Puffshipping (Jonouchi x Ryo)

Few people realized it, but Ryo was actually a very good cook. Living alone, he had to make do somehow. He could have settled for take-out and frozen food, but he didn't have enough to do at home as it was. The busier he kept himself, the less time he had to remember the bad memories. So he spent an extraordinary amount of time cooking. Finding new recipes became habit for him, and habit became hobby. Soon, cooking and Monster World were competing as his favorite pastime.

Of course, once he became closer with Yugi and the others, he didn't have as much alone time to fill anymore. And even the alone time stopped being as terrible. But that didn't stop him from enjoying cooking, possibly even more than before.

The doorbell rang, and Ryo looked up from where he was mixing batter. He wiped his hands on his apron and padded over to the door. His heart lightened significantly: Yami no Bakura had been gone for months, and all of the craziness was over. And now, he was having his friends over at his house for the first time since the Monster World fiasco.

He opened the door and found Jonouchi standing awkwardly outside.

"Hello, Jonouchi-kun," Ryo said, surprised.

"Hey, what's that look for?" Jonouchi said suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing. I'm just shocked that you're the first one here, that's all."

"Hey, I'm actually pretty good about being on time, believe or not."

Ryo opened the door all the way so that Jonouchi could come in. The lanky blond boy slipped off his shoes and stepped in. He glanced both ways, and up the hallway.

"Is something wrong?" Ryo asked, closing the door.

"Naw, nothing. I just wasn't sure what to expect, I guess. I couldn't really remember your house from the last time I was here."

"Oh, right," Ryo said. "Well, its not much to speak of, I guess."

Jonouchi shrugged.

"At least it's clean. Better than my place. We got beer bottles all over the place – and I'm pickin' 'em up every single day."

Ryo grimaced in sympathy. Then he caught a whiff of the kitchen and remember he had stuff in the oven.

"I have to get the food out of the oven," he said. "You can come along, if you want."

Jonouchi did so, following the white haired boy into the kitchen. The blond boy's face lit up at the smell of food.

"Damn, that smells good," he said. "I didn't know you were a chef, Ryo."

Ryo laughed a little.

"Well, I didn't know you could be on time," he said. "So I guess we're even."

He pulled the fish from the oven and set on the counter to cool. He turned around in time to see Jonouchi sneaking a fingerful of the cream. Ryo smacked him on the shoulder playfully with his oven mitt.

"Hey, don't get your germs in there," he said.

"It looked good," Jonouchi said sheepishly. "And it is! Really good. What is it?"

His face was so clueless that Ryo couldn't help but laugh.

"It's cream. For the cream puffs I'm making," he said.

"Cream puffs? Isn't that a little girly?"

"They were my sister's favorite," Ryo said offhandedly, returning to his batter.

Jonouchi was silent for a moment.

"Oh..." he said softly. "Sorry."

"Huh?" Ryo looked up. He suddenly realized that he had made Jonouchi feel guilty by bringing up his sister. "Oh, don't be sorry, Jonouchi-kun! I didn't mean to make you feel like that."

"No, but really, I am sorry," Jonouchi said. He turned slightly red. "It's just – I forget, sometimes, that you had a sister, ya know? And I don't know what I'd do without Shizuka. I feel bad sometimes, that's all, that I don't really notice stuff about you."

Ryo blinked at Jonouchi. He was surprised – he hadn't known Jonouchi had become so sensitive. Then Ryo smiled softly.

"Oh, stop frowning, it's fine," Ryo said. "Really. I'm getting better. I promise. And it's because of you, Yugi, Anzu, Honda, and everyone. Because you all stuck with me even when you weren't sure if my Yami half was the real Bakura or not."

Jonouchi rubbed the back of his neck, still looking a little miffed. Ryo laughed softly.

"Really. Stop frowning. You don't look right without that stupid smile on your face."

"What? My smile ain't stupid!"

Ryo laughed aloud this time, and even Jonouchi grinned a bit foolishly. Then he paused and looked around the kitchen.

"Hey, Ryo," Jonouchi said. "That nail on the wall. What's that for?"

"That? I don't know. I think the previous owners left it there."

"Good, so nothing goes there?"

"No. Why?"

Jonouchi reached into his bag and dug around for a little while. Then he pulled a thick frame from the depths of his book bag, turned around, and hung something on the wall.

"Yep," he said. "That looked like a good place for it."

"For what?" Ryo said.

He stepped around Jonouchi to see. Then he stopped, speechless for a moment.

Jonouchi had hung a picture frame on the wall. Ryo recognized the photo inside – it was a day not too long ago, when Anzu had insisted that they all squeeze into a photo booth together and try to take a picture. Honda had nearly fallen out, and the picture was almost blurry because they had been laughing and moving so much.

"I went and made a bunch of copies," Jonouchi said. "I was gonna wait until everybody else got here to give it to ya, but then I thought that this apartment of yours needs some cheerin' up right now. So, whaddya think?"

Ryo stared at the picture for a moment longer. Then he shook his head.

"Something wrong?" Jonouchi said anxiously.

Ryo laughed, and smiled brightly at Jonouchi.

"No, nothing's wrong," Ryo said. "In fact, I think everything's right."

A/N: Aw, wasn't that cute? Much better than stupid Puppyshipping. Next is Puddleshipping (Ryota x Kisara).