Diamond: strains against chain leash, roaring loud enough to shake the walls
Now, now, Diamond, we don't want you to get indigestion over someone so unimportant. Karma will get them in the end. grins evilly Anyway, this chapter's Lizzie's, since she was my 100th reviewer, and as per her request, there is going to be Y/Y fluff, followed by Ryou and Bakura getting closer to getting together. (Sorry Lizzie, it's taking longer than I planned! Don't worry, though; it's coming!) It's long, so sorry for the late update. I hope it's worth it. Now for the replies:
Lone Pheonix: Hey again! Diamond really enjoyed his ham, although I'm always scared he eats his gifts too fast... strokes her pet tiger Well, he hasn't gotten sick yet! Thanks for all your compliments, and I'm so glad you liked "Beauty on the Fire"! Don't worry, I'll continue as long as my loyal fans want me to!
Princess Strawberry: scratches head thoughtfully Well, it's either Y/Y fluff, or lemon. The first one's getting taken care of right here, and the second I might never try, so sorry if it's that! Sorry also to hear about your history test, but if it was only one question, you can take comfort in the fact that you understand the material, right? crickets chirping Whatever then, ja ne, Your Talentedness!
Starfly: Don't worry, I'm a writer, not a poet; I just thought it fit so well! My writing's like my major gift, so it means a lot to know that people like reading my stuff. Thanks for all your sweet reviews!
Assassin of the Shadows: Aww, you really think so? Thank you! As I've stated before, I'll continue as long as I keep getting cool reviews from people like you! Hope to hear from you again!
Saturn: Yeah, lotta fluff, huh? Glad you love it, and I'll do my best to keep your cravings satisfied! Thanks for reviewing!
BlackRose: Coolness, a new reviewer! Thanks for the roses, sniffs flowers they're much appreciated! Glad you liked "Beauty on the Fire", and it means a lot to know that you love reading my story!
Ranma Higurashi: I hit on the perfect length? Whoo-hoo!!!! Happy to hear you liked the poem and that you still think it's kawaii, thanks for being such a faithful reviewer!
daisy: Poor nuva... maybe I should cut down for her sake...looks at mob of stunned fans Okay, maybe not. Yeah, Chibi Mokuba is irresistible all right, and I love romantic Joey! Thanks for reviewing, and I hope nuva wakes up soon! Oh, and by the way..sees Bakura Get him, Diamond! Nobody hits my reviewers and gets away with it!
Diamond: roars and pounces
Bakura: screams and runs away, Diamond chasing him
There we go, problem solved! Catch ya later, guys! anime wink
seadragon1012: The ferrets? Are they like your version of daisy's Mr Snuffles or my Diamond? They sound interesting in any case!^_^ Thanks for the encouragement, it means more than you know! Hope to hear from you after chapter 15!
Lizzie: Hey, if it ain't my 100th reviewer! applauds loudly Your requests have been considered and implemented, so enjoy this chappie! Sorry I couldn't go all the way, but they're the most complicated of the three! Next time we see them, I promise, they'll be a couple!
joey_has_died: Creepy name...shivers About the spelling thing, it's "brunet" if it's a guy, and "brunette" if it's a girl, same as the difference between "blond" and "blonde". Easy mistake to make though, I made it a lot when I was starting out! Catch ya later!
Taito-kisses: Yay, Taito's back! huggles Taito and Dogma Thanks for the bribes; I'll take them, but I don't need them to keep writing, I run on kindness! Please tell me what you think of this chappie, I'm probably going to dedicate the next one to you, so any requests, drop me a line, okay? Laterz!
babygurl: I sent your acknowledgment to the email in your profile, hope you don't mind! I just want to say here that you're the coolest person I've ever met online, and that's sayin a lot, cause I've met a lotta ppl!
phwee? yami hobo: Aww, the new story's up!!! I'll read it soon, and review! I'm glad you like my reviews, I love yours too. R/B are coming, they're the toughest! Have pity on the poor untalented authoress!
PanDora: I love Serenity! She and Mokuba make a great team, don't they? Hope you like this chappie, even though neither one of them's in it!
Ninetales122: It's okay, it's the thought that counts! Thanks for reviewing, and I'll try to keep the kawaiiness coming!
Tessabug: Giant pink mountain of fluff.... YAY! Joey is the ultimate guy... so romantic...swoons Happy to hear you liked everything, including my poem, and I love long reviews! Hope this chappie was worth the wait!
Dawn: Oh, thank you! I can always use new fans! Hope you become a regular reviewer, I'd love to hear more from you!
Warnings: For the benefit of ignorant amoebas, this fic is YAOI, with major FLUFF, and some OOC-ness. Some swearing also. Print big enough? Good! On with the fic! Oh, BTW;
/.../: Yugi to Yami
//....//:Yami to Yugi
Disclaimer: I don't own them.
Chapter 15: Still Desire You
Ryou was slowly going insane. In the past few days of Bakura being 'nice' to him, the spirit had broken most of the major household appliances, including the vacuum cleaner, which had exploded all over the living room. The albino boy sighed as he remembered trying to explain to his father why he needed two thousand dollars right away, as well as why the fire and damage insurance premiums had gone through the roof. Thank God I took that drama class.
While Ryou was lost in his thoughts, Bakura crept down the stairs, vaulting over the banister halfway down and landing without a sound, an easy task for a former tomb robber. Ryou said I really shouldn't touch the new stove, but how hard can Kraft dinner be? Besides, I got a lot of practice with that roast beef. So what if the pigeons outside broke their beaks? Grinning to himself, the yami glanced at the directions on the blue box.
"Hmm, water... how much is a cup anyway?" Bakura opened a cupboard containing all kinds of glasses. "These are cups, but which one are they talking about? Stupid idiots should put pictures...." After scratching his head for a while, the spirit of the Ring took out the largest glass he could find (A/N: We're talking like five cups worth0_0) and filled it almost to the brim with water before dumping it into a too-small pot. Not surprisingly, the vessel overflowed, soaking the tile floor. Biting back a curse, Bakura put the pot on the counter and began to mop up the spilled water.
Once that was done, the yami took out a larger pot and started over. This time, he got the pot on the stove before his next mishap; adding salt. Once again, Bakura didn't know how to translate 'one tsp' into anything coherent, so he just poured salt in until the water was white, and there were little grains floating on top. That doesn't look right... well, maybe these hard things in the box take care of that. On that note, the tomb robber poured in the macaroni and waited for the entire thing to start boiling. This cooking thing isn't that tough, he beamed. Ryou should take lessons from me.
As soon as the mixture began to bubble, Bakura turned off the burner and set the pot down on the counter before ripping open the cheese powder. Just pour this in and stir... ugh, I don't remember there being so much of the orange water last time Ryou made this, or that it was so thin and nasty-looking.... Sighing, the white-haired spirit reached over, tossed a bit of margarine into the godforsaken mess, and stirred the entire thing before slamming the lid down on the pot. There, done. Triumphantly, Bakura carried his newest concoction to the table and stuck his head into the living room.
"Dinner's ready, hikari!" he called a little too loudly, and Ryou jumped five feet in the air.
Dinner? Oh, God, what's he done now? Nervously, the shorter boy looked into the kitchen and breathed a sigh of relief to find that nothing looked damaged or incinerated. Sliding into his usual seat at the table, Ryou peered into the pot of unspeakableness(A/N: I know it's not a word!) that his yami was evidently very proud of.
"Uh, yami," he ventured, "What is that?"
"Why, Kraft dinner, hikari," Bakura replied, forcing himself to be cheerful as he ladled a huge helping onto Ryou's plate. "Come on, eat up."
With a resigned sigh, Ryou scooped a bit onto a spoon and lifted it to his mouth gradually. At least he's trying. That was no consolation, however, once the culinary disaster assaulted his taste buds, and the hikari downed a huge glass of water in less than five seconds before choking violently.
"Ryou, are you all right?" Bakura sounded genuinely concerned as he whacked the other boy on the back a few times. Eventually, the silver-haired teen managed to catch his breath.
"What is in that stuff?" he gasped, downing a fresh glass of water.
Bakura looked down at his own plate, and took a bite himself. Ugh, this is worse than the roast! What did I do wrong? "I'm sorry, hikari," he muttered, torn between the need to keep his act up and the need to stay true to his vicious personality.
Ryou was silent for a moment, and then burst out laughing, nearly spilling what little water was left in his glass. Even Bakura let slip a few chuckles before he came to his senses. Whoa, what am I doing? I can't actually be enjoying his company? This is Ryou, here; all the negative qualities still apply! Just because he looks so beautiful when he's happy... that's it, time to end this. No solace is worth this; he won't shatter the barriers it took me five millennia to erect in a week! Stonily, the darker boy rose to his feet, and Ryou immediately froze.
"Bakura..." he began.
"Don't speak to me if you want to keep your tongue." Perfect tone. Could probably freeze a bonfire with that one.
"If this is about what just happened, I didn't mean to make fun of you." The hikari's gaze floated down to the pot lying on the table, forgotten. We always get into fights over dinner.
So simple. "It's not that. Maybe a weakling like you would be affected by it, but I'm tougher than that."
"I had almost forgotten." As his yami turned away, stalking toward the stairs, Ryou found he couldn't let it go at that. "Why?" he demanded, and Bakura stopped in his tracks.
"Why what?" His voice was as dangerous as it had ever been, but the lighter boy wouldn't back down.
I'll prove that I'm strong, Ryou thought as he rose to shaky legs. "If nothing's changed between us... why did you ever let me think it had?"
Here we go. Bakura opened his mouth, a hurtful lie at the ready, but he found that he couldn't bear to voice it. Ryou's face was so sincere, so insistent, that it overcame the yami's resolve to conceal the truth. Fine, if he wants it so bad, he deserves whatever he gets. "You've been hiding something from me. I wanted to know what it was, and so I staged the whole thing so that you'd open up enough for me to find out."
The tomb robber had killed many, and hurt many more, physically and emotionally, but nothing tore at his heart as cruelly as the way his hikari's eyes clouded over at his cruel words. "So it was all a lie," Ryou shuddered, and Bakura fought the urge to take back the words that had just passed his lips. As most people know, though, it was much too late for that. "You never cared about me, did you? All this... just a new way to hurt me!"
Bakura scoffed. "Please, don't be such a drama queen. You're bad enough as you usually are."
The smaller boy cleared the table, advancing on the spirit with slow, jerky movements. "Tell me something, Bakura. Do you lie awake at night and think up these schemes, or is it just something you do for kicks? Am I just like a hobby to you, convenient sport to be picked up and put aside whenever you damn well feel like it!? Tell me!" His tone was desperate, and the taller of the two could see that he was on the verge of breaking down. Deep down, a small part of himself admired this boy who would stand so boldly before him when he knew that Bakura held the power to destroy him five times over before he could even line up a punch. He's got guts, I guess. Let's see just how much.
Once Ryou was in range, he found himself lifted up by his white sweater to Bakura's eye level. The spirit's eyes glared with fury, but the lighter half would not back down. I have as much rage as you do, Bakura. I just don't unleash it as often. "I've killed men for less," the tomb robber growled.
Without flinching, Ryou spat in his face, and Bakura let him fall to the floor. "Then kill me, if you dare." he challenged. "What's more blood on your hands? See you in the Shadow Realm."
The spirit of the Ring dragged one arm across his face, removing the physical evidence of Ryou's defiance. "Get out." he hissed.
"Gladly." replied the silver-haired boy, and in all of five seconds, he was gone into the night, the door slammed shut behind him. With a primal roar of frustration and ire that he was sure Ryou heard no matter how far he'd gotten, Bakura threw everything that was on the table to the floor. Dishes shattered, and the neglected dinner began to seep into the rug. No Ryou to clean it up. Seething, the yami ascended the stairs and threw himself onto Ryou's bed, staring up at the ceiling. Good fucking riddance.
* * *
Meanwhile, at the game shop, Yugi and Yami were lounging around, blissfully unaware of the goings-on a few streets down. (A/N: They all live relatively close together, okay? Except Tea, she can live on Mars for all I care!) The lighter of the two had his head pillowed against the armrest of the couch, the rest of him spread out across his darker side's lap. Every so often, Yami would run a hand through Yugi's over-gelled hair, but no words passed between them; their closeness was comfort enough.
After a while, Yugi stretched his arm and intercepted Yami's wrist as it dragged through his hair again. "What do you love, Yami?"
The spirit smiled and leaned down to kiss his hikari. "Besides you?" he murmured against Yugi's lips as he came up for air.
The smaller boy blushed. "Not that kind of love, Yami!" he said indignantly. "I mean what things do you like?"
"Why the question, though?" The pharaoh stared down at his love, confusion evident in his crimson eyes.
"Because, what you enjoy defines who you are," Yugi explained. "Bakura enjoys hurting people, thus he's a psychopath. Joey likes sappy movies, so he's a hopeless romantic. I don't know exactly what you love, though. We never actually did get to know each other on that level before we got together, after all."
"Very true." With a sigh, Yami stared up at the ceiling. "All right, aibou," he said after a while, "I've got a few things. However, there is one small condition. For every thing I tell you, you have to tell me something in return. Agreed?"
"Agreed." The shorter boy nodded sagely before breaking out into a wide grin.
"All right." Yami cleared his throat. "I love that thing you call chocolate cake."
Yugi chuckled. "Okay, I love Pixy Stix!" As though that were the funniest thing in the world, he degenerated into a fit of hysterics.
//Seems like you've been indulging in that one recently.// "I love ancient history."
/Yeah, because that's your version of the newspaper./ "I love comic books!"
//Cute, aibou.// "I love this." With that, the pharaoh crushed the other tricolor-haired boy to him and caressed the inside of his mouth skillfully with his tongue. After a while, he moved down to Yugi's neck, lightly nipping the flesh there.
/Me too./ Just as Yami returned to his partner's lips, though, the doorbell sounded. With a frustrated growl, the spirit of the Puzzle released Yugi, who adjusted his neck buckle to hide the beginnings of a hickey.
"Tell whoever it is we've moved." Yami muttered as he disappeared into his soul room. The lighter of the two shuffled to the door, opening it to find a red-eyed Ryou standing on the doorstep.
"Ryou, what's wrong? What's happened?" Yugi was practically frantic, although Ryou didn't seem to be physically injured in any way. Quickly, he ushered the other boy in, and led him over to the couch. "Can I get you anything?"
//That boy has the worst timing in the history of the universe. I mean it.//
/Yami! A friend of ours needs help! Your libido will keep, I'm sure./ Yugi sent the mental equivalent of a smile through their bond.
A twinge of bitterness flashed across the bond from Yami's end, surprising the small boy. //You're right, aibou. Friends come first.// With that, the darker half withdrew, and Yugi was left torn between helping Ryou and making amends with his boyfriend. One look at the silver-haired teen decided him. Yami'll keep. At least I hope so.
"Yugi..." was all Ryou managed before he broke down into sobs that wracked his entire frame. Pushing his own pain aside, the other teen held him lightly, until he had calmed down enough to relate the events of that evening to the team psychologist.
When he was done, Yugi offered him a box of Kleenex and led him up to the guest room. "You can stay here for tonight, if you want," he offered, and the other boy nodded gratefully. "Night, Ryou." With a drawn-out yawn, the shorter boy retired to his own room, leaving the other hikari to spend the night staring up at the cloudy skies over Domino.
Not a star in sight. This's probably how his soul looks. Thoughts of Bakura hurt him more than any blow, and Ryou forced himself to put his yami out of his mind. Absently, he toyed with the Millennium Ring, still around his neck. The spires dangling from it tinkled together softly as he traced the eye symbol with one finger. Maybe Tristan was on the right track. If I pitch this away, right now, I'm free of him permanently. He won't be able to exist if he doesn't have a willing anchor on this plane. I can confine him to the darkness, hurt him just as he hurts me, driving the stake deeper with every moment he refuses to let me in. A halfhearted tug on the rope around his neck, and Ryou found he couldn't bring himself to do it.
It's not right. Revenge never solved anything. I'd just be adding guilt to my pile of baggage. With a shuddering sigh, the teen lay down on the bed, removing his sweater and shirt before doing so. The cold bite of the Ring felt good against his bare chest. At least I still exist..
The last sight Ryou saw before he drifted off was the clouds rolling away from the moon for a brief moment before smothering it again. One tiny light, surrounded by darkness, never letting itself go out. The moon will always shine, as will I, no matter what Bakura does to me. That realization fresh in his mind, the hikari let himself fall asleep.
* * *
Bakura, on the other hand, didn't even have that consolation. He tried; tossing and turning for hours, but to no avail. Finally, around one in the morning, he admitted defeat and slid out of bed, misjudging the width of the mattress and crashing to the floor. Good thing Ryou wasn't here to see that. Not exactly my finest hour.
Slowly, as though he were in a daze of some sort, the tomb robber shuffled through the small house, looking in at every room he passed. Before, they had all held a certain warmth to them, a certain brightness that had always driven him to angry bitterness before. Now, Ryou's home was cold, all the rooms dark no matter how many lights he turned on. After wandering around absently for a time, Bakura finally had to admit to himself that there was no substitute for his hikari. Whatever feelings of envy the other boy's cheerful manner and easy way of life evoked in him, they paled in comparison to the total emptiness he felt without Ryou.
All right, so I need him, the spirit admitted to himself. I wonder if he feels the same way, though? Probably not. After tonight, I wouldn't want to come back to me either. Amazing he stayed as long as he did, really. Hopelessness joined the guilt in the pit of his stomach, and for a moment, Bakura was the filthy street urchin of Ancient Egypt once more, worth less than the rags he wore, with an abysmal past and no future.
A violent shake of the head propelled him back to the present, and Bakura crawled into the window seat that his hikari loved so much, staring out at a world cloaked in black. It was starting to rain, and the yami couldn't help but remember how Ryou would watch the tiny droplets pour down for hours on end, his face pressed to this same window. All at once, he knew what he had to do. Even if he refuses me, even if he won't give me another chance, I have to try. It's better than this.
Sighing, Bakura leaned back into the cool touch of the glass. Looks like another long night for me, then.
* * *
Ryou woke up at six in the morning to a loud rapping on Yugi's front door, and the petite boy grumbling as he shuffled downstairs. Ryou himself didn't need to go downstairs, though; at this hour, that angry knocking could only mean one person. A chill came over him suddenly, and he curled up under the blankets, as though the layers of cloth could shield him from his yami's wrath.
"One second," he heard Yugi calling, then the door unlocking and banging against the wall, followed by angry footsteps downstairs.
"Where is he?" a familiar growl, low in pitch, drifted up the stairwell. "Where's my hikari? Talk, Yugi, or I'll have your head!"
Oh boy, that can't be good. The next voice to be heard was Yami's. "What did you say, tomb robber? You would dare to threaten him in my presence!?"
I've gotta stop this. Throwing on his sweater, Ryou bolted downstairs. The scene that met his eyes as he cleared the staircase was dire, to say the least. Yami's third eye was flashing on his forehead, and Bakura's Ring was glowing dangerously. Yugi was cowering in a corner, and when his amethyst eyes found Ryou's, the glance between the two hikaris conveyed the same message. We've gotta stop them.
"Bakura." At that one word, the Ring's light dissipated, and Yami's eye faded at a gentle touch from Yugi. Once the pharaoh realized that the danger was past, he disappeared without a word, and Yugi's face turned from apprehensive to crushed in an instant. Ryou would have gone to his aid, but he had his own problem to deal with. "What are you doing here?"
"I used the Ring to track you down..." Bakura turned to Yugi, his tone a bit softer. "Some privacy would be welcome."
With a stiff nod, Yugi went up the stairs and into his room, closing the door. Before long, music started wafting out. Now completely alone with his borderline homicidal yami, Ryou stood boldly and faced the person who had been the object of his fears for longer than he could remember.. "So? Why are you here?" he demanded.
It was the first time the hikari had ever seen his yami look away. The spirit of the Ring growled before speaking. "This isn't easy for me to say..." he began, trailing off. "Come home, Ryou. I... I need you."
"Really? You need me, huh? To do what? Cook, scrub floors, do your laundry?" Bakura was silent. "Well? You barged in, disturbed everyone, threatened one of my friends, to talk to me. So, talk."
"Look, I don't blame you for being angry with me, for hating me..."
"I don't hate you," the other boy cut him off.
He doesn't hate me. Okay, good start. "Fine, but Ryou, I need you, and not for something I could get a maid to do. Last night, when we were apart, it was like being trapped in the Ring all over again." Bakura took a tentative step towards his hikari. "Tell me you didn't feel it too, honestly. Tell me you didn't feel like part of you had been ripped away. If you can, truthfully, I'll never bother you again."
I can't lie to him, but nor can I go back to him. Ryou turned to look his darker half in the eye, preparing an evasive enough answer, but something in his eyes made the silver-haired boy curious. These weren't the cold, hard orbs he'd grown accustomed to, the eyes of a killer. Hope was etched on his yami's features, along with a burning desire to bury the hatchet and start again. He wants another chance, and God help me, I want to give it to him. The irony of the situation hit him just then; not twelve hours before, their roles had been completely reversed.
Ryou held the spirit's dark eyes with his own, so that he could neither look away nor reset his barriers. Images of last night, wanting to get rid of the Ring, not being able to. "I can't." he admitted. "I won't tell you why, but I can't." Too exhausted to keep focusing on his darkness, the silver-haired teenager allowed his line of sight to drop a few inches. "Like it or not then, we're stuck together."
Something foreign to Bakura fluttered to life in his chest, and he found himself unable to suppress it. "So does that mean..."
"One more chance. That's it. One foot out of line, and I'm gone for good, and you can wait for some other poor sap to release you from the Ring." Even as he delivered this ultimatum, Ryou wondered if he would ever have the guts to go through with it, no matter what Bakura did to him. Please, oh please, let him mean it this time.
Bakura allowed the slightest flicker of joy show on his face before he froze his expression back to neutral, nodding. "Well then, if there's nothing else you have to do, I believe we've imposed on Yami and Yugi long enough, don't you?"
"Yes." The mention of the other hikari's name gave Ryou a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. I hope he's okay. What's going on, anyway? Without thinking, the shorter of the two began to ascend the staircase. "Wait down here, okay, yami? I've got to talk to Yugi."
The tomb robber nodded assent, and Ryou took off up the steps, leaving Bakura to try to decipher all the new developments he'd encountered in the past few days.
* * *
While Ryou was sorting out some of his own problems, Yugi was lying on his bed, face buried in the single pillow, sobbing softly. The noises were drowned out by the loud music he was playing, so nobody could hear. Well, almost nobody.
Inside his soul room, Yami was keeping a watchful eye on his hikari. He's in such pain... Like a beacon, Yugi's emotions filtered through their bond, filling the darker half's consciousness entirely. I want so much to comfort him... but how can I in this state? He never has time for me anymore; hell, Joey got more attention when Seto was CEO of Kaiba Corp. Maybe this relationship was doomed from the start...
A particularly loud sob wrenched his heart just then, and the pharaoh came to his senses. Even if... even if we have no future, I just can't bear to see him like this. It is my duty to protect him, and I will if it kills me. In the blink of an eye, Yami was within two feet of Yugi's bed. He watched the irregular rise and fall of his hikari's shoulders as he worked up the courage to clear the distance between them.
Just as Yami was about to reach out and touch his petite love, there was a soft knock at the door. Without wasting a second, the pharaoh darted into the shadows behind the door as it opened to admit Ryou. Yugi's head shot up, the violet eyes rimmed with red and the white pillowcase soaked with his tears. The new arrival bit his lip nervously, sat down on the edge of the bed, and held the other boy to him in a friendly embrace. Yugi clung to him, crying into his chest in a way that made Yami jealous beyond belief. That should be me comforting him. I'm his boyfriend, damn it!
"Yugi, what is it?" the silver-haired boy asked softly once his friend's cries had subsided.
"It's Yami, he hates me, oh, Ryou, I haven't been treating him like I should. I probably deserve to be alone forever, if I can't even make it work with him. He won't even speak to me anymore! Serves me right for taking him for granted!" Getting his concerns out only seemed to intensify his pain, though, and the small boy curled up into a ball, clutching the blankets to him like a lifeline. Not even Ryou could get through to him after that, and finally, the other hikari rose, stroking Yugi's hair gently.
"Try to talk to him, okay?" were his parting words, as he closed the door behind him, leaving Yami and Yugi alone in the room.
I can't believe he thinks that. How could I ever feel anything but love for him? And here I was, thinking that our relationship really couldn't work... Shaking his head sadly, the spirit of the Puzzle climbed into bed with his hikari, wrapping one arm around him protectively and pressing a kiss into his jagged locks. "I love you, aibou," he whispered faintly before turning Yugi around to claim his warm lips.
Every muscle in the shorter tricolor-haired boy's body tensed at the sudden contact, but he responded quickly, draping himself around Yami's lithe form and deepening the kiss. His hands ran through the spirit's hair, as though he were checking if he was real or just an illusion, and their bond, which had only moments ago been overflowing with anger and despair, was now engulfed in a tide of love and affection.
"Oh, Yami," Yugi rambled when they came apart, "I didn't mean to be so thoughtless, or ignore you, or make you feel unwanted, or anything else... Yami, forgive me?"
The dark one laid a finger across his love's lips. "There is nothing to forgive, my angel. Always remember, I will never stop loving you. Never, no matter what you do to me."
"Even if I get high on Pixy Stix and sleep with Ryou?" Yugi laughed into his boyfriend's mouth as he pulled him down for a quick kiss.
"Perhaps even then, aibou," Yami grinned as he loosened the other boy's neck buckle. "Now, let's finish what we started, shall we?"
* * *
Okay, I officially hate writing for Ryou and Bakura. All you R/B authors out there, I salute you, cause they're major tough! I love the whole introspective theme in this chappie, though... Please read and review, and the next chapter will have Seto/Joey by the truckload, I promise! Don't worry, Ryou/Bakura lovers, they'll be together soon! Ja ne!
