Disclaimer: Yuugiou (Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters) is the property of Takahashi Kazuki and respective publishers, including Shueisha, Studio Gallop, Nihon Ad Systems, Toei Animation, 4Kids, and others. I would never claim to own it or attempt to make money off of it- just think of this as a written, free doujinshi and hopefully we'll get along fine ;)

Illusory Meeting

He was being watched.

It was clearly evident, from the sensation of eyes on him, the prickling on the back of his neck, the charged air…all of it contributed to a general sense of paranoia and heightened wariness. Ryou shivered, but tried not to give into temptation and look around the room, instead keeping his eyes steady on the game board. It was probably just the spirit, whose presence he really should be used to by now.

Maybe that monster could go there, or maybe-

Ryou's hand faltered as the sensation intensified, a heavy fog that weighed his body down. He sighed and placed the monster down more carefully. Strange, to think that he once might have enjoyed a feeling like this, taken thrill in the terror…but then, encountering real spirits and finding how dangerous they could be did damper one's enthusiasm for the occult. Ryou thought he was a bit odd, maybe, but not insane enough to find this fun.

When he heard the sound of footsteps, echoing too oddly to actually be real, he tensed, but did his best to look calm while he recorded the location of the new monster. What had Yuugi-kun's move been before while in this area? He might try to combat it…it wasn't like they were going to have the chance to play Monster World together again any time soon, so it couldn't really hurt to think about how to win a game that might never happen.

Maybe it was…but no, there was nothing to make the sound an echo first and echo then even more quietly in his ears. It was creepy but unrealistic, like something out of a horror show, and his apartment was silent otherwise. It didn't make much sense for the spirit to be playing a game like this, but he couldn't think of any other option that made sense either.

Suddenly the footsteps stopped, and it wasn't just a vague presence but the feel of someone directly behind him, body-heat and all. Ryou's next breath was a gasp, though he tried to keep quiet. The spirit had never been physically near him before- usually he just took over Ryou's body as he wanted, with Ryou none the wiser until he woke up far from where he last remembered being. So…what should he do about this?

A moment later a hand came into his view, reaching over his shoulder to pick up a monster from the board. It was dark, and the arm covered in gold…he didn't think it was the spirit. Ryou rose from his seat and turned around hurriedly to meet the gaze of this intruder.

For a moment he simply stared. Ryou wasn't really one to talk, but the man's looks were very strange: dark skin clashing against pale blond hair, blank violet eyes deeply lined in kohl, and what looked like very old gold ornaments alongside a lavender shirt, of all things… In one hand he held the figurine at eye-level, while in the other he held a golden staff with seemingly sharp edges, dangling loosely below his waist.

All in all, the man looked dangerous, and Ryou stepped away from him, moving along the edge of the table. "Who are you? How did you get in here?"

The man's eyes focused on Ryou as he spoke, voice deep but tone light. "More easily than you could get out, I'm sure."

"What do you mean?"

The man chuckled now. "Look around you. Do you know of an exit?"

Ryou looked, and shook his head lightly, trying to ignore the way his heartbeat quickened. What had happened to his game room? The lights had vanished, the whole room cast in shadows, with the lightest parts of the far walls turned a deep crimson like drying blood. "What happened? Is…is this some sort of dream?"

"Your surroundings might be, but I am not," the man said, and suddenly he moved, sweeping past the table and dropping the monster onto the board, stopping less than a foot from Ryou before he could so much as blink. The man smiled, though it was more of a smirk, cool and condescending like his voice. "So you're Bakura's host, are you?"

Ryou frowned. "Bakura? But that's my name, not the spirit's."

Now the man chuckled. "Oh, so he's stolen your name as well as your body?"

Ryou was scowling now. He always tried his best to be polite to others, but he didn't feel badly for glaring at someone who obviously found his situation entertaining.

He jumped when the man leant forwards, making it so that their faces were only a short distance apart. "Ah, now you look more like Bakura," he said, voice an odd combination of detached and amused, and his expression could almost be called a smile without the statement being a complete lie. "I doubt you're as good at threats, though." Taking Ryou's chin in his hand, he continued, "Are you, Exterior Bakura?"

The whole exchange was leaving Ryou flustered. He wasn't used to being so close to another person, and to be touched like this…it was embarrassing, and he was very aware of the blush that was forming on his face. He was even more aware of the feeling of fingers on his skin, less uncomfortable than it really had a right to be, and he tried to pull away, only to find that he'd been backed up against the table. "Er…please, could you let go?"

It was a stupid request given the circumstances, and the man clearly thought so as well. "You look less like him every second. Are you really this weak?"

Again Ryou tried to pull away, pushing the man's hand away from him, but the man simply stepped closer in order to block him. He took hold of Ryou's wrist, grip tight. "Do you intend to fight back properly now?"

"Malik! Stop bothering yadonushi!" the spirit's voice called out, surprisingly intense…and maybe even angry? It was hard to tell. A moment later he appeared behind Ryou (what had he done, made the table vanish? Ryou's game plan would probably be ruined!), and put his arms around him lightly, looking over Ryou's shoulder at the man he called Malik.

Malik didn't let go of Ryou's wrist, though, and turned his gaze to the spirit. "Hmm? Is he your landlord or your host, Bakura? If it's the former, I don't see much in the way of payment going on."

"He didn't much like the payment Ore-sama gave him, that's all," the spirit said, brash voice now ringing with an amusement to match that of the other man.

Malik's eyes flitted to Ryou's face for a moment, but he turned his attention back to the spirit quickly. "I do hope you do better with your current payment, then."

"Of course, of course."

Ryou had tensed even more, practically frozen on the spot, uncertain of just what he should be doing or how to react. He'd never been in close contact with the spirit like this before… And who was this man called Malik who seemed to have some sort of arrangement with him? The way they spoke about and around him, as if he was merely some sort of vaguely entertaining obstacle, was nerve-wracking.

"What's going on?" Ryou blurted out, and blanched as Malik's gaze focused on him.

Malik looked him over, and it was disturbing, how detached his interest seemed. "Things which don't concern you, Exterior Bakura."

"My body is being used in this plan of yours, isn't it?"

The spirit chuckled, grip tightening, but it was Malik who spoke. "Correct." Smirking, he released Ryou's wrist, only to run his hand up Ryou's arm, stopping just below the shoulder. "Bakura's ability to assume your guise has been…useful."

At that Malik pressed down, and Ryou's breath came sharply as his upper arm suddenly began to throb. "What…" He looked down and saw bandages, blood staining them over the wound. He'd been hurt? It seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn't be certain. He'd thought that all of this was real at first too, but it was starting to feel more like a nightmare which the spirit had decided to invade. "When did this happen?"

It was the spirit who spoke now, his voice low and, as always, amused. "Not long ago. Don't worry, yadonushi, it will probably have healed by the time you become conscious again. So? Is that all right?"

"No…"

"Oh? Too bad." Ryou's back went cold, and it took him a moment to realize that it was because the spirit had released him. He stood, dazed for a moment, and when he looked around again the spirit was by the doorway, smirking in his direction. "Now, Malik, there's business to discuss!"

"Aa." Malik's hand brushed over Ryou's injury again, and he looked to Ryou; his expression, while not kind, was probably the least malicious it had been since his arrival. "Meeting you was entertaining, Exterior Bakura." With that he turned away, leaving the room along with the spirit.

As their images vanished through the doorway and the light slowly began to return, Ryou tried to catch his breath. Turning around, he saw that the table and board had been returned. Even the wound had vanished, only phantom pain to remind him of its former presence.

Had any of that been real? Ryou wasn't sure anymore which was the fake. It was…well, the sort of thing he would have found thrilling back before he'd had to worry about people being killed because of the spirit. It wasn't thrilling now, though. Not at all.

Shaking his head and still trying to calm his racing heart, Ryou returned to his previous work of setting up the board.

AN:

After having looked yadonushi up in the dictionary, run searches on the separate kanji and the word's components…well, as far as I can tell, both 'host' and 'landlord' are valid interpretations of the word, both with similar meaning behind them. Though the term for 'host' with parasitic implications is, I believe, shukushu, a different reading of the same kanji. Ore-sama is the pronoun Bakura uses to refer to himself, with the honorific added for extra arrogance.