Title: Shadow Games

By: KuroSakura-chan

Summary: Three thousand years have past since the High Priest Set betrayed his lover, the Thief King Bakura. Seto Kaiba denies memories of being the High Priest, but he remembers all, especially when Bakura comes by. Desperation eventually leads the CEO into a confrontation, to which Bakura only smirks and replies with three words.

Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!

Genre: Romance, Angst, Drama,

Couples: Set/Thief King, Seto/Bakura, Malik/Otogi (or vice-versa, who knows?), Marik/Ryou,

Warnings: Yaoi, 1st Person, Flashbacks,

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!.

/He wraps an arm around me.../-flashback

Hold him...:Italics without the slashes-thoughts

-Bakura-

Look at the little twerp hide behind the Pharaoh!

Then again, if I were a midget being approached by a drunken and leering frat boy (which makes me wonder where Malik and Otogi found frat boys in Japan), I'd hide too. Though my present body is smaller than my past body, I'm no midget, and I can stand up for myself. Ryou, on the other hand, cannot, but that's why he has Marik and I.

I cast my eyes around, looking for Seto. I lost him somewhere around Drink No. 12, and I forgot to find him again. He's been drinking more tonight than I'm used to seeing him drink, though I've been so deep into the drink tonight that I could be imagining things. Really, I haven't been this out of it from drinking in years. How the hell Malik managed to get this stuff is beyond me, because I thought it died with most of Ancient Egypt. Maybe the Grave Keepers kept it alive like they kept the memory of the Pharaoh alive...?

Maybe that's why Seto's been drinking so much...Set loved it.

/Set's eyes light up at the taste of the drink. "What is this, Bakura? I've never had something so delicious..."

I laugh. "So your precious palace cannot compare to the Drink of the People? I knew it."

"Is that really what this is called?" Set asks, and I realize how far into his defenses I've actually broken. He looks and sounds innocent, naïve, call it what you will, but he is most definitely not the Priest I first approached. It occurs to me that I've stolen something far more precious than the Pharaoh's life from the palace...I've managed to steal Set's heart.

"Of course that's not what it's called. I won't tell you what its name is though, because if you order it, then the Pharaoh will wonder where you knew of it from, and then we'll be in a load of trouble." I say, grinning at his scowl, though I can't be sure of what it's from. It could be from the mention of the Pharaoh, the fact that I won't tell him something he wants to know, or the fact that I'm putting doubt on his abilities to keep us a secret. I guess it doesn't really matter, though./

Hahah...Found him.

Seto's over by the table, holding a conversation with...someone. Either I'm far too drunk to remember their name, or I've never met them. There's a high chance of either being true, but the reason doesn't really matter. All that matters is that I make my way from where I am to where he is.

I begin my trek to Seto, only to find my way blocked by a large shape. Damn Ryou's small body. And I should probably be damning his prettiness too, considering the drunken leer I'm receiving. Ra, is this guy really this stupid? I know I look dangerous, so why isn't he cowering in fear? Damn alcohol...No, I take that back. I like alcohol.

I tilt my head to the side, then wish I hadn't as my vision swims, and I know that when Ryou does it, it looks cute. On me, it probably looks sexy. I refuse to acknowledge the thought that I might look 'cute.' Seto nearly got stabbed for saying I was cute once, so there's no way that anyone else could survive describing me with that word.

The leer I'm on the receiving end of goes nowhere, despite the scary look I'm shooting at this guy. I'm getting annoyed with having to look up at him-I only do that with Seto-and I'm contemplating kicking him in the balls so that I will be looking down at him. I would be entertained, as would anyone else watching. I know this because my friends are entertained by things like that, and because drunken frat boys tend to enjoy seeing their own caused pain for stupidity. Though, they are all guilty of committing stupid actions while at parties. All the same, it would entertain them to see this guy get his ass kicked by little 'ole me.

"You know..." I say, one of my hands reaching for the knife in my pocket. I don't need it, but I'd rather not waste my energy on beating the hell out of this guy when there are far more fun things to do with energy. Like sex with Seto. Hey, that'd be a cool title for a show or something. Too bad I don't share. "I have a knife..." I've only recently realized that everything I say while I am drinking comes out in a sexy purr. Probably not the best thing.

"Yeah? I've got one too. Wanna see?" The drunk leans closer, and I feel my eye twitch. Of course he'd find the innuendo in that. I can't believe I actually said something with that blatant of an innuendo.

I open my mouth to reply with a sarcastic comment before stabbing him, but I'm beat to the punch. "I've always found that guns are far more useful." Seto's voice is standing somewhere vaguely to my left, and I turn to see that he had relocated himself there during my encounter with this fucktard. Wow. Seto has magic teleporting powers now. Cool. "Or you're just too drunk to realize I walked over here." Seto says, turning to me, one of his arms suddenly around my waist. When had that gotten there? And had I said that aloud? Maybe I am too drunk.

"Hey, I was talkin' to him!" The idiot says, grabbing Seto's arm. Oooh, not a good choice.

Seto snarls and uses the arm the idiot is holding to throw him off balance. That's a move I taught him. Use their own weight against them, their grip will always throw them off. I'm proud that Seto remembers it. "Come near him again, and it will be the last thing you do." Oh, those were familiar words.

/I watch as Set is cornered by several of the thieves, though they always go after him one at a time. They probably realize that I'll interfere if I think they're ganging up on him. I don't think they realize that I know they're berating him, testing his loyalty to me. Making sure he'll stay quiet about all he's seen. Of course he won't say anything. He's learned by now that the Pharaoh is misusing his power and abusing the people. Set's always been about the people. It's why he studied to become a priest in the first place. Then again, he was born into a high class, but that doesn't really matter in the long run.

My eyes narrow as one of the thieves stays longer than necessary. There is something predatory in his stance as he leans closer to Set. In my mind, I've already thought of several creative deaths for this thief, Adjo, most of which end with his body, live or dead, being tossed into the desert for the scorpions to eat.

Argh, does Seto not realize that Adjo plans to bed him? How does he miss this? He simply continues speaking with Adjo over whatever it is that has them speaking so long, and I feel a full body twitch coming on. I do not allow the twitch to overcome me, considering that showing weakness in front of these jackals could end in someone attempting to usurp my position as Thief King. They should know better by now, but they don't. Some people never learn.

I can no longer stop myself from interfering as Adjo reaches forward to touch Set. I am behind him, no sound betraying my presence. The only ways Adjo realizes I'm there are the slight widening of Set's eyes and the cold metal of my dagger pressing against his throat. "I do not tolerate people playing with my toys, Adjo..." I say quietly. Quietly enough that Set will never hear. If he heard me refer to him as a toy, he'd be hurt, if not heartbroken. "Come near him again, and it will be the last thing you do."/

Adjo had never approached Set after that, and none of the other thieves did either. Word got around, I suppose. Then again, I was known for killing for less, so it was just as well.

Seto leads me away from the drunk bastard, and I cannot help but look back and stick my tongue out at him, my middle finger joining the fray. Malik and Otogi laugh, having seen the encounter, and Marik glances over at them drunkenly. Ryou looks miffed about something, but I'm too drunk to really care. As long as no one made any passes at him, he was fine to take care of himself.

Seto sits me down in a chair, ignoring my protests and my desires for another drink. Normally he didn't care how much I drank, as long as I was still coherent. Apparently, I didn't properly deal with my drunken leer-er problem, and he was cutting me off. Damn.

The next thing I know, I'm waking up in Seto's bed. When the hell had I gotten here? And what the hell was my stuff doing in here? Wasn't it all upstairs? In the room that Seto hadn't known I'd taken over? ...Oh, right. He knows now.

...Hah, got into his room and I didn't even have to ask to move in. I rock at getting what I want.

Next Chapter:

-Seto-

A/N: Hey, any of you out there Gundam Wing fans? Let me know. And I'm sorry for the late update, considering it's been awhile. It's not that I ignore you, it's that I'm easily distracted, so I can't really work on one thing for more than an hour at a time. Anyway, R&R, please?