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, sensual biting, 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 Six

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"Bakura Ryou?"

Ryou jolted at the sound of a female voice, looking up from his textbook. Standing before him was a woman in her 40's, holding a clipboard and wearing a white lab coat. He nodded, in lieu of speaking. After everything that happened last night, the last thing he wanted to do was make a sound.

"I need to speak with you. Come with me." She tapped her clipboard with her pen, her face blank of any emotion or indication of why. "It wasn't a request," she added, attempting a smile.

The look was cold, and made Ryou's skin crawl with anxiety. Again, he nodded, closed his textbook, and got up to follow her.

"You can leave your things here," she said, giving the book and backpack sitting on his usual windowsill a cursory glance. "Someone will return them to your room for you."

Someone? Ryou thought, grimacing, though he said nothing. When she started to walk, he followed after her. The last thing he wanted to do was follow her, but the fear of what might happen if he didn't compelled him. She's one of the faculty, one of the scientists running these bloody experiments. If I don't obey her orders, she can call it "disobedience" and do whatever she wants to me. I'd rather not risk it.

As they walked, any students they came across practically scampered out of the way, avoiding eye contact. One or two gave Ryou a look of pity as he passed, which only served to make his anxiousness worse. They walked to the far east end of the school to an elevator that Ryou had never seen anyone use before, where his escort slide her ID badge through a console next to the door. It opened, and she stepped inside.

"Come," she ordered, as if Ryou had any thoughts of doing otherwise.

Frankly, he had all of the thoughts. How fast could he run, would he make it, how bad would the punishment be, all of them. But he stepped forward anyway, into the elevator, and watched with a sinking feeling of dread as the door closed before his face.

It went down, deep into the mountain the school had been built on. Ryou's ears popped three times before it came to a stop, and when the door opened once more, he observed a long hallway that looked like hospital corridor. When he stood there staring uneasily down the hall without moving, the woman behind him placed her hand on his shoulder and began to push him forward. She did not let go as they walked, leading him down one hallway, turning right to go down another, until they reached what looked like a doctor's exam room. It occurred to him as she made him sit down on an exam bed that it might be just that… a doctor's office to treat anyone affected by the experiments.

My neck, Ryou thought in surprise, his hand inching up to adjusted his shirt collar, which he had buttoned all the way up to hide the bruising and bandages Melvin had put on it. Is that why I am here? They want to treat it? He swallowed, realizing that they probably had surveillance cameras everywhere, even, possibly, their dorm rooms.

The woman sat down in the chair across from him, and gave him a professional smile that held no warmth. "Alright, Mr. Bakura, thank you for joining me today. There's a few things we need to clear up. I understand you have some trouble speaking in your condition, would you prefer yes or no questions, or do you require a notepad to write your answers?"

Ryou blinked, his stomach turning with nervousness. Of course they knew about his neck. Was there anything they didn't know? So then… when those students were going to rape me in the hall… they knew and did nothing! It was probably just experiment data to them, we're nothing but lab rats! His face clouded with anger.

"Let's try yes or no," she said, observing his expression, and writing something down on her clipboard. "Nod for yes, shake your head for no. Do you understand?"

He nodded once, curtly, but the anger was still there on his face. How could they justify what they were allowing here? How could they?

"Are you Ryou Bakura, age 17, transferred from Domino High School, Japan?" She asked, reading her file with a bored tone, as though wanting to hurry through the necessary details. When Ryou nodded, she continued without pause. "Have you been actively seeking out contact with Experiment 17013-A?"

At this, Ryou frowned and hesitated, not sure what she meant. "What?" he mouthed, not making sound, but not wanting to nod or shake his head when he didn't have any clue what she was asking. Why would he actively try to participate in experiments? Both of the ones he had been a part of had been an invasion of his body and privacy, and the only good thing that had come out of them was meeting up with Melvin.

She looked at him, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "Experiment 17013-A," she repeated. "You have actively been seeking him out. He is the one you were with last night when this occurred, correct?" She stood, walking over to him, and pulled his shirt collar to the side to reveal his bruise.

All at once, understanding struck him, and Ryou stared at her with wide eyes. Experiment 17-whatever… she was referring to Melvin! What is she saying? Do we all have experiment numbers assigned to us? Or is he… special? Ryou swallowed, and making eye contact with the woman, he nodded firmly.

"And are you being coerced to go to him?" she continued, not even blinking. Her fingers stayed where they were, delicately pushing aside his collar to reveal his injury.

Ryou shook his head, smiling wryly. He almost laughed, but caught himself before doing so in case it hurt. The opposite, he thought in amusement. Even despite these injuries, he was right when he said it didn't matter if he hurts me. I will keep going back, because he's all I've got.

"Do you believe that your reasoning for seeking him out was influenced by our experiments?" she asked, withdrawing her hand with one eyebrow arched. She grabbed her clipboard, beginning to scribble notes onto it.

Again, Ryou shook his head. Experiment or not, I want to see him. Nothing will change that.

For a while, she stood there beside him writing things down, and he sat in silence waiting for her to ask him more questions. It was several minutes later that she finally set her clipboard aside and turned to face him, hands on her hips. "Thank you for your answers, Mr. Bakura. We will begin now."

Begin? Ryou frowned, scooting backwards on the bed as two other people walked into the room. They too wore lab coats, but also had latex gloves on their hands and masks over their mouths. Before he could protest, one of them was pulling off his shirt while the other grabbed his arm and wrapped a plastic cuff around his bicep to check his blood pressure. "Wh...a-?" he gasped, wincing at the pain in his throat as he tried to struggle.

"Hold still," the woman snapped, her tone cold as she stood back out of the way. "If you resist, we'll sedate you."

What the hell? Ryou sighed in exasperation, giving her a scathing look as if to demand what was going on. He stopped resisting, letting the scientists or doctors, whoever they were, check his pulse, blood pressure, and listen to his heart and breathing. If they noticed the v-shaped cuts on his chest and stomach poorly covered by bandaids, they never said. "What's going on?" he whispered, gritting his teeth at the pain it caused him.

"You can't really be surprised," she replied, watching him with a small hint of amusement turning up one corner of her mouth. "If you're going to be actively seeking out and spending time with our experiment, we have to make sure that you are safe."

"Safe?" Ryou demanded, again, wincing as he whispered.

"17013-A is a very special case, we can't just have anyone interact with him." The woman picked up her clipboard again, writing down Ryou's pulse and other information as the doctors continued taking readings. His temperature next, testing his reflexes, looking at his ear canals, nose, and eyes. "Most of the students stay well enough away, after they experience his… shall we say, bent for violence. So we aren't quite as concerned. You, on the other hand…"

She stepped forward, poking at the bandaged bites with her pen. "...You allowed him to taste your blood."

Ryou shivered, his face flushing hot at the comment. He had, in a manner of speaking. Though truthfully, he would have preferred it if Melvin hadn't bit him quite so hard. I won't say that, I can't, because I don't want him to get in trouble. But I think… I think I understand a little bit better what happened that he wouldn't tell me. "Why…" he swallowed, grimacing a little, and continued. "Why is he…"

The woman saved him the trouble. "An experiment instead of a student? I wondered when you would ask." She chuckled, the first real sound of emotion he had heard her portray. "Why don't you ask him, since you're so keen on seeing him? Or do you think he won't tell you?"

A feeling of being pricked caught Ryou's attention, and his head snapped sideways to see that one of the doctors had given him a shot. "Hey!" he blurted, coughing and squirming at the pain the outburst caused.

"Just an immunization," the woman waved her hand. "We'll have to give you a couple more injections, just to be safe. He did bite you, Mr. Bakura. And while we're on the topic, we're going to need to get a few samples from you."

Oh, wonderful, Ryou thought, glaring at her angrily. Exactly what kind of samples?

He would have his answer almost immediately. They took four vials of blood, a urine sample, and a saliva swab. The worst, however, was when they made him lie down on his stomach so they could stab a giant needle into his spine for a sample of spinal column fluid. Why the bugger they needed something like that, Ryou didn't know, but no amount of protesting would make them stop. It hurt like hell, just as bad if not worse than any of the cuts or bruises (or bites) that Melvin had given him. Even after that they weren't done, they gave him six more shots without telling him what they were, did a skin prick test on the inside of his left forearm, and cut a sample of his hair. What they needed all this for, he had no idea, nor did they enlighten him.

When they finally let him go, he felt personally violated. It frustrated him that the two doctors took his shirt away when they left, and was forced to walk out of the exam room topless. If speaking hurt less, there were several things he would be complaining about right now, as he walked stiffly beside the woman back toward the elevator. I'll have to remember to give Melvin a piece of my mind for this, he thought with a sigh, crossing his arms and shivering at the chill air hitting his bare skin. Not being able to speak is really irritating.

"We do appreciate your cooperation, Mr. Bakura," the woman beside him remarked, breaking the tense silence between them. "It really would be a pity if we had to confine you due to bad behavior. Those who prove to be unsafe have to be removed from Experiment 17013-A's circle of influence. Permanently."

Ryou turned his head, looking up at her with a wary glance. Was she... threatening him? So that's it then. I have to be on good behavior, put up with their invasive experiments as they see fit, or else they'll lock me up and refuse to let me see Melvin, he thought with dread, feeling like his heart weighed a hundred tons. Every breath felt labored, as his anxiety swirled around inside him.

They knew that he would do anything to see Melvin again. Even if that meant they could do whatever they wanted to him.

They had him exactly where they wanted him.

What was it that Melvin said? he thought in despair. That every day was hell? He stepped onto the elevator, turning to see that the woman was not coming up with him. That, at least, was a small comfort. I get it now.

And he did. Somehow he knew, that choosing to cling to the one person he knew from his old life had opened the lid to pandora's box. Whatever this horrid place had in store for him now, he knew that there was nothing he could do now to avoid it. The only comfort he could take was knowing that Melvin wouldn't be punished on Ryou's behalf.

I have no idea what kind of tests that they're running on him, he thought, as the door slid closed and the elevator began to ascend. But something tells me they're a lot worse than what I experienced today.

He could only hope that there was a small chance things would get better for Melvin so long as he cooperated.

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Ryou has always been willing to put up with all kinds of crap if it's on someone else's behalf. It's a flaw of his.

Or perhaps it's a strength?

We'll see, in the chapters to come.

To be continued...