Chapter 5

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So, yeah, the game mentioned in this chapter? Totally just pulled that out of my ass. I have no idea if it actually works or not. :/

Yugi stared at him for a full minute, apparently frozen. Then his eyes widened and he took an actual step back, almost quivering with fear. His lips parted slightly, and Yami saw a word form on them.

Just one word, but it was enough to make him want to destroy the world and everything in it.

"Bakura," Yugi mouthed.

And that's what he looked like, wasn't it? He hadn't even seen a mirror yet, but he knew. He was in Ryou's body. Of course he looked like Bakura, probably even more than Ryou did himself. He was the dark half, after all.

He wanted to kill the tomb-robber and hold Yugi and apologize to Ryou all at once, but because he was in a position where he couldn't do any of these things, he just stared.

After a minute, he realized he had to say something or Yugi just might cry.

"Uh, hi," he said, then frowned. His voice was different, and the words that seemed to twist their way past his lips were all wrong. He had meant to say konnichi wa.

But Yugi seemed to have recovered himself and was smiling now. He held out a hand. "You must be the foreigner Joey and Honda-kun were telling me about. Ah, Bakura-kun…" he paled at the name, "…was it?"

Yami hesitated, then nodded, reaching out to take his aibou's hand. Let go, he told himself firmly as Yugi began to look uncomfortable. A few seconds more, and he was finally able to release the hand, though it was quite possibly the hardest thing he had ever done in his whole life. He swallowed. "Yeah.," he said, but again the word sounded odd.

/You're speaking in English,/ Ryou informed him petulantly. Yami blinked.

"I mean, hai," he tried again, this time deliberately bringing the Japanese part of him to the front of his brain. "I'm afraid I don't know…?"

"I'm Yugi," Yugi said, looking slightly ill. "Yugi Mutou."

"Oh," was all Yami could say. Because suddenly, his mind was utterly blank.

Then Ryou was gently pushing him out of the way, and Yami breathed a quiet sigh of relief as he gratefully gave up control. I wonder where he learned to do that?

"Nice to meet you, Yugi," Ryou said politely, offering a shy smile. "Do you mind if I ask what class you have next?"

Yugi's face morphed into an expression of hesitant confusion, then sudden hurt. "…I have a history," he answered quietly. "Why?"

Yami could only laugh incredulously as Ryou's whole aura suddenly changed to one of dejected disappointment. "Oh," he said in a sad voice. "I was just wondering if you could… never mind."

"No, what is it?" Yugi pressed.

"Well…" Ryou hesitated, but Yami could feel the sly smile in his thoughts. "I'm kind of lost, actually." He reached up a hand to scratch the back of his neck, pretending to be embarrassed. "I wanted to know if you could show me where the history hallway is? I think I can find my way from there."

Yugi looked wary. "…I… I guess I can-"

"Great!" Ryou smiled. "I'm so grateful, thanks so much!"

"No problem," Yugi said, smiling back uncertainly. "Just follow me."

He wasn't quite sure how it happened, but the next thing he knew, he had a lunch date with Yugi.

/Remind me again how you did that?/ he asked Ryou. The boy simply shrugged.

"It's not hard," Ryou answered absently, idly flipping a page in his book. Yami was sitting on the edge of Ryou's desk as his current host attempted to do math homework, though he was somewhat hindered by the fact that Yami hadn't shut up since they got home. "You just smile, ask nicely, and they'll generally say yes."

/Yeah, but how?/ Yami wondered. /I mean, if I tried that-/

"Your victim would either run away in fear, or agree on the basis that you are absolutely terrifying to say no to."

/I'm not that scary,/ Yami scowled.

"To the rest of the human race, you are. Now, if you'll kindly remove your bottom from my text book, I have work to do."

Yami rolled his eyes. /Homework is for losers./

Ryou looked up at him skeptically. "And who told you that, exactly?"

/Joey./

"Thought so." The boy bit on the end of his pencil, frowning slightly. "Now what exactly does x equal?" he muttered under his breath.

Yami spread himself across the books, raising an eyebrow. /Do it later./

"No."

/This is far more important, baka./

"To you, maybe." Ryou sniffed. "I happen to like getting good grades."

/The faster you help me, the sooner I'll be out of your head./

Ryou sighed and set down his pencil with a glare. "Fine. You get to take over my body in math tomorrow, then, when the teacher asks me why my homework isn't done."

Yami winced a little at that. Ever since the incident earlier that day, Ryou had been asking questions about switching control, and it was making him somewhat uncomfortable. He hadn't exactly planned to take over without asking. It had just sort of… happened. And he knew he was a dick for it, but he couldn't bring himself to regret it.

He had held Yugi's hand.

It had caused all the wrong reactions in him.

He had wanted to hold Yugi for the better part of 3, 000 years, now; there was no doubt about that. He had wanted to hold him and run his fingers through his hair and murmur reassurances into those big, adorable ears. But that could all be summed up with three words: he loved Yugi. He loved him with every fibre of his being, and he had never once denied it.

So why hadn't he felt that love when he had held Yugi's hand today? Why instead had he felt shivers wracking their way up his spine?

…This was stupid. What mattered now was that Yugi was here, within his grasp, and he and Ryou were having lunch with him tomorrow. Feeling incredibly light at the thought, he nudged Ryou with his foot. /Oi. You should call aibou./

Ryou wrinkled his forehead in a surprising imitation of Yugi's grandpa. "I should what?"

/You know. Call him. On the telephone./

"…You're a little obsessed, do you know that?"

Yami parted his lips to give Ryou the number (which he'd memorized), then snapped them shut, realizing that probably wouldn't help his case any. /He's the other half of my soul,/ he said instead. /I have a right to be obsessed./

"Sure, sure. So, why do you want me to call him again?"

Yami considered. There were a number of reasons, really, most of which made him sound even more pathetic than he already did. But he'd never really cared about sounding pathetic when Yugi was concerned. He shrugged. /Because I miss him, I love him, and I'm worried about what that bastard tomb-robber's doing to him./

Ryou was quiet for a moment. Then he asked something Yami really should have expected by now.

"So, who is this tomb-robber guy, anyway?" he asked, apparently nonchalant. But Yami hadn't shared the kid's mind for 7 months with nothing to show for it. He sighed, scrambling for an explanation that made sense, yet would not make him look bad.

/He's a bastard?/ he tried hopefully.

"Yes, I get that," Ryou said, sounding irritated. "But why did he involve me in this mess? I'm nothing."

The kid was half-right, Yami supposed. In any other universe, Ryou would be nothing. He was just a pathetic sophomore Westerner with a somewhat distant father and an unusual hair colour. The only reason he was important at all was because he had been in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong evil bastard for the other half of his soul.

The more Yami thought about it, the more things seemed grossly unfair.

/How about this?/ Yami suggested, leaning forward on the desk. /We'll play a game. If I win, you call aibou. If you win, I tell you about the tomb-robber./

Ryou eyed him suspiciously. "But you're way better at games than me."

/Then we'll just have to play a game you're really, really good at./

"Monster World?"

Yami repressed a shudder. /Hell no./

"I really don't see what you find so terrible about that game," Ryou murmured, absently twirling a strand of white hair. But his eyes flicked up at the dozens of games lining his shelves. "Duel Monsters?"

/I'd destroy you./

"Capsule Monsters."

/Nuh-uh./

"…That game where you have to match all the socks?"

Yami yawned. /Sure./

"Really?"

/No./

Ryou released a frustrated sigh. "Then what?"

Yami let a genuine smile quirk his lips for the first time in a long time. /You'll see./

Ryou stared blankly at the cards before him, then up at Yami, then down at the cards again. "...You're not serious," he said at last, and traced a line on the table.

/I'm always serious,/ the Pharaoh replied with a smirk. Ryou sighed.

Sometimes, the Pharaoh was amazing. Sometimes, he was terrifying. Sometimes, he was shivering and screaming and pleading for his aibou to please come back, please I'll do anything. Sometimes, he was even strong and comforting, and Ryou could sense a good, caring soul behind the scowls and critical words.

But sometimes, he was just plain weird.

"Explain this to me again?" Ryou requested in an incredulous tone.

/It's simple. You just draw a card, face down, and guess what number it is and whether it's a Spade, Club, Heart, or Diamond. If you're within 3 numbers of the correct guess,/ the Pharaoh continued, then hesitated, searching for an example. /…say you guess 5 and the card is a 7, you get 1 point. Within 2, you get 2 points. And if you guess correctly, you get 3 points. These points are called Number Points. Following?/

Ryou made a face. "Um, okay…"

/However, if you incorrectly guess what kind of card it is, you lose one Number Point… like, if you guess it's a Diamond, and it's really a Club. But if you guess right, then you get 1 point. These are called Type Points. You can use your Type Points to take away your opponents points./ The Pharaoh paused. /Please tell me you understand this./

"Ah, I think so." Ryou forced a smile and fiddled with his ring. Why was everything the Pharaoh did always so complicated?

/Then you're ready to play,/ the Pharaoh stated, not sounding convinced.

"Sure…Who wins again?"

The Pharaoh blew exasperated air through his teeth. /Whoever has the most points left over, baka./

"Oh. Right. Aheh. So, do we start now?"

/You can go first, if you'd like./

"'Kay," Ryou said, then flinched as the Pharaoh gave him that look. The one Ryou had originally assumed to be his 'I hate you so much so why don't you die' look, but now he wasn't so sure. The last time he had received that look, the Pharaoh had locked himself up in his soul room for three days, and Ryou was pretty sure the guy didn't hate him that much.

He looked dully at the back of the card in his hand, then set it down on the table. "Uh," he began eloquently. "I… guess… it's a 3 of Hearts?"

The Pharaoh nodded and he flipped over. Darn. It was an 8 of Hearts. But wait, didn't that mean…?

/You get 1 Type Point,/ the Pharaoh answered in response to his thoughts.

Oh. Okay. "Your turn, then?"

The Pharaoh guessed 4 of Spades, and got the 6 of Hearts. /That's 1 point for me,/ he said, sounding satisfied.

Ryou frowned at the paper they were keeping score on. Then he smiled. "I use my Type Point to take away your Number Point," he replied confidently, then winced. That sounded terribly lame. Oh, well. With an inward shrug, he reached for another card.

/Ah, ah, ah./ The Pharaoh's transparent hand wrapped around his wrist. /You just sacrificed your turn./

Ryou scowled. "You never mentioned that."

/Didn't I?/ The spirit grinned. /I'm sorry./

Ryou exhaled slowly and glanced at the clock with longing.

This was going to be a long night.

Yami won in the end, of course, but by then it was far too late to call Yugi. He didn't mind that so much, as the game had been meant mostly as a distraction, but it had been disappointing nonetheless.

What had really got to him was the fact that Ryou had appeared bored the entire game, frequently asking for the time or glancing out the window. It… didn't quite annoy Yami, exactly, but… it made him feel almost… well, cheated. Was that the word he was looking for?

About halfway through the game he had realized what was bothering him so much. The fact was, he kept expecting Ryou to react the way Yugi might have in the same situation. Yugi would have been excited at the thought of learning a new game. He could almost see his aibou's wide eyes, dancing with anticipation as he explained the rules. And Yugi would have caught onto the game much faster than Ryou had, he was sure.

It was just that… Ryou reminded him of his aibou so much sometimes it physically hurt. Like earlier, when he had said "'kay" in that childish way of his. It made Yami want to punch something.

Ryou wasn't supposed to be like his aibou. Yugi was one of a kind. He was special. He was the other half of Yami's soul, dammit, there was no one in the world like him.

But sometimes, Ryou would do something, and it would be like a rock to Yami's chest. Because it was so familiar, and yet so terribly wrong.

The spirit sighed and gazed at the boy's sleeping form, huddled under the star-patterned blankets. This entire situation was wrong. Before the tomb-robber had gone and screwed everything up, Yami had never looked at Ryou beyond Yugi's concerned thoughts. Yugi had been his whole world. He still was.

So why did Yami get angry when he thought of all the tomb-robber had done to Ryou?

Yami swallowed and floated down to lie beside Ryou, deeply inhaling the scent of the boy's shampoo. He closed his eyes, then opened them.

No, even this didn't feel right. He frowned, sat up. Stared out at the darkness.

If Honda was just there, Anzu was his friend, and Joey was his best friend, what did that make Ryou?

What did that make Yugi?

Yami looked back down at Ryou, watching the boy breathe slowly, in and out, in and out. Then, smiling slightly, he let himself dissolve into the ring.

Some things just didn't need words.

"Are you going to take over my body?" Ryou asked suddenly, his tone half-way casual. They were sitting together, sprawled out on the grass across from the school, hiding under the shade of a tree in an attempt to keep Ryou's sensitive skin from burning. Yami was pretty sure the plan was foiled by the fact that the baka had absently left out an arm in a stray ray of sun. Rolling his eyes, he gently nudged the arm back into the safety of the shade and considered his response.

/…Only if you want me to,/ he replied carefully, after a moment. He watched as his current host sipped at a juice-box, apparently agitated.

Ryou had woken up that morning with baggy eyes and complaining of a headache and a stuffy nose. That wouldn't have been so bad (he'd seen Yugi through many colds) except the kid kept whining about it, all day long. It was beginning to drive Yami nuts, but what could he do?

Ryou sneezed suddenly, sending Yami reeling back, body slipping all the way through the tree to the other side. He glowered for a moment, folding his arms across his chest, then dematerialized and muttered, /Watch it,/ in a irked tone.

But Ryou didn't respond, just sat up abruptly and squinted, raising a hand to shade his eyes. Slowly, Yami followed his gaze, then felt his heart begin to thump wildly, a crazy grin plastered to his face. Yugi was there with his puzzle glinting in the sunlight, looking shy and a little awkward.

The smaller boy glanced to his left as if he were afraid someone was watching him, then made his way towards Ryou. "Bakura-kun," he smiled. "Do you mind if I sit?"

/Do you want to take over or not?/ Ryou pressed as he made room for Yugi to crouch down beside him. It wasn't really a question. Yami knew the boy could tell how much he ached to take over and hold Yugi, or even just listen to his voice. But Yami also knew that it was his host's way of giving him permission, so he just nodded and gripped the ring tightly.

"Ai…Yugi. Kun," he added hastily once he had taken control, mentally chiding himself for the slip. Yami had never really bothered with honorifics, but Ryou was always polite, and it was out of character for him to refer to anyone without some form of respect. He frowned inwardly at the sound of his own voice, hoarse as it was from Ryou's cold. "How are you? Ah, do you want some grapes, or… Here, you can have my sandwich, I'm not really hungry…" Yami trailed off as Yugi gave a nervous giggle.

"Ah, Bakura-kun, thank you, but I have my own lunch," his other half told him with a smile. "How's school going for you? Have Joey and Honda-kun been picking on you again?"

"Not today," Yami replied cheerfully, pausing to take a bite out of his sandwich. Food. Finally.

"Well, that's good, at least," Yugi laughed. "They sometimes give me a hard time too, but at least they talk to me."

Yami looked at his aibou suspiciously. "What do you mean by that?"

Yugi's smile suddenly froze, his face twisting up in an unreadable expression. "Um, just that I don't really have very many friends. Aheh." His gaze quickly dropped to the small bento box in his lap.

"Why's that?" Yami inquired slowly, taking a sip of his juice box, eyes hard on Yugi. But the smaller boy refused to look at him, instead picking at the bento with his chopsticks. Yami sighed, frustrated, and tried again. "You seem very nice."

"R-really?" Yugi blurted, head jerking up to stare at him. Jeez, Yami thought wonderingly. It's like no one's ever complimented him before in his life.

He struggled not to wince as he realized that was very probably the truth. "Yeah," he said encouragingly. "I mean, you're talking with the new foreigner kid, aren't you?"

Yugi blinked. Then, a very small, but absolutely brilliant smile spread across his face. Yami felt his heart jump up into his throat. "…Thank you," his aibou replied quietly, after a beat.

Yami shrugged not-quite indifferently, trying to act as though his head wasn't spinning at the sight of one of the most beautiful things in existence. "It's the truth."

"Is it really?"

The spirit froze at the sudden change in tone, head snapping around to face a completely different Yugi. Three blond spikes had shot up along the star-shaped hair, violet eyes narrowing into crimson orbs. Is this what it looks like when I take over? Yami wondered absently, hands curling into fists.

"Tomb-robber," he spat furiously. The other spirit just smirked, Yugi's beautiful face morphing into an ugly sneer.

"I see your senses haven't faded any in 3, 000 years, your Majesty," Bakura congratulated in a mocking tone. "Of course, I'm not really trying right now anyway. Yes, I am the Thief-King Ba-"

"What have you done with aibou?" Yami demanded, cutting him off with a snarl. Up till now, he hadn't told Ryou that he and the thief were one and the same. It wouldn't do for the boy to find out like this.

"I got bored," Bakura replied flippantly. "Really, Pharaoh, it was taking your precious light ages to complete that puzzle. So, maybe I helped him, just a bit." He chuckled. "Maybe I changed a few things here and there."

"Like what?"

"Oh, that'd be telling. Now, how have you been getting along with my yadonushi? He's really quite pathetic, isn't he? I wouldn't have blamed you for breaking him." The thief gave Yami a malicious grin, stroking the puzzle tauntingly. "It's been so fun breaking yours."

Yami stopped thinking, mind suddenly blanketed in a haze of red. He didn't think again until he had Bakura by the throat, a low growl seeping through his teeth. "Touch him and I will kill you where you stand, you bastard!"

The thief just chuckled. "Will you really?" he asked rhetorically. "Look at your hands, Pharaoh. Just who are you choking right now?"

Yami gasped harshly and stumbled back as he was suddenly met with the terrified eyes of his aibou. "B-Bakura-kun?" Yugi stammered, voice quaking. "W-what…?"

The spirit drew one ragged breath, then another, forcing himself under control. "Yugi! I…I…" His hands were clenching and unclenching involuntarily. Angrily, he snapped them straight and held them rigidly against his sides. "Uh… you…"

And just like that, Bakura was in control again, smirking merrily. "You can't hurt me," he informed the spirit in a smug tone. "You hurt me, you hurt your precious aibou. I, on the other hand," he continued, eyes narrowing, "have no love for my yadonushi. It works out quite perfectly, doesn't it?"

"It does," Yami growled back. "Because as long as you're in control, you can't hurt aibou. I know you. You would never, ever hurt yourself."

"Not physically, perhaps," Bakura smiled. Again, Yugi's terrified face appeared, causing Yami's (Ryou's) stomach to curl in waves of rage. Aibou! "But how long do you think I've been in control of Yugi, mm? Much longer than I was ever in control of Ryou, and we all know how he turned out. How long do you think it took for Little Yugi to break completely? Two years? Three?"

At the mention of Ryou, Yami immediately slammed his shields up, praying that his host hadn't heard the slicing words of the tomb-robber. But rage began to burn them down again as he thought of his aibou, sobbing as the thief beat him over and over in the only place Yugi had ever thought himself safe: his own mind. It was all Yami could do to keep himself from destroying Bakura then and there.

/A-ah!/ He heard Ryou cry out as the flames of his anger licked their way through the doors of the boy's soul room. But it was distant, far in the back of his mind. /Pharaoh! S-stop!/

"My, my," Bakura was saying. "I always knew you had a temper, my king, but you should really see your face right now."

Yami closed his eyes. "What. Do. You. Want," he hissed, voice seething with anger.

Bakura just laughed and gave him a grin that was full of teeth. "Only to play a game with you, Pharaoh. Is that so much to ask?"

"What game?"

"A game of words," the tomb-robber replied easily. "Here is how it's played: I will switch with Yugi and lock myself up in my soul room for the next two weeks. You can talk with him for a few hours, about almost anything. But," he held up an excepting finger, "you can not tell him about anything outside the RPG. That means no memory world, no friendship pacts, and no aibous and mou hitori no bokus. For all Yugi will know, Ryou is your omote."

Yami growled. "And what's your play in all this?"

"All I ask is an hour alone with Ryou once every Saturday," the thief answered with a smirk. Yami stared at him suspiciously for a moment, then let out a disbelieving snort.

"So you can kill Ryou while I'm locked in my soul room? Do you think I'm stupid?"

"Far from it, my king. And so, I have chosen to give you this knowledge." Bakura leaned close, blood-red eyes widening with excitement and the madness of one who has watched his village burn. "The ring you are wearing has the ability to remove people from their souls and seal them inside inanimate objects. And since, though you may not be able to hear anything outside the ring, you can certainly see things, the instant you see me try anything funny, you can place my soul anywhere you like."

"And if I attempt to remove you from aibou's body while I am talking with him?" Yami inquired, giving the tomb-robber a sideways look.

Bakura drew back and folded his arms across his chest, grinning. "I will remain in control of one of Yugi's arms. In that arm, I will be holding tightly to this." He reached into one of Yugi's pockets and slid out an object that glinted in the sunlight.

A knife.

"If you ever try to remove me from Yugi, you'll find this embedded deep in your skin. And believe me," the thief added, "I have very accurate aim."

Yami gazed at the knife for a few minutes, considering. So, we'll both have our hands on each other's throats, he mused. But what's the point?

Bakura seemed to read his thoughts. "The winner of the game will be revealed in two weeks," he informed Yami. "You have that amount of time to convince Little Yugi to join you in defeating me."

"And all you ask is one hour a week?" Yami asked skeptically. Something about that didn't sound quite right. But still… the chance to speak with aibou? For as long as he wanted?

"Just one hour."

Yami bit his lip, then nodded.

Bakura's whole face seemed to split open as he gripped the knife tightly in Yugi's right hand.

"Well, then… Game start."

TBC