Summary: Post YGOTAS Timeline; Ryou has been sent to a faraway boarding school, only to find that the entire school is being experimented on by some government group. Just as he's about to give into despair that his life is ruined, he makes an unlikely partnership with the last person he ever expected to see.

WARNING: This story is rated M for mature themes involving scientific experimentation, sexual themes, attempted rape, violence, adventure, suspense, humor, plot development, and steamy lemons. Not all at once, and not over the top, but definitely in there. Please read with discretion.

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! and all of its characters © Kazuki Takahashi. This is a fan fiction, and no money is being made off of this story. Please support the original artist.

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Chapter Three

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When he woke, Ryou had a brief moment of relief wash over him. It felt like he was on his bed, staring at his ceiling, as if none of that had happened. But all too soon, he found his mind becoming alerted to the hypersensitive state of his body.

Whatever drug they had given him was still in effect. He felt weak, hot, frustrated and unsatisfied, and wasn't sure that he had the strength to even deal with himself. Just what kind of aphrodisiac IS this? A chemical weapon? He groaned, throwing an arm over his eyes weakly.

"So, you're finally awake," a familiar voice said. His tone was amused, and taunting. And it sounded like a deeper version of Marik's voice.

Ryou pulled his arm away, propping himself up in surprise. The action made him dizzy, but he ignored that. He just stared, mouth open, eyes fuzzy, at the tan-skinned teenager sitting on the desk chair across from the bed he was lying on. It was only then that he realized this wasn't his room. "Y...you!" Ryou blurted. "You're…. Melvin?"

Melvin grinned widely at Ryou's face, holding out his hands and giving him a sarcastic slow clap. "What a smart cookie," he sneered.

"Aren't you dead?" Ryou demanded. Then shook his head, eyes closing when it made him more dizzy. "No, that's not right. Aren't you Marik's split personality? How come you're…"

"Here? In my own body?" Melvin asked, finishing Ryou's sentence as though he was proud of being here. "Surprise, surprise, princess. I'm here in the flesh. And yes," he stood up, walked over, and then leaned over Ryou's body imposingly. "It's really me. No annoying other personality, no time limit or children's card game, just me. Your worst nightmare."

Slowly, Ryou laid himself back down, feeling too tired to stay propped up on his elbows. And the closeness of Melvin's body over him was making his body feel all sorts of uncomfortable that he'd rather not feel right now. "You're not my worst nightmare," he said simply. "If anything, you're the best bloody thing to happen since I came to this horrid place."

The smile on Melvin's face faded slightly, but not because he was upset. He just seemed interested, his eyes narrowing lazily. His hand moved too fast for Ryou to see it, bringing a knife from behind his back and pressing it against Ryou's throat. "What a nice thing to say," he commented, amused.

Ryou swallowed, heat searing through his veins at the touch of the cold metal against his skin. All he could hear was his heartbeat, raging in his ears and reminding him that those bloody scientists had drugged him, and thanks to them, all he could think about was how great it would feel if Melvin dragged the edge of it down his neck, not cutting the skin, just scraping against it.

The thought made him want to moan.

"You don't look so well," Melvin said. He didn't move a muscle, bent over Ryou's body with the gentle pressure of the knife against his artery without changing. Only his eyes showed any sign of emotion, the pupils gradually shifting from wide to narrow as he studied Ryou's face. "Should I call a doctor for you, little boy?"

"Hell no," Ryou hissed through his teeth. Anger flared up in tango with his frustration. "They're the ones who bloody did this to me!"

Melvin's mouth widened into a grin, and he snickered. "Well then, what would you like me to do?"

At the question, Ryou swallowed again, forcing any weird thoughts to stay the bugger out of his brain for two seconds, please! He cleared his throat, shivering at the change of pressure it created against the knife to his throat. "I think I'm the one who needs to be asking you that," he said slowly. "You're the one with the knife to my neck."

"Indeed."

It made Ryou twinge with irritation when he continued to not move, just grin down at him. "Well? What do you want? You're Melvin, aren't you? Are you going to kill me, or what?"

"Kill you?" Melvin straightened, retrieving his blade and throwing his head back to laugh. Then, as if someone had flipped a switch, he instantly quieted, looking down at Ryou again with a straight face, arms crossed loosely. "No."

The spectacle was, to put it lightly, a bit unnerving. "Then, what?" Ryou persisted. "What do you want to do to me?"

This seemed to be a better question to ask, for the smirk came back to Melvin's face. His eyes glinted with a secret pleasure, that did not show any signs of being lust. "Naturally," he commented, "I want to hurt you."

"Then why don't you?" Ryou snapped, his voice more urgent than he wanted it to be. Hurt me. Cut me. Bugger I don't care! I just want to feel anything other than this!

"I should think that would be obvious," Melvin clicked his tongue, as if scolding him, and shook his head. "I'm disappointed in you, Fluffy."

A wordless groan of frustration was all Ryou could manage, and he turned over on his side, facing away from Melvin, his body trembling with pent up hormones and agitation. Obvious? How was it obvious? Unless was he saying that he wasn't going to touch him because he was….

Ryou fell still, a slow realization dawning on him. Because I'm drugged. He's saying he won't take advantage of me.

Behind him, Melvin let out a deep chuckle. "Oh so you do understand," he drawled. Again, he clapped his hands slowly, mockingly. "What a good, smart boy."

"Why?" Ryou asked. He turned over to his other side, looking up at Melvin's smirking face, not sure what to say. Why have mercy on me if you want to hurt me? Why bother rescuing me? I don't understand.

Melvin leaned against his door, observing Ryou with a patient expression, looking for all the world like a lion that had cornered its prey in a cave and decided to lie down in the entrance until its food presented itself to his mouth. "You ask a lot of useless questions for someone who is being graciously offered a few more hours of not being stabbed multiple times." He snickered, and began to twist the blade in his hands, light flickering off of it against the walls. "I'm no stranger to this school's little experiments, and I've come to the conclusion that it's much less fun to stab someone who's doped up on the crap they drugged you with. You can't put up much of a fight the way you are now."

"But during experiments is when you can get away with this sort of thing," Ryou frowned, more confused than anything else. Relief, however, washed across his face. "Why wait till it's over?"

With two rapid steps, Melvin was at the bed, leaning over Ryou and grabbing him by the neck, pinning him to his back once more. His eyes narrowed, grin widening to show his teeth. If he heard the moan that escaped Ryou's lips from this, he made no indication. He simply waited, until the ringing in Ryou's ears stopped, until his body stopped shuddering with repressed, drug-induced desires. Until he had control once more.

Then, Melvin chuckled. "Because I want to be the one in control. This whole drug thing? Boring. If I stabbed you now, you'd probably just come all over my bed, and I'd really rather not have that kind of mess in here."

The heat surging through his stomach was painful, and Ryou fought with every ounce of strength he had not to squirm in place. He swallowed, moans still coloring his every exhale. "You think… I want this?" he panted. "I don't like it either!"

"Then we don't have a problem, do we?" Melvin lifted the knife to his own face, and promptly licked the blade. "The drug will wear out in a couple hours. I can wait until then. The only question is, can you?"

"I can," Ryou growled back. He couldn't explain the jolt of desire that went through him when he saw him lick the knife, but he had a feeling it wasn't just the drug's effect, that time. I actually… really think that was hot…

"Splendid!" Melvin declared. He let go and stepped back, walking to the door and sticking the knife in his belt. When he got there, he paused and turned back. "You just wait there like a good boy, I'm going to go eat dinner."

"What?" Ryou blurted, turning on his side again to stare at him. He couldn't just leave like that! "What about…. Me?"

"Hmmm?" Melvin purred. He opened the door. "I suppose you could try to make it to your room. There's still lots of idiots out there who'd love to finish what those other ones started. Go ahead, I'll cheer for you from the cafeteria. Or you can wait it out here, until sundown, when the drug wears off." He laughed, harshly, and fell silent. His look became ominous, and he fixed Ryou with a murderous glare. "My only condition is that, despite your current mood, you don't do anything that would leave a mess. If you do," his smile this time, held no humor. "I'll tear out your entrails with my bare hands, and strangle you with them. Understand?"

Gritting his teeth, Ryou nodded once. He got the message, loud and clear.

"See you later," Melvin said, smiling once more, as he sauntered out the door and locked it behind him.

Ryou flopped over onto his back. "So that's it," he moaned helplessly. "He gets to go off and eat food, while I suffer through this drug without touching myself. Or go out into the hall and risk getting raped. What kind of school even sets this kind of scenario up!? I hate this place!"

Still, as he lay there with his nerves aching and his heart racing, a different sort of feeling washed over him. It was a strange one, an almost foreign one, and it took him a minute to realize that it was just a small hint of real happiness.

Melvin was someone he knew. He had rescued him from being raped, carried him to his room, and was protecting him until the drug wore off. He had no intention of taking advantage of him, either. It was almost like… in the most unfortunate and unlikely of places, Ryou had accidentally found a friend.

Or… some that almost cared about him.

He threw an arm over his face, tears slipping down his cheeks. "This is stupid," he choked back a sob. "I'm miserable, my body is in agony, and I hate this place. So why do I feel so happy right now?" He cried until his energy was spent, releasing what pent up emotions he could, until finally sleep came to him.

He fell into it with a shudder of relief.

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Thanks so much for your reviews, I do hope you're enjoying it. The best parts, or course, are still to come.

To be continued...