lookie! fast update! This chapter has one through some serious reconstruction, and I'm fairly pleased with it.

The title of this story will be changing in the next couple of chapters; I'm thinking about "Enchantress," but that might not be it.

I still don't own YGO.

Passion is a Prison

Chapter 6

"Are you sure you're alright, Shizuka?" Ryo asked again.

"I'm fine," Shizuka sighed. "You worry too much Baku-Ryo."

"I've been told that," Ryo said, smiling as she corrected herself.

"Hey Ryo?" Shizuka said after a moment.

"Yeah?" he said

"I thought you and Yugi and the others got rid of Bakura."

"Well, Yugi and the others did. I wasn't there." Ryo sounded troubled by these last three words. But he pressed on. "He showed up again a few weeks ago, along with Marik."

"I'm assuming you mean the evil, twisty...evil Marik."

Ryo nodded, smiling. "Yes, that one. By some cosmic phenomenon that Bakura has yet to explain to me, they have returned."

"What about Atem?" Shizuka asked. "If Bakura and Marik are back, doesn't that mean Atem is back too?"

"Considering that, in theory, Marik wouldn't exist without him and Bakura wouldn't exist in our world without him, I'd say yes. I haven't heard from Yugi lately so I don't know, but I can't see why they'd be here if Atem wasn't."

"That might explain it," Shizuka murmured.

"Explain what?" Ryo asked, curious.

Shizuka shook her head slightly. "Kat has Yugi over all the time, and a few weeks ago, around the time you said Bakura came back, Yugi stopped answering the phone, stopped dropping by...like he dropped off the face of the planet or something. Kat finally managed to get a hold of him again last week, but he's been...not himself. At all. Kind of... depressed, maybe. But I don't get it... He's missed Atem so much, so if Atem's back shouldn't Yugi be happy?"

"One would think so," Ryo said. Then his brow furrowed. "Atem showing up again might explain Yugi disappearing like that, but then wouldn't Atem be with him once Yugi 'reappeared' or whatever?"

"I was wondering the same thing. This doesn't make any sense," Shizuka said, leaning back against the seat with a thwump as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Things regarding Yugi and Atem rarely do make much sense," Ryo mused.

"Fair point," Serenity allowed, and then sighed. "Kat and I have been really worried about him. Yugi, I mean."

"I can see why. I don't think I've ever heard the word 'depressed' used to describe Yugi."

"No," Shizuka said softly. "I didn't think I would ever use the word 'depressed' used to describe Yugi. He's not himself. He's been even quieter than usual. I haven't seen him smile once since he started coming over again, and he's not eating as much, he's lost a lot of weight. And he always has these dark circles under his eyes, like he hasn't been sleeping. He won't tell me what's going on. And I get the feeling Kat knows more about it than he's letting on."

"He must be upset," Ryo mused solemnly. "Yugi normally tries not to let it show when something's bothering him."

"I know," Shizuka said, then sighed as they pulled into Mai's driveway. "Ryo?"

Ryo looked at her as he cut the engine.

Shizuka hesitated before continuing. "Don't tell Katsuya about what happened this morning. With Bakura."

"I won't," Ryo said. "I don't want Jonouchi to go after Bakura."

The two got out of the car and headed for the house. Ryo knocked on the door, and seconds later they were greeted by Mai.

"Shizuka!" she said, hugging Shizuka tightly. "I'm so glad you're okay. We've been so worried." She let go, kissing Shizuka on the forehead and smiling brightly before turning to Ryo. "Thank you so much for taking care of her."

"It's no problem," Ryo said, smiling.

Mai led the two of them inside, and the second Shizuka was safely in the house, Joey took her in his arms, loving and protective. Relieved to hold her in his arms and see for himself that she was alright, to know for certain she was safe. He buried his face in her hair, tears welling up in his eyes. She clung to him, crying silently as well.

When they finally drew apart, Jonouchi looked down at his sister, his hands on either side of her face.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Emotions are strange things. The predominant emotion in Bakura's life was easy to pinpoint: hate. Though he had never felt other emotions strongly, there were a fair few he thought he had a good perception of. Jealousy, for example. He thought he had a good handle on that one. But last night…That was the first time he'd really felt it. And it was not what he had expected, by any means. Not to mention he'd never thought he'd feel jealousy toward Ryo.

Love, however, had always bewildered him. He thought he'd never understand it. And now he realized he had been right. He had never seen this girl before last night, and yet…

And right then, he made his decision. Love was strange, and that's all there was to it.

XxXxXxXxXxX

Shizuka was never one to trust someone right away. Considering how short a time she had known Ryo, she seemed far too comfortable around him. This was not a bad thing, not by any means, but it was strange. Jonouchi figured that was just the kind of guy Ryo was. Gentle, non-threatening, kind, easy to trust.

After Mai and Shizuka had wandered into the kitchen to talk, he and Ryo sat down in the living room, Jonouchi in the arm chair again, Ryo on the couch. Ryo seemed uncomfortable in this unfamiliar setting-no, Jonouchi thought, he seemed like he was trying not to seem uncomfortable. Jonouchi spoke, trying to ease the unnecessary tension.

"Thank you," he said. "For taking Shizuka in last night. You have no idea how much that means to us."

"It was no problem," Ryo said sincerely. "Really."

Jonouchi smiled. "So what did you two do last night?"

Ryo paused for an almost imperceptible moment. "We went to McDonalds to pick up some dinner, then watched The Princess Bride."

"She loves that movie," Jonouchi said, smiling again.

"You told me," Ryo said. "That's what made me think of it, I remembered what you said." Ryo was smiling, but the unease Jonouchi was sensing from him did not lessen.

"Ryo," he said. "Are you alright? You seem upset."

Ryo hesitated. "Shizuka told me about Yugi," he said slowly. "How he hasn't been himself. Do you know why?"

Now it was Jonouchi's turn to hesitate. "Yeah," he said, deciding the truth was his best option here; Ryo was very perceptive. If he tried to lie, Ryo would know Ryo probably already knew what was going on anyway, he was smart. "Yeah, I do."

"Is Atem back?" Ryo asked.

"Yugi didn't want anyone to know," Jonouchi said softly, staring at the coffee table. There was more than concern in his features now. "He asked me not to tell anyone, I promised I wouldn't."

"You didn't tell me," Ryo said. "Don't feel bad, Jou. You didn't tell me, I figured it out. Well, Shizuka did."

"I should've guessed you guys would figure it out since Bakura's back too."

Ryo smiled. "Yeah. I don't understand, though. Why didn't Yugi want us to know that Atem was back? And why's he been so upset lately?"

Jonouchi paused, drawing a deep breath and holding it for a moment. He exhaled in a gust before speaking again. "Atem wanted to come back," Jonouchi began hesitantly. "He missed Yugi. I'm not entirely sure how he got back, but he did, and something was different. Right away, when Atem got back, Yugi got the feeling something's seriously changed about him. Something in his eyes and the way he spoke was just different. And now that he's been here a while, Yugi's been able to place it, and he's really worried about him. Atem's been moodier, almost angsty. He helps out in the shop and everything, but he always seems distracted, he loses his temper easier, and when he's not actively doing anything, he just sits and broods over things. Yugi catches flashes of things through the mind-link, never more than like two seconds. There's this deep, heavy feeling of just discontent. And even the quick little snippets Yugi gets from him are just terrible."

Jonouchi seemed like there was more he wanted to say, but he just stared at the table.

"Hey, Jou," Mai said softly as she entered the room, followed closely by Shizuka. Mai perched herself on the arm chair, wrapping her arms around Jonouchi. He looked up at her, and she met his tight, troubled eyes in a way so deep, so loving and understanding Ryo looked away, feeling like he was intruding.

Shizuka sat next to him on the couch, looking troubled herself.

"What's wrong?" he asked. Jonouchi and Mai looked up, but Ryo barely noticed.

Shizuka shook her head. "I told Mai," she whispered.

"Told her what?" Ryo and Jonouchi asked in unison. Shizuka looked up at Ryo, biting her lip. Understanding flashed into Ryo's mind and he nodded. Shizuka turned to face her brother.

"Kat," she said hesitantly. "I need to tell you something." Jonouchi said nothing, but looked at his sister with concern etched in his features. Shizuka drew a deep breath before saying, "Ryo and I kissed last night."

Jonouchi blinked. After a few seconds of unbearable silence, he turned to look at Ryo. He looked murderous.

"Katsuya."

Shizuka's voice was calm. She stood and took a few casual steps forward, placing herself in front of Ryo, facing Jonouchi. She spoke again, calm, reasoning.

"Katsuya, nothing happened.

"Stop defending him," Jonouchi snapped.

"There's nothing to defend," she said, her voice sounding more fierce now, more like her brother. "He didn't do anything wrong."

Jonouchi glanced once at his sister before pushing her out of the way. Shizuka's explanation had no affect.

"I want to know," he said viciously, "why you did it. Did you think it would keep guys away from her if they saw her with you?" he suggested with a cruel, completely-un-Jonouchi-ish laugh. "Or did you think it would impress us? Or maybe, you thought you could blame this on Bakura, so you could get him off your hands?"

Ryo shook his head frantically, backing away. "Jonouchi, I love her," he choked.

"Don't give me that," Jonouchi growled. "I trusted you. I trusted you, and after all that she went through yesterday, you still-"

"Jonouchi, calm down," Mai said angrily, gripping his arm. He shook her off violently.

Shizuka took another step forward and slapped her brother, hard, across the face. "Don't you take this out on her," she snapped. "Or on Ryo, for that matter. Ryo didn't do anything wrong, dammit, he was perfectly nice to me last night-"

"A little too nice, it seems," Jonouchi spat, pushing Shizuka out of his way. She sank to her knees, tears in her eyes, as her brother headed for Ryo again.

"Kat, don't!" she screamed.

Ryo stumbled backward, his violently trembling knees buckling as he gasped, "Jonouchi, I'm sorry!"

"You have nothing to apologize for, dearie," Mai said, kind but firm, stepping between Jonouchi and Ryo. "Back off, Jonouchi," she spat before turning to Ryo. "Stand up, Ryo. Don't back away from him. You didn't do anything wrong."

She helped him to his feet, keeping a hand on his shoulder.

mini cliffhanger? i don't know. Anyway, thanks for reading, guys. reviews are very much appreciated. and keep an eye out for my title change (: