Make Yourself
Chapter 12:
By: Shounen Squared

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

Ryou did not have to search for very long; just walking down to the very end corner of the North Hallway led him straight to Bakura, as well as another young man. This young man's hair was black, in a high ponytail. His eyes were bright green, from what he could see. So this stranger was pretty much the complete opposite of Bakura, at least appearance-wise. As he watched both of them converse, he noticed that there was a lot of friction between them personality-wise.

Bakura glanced over, briefly noting that Ryou was present. He did not acknowledge his presence all too much. However, Ryou was not very offended at all. Obviously, he was very busy with talking to this person.

"What the hell are you doing here, Otogi?" demanded Bakura hotly, intensely narrowing his eyes at the mere sight of the black haired man. He was the last person that Bakura ever wanted to see.

"I'm hurt, Bakura. Must you call me by my last name? And to think that after four years of separation, you would greet me with such hostility. Where did all of your love go? I really did miss you, sweetheart." Ryuuji smirked, placing his hands behind Bakura's head and harshly kissing him.

For several seconds, Bakura was in such shock that he was no even able to move or respond. Something in Bakura's eyes appeared strange to Ryou. Bakura finally came to his senses, brought his foot back, and kicked Otogi's shin with all the strength he had in his right foot. The other man let out a fierce yelp, quickly letting go of Bakura and backing away. "Fuck you. I asked you what you're doing in my house. Quit going back to the past."

"It seems to me," countered Otogi as he rubbed his bleeding leg, "that you can't forget any more than I can. How could you? We had some good times together, did we not?" Bakura scowled, but the green eyed man continued. "If you must know, I met with your manager just now. He agreed to get me a solo artist recording contract. I find it strangely uplifting that I would just happen to meet you here. What a small world."

"You're lying, you prick!"

Otogi strolled casually over to Ryou's side, where he took him in a mock-embrace and smiled sweetly. Ryou was angry with the contact, but he was distracted by this exchange between his beau and his beau's ex to fight back. "Oh, yes, you're damn right I am," he played along with a thick sarcastic tone. "Yo-chan and I were just about to have some fun. I was waiting for him, you see. Now that you're here, I was thinking that maybe you could join us. Hmmmm, Kura-kun? You would like that, right? Or maybe you and I could have our own fun later, just the two of us."

As Otogi spoke those words, something inside Bakura snapped. His pupils and dark brown irises shrunk noticeably. Bakura's expression showed a number of different emotions. Rage, hurt, disbelief, fear, and ache.

"Get out, bastard! Get out of my home and get out of my life."

"Temper, temper!" the black haired man chuckled. "As far as I'm concerned, I can make this my home as well if I so desire it to be. I'll be a star pretty soon, just like you. And I wouldn't mind spending more time with you. . ."

Pushed far past the bounds of man's natural patience, Bakura ripped a nearby folding metal chair from the floor. As he furiously threw it at his contrasting counterpart, the counterpart felt himself get shoved lightly back against the wall by the chair. "Get out of here! Leave!"

"You're feistier than you were four years ago, dearie. Fine. I guess I'll be heading on my merry way, then." Pushing the chair away from himself, he began making his way to the closest exit. But not before walking up next to Bakura and nibbling lightly on the edge of his ear.

Otogi's face met Bakura's nimble fists. "Beat it!" His voice subtly trembled.

"So long," he crowed before hastily trotting out the side emergency exit.

"What a jerk. I can see why--'Kura?" He stared at his boyfriend, who had leaned back against the wall and collapsed softly to the floor. His hand covered his eyes as his body plunged into sharp, choked sobs.

"'Kura-kun?"

The lead guitarist's breathing became more and more hurried and noticeably louder.

"Bakura?"

Still he would not reveal his leaking eyes.

"Ryou Bakura!" the younger exclaimed. Worried for not receiving any responses, he fell to his knees so he was at Bakura's eye level. Ryou easily plucked Bakura's right hand from his face, and he tilted his chin so he could see right into his tired eyes.

Bakura insisted on avoiding eye contact with Ryou. Sighing softly, his chocolate irises sunk to the bottom-right corners of his eyes.

"Bakura, talk to me. Please." As he pleaded for a reply, he brought his face closer in order to make sure Bakura paid attention to him.

He noticed Ryou's hand reaching for his with a bit of hesitation. Bakura, feeling ashamed of himself for letting himself cry, attempted to dry his tears. However, his attempt was intercepted by Ryou's thumb. It reached up and sympathetically wiped the saline sobbing from the edges of his beloved's eyes. Bakura was touched by such a sweet gesture; he took the palm of Ryou's in his own and whispered, "I hate him."

"I know you do." the other male assured.

"I hate him!" Bakura screamed before clutching Ryou's hand more tightly. His body shook somewhat before slipping into tears once more.

Ryou's fingertips countered the flow of those tears once more. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Otogi was Marik's ex-boyfriend, four years ago. T-that's how I know him." he began softly. Waiting for a go-ahead from Ryou, which he received in the form of a nod, he paused and then continued. "Supposedly, the two were in love, and Otogi was crushed when he and Marik split. Otogi told me that Marik was cheating, and that their relationship had to end. But after their break-up, there was a change in Otogi. He obviously was way over Marik, because he suddenly was flirting with me all the time. And when Marik found out about him flirting with me, he was furious with me He thought that I was flirting with his ex.

"He started this huge argument, saying that Otogi was a snake that couldn't be trusted. I had no idea why he would say that, and I reminded him that he was the one who cheated on Otogi. But he kept saying that Otogi was lying to me. That he was still crazy for him, and that he never would have cheated. I was so angry that I simply could not believe Marik anymore.

"I got so upset with him that I turned to Otogi for counsel. Just to piss Marik off, I became Otogi's new boyfriend. I thought that might not be fair to Otogi at first, but he told me that he didn't mind.

"I could see why Marik was so upset about losing him. He treated me like a prince, like a god. He always put me first. He was selfless, patient, understanding, and he had some kind of feminine charm. And. . .I don't know. Something about him just made him seem so perfect for me. And I. . .I fell in love with him."

Ryou's eyes widened. He was absolutely astounded, and at a loss for words. Him being all crazy for Bakura, it was a bit difficult for Ryou to hear him talking mushy about some other guy. Nonetheless, he still listened attentively.

"I'm telling you, Ryou, I was such an idiot back then. So, so stupid. Maybe it was my mid-teen naïvete that attracted Ryuuji to me." He was beginning to use Otogi's first name, Ryou noticed, instead of his last name. "I don't know. But back then, I felt that I was on top of the world and that nothing and no one could stop me. I was so foolish.

"As I began to tell Otogi for the first time that I loved him, I was so scared of what he would think of me. But when I finally admitted it, he just smiled and said, 'I love you too' and then he. . .kissed me. We were in love. I was so happy. Ryuuji paid more and more attention to me, his 'one and only.' He spent so much time with me. He was like a savior, or something. Our 'love' escalated as the year went on.

"One day, he told me that he loved me so much that he wanted to take our love to the next level, but I said that I wasn't ready for sex. I was only fourteen, and I knew what my limits were. Plus, Ryuuji was seventeen, and would be eighteen a month later. If anyone found out, he probably would go to jail. It was too great of a risk to take. Nevermind the fact that he didn't even have protection. It just wasn't something I felt comfortable with.

"I'll never be able to forget the look he had in his eyes when I refused him. It was like night and day. Just minutes ago, he had told me that he loved me. And then he was looking at me with pure hatred. At the time, it didn't make sense to me. None of this mess did. I coudn't understand why he would be so bent out of shape over not having sex. I simply couldn't understand. But I jokingly told him that the only way we would have sex at this stage was if he forced me.

"So he did. He raped me."

Ryou put a hand to his mouth and gasped faintly, stunned. Ryuuji and Bakura's whole conversation made sense now. "Oh--I'm so sorry," he whispered, truly not sure of what else to say.

"The meaning behind the whole mess is what hurt the most. I was in love with him, and after all I did for him, he betrayed me. I still can't believe it happened."

Ryou took Bakura's hand and squeezed it, briefly kissing the older teen's fingers. "It's alright. You didn't do anything wrong, Bakura. Nobody would have seen that coming if they were in your shoes." Bakura did nothing but sigh in response. "There's a way to abandon this pain, 'Kura. Bitter memories will always remain with you, but there's a way to ease those memories."

"I'm not feeling that much pain anymore," the older explained.

"But you said that the meaning of this whole mess hurt you!" questioned Ryou, completely confused.

Bakura smirked as he wiped his damp eyelids. "Maybe I'm just ashamed that I had such terrible taste in men back then."

Dammit! Why did a bunch of my reviews get deleted? I had at least 80-something before...Is it because my updates are always so belated? ((Sobs)) I'm sorry my writer's block is so terrible. I've had this idea for a loooooong time, but trust me, I couldn't think of how to go about the chapter. So basically I did it in the most plain, boring way possible. There are so many things wrong with this story right now, namely all of the drama. Nobody realistically would experience this much drama in a few months! Sorry, I'll try to spare you all of the pathetic angst for a while.

I will no longer be individually responding to reviewers, but I recognize your prolonged dedication to this prolonged story, and I thank you verily! (Oh, and I also apologize for the belated and very-short chapter!)