OH MAN!
It's been weeks... I know... First, I had a huge writers block, then, I lost like, two thousand words of what I wrote because My mum shut down the compy without me saving... And THEN, we lost the internet. I haven't even got it back again. This is me hacking into my aunts connection because I know her username and password.

XD

We have our own house again! I'm so so so so happy! -wriggles around- We'll be getting our own internet in a few days, and I'll be on alot more. (YEY!) I miss the internet soooo much...

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even the plot... Someone's borrowing it. With my consent, of course. XD

Ryou bit his lip, letting out a long sigh as he entered his Chemistry class. He'd been avoiding Yugi and his friends all morning, slipping past them in the corridors, ignoring the notes slipped on his desk, looking away from their waves and eye-catching gestures. What part of "Stay away from Ryou" Did Yugi not understand? All he wanted was to be left alone in his heartbroken misery, but everywhere he turned, it seemed, there was one of the gang trying to talk to him. And now he had Chemistry, where Jounouchi was his partner. Talk about bad luck…

"Hey Bakura." Jou elbowed the whitenette as he sat down silently at his desk. "I've been trying to talk to you all day man."

"Why." Ryou said tonelessly, setting his books on the desk and fiddling with his pen, making sure to keep his glance away from the blonde.

"Because… Yugi told me to. He wants to know if you're alright." Jou tried to reason, biting his lip. "You really don't look okay."

"How perceptive." Ryou muttered dryly. "Look, Jou. I'm fine, and I will be. Besides, if there was anything going on, you wouldn't be the first to know." Letting out a long sigh, The teen opened his book, and pointedly started to copy out the notes the teacher had written on the board. The blonde beside him frowned, staring at Ryou for a long moment as he continued to write out the notes in his neat handwriting, his long white hair hiding his face. Jou refrained from letting out a long sigh, as he rummaged around in his notebook.

Jesus. Ryou inwardly groaned. So they all know something's up. I wonder how much Yugi's told them? He wouldn't tell them about what went on with Bakura and me, he would never do that...

Would he?

No. He's my friend. One of the few people I can trust. Besides, if Jounouchi knew that I was in love with Bakura. He'd be acting a lot more shocked than he is now. He wouldn't want to be in the same room with me…

Ryou's fingers tightened around his pen, and he screwed up his eyes at the thought. He thought he heard Jous pen pause for a minute, a slight noise of confusion, so the whitenette made out he was scratching his nose before casting his eyes to the board once more, lowering his chocolate gaze to his notebook. His hair fell over his face, more private and secure than a tent, so nobody saw him cry, and Ryou made sure none of his tears fell on the page.

Why on earth can't people just leave me alone? Ryou inwardly groaned, his forehead resting miserably on his desk, ignoring the wadded up piece of paper that had just been tossed his way. I don't want their pity, I don't want this attention, and I definitely don't want them poking into my life. Letting out a long sigh, Ryou gently lifted his snowy head from the security of his cradled arms, blowing the piece of paper across the desk and onto the floor. They're not even true friends of mine, anyway. Jou's scared of me, Honda thinks I'm a sissy, and Anzu can barely remember my name. Yugi's a real friend, but he's incredibly overprotective. I can't trust him with all of my secrets…

Was Malik the only person in his life he could really trust? Ryou bit his lower lip, doe-brown eyes looking at the note on the floor, folded in quarters with the name 'Bakura' written in Anzu's writing. It sure felt like it at times.

Raising his gaze to the regulation white clock above the whiteboard, Ryou bit back a cry of despair. Why was time going past so slowly? There was still forty-five minutes of the period left. He lowered his head to the desk with a slight thump, ignoring the handful of concerned eyes gazing his way momentarily.

I just want this horrible day to end.

Bakura groaned, rubbing at his head as he dragged himself out of unconsciousness. What a fucking headache. He complained to himself, wincing as a ray of sunlight shone in his face. Fuck.

He was hung-over. Brilliant. Muttering a few curses under his breath, Bakura pulled himself into a sitting position, glaring at the chaotic living room with blood-shot eyes. Running a hand through his tousled hair, the demon leaned into the soft back of the sofa, closing his eyes against the bright sunlight.

Hm. Maybe drinking like that wasn't such a good idea. In his defense, Bakura rarely drank that much at once. He only binge-drank once, maybe twice a month. As soothing and relaxing the warm, fuzzy feeling of emptiness he bathed in was, the pounding headache and extreme nausea he experienced the next day didn't make it worth it.

Finally, Bakura opened his crimson-brown eyes, rubbing at them with a fist for a moment before he was able to properly focus on his surroundings. A quick glance at the clock told him that it was early afternoon, and the silence of the apartment meant Ryou must have been in school. He'll be in trouble if he's not. The demon snarled mentally, before wobbling in a standing position, a hand to his forehead. Fuck…

Kicking aside the empty bottles of alcohol, Bakura let out a long sigh as he remembered what happened that night- Memories no amount of alcohol would be able to erase. Shit. He'd told Ryou that his love was false, and the way he reacted… Bakura had no idea that his lies were affecting his host that much. He couldn't wait until the brat got home and he could torment him some more. He was such a sadist.

Ryou sighed to himself, his shoulders sagging as he surveyed the scene before him. Beer bottles still lay scattered around the floor, the T.V was blaring, and the kitchen looked as if Bakura had cooked (and actually eaten) some greasy hang-over food.

"B-Bakura-sama?" Ryou called out tentatively, peering around. "A-Are you here?" No response. The light bit his lip, opening the door to his room, where he found Bakura spread-eagled on the bed, snoring. "O-Oh." Ryou gently placed his schoolbag by the door, shutting it silently as he headed into the kitchen. He felt like crying when he gazed at the mess that was strewn around the small apartment. It was going to take hours to clean it all up. And he had a heck of a lot of homework to do as well.

Ryou actually did cry when he saw the state his frying-pan was in. Fat, grease, and other unidentifiable bits of unhealthy food were crusted hard to the dish, almost a centimeter thick. The light wiped hastily at his eyes before stacking the dishes beside the sink and running the hot water. Ryou idly wondered if he would have enough time to write his history paper, finish off the questions for Biology, and solve those Math equations after he cleaned up this mess. Why the hell did he bother?

"Ugh."

Trying to sleep off a hangover didn't work. Bakura moaned, rubbing at his eyes before pulling himself into a sitting position. That thumping headache had returned at a full force, and it was driving him crazy. He almost considered lying back on the bed in defeat, but the growling in his stomach told him otherwise. The alarm clock beside the bed showed the demon 7:23, so Ryou was bound to have something ready by now.

"Hey!" Bakura called harshly, heading into the small living room. "You better have- What the fuck?" He pulled up short in his walk. "Oh?" A strange look crossed his face. Ryou was hunched over the sink, his hair falling over his face as he scrubbed desperately in the metal bowl. "Ryou?" It was a few seconds before he realized that the teenager was crying. "Ohh…"

"What?" Ryou sniffed, pausing in his scrubbing to wipe at his eyes. "Look, I'm sorry I haven't cooked anything for you yet but I've been so busy cleaning up…" He swallowed a sob. "I-It's this stupid pan! I've let it soak for two hours, and I've been scrubbing for ages and the grease still won't come off…" Ryou burst into tears, his face in his hands. "What the hell is wrong with me?" He moaned tearfully. "I-I-I…"

"Stop crying." Bakura commanded, taking a few steps towards the light. "Come on Ryou, stop crying." The light shook his head, leaning against the kitchen counter as he sobbed, his shoulders heaving. "Ryou!" His face contorted in anger as he hit the whitenette hard across the face. The light's crying stopped abruptly, one hand on his cheek as he gazed at Bakura with big accusing eyes.

"I-I'm sorry." Ryou said in a meek, tiny voice. "I-I'm just really upset and stressed out right now." He sniffed, rubbing at his eyes. "I just want this day to end." He moaned, choking back a sob.

"Look." Bakura snarled, his teeth gritted as he glared at the light. "I am sick and tired of your constant complaining. I'm hungry, and unless you want to try and cook a meal with broken fingers, I suggest you cook something." Ryou nodded wordlessly, his eyes wide in fright, still glistening with tears. "Good." The demon muttered contemptuously. "Now. I'm going to go and watch T.V. When I come back in twenty minutes, you better have something ready, or you'll regret it." Without a further word, Bakura turned and stomped out of the kitchen.

"What are you going to do?" Ryou muttered under his breath, scrubbing angrily at the pan. "I'm not scared of you Bakura." He whispered. "For all your threats, you wouldn't hurt me. Oh no, you need me to cook and clean and be your bloody slave." Ryou threw down the scrubbing brush, his head in his hands as he leaned his elbows on the table. "I can't do this anymore." The light moaned, struggling to blink away the tears that gathered in the back of his eyes. "I just can't."

"It's on the table." Ryou muttered, slumping into the snowy sofa, closing his eyes. "I need a rest…" Bakura rolled his eyes.

"Stop fishing for sympathy." The spirit snarled, glaring at Ryou before heading to the table, sitting down in front of the meat and rice. The light said nothing, burying his head in the arm of the sofa miserably. Although it was only eight O'clock, Ryou felt exhausted, like he could go to sleep curled up on the couch. But he couldn't. Not when he had so much homework waiting for him. It took a few minutes, but finally Ryou managed to stumble into his room, grab his schoolbag, and collapse back on to the white comfort of his sofa, leaning into the headrest. It was probably best to get started before he fell asleep, with the easiest thing first: Biology. It was dead simple, fortunately for Ryou. Just a few questions on viruses and diseases. Bakura chewed thoughtfully on his food while Ryou set up his textbook and science book, muttering under his breath as he tapped his pencil against his chin in thought.

"You know." Ryou said idly, chewing on the end of his pencil. "You do remind me a lot of a virus, Bakura-sama." The yami frowned, shooting a glare over at Ryou. "Well…" The light sighed. "A virus will take over a host cell, and feed off of them, placing their own DNA inside the cell, until the host cell dies, and they move on to the next. That's what you do, yami-sama. You've taken over me, put a part of you inside of me, and now you're waiting for me to die so you can infect someone else." Ryou bit his lip, looking down at his paper. "I bet that everyone you've taken over in the past hasn't lasted as long as I have. It's been years hasn't it? And through it all, I haven't died. You got sick of waiting, so you tried to move on to someone else, but I didn't let you. If you want to be rid of me so much, why don't you just kill me?" The light looked Bakura straight in the eye, a strange look on his face. The demon was wordless, struggling to keep a straight face as he glared at Ryou. Where the hell had all of this come from? Ryou was right, every word he said was right. People he'd possessed in the past barely lived longer than a few months before he broke them down, and yet Ryou, this child, had managed to hold out for years.

"I'm not through with you yet." Bakura finally snarled, narrowing his bloody-brown eyes. "Besides. How do you know I'm not trying to push you towards suicide?" He added, a smirk on his lips.

"Because you know I could never kill myself." Ryou said softly, lowering his gaze to the ground. "Aside from the fact that I can't even pull off a band-aid, I wouldn't want to die like that. If I really had to die, I'd rather die at your hands than at my own." He added, closing his eyes momentarily.

"Shut up." Bakura spat angrily, his hands clenched into fists. "You don't know nothing Ryou! You are nothing! Just a stupid pathetic parasite! You have nothing to your name, not even a body!"

"But yami-sama." Ryou said calmly, a strange look on his face. He's going to pound me for this. "Isn't it you that is the parasite? You're living off of me, not the other way around. Without me, you wouldn't even have a body. All you would be is a jailed spirit. Without me you wouldn't exist."

"Listen you." Bakura breathed in a low, dangerous voice, jumping out of his chair to grab Ryou's collar. "I'm getting sick and tired of you being so fucking smart. New rule. From now on, you aren't allowed to speak, unless I speak to you. Understand?" Ryou's eyes widened in shock, his chin trembling.

"N-No." the light shook his head from side to side slowly. "Y-You can't do that, I-I won't let you!" Ryou continued angrily, setting his teeth. "You cannot limit my speech!"

"Yes I can!" Bakura yelled, slamming Ryou hard into the wall, ignoring his soft cry of protest. "Unless you've forgotten Ryou, I own you. Everything you have, everything you are belongs to me. And If I tell you to not say a word unless you're spoken to, then you will not say a word unless someone speaks to you. Understand?" He finished, his voice low and dangerous, each syllable dripping with venom.

"Y-Yes." Ryou gave in, slumped uselessly against the yami's hold. "I-I understand yami-sama…"

"Good." Bakura smiled, his tone changing instantly as he released the shaking teen, patting him absentmindedly on the head. "Now go do your homework like a good boy. And after that, there's the dishes to be done and a pile of washing in the bathroom." With a self-satisfied smirk, the demon left the boy, heading into his bedroom.

"Oh yes, Bakura-sama." Ryou muttered angrily, straightening the collar of his shirt. "I would absolutely hate to displease my oh-so-generous master." He added sarcastically under his breath, glaring vehemently at his biology homework. "Stupid virus work. Why the hell did I have to open my bloody mouth?"

Bakura growled under his breath as he paced the floor of the small living room not unlike a caged lion. Oh, Ryou was so incredibly dead for this. It was almost five, and The stupid brat wasn't home yet. He hadn't called, left a note or anything. By the time the spirit was finished with him, Ryou was lucky if he didn't need a wheelchair.

He paused, his fine-tuned ears picking up the sound of a set of tentative footsteps making their way across the hallway. Far too light to belong to the fat man who lived across them, and too regular to be the aging spinster who resided in the apartment to his left. Ryou.

"Where the hell were you?" Bakura spat venomously, glaring daggers at the trembling light as soon as he walked through the door. "Look at the fucking time Ryou, look how late you are!" The light opened his mouth, thought better of it, and closed it again, wide brown eyes fixed on the yami in fear. "All right, where the hell were you!"

"A-At Orchestra." Ryou whispered in a tiny, afraid voice, raising the case in his hands for confirmation. "I-I have it every Wednesday…"

"And who said you could go?" Bakura raged, his hands clenched into fists. "And you could have at least told me where you were going!"

"I had the case with me!" Ryou protested. "Y-You were the one who told me to join-" He let out a gasp as Bakura hit him hard across the face, resisting the urge to hold a hand to his cheek.

"I didn't say you could talk." Bakura seethed, eyes narrowed. "Goddamn, why are you so fucking stupid Ryou!"

"I'm not stupid!" The light blurted out before he could stop himself. "Don't keep saying that, because I'm not. I'm smart, Bakura. Smart enough to be two steps ahead of you most of the time!" Ryou gasped, eyes widening as he just realized what he had said.

"What."

"I-I m-mean, I-I-I"

"What did you say to me?"

"O-oh n-no, Oh-oh g-gosh, I-I didn't m-mean it B-Bakura-sama." Ryou pleaded, tears prickling his eyes. "I-I"

"You're going to pay for your insolence, you stupid little brat."

"NO!" Ryou screamed, ducking under the yami's arm as he made a leap for the door, but was too late. Bakura grabbed the back of the lights school jersey, pulling him to his chest, Ryou crying and struggling against his hold.

"Not so smart are you?" Bakura hissed venomously in the teenagers ear. Ryou shook his head weakly, still fighting the demon half-heartedly.

"P-P-Please." Ryou moaned, squirming in the yami's grasp. "I-I'm sorry, B-Bakura-sama, I-I'm so sorry…"

"Too fucking bad." Bakura hissed, shoving Ryou into the wall, his clawlike fingers holding the light forcefully. "You shouldn't have broken two of my rules like that. You know what you get for breaking one of my rules, don't you?"

"I-I g-get punished." Ryou whispered, closing his eyes tightly so he wouldn't have to look at the yami. "P-P-Please, I didn't m-mean t-to s-say it, i-it just c-came out…"

"Are you hungry, Ryou?" The question came suddenly, unexpectedly, and Ryou was caught of guard, eyes wide in shock and surprise.

"Wh-what?" He stammered, his chin trembling. "N-No, I-I had a-a big lu-lunch…" Bakura growled, his crimson orbs narrowed in sadism.

"You will be." The demon spat, a smirk forming on his lips. "Because Ryou, as of now, you have just lost all food privileges. That includes time when you're at school, Malik's, or anywhere else that isn't here. You don't eat unless I say so." Tears filled Ryou's eyes.

"N-No!" He sobbed, struggling weakly against the yami's strong grasp. "Y-You can't d-do that! It's not a privilege to eat, it's a right as a human being! You c-can't d-do this!"

"Firstly," Bakura growled in a low, dangerous voice, his nose barely an inch from Ryou's as he glared into wet chocolate eyes. "You spoke without me allowing you to. You'll pay for that, Ryou, trust me. And secondly, I own you, and I can do whatever the fuck I like, and there's not a thing you can do about it. So get used to it Ryou." He snarled, eyes like narrowed ruby slits as he glared at Ryou for a moment, before letting the light go, Ryou sliding down to the floor in numb shock. He can't do this to me. He can't let me just starve to death or something, he can't do this...

He can't do this.

R&R?