Chapter 1

A steady patter fell against the window as Bakura opened his eyes. His gaze looked toward the window where a light rain fell and painted the sky a dark gray. With a groan he sat up and cracked his neck getting to his feet. He never was much of a 'morning person'. The small clock beside his bed read 11:06 am and his stomach let out a low growl of disapproval.

Pulling an arm over his head to stretch his body more, Bakura walked out of his room where a spicy scent hit him. Ryou was awake and was apparently cooking. Naturally he thought. Another reason that set them apart. Ryou was an early riser. Bakura walked downstairs to see just what said Hikari was cooking and fill his stomach. When he reached the bottom step he stopped and listened.

There was no sound coming from the kitchen other then the familiar sound of food being prepared. Bakura stood still a littl. The boy always had humed when he cooked. It used to annoy the hell out of the Thief King. But now that he thought about it, Ryou hadn't been humming at all recently. That was what made him stop. Had he missed him humming? Bakura frowned at that and shook his head. No, it was just nice having silence is all. He told himself this then walked into the Kitchen.

He pulled a chair out from under the table, the dragging noise it made causing Ryou to jump. He looked back at Bakura and quickly turned back to face the stove. "Good morning Yami." He said quietly.

Bakura let out a yawn and propped his arm up on the table. "What's to eat?"

Ryou kept his back to Bakura and went on cooking. "Pork and Rice." Bakura almost couldn't hear his voice over the rain and he sighed, glancing back outside.

He gazed off for a while until a plate was set down in front of him along with a fork. Bakura glanced over at Ryou who then turned and walked back toward the stairs. He blinked a little when he saw Ryou had nothing in his hands to eat and there weren't any leftovers on the stove. "Where are you going?" The question was mumbled through a mouthful of rice as Ryou stopped at the base of the stairs.

"I… have homework to finish." He glanced back at Bakura but quickly went back upstairs. After a few seconds Bakura heard the soft click of Ryou's door being shut and he let out a sigh.

What the hell? Why is he acting so different?

It wasn't unlike him to be jumpy around Bakura. In fact if he WASN'T a little nervous, Bakura would be shocked. No he meant the soft spoken answers, the fact Ryou didn't have anything to eat for himself, and he was home more and more. Speaking of which… Bakura looked down at the meal Ryou had fixed him and took another bite. Questions could wait. Right now his stomach demanded attention.

...

After Bakura finished off the Pork and Rice he raided the fridge for something to wash it down with. His only choices were Milk, a pitcher of some sort of juice Ryou liked, and a few cans of soda. He pulled a can out and popped the top, deciding to go see what was wrong with his former host. Maybe if he could figure out why Ryou was so… different now, Bakura could go back to not caring.

He took a drink of the fizzy grape flavored beverage and walked up to Ryou's room. He was about to announce his presence as he walked in but something caught his attention before he could even walk through the door.

The bitter sweet smell of blood.

Panicked rose in the Thief and a part of him questioned why. Before he could wonder though, his feet were already inside the younger male's room, eyes searching for the boy. Ryou had the smaller bedroom, giving the bigger one to Bakura. There was not much different in size between the two small rooms other then the furniture in them. So it didn't take long for Bakura to see the boy's blue jeans and white socks sticking out from behind the dresser. Quickly he went over and sucked in a gasp at what he saw.

Ryou was bleeding from numerous gashes along his left arm and in his right hand he grasped one of Bakura's switchblades. His pale skin seemed even paler and he had his head down so his snow-white bangs fell in his face. Tears trailed down the boys face and the fell against his torso like the rain outside. The white T-shirt he wore was stained with the dark crimson liquid falling from his wrist and Bakura let out a small growl. "What the hell are you doing?"

The boy didn't show any sign that he even knew Bakura was there. He quickly swatted the knife out of Ryou's hand and forced the boy's eyes to meet his gaze. "Ryou what did you do?" Ryou didn't meet him, his brown eyes glassy from tears. Letting out another annoyed growl he let Ryou's head drop back down and stood, quickly running out of the room. He past the grape-flavored drink he had dropped on his way to the bathroom and swung open the door. Grabbing a towel at random, he rushed back into Ryou's room.

The boy hadn't moved an inch and other then the tears still falling from his cheeks, Bakura would have assumed him dead. "You are an idiot! What did you go and do a thing like this for?" Bakura held Ryou's arm out and dabbed the wounds with the towel to try and judge how deep the wounds were. When they just bled more, Bakura let out a small swear and pressed the towel to Ryou's arm in an attempt to slow the bleeding. "Get up. We need to fix up the wounds." Ryou didn't move and still didn't show any sign that he even heard the gruff voice ordering him to stand. Bakura growled annoyed and jerked up Ryou's gaze to meet his own. "I said STAND boy. Or I will force you up." The boy just slumped back lower and let his head fall back down.

Growing more annoyed and… worried? about the boy, Bakura stood and pulled Ryou up as he did. He put one of his arms behind the boy's legs and the other on his back to carry him bridal style. It was like there wasn't anything in his arms at all! This also bothered the thief king. Why did Ryou weigh next to nothing? Had he always been this small?

No time for such thoughts. Ryou's cuts had bleed through the towel and were now staining Bakura's own shirt. Cursing at Ryou's ignorance, he went back into the bathroom and set the boy down in the bathtub. Ryou slumped back against it, still showing no sign that he was even alive.

Bakura jerked the medicine cabinet open and tossed stuff out until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out the bandages and grabbed another towel, going over to Ryou and removing the bloody one. He wet the new one and stretched Ryou's left arm out, wiping away the blood. When he could at least make out where the cuts were, he started wrapping the bandage around Ryou's arm.

The blood already started to seep through but it stopped. It wasn't the best of bandaging jobs, but Bakura never had the need to do such a thing. Bakura sighed a little and looked at the boy. What in the hell was that about? Ryou was shaking now and he brought his blood stained blue jeans up to his chest and wrapped his arms around himself.

The former Thief starred at the shaking boy a few seconds longer before sighing and kneeling down next to him. He slowly unwrapped Ryou's arms from around himself and pulled the t-shirt over the younger boys head. Ryou still showed no sign of life and this bothered Bakura. He didn't like this. His landlord was supposed to be happy and healthy. Not trying to injure himself and scared out of his mind.

He put the shirt on the floor and pulled off the younger boy's socks. Throwing them onto the shirt he stretched out Ryou's legs and carefully pulled the stained jeans off. Placing them on the pile of clothes, he looked at Ryou. "You are taking a bath Ryou. Either wake up enough to take off the boxers or I'm doing it for you." As he expected, Ryou still showed no sign he heard the older male's voice and Bakura gritted his teeth. It was taking all he had not to yell at the boy.

Bakura moved his hand down towards Ryou's leg, hoping the movement would clue the boy in on something and jerk back away. But nothing happened. He just kept starring off into space, tears falling from his eyes. He gripped the loose fabric of the boxers and pulled them off, throwing them onto the growing pile of clothes. To at least remain SOME dignity as to what he was doing, he made sure his eyes stayed away from the pale fragile form that was Ryou. No matter how bad his eye wanted to roam over the pale boy's body… NO.

Shaking his head, Bakura turned on the water and let the warmth fill the tub. During all of this Ryou had hugged his legs again and was now resting his chin on them. He didn't even realize he was sitting in a bathtub naked while Bakura kneeled down next to him.

Worried the younger boy might try and drown himself, Bakura sat down with his back to the wall after the tub was filled. The facet dripped a little while the rain outside picked up its pace. Closing his eyes Bakura listened and heard the faint breathing of Ryou. This reassured him a great deal.

But… Why? Why was he, the Great Thief King, so worried over the clumsy, fragile, and now depressed boy known as Ryou? Maybe it was pity. That would explain things. After all, the boy was at one point in time his only lifeline. But Bakura had never before cared for anyone other than himself regardless of what they had done for him. Why should he start now by playing nursemaid for his former host?

Frowning, Bakura looked back at Ryou who was still holding onto his knees as if they were a security blanket. This really did bother him. Ryou was never one to be sad or upset. He had a smile on his face no matter the occasion and he defiantly never tried to harm himself.

The Thief's eyes fell to Ryou's bandaged arm. He could tell it was still bleeding but not near as bad. The crimson wounds were finally starting to stop. He moved his gaze up to Ryou's face. The tips of his hair were wet from the bath and he still had his chocolate brown eyes covered by his bangs. This also bothered Bakura. He didn't like not being able to see Ryou's eyes…

With a sigh, Bakura got to his feet and took a towel from where Ryou kept them. "Come on. You've been in there long enough." He didn't expect an answer from the boy, but it would have been nice. As the water drained from the tub, Bakura wrapped the bluish-green towel around Ryou's slender shoulders. He had lost way to much weight. What the hell is the boy thinking?

Ryou stumbled when he was supporting himself and almost fell to the ground had Bakura not caught him and picked him up like he had before. As usual, Ryou didn't respond. Bakura bit his anger back and walked out of the bathroom, holding Ryou against his chest. When they were back in Ryou's room he helped the boy sit down and made sure the towel was around him. Then he went to the dresser and dug around to find something for the albino boy to wear. He pulled out a pair of sweatpants and a baggy short sleeve t-shirt. It wasn't the most attractive of outfits, but it seemed comfy enough.

He then walked back over to Ryou and took the towel away, carefully sliding the t-shirt over the Hikari's fragile body. He then pulled the sweatpants on, doing his best to avoid looking at his former host. When Ryou was dressed in clean clothes, Bakura helped the boy back down onto the bed and pulled the blankets up to his chest. At the loss of contact, Ryou curled up into a ball, moving down into the blankets until his nose was covered.

Bakura watched, a frown falling on his face. Just what in the hell had triggered this? His gaze went over to where the knife still lay open on the floor, shimmering with Ryou's blood on the blade. When had Ryou even taken the thing? Bakura knew it was his because Ryou didn't believe in weapons. He was against harm. He was more of a… 'peacemaker' if you will. Going over to it, Bakura picked the blade up and walked out of the room. He went back to the bathroom and grabbed Ryou's bloody clothes. With a slight frown he wrapped the knife up in the shirt and pants and tossed them into a bag. He'd take them out with the trash later. Something told him Ryou need not see all the blood.

He then walked back into the light's room to see if he was okay. Ryou was still curled up but now he was visibly shaking. His brown eyes were wide and starring straight at the wall opposite his bed and his lips let out a small whimper, quivering. Something about this really got under Bakura's skin. He wasn't mad at Ryou so much at whatever was making him so scared. But… Why should he care? Him and Ryou were no longer were connected and he had no need for the boy anymore. …So why was he taking care of him?

Bakura could think about that later. Right now he just wanted Ryou to be happy. Or at least not like he was inside the Shadow Realm. Sighing in defeat with himself, he walked over to Ryou's bed and sat down on the floor, making sure he was blocking Ryou's view of the wall. "Ryou. Listen to me! You're okay. Nothing is going to harm you. I'll make sure of that. Get some rest little Hikari. Just… relax." Ryou was still shaking but his eyes seemed to clear up and he looked into Bakura's. He then did something that surprised Bakura.

With a shaky hand Ryou reached out slowly and touched his cold fingers to Bakura's face. At first only his fingertips dared touch his skin. But as he relaxed, Ryou ran his hand up to Bakura's hair then back down to his neck. Seeming satisfied that Bakura was really there and wasn't going to harm him, Ryou let his arm drop and he shut his eyes. Bakura stayed frozen, not sure what to make of what had just happened. He… liked the way Ryou's skin felt on his. It felt right…

No. He was still just… feeling pity for the boy. Bakura pulled the blankets back over Ryou's sleeping form but didn't leave the room like he had planned on. Rather he took one of the boy's spare pillows and propped it up against the nightstand. Between the rain falling outside and Ryou's slow breathing, the Yami was lulled into a peaceful sleep as the Hikari above him was pulled into the ongoing nightmare.

...

NOTE: Baah. Depressing I know. But I just got the urge to write Tendershipping lately. And I don't really see Bakura being a 'happy-go-lucky' free spirit. I imagine him more forcing Ryou to let him stay there. So please don't bash me! Reviews are like crack to me~!