoulder, stopping the boy in his tracks.

"Listen." he said slowly, cautiously. "Don't tell your parents about. . .Well, today. Especially the kiss. Your rents seem really uptight and religious, and if they found out you and I kissed, even acting, they'll freak out."

The younger nodded. "Dont worry, Kura. I won't tell a soul!" he replied brightly before taking out a Sharpie marker and writing his phone number down on Bakura's hand. "Call me sometime if you want to hang out again. Bye-bye!" He was grinning ear-to-ear as he reluctantly shut the screen door, and then the main door.

Bakura's heart sank dreadfully low. He felt like he would puke. Ryou was feeling great, hunky-dory, and he was feeling like a complete wreck.

Ryou's parents were very informed. What would happen when they picked up People Magazine and the front cover story was about their son and himself being in an intimate relationship? This was sure to be all over the youth media very, very soon. What would happen to him then? Or worse, what would happen to Ryou?

He shuddered just thinking about it. Brace yourself, Bakura. It's all just little bumps in the road through your plan.

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.