Fragileshipping (Bakura Ryo/Yami no Yugi)

. . .

He looked sick. Sunken cheeks, dark circles under his eyes, a dull cast to his normally pale green eyes. But he had smiled anyway, waved away the "are you okay"s, mumbled something about staying up too late working on his DnD campaign, what a silly nerd he was, right?

Yami no Yugi wasn't buying it.

Ryo jumped when Yami no Yugi pressed his hand to the top of his desk, leaning down so that his face was inches from Ryo's. Ryo leaned back, half smiling, clearly confused.

"Um...other Yugi, right?" he said. "Um...you're a little close, there."

"Are you all right?" Yami no Yugi demanded.

"Wha...oh, of course! I just said, I spent too late on my campaign—"

"Bakura," Yami no Yugi said, and maybe it was the soft, firm way he said it, but Ryo stopped all at once, and his happy smile started to slide slowly off his face.

That was the the last straw.

Yami no Yugi grabbed Ryo's hand.

"Y-Yugi? What are you?"

"You. With me. Right now."

"Yugi, class is about to start—"

Yami no Yugi didn't listen, dragging Ryo up and off his seat and marching him down the aisle. Everyone looked up at the motion, all the little groups of kids chatting before class started quieted just a bit to look up at Yami no Yugi half dragging Ryo past all of the desks and towards the door. It slid open before they got there, and the teacher started through—he paused, however, blinking with surprise at the sight of Yami no Yugi marching towards him.

"Mutou-san, is there something—"

"Bakura needs to go to the nurse's office," Yami no Yugi said. "I'm taking him there."

"Y-Yugi, no, it's okay—"

But Yami no Yugi didn't wait for an answer for the teacher, or for anymore protests from Ryo. He just continued to drag the boy through the door and down the hall. For his part, Ryo didn't actually fight him, he just kept mumbling that he was fine, it was okay, this was unnecessary.

Yami no Yugi didn't listen or respond until they had reached the nurse's office, and he pulled the door open. The nurse's head jumped up at the sound.

"Oh, Mutou-kun, Bakura-kun, is something wrong?"

"Bakura is feeling sick," Yami no Yugi said. "He needs to lie down."

"N-no, Yugi..."

"Oh, of course," the nurse said, smiling. "How kind of you to accompany your friend here! The bed isn't being used right now, you can go right ahead, Bakura-kun."

Yami no Yugi sent her a brief, bland smile in gratitude, and then continued to pull Bakura towards the back of the room.

Ryo protested again as Yami no Yugi pushed him down.

"Go to sleep," Yami no Yugi said.

"Yugi, I don't—I'm okay—"

Yami no Yugi just pushed one finger against Ryo's forehead to push him down, then pulled the covers over him before he could protest.

"Yugi..." Ryo said.

Yami no Yugi just crossed his arms, frowning.

"You haven't been sleeping for days," he said. "Don't think I didn't notice."

Ryo flushed a bright red. He ducked his head against the covers, pulling them slightly over his cheeks. Yami no Yugi let his gaze soften, and he let out a sigh.

"What's wrong?" he whispered.

Ryo didn't answer for a long moment.

"...nightmares," he finally whispered. "I don't want to have them. So I don't go to sleep."

Yami no Yugi huffed. Then he grabbed a chair and slid it towards the bed, sitting down next to Ryo. He took Ryo's hand in his, and Ryo flushed a deeper red.

"Go to sleep," Yami no Yugi said, softly. "I'll be right here this time. I'll fight the nightmares."

"You sound like a mom," Ryo mumbled.

Yami no Yugi's mouth quirked up in a smile.

"A regular mom can't actually back up that statement," he said. "Seriously. Go to sleep. And if it gets bad in there..."

He moved Ryo's hand so that it was resting on top of the Puzzle. Ryo's fingers curled up slightly at the cold metal, but he didn't drag his hand away.

"...call for me," Yami no Yugi said. "And I swear this: with the power that I have, I'll protect you."

Ryo's eyes drew up to Yami no Yugi. For a moment, it looked like he was going to burst out into tears.

"Why?" he whispered.

Yami no Yugi only smiled.

"Because you're my friend," he said. "And friends protect each other."

Ryo's eyes closed, and tears squeezed out between the eyelashes. His fingers tightened around the Puzzle as Yami no Yugi moved both his hands on top of Ryo's.

"Go to sleep," Yami no Yugi said again.

"Okay," Ryo whispered.

. . .

A/N: THIS IS CUTE MORE PEOPLE SHOULD SHIP THIS! Next will be Fractureshipping (Thief King Bakura x Yami Marik x Yami Bakura x Ryo x Marik)