Make Yourself
Chapter 11: Bakura and Otogi
By: Shounen Squared

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

To Ryou, things were finally seeming to settle down. Regardless of how confusing and odd his whole life seemed from time to time, he still would never trade it for the world.

Even life with The Sleep was proving to be quite peaceful and even interesting. At first, he had thought that it would be way too awkward living with these four other guys. Minus Bakura, he did not really know them, and he usually was incredibly shy. It would be a while before they were all "one big happy family" but it was not Ryou's biggest concern.

After a simple two weeks, Ryou and Bakura were like two fraternity brothers that knew everything about how the other lived. What they liked to eat for different meals and days, the meanings behind the little habits they put forward, and other small things were suddenly second nature to the both of them. Ryou was rather baffled about how he could possibly know all of these things about Bakura so well in a mere fortnight. Likewise, Bakura had a lot of his new boyfriend's quirks memorized.

How on earth would Bakura know exactly how Ryou liked his breakfast prepared? Bakura understood everything on details such as those; biscuits were much tastier to Ryou if they were buttered only on the inside, that he liked his sausage cooked only medium, that he liked a tiny sprinkle of cinnamon on his golden bubbly toast. Considering the fact that none of those things had ever come up in conversation before, Ryou could not make sense of how or why his boyfriend was aware of these many aspects.

In Ryou's common logic, Bakura had to be a psychic to know these aspects.

Despite them knowing each other relatively well, there was something that Ryou could not figure out. After all, he personally was not a psychic and did not have even the faintest clue what the meaning behind some of Bakura's actions were. Especially days like these, where Bakura's mood was very erratic and shifty. Sometimes the guy did not seem to make any sense at all.

The previous night, Bakura had been in the best mood that Ryou had seen in a long time. He could not understand why it was the complete opposite today; Bakura had dark circles beneath his exhausted, bloodshot eyes. Before the lights went out and the two of them dozed off into slumber, Ryou had felt Bakura's arms secured tightly around him. Obviously, he had been quite comfortable with the embrace, and that is why he woke up so suddenly about half an hour later. Marik seemed to be about in the same condition as Bakura, who had been tossing and turning in his sleep like no other. There had to be something wrong, but what?

The least complicated approach was to just ask them about what was going on. However, Ryou was aware that such a direct approach would be considered very impolite or even hurtful. He did not feel like making Bakura or Marik feel even worse. Surely Yami or Seto knew about this stuff, right? They were their best friends, after all.

"Sorry, Ryou," began Seto slowly, absently spinning a drum stick in his right hand. "It's not my place to say. Nor is it Yami's. You see, the thing is, today is a painful anniversary for the both of them. But other than that, I really don't want to tell you. It would upset them." He tried his hardest to pick his words carefully, but the effort did not show to Ryou.

Yami turned off the distracting radio in the background and gave Ryou a vague gaze. He seemed to be thinking of something else as he leaned over Seto from behind him, draping his arms over the brunette's chest. "What Seto-kun means to say, Ryou. . .Well, it is a day of remembering for them. It is not that they want to hide something from you or anything. That is not why they would be upset. They are just very sensitive about this matter, and they do not like us telling other people about it. They want to tell the story for themselves. So if you just approach them with a tender mien, I know they will enlighten you. Just please be gentle with your questions."

Ryou nodded wordlessly before turning around and making his way out of Seto's room. He also made a mental note that Yami was all over Seto back there and that the two of them were, in fact, within the room of Seto. He shook his head firmly, reminding himself that it was really none of his business anyway. When he saw Bakura in the main room and lounging on the couch, Ryou trotted to his side hurriedly. "Kura-kun! Hey, are you alright?" He not only knew the answer to that question but also Bakura's answer to it.

"Of course. I'm fine." Just as Ryou thought he would say.

"No you're not. Neither is Marik. Please, tell me what's wrong. I want to know how I can help you feel better."

As he rose from the sofa, Bakura sighed to himself and made his way out of the room with Ryou at his back. The younger male was not sure if his beau was trying to get rid of him or what, but he told himself that he should not let him just walk away from him when he asks an important question. To Ryou's remedy, Bakura only stepped out onto the enormous stage, where there were no people to be seen. He seated himself on the edge, his feet hanging, and he turned around to beckon Ryou to go ahead and sit with him. "I'm sorry for our bitter mood," Bakura apologized, swinging his feet and tapping the edge with his heel. "Today's just a shitty day to be us."

What was going on?

"I can see that," said Ryou. "I want to know what's going on, though."

"Are you always this nosy?" Bakura was only kidding around with him, making an attempt to lighten the mood a bit. However, Ryou had not caught onto the joking part, and a guilty look clouded his face. He opened his mouth to speak, but Bakura interrupted the teen before he could say anything. "Don't apologize, Yo-chan. I'm just playing with you."

"Then, um, can you please explain all of this to me?"

He turned to Ryou and smiled, as if he was getting some pleasing memory. But if it was so nice to think of, why were he and Marik so upset today? "If you want the short of it. . .something shitty happened to us about four years ago. Someone named Otogi. Well, he hurt us. And it's just really depressing and annoying to remember. But, if you actually want to understand any of that with details, I will tell you everything." Ryou nodded in humble intrigue, asking Bakura to continue if he wished.

"O-Otogi was. . ." His dark brown eyes looked distant and hurt. Bakura then doubled over and rubbed the back of his head. "I can't go on." Not waiting for a response, he rose to his feet, covered his lips with his hand, and quickly fled from Ryou's sight. A slam of a backstage door could be heard, followed by the sound of it reopening and reclosing.

"I thought this would happen." This voice was a different voice from the one that Ryou had expected to hear. It was not Bakura, but none other than Marik. It was his turn to be seated next to Ryou, who seemed to be confused out of his mind.

He crossed his arms and looked out in the direction of the stage's house. "I hope you don't take any of his reactions personally. You know as well as I do how great of a guy he can be. He just has some problems that he's having to cope with today."

"But don't you, too, Marik? How come you don't seem to be as upset as him?"

"I guess you could say that he had a much worse experience than I did. And the pain was dragged on for a much longer time in his case."

"What happened? I need to know."

Head of sandy blonde hair whipping to face Ryou, he said, "What will be gained from knowing?"

"You don't want to tell me?"

"I will tell you. I just want know why you want to know so badly."

Ryou found himself unable to think of a reply. He was not sure of what to say. Was this a trick question?

"You really, really care about Bakura, don't you?"

"Yes. Of course I do."

"Then you will let him tell you what happened to him. As for me, when I was fourteen, my boyfriend cheated on me. Then he said that I was cheating, and he dumped me. Is that clear enough for you?"

"That's all?" Ryou began, but quickly stopped himself. He rubbed his forehead when he instantly realized how rude that must have sounded to Marik. "I-I mean, were you in love with him, Ishtar-san?"

Marik's eyes were staring off into the distance once again. "No. I wasn't, but I sure thought I was. And so did Bakura."

"Bakura? So you mean that this guy has to do with the both of you?"

"Of course. Otogi wasn't satisfied with making just me miserable; he had to scar Bakura, too."

Ryou sighed and hung his head before looking back up at Marik. "I'm afraid to ask him. I asked him once, and you saw what happened. He stormed out. He appeared to be so angry with me."

"He isn't mad at you. Jeez. I don't think he ever could be mad at you. He's probably feeling sick to his stomach just thinking of that snake. I'm sure you asked in a very polite and meek way. Usually, he says he'll tell you something, bite off more than he can chew, and has a little panic attack. I wasn't here to see it happen, but that's how it usually goes down with him. So, you know. . .don't worry or anything. If you go and find him, then he might melt and tell you everything you want to know, and then some."

"But I don't want him to feel obligated to tell me. I want him to want to tell me. I want him to feel like he can trust me the way I can trust him."

"Heh," Marik chuckled. He had always found the way Ryou talked about Bakura to be very cute. It was hard for him to believe that Ryou had not caught on to his parents' little amniesha plot. "I'm leaving for the meeting with our manager soon. We need Bakura there, too. But I'll bet you anything that he's just waiting for you to go get him. Please comfort him and bring him back to us, so we can focus on more important things.

"Oh, and by the way. . .what would you say if I told you that you've known Bakura longer than you think?"

"What?"

Marik already had his hand on the door when Ryou began to stand up and chase after him, hoping for a further explanation.

"Sorry," Marik shook his head faintly. "I don't know what I'm saying. Maybe I'm just a hopeless romantic. Anyway, please track him down. If he just hangs out with us and our manager, it might be able to take his mind out of the suffering he's going through."

Sorry, this all may seem to be coming from nowhere...but honestly, it's all setting up for future chapters. ALSO: "the stage's house" is referring to the house in theatre terms. The audience is called the house.