Heads Up: This is emotional/intense. If you are not good with that, I advise that you don't read the following story.
Morning Magic
Ryou was standing by the window of his room when something was amiss. He felt a strange sensation. At first, it felt like a strong pulse in his stomach; only minor discomfort.
He looked at the time. 10:03 in the morning. How long had he been staying in his room?
Then, the discomfort changed. It felt like something trying to open from inside him. Yet the last time he felt such a way was...no, it can't be. The spirit taking over wasn't like that anymore.
The feeling intensified, making Ryou sit in the nearby corner, arms wrapped around his waist, trying to keep from losing control.
Seto looked at the time. It was quite late for Ryou to still be in his room. He walked to his boyfriend's door and opened it, not expecting to see Ryou in the opposite corner. He had such a strained expression.
Seto immediately walked over and crouched in front of Ryou, his expression filled with concern. "Is it him?"
Ryou couldn't talk. He was too focused on the struggle he felt within.
The lack of reply was enough for Seto to know that the situation at hand was a matter of possession. He placed his hands on Ryou's shoulders, grounding him. In addition, he looked at Ryou in the eyes.
"Everything is fine, Ryou. Just look at me."
Ryou opened his eyes and looked at Seto. The boy was scared, his eyes tearing up.
"I'm right here. Focus on me."
As he brought his attention more towards Seto and the feel of the weight of his hands on his shoulders, he could sense the spirit trying harder to seize control.
Seto could see Ryou's expression fluctuate between being more relaxed and showing his struggle. It was like the spirit was spiking efforts in possessing Ryou. Regardless, he had to keep helping Ryou.
"You can do it, Ryou. I know you're stronger than him."
Keeping the spirit's control from fully taking over used up a lot of strength from Ryou, so much so that he made the mistakes of relinquishing his effort to collect his strength for only a split second.
But the entity was persistent and exploited the moment of weakness to possess as much of the boy's body as he could before, like hitting a bruise, the body tensed back up quickly and continued its resistance.
As the spirit took hold, he felt like his throat was closing up, though he could breathe, he couldn't feel himself breathing. His vision went dark, barely able to make out Seto's face. His body trembled in fear.
Seto watched as his boyfriend's body relaxed, tensed, tremble, and his eyes become unfocused. Ryou was losing.
"Ryou? Ryou...I know it's hard, but if there is anything to focus on, let it be my voice. You can do it. You're strong, Ryou."
Tears rolled down Ryou's cheeks. "Can't breathe...can't see…"
"It's okay. You are breathing. Just focus on me."
Ryou felt like focusing on Seto, even if it was just his voice, was becoming a nearly impossible task. He felt compelled to fight against the spirit so he wouldn't be controlled and hurt his friends and, more specifically, Seto and Mokuba. How was focusing on Seto going to fight the Spirit of the Millennium Ring?
"Ryou…" Seto brought his left hand to Ryou's cheek and caressed it. "Can you feel this?"
Ryou put his hand over Seto's and nodded. The active touch was a little easier to focus on.
With a series of encouraging words and acts of suppression, Ryou gradually resumed control. When he could see Seto again, he nearly let his guard back down, but Seto knew that he was making great progress.
Then after what felt like forever, the attacking sensation he felt subsided. As it did, a flood of emotion came over Ryou. Seto pulled Ryou into a hug and every one of Ryou's muscles relaxed in utter exhaustion.
"I was so scared." He said as he cried.
"It's okay. You did great. I'm so proud of you."
Ryou nuzzled his face a little into Seto's chest. "Let's be proud...of us."